By Sunday after the wedding. Quiet. We slept until ten. We did nothing all day. The catering equipment was returned to the workshop Monday. The leftover food filled the freezer. We ate empanadas for lunch.
Caleb and Miriam are away. They'll be back Wednesday. The property is the property.
Tuesday I taught the cohort. They had heard about the wedding — most of them are local Cherokee — and they congratulated me on my brother. I accepted the congratulations and said: he is a good man. He has worked hard for what he has. He has earned it. The students nodded. The 58-year-old said: tell him congratulations from us. I said: I will.
Wednesday Caleb and Miriam came back. They came to the property at four in the afternoon, both of them tired and both of them lit from the inside. They brought a coffee mug they had made together at a pottery class on the trip — handed thrown, glazed in green and brown. Miriam said: this is for your kitchen. Hannah took it. Hannah cried — the regular Wednesday cry, three days after a peak Wednesday — and put it on the windowsill next to Caleb's small bowl from 2040.
Saturday Caleb came over alone — Miriam was working on Saturday. We sat on the porch. He said: how was the week. I said: long. He said: yeah. I said: but right. He said: yeah. He said: I'm married. I said: yes. He said: I'm fifty-three and I'm married. I said: you are. He said: it's real. I said: yes. He said: I am very happy. I said: I see it.
We didn’t have empanadas in the freezer every week — that was wedding-specific, the tail end of something big — but the feeling of that Sunday lunch stuck with me: warm, handheld, no ceremony required. Sour cream cheese puffs have become my version of that for ordinary weeks, the thing I make when the house is quiet and someone deserves something a little better than crackers. They’re fast enough that you don’t have to think too hard, and good enough that sitting on the porch with one feels like it means something.
Sour Cream Cheese Puffs
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 24 puffs
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives, finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Make the dough base. Combine water, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring until butter is fully melted.
- Add flour. Remove pan from heat and add flour all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture pulls cleanly from the sides of the pan into a smooth ball, about 1–2 minutes.
- Cool slightly, then add eggs. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes off heat. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until the dough is glossy and smooth.
- Fold in cheese and sour cream. Stir in the shredded cheddar, sour cream, garlic powder, pepper, and chives if using. Mix until evenly combined.
- Portion onto baking sheets. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. You should get roughly 24 puffs.
- Bake. Bake for 18–22 minutes, until puffs are deep golden brown and feel hollow when tapped on the bottom. Do not open the oven during the first 15 minutes.
- Cool briefly and serve. Let puffs rest on the pan for 5 minutes before serving. They are best warm but hold well at room temperature for several hours.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 85 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 5g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 95mg