By I voted early this week. Stood in line for two hours in a mask, six feet from the person in front of me and six feet from the person behind me, in the November heat that Savannah pretends is fall. My knees hated me. My back protested. My feet filed a formal complaint. But I voted, baby, because Hattie Pearl couldn't always vote, and her mother couldn't vote, and Pearl on Sapelo Island couldn't vote, and I vote for all of them. Every election. Every time. My ballot carries the weight of the women who came before me, and that weight is heavier and more sacred than any two-hour line.
I don't write about politics in this blog. Never have. This is a food blog, and food doesn't belong to a party. Food belongs to everyone. The table is the one place where we sit as equals — red and blue and everything in between — and I will not politicize the table. What I will say is this: vote. I don't care who you vote for. Vote. Because the people who fought for your right to do it would be ashamed if you didn't, and being ashamed is what we do to the dead when we waste what they gave us.
After voting, I came home and I cooked a patriotic meal, which in my kitchen means: fried chicken (because nothing is more American than fried chicken and anyone who says otherwise is lying), cornbread (because cornbread is the bread of this land), and sweet potato pie (because the sweet potato is a Black American vegetable if ever there was one, and I will die on that hill). I ate it on the porch and I felt American in the way that only a Black woman who just voted can feel American — complicated, proud, exhausted, and hungry for more.
Now go on and feed somebody.
I’ve shared my fried chicken and cornbread recipes before, but what I don’t talk about enough is the coleslaw—the cool, creamy, tangy thing that sits quietly on the plate and somehow makes everything else taste more like itself. That voting day porch meal needed something crisp against the richness of the chicken, something that said celebration without shouting, and this Picnic Coleslaw is exactly that. It’s simple, it’s old, and it belongs on every table where people sit down together after doing something hard and necessary.
Picnic Coleslaw
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 1 hr 15 min (includes chill time) | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 small head green cabbage, finely shredded (about 6 cups)
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prep the vegetables. Finely shred the cabbage using a sharp knife or mandoline, discarding the tough outer leaves and core. Grate the carrot on the large holes of a box grater. Combine the cabbage, carrot, and green onions in a large mixing bowl.
- Make the dressing. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, sugar, celery seed, dry mustard, salt, and pepper until smooth and well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Combine. Pour the dressing over the cabbage mixture and toss thoroughly until every strand is coated. The coleslaw will look overdressed at first—that’s right.
- Chill. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. This rest time allows the cabbage to soften slightly and the flavors to come together. Toss once more before bringing it to the table.
- Serve. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with a pinch of extra celery seed if you like. Serve cold alongside fried chicken, cornbread, or anywhere a good picnic table finds itself.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 155 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 9g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 240mg