April in Southern California. The jacaranda trees are blooming purple along the base roads, and the air smells like salt and flowers, and I'm going to miss this place. Not the way I miss Norfolk (that's bone-deep, that's home), but the way you miss a place that was kind to you when you needed kindness.
Pendleton was kind. The first time and the second time. The potluck group, Soo-Jin, Lucia, the Korean short ribs that changed my cooking, the ocean that was always there when the desert felt permanent.
The PCS prep is in full swing. I've started the inventory — every military wife knows the inventory. You list everything you own so the movers can break it and you can file a claim. (I'm still bitter about the KitchenAid mixer. STILL.) This time I'm wrapping the new mixer myself. In bubble wrap. Inside a box. Inside another box.
The book is at 70,000 words. Four chapters to go. Sarah called the Houston chapter — Ba Linh's pho, the star anise — the best chapter in the book.
Caleb's preschool is winding down. End-of-year performances, class photos, the farewell circuit. He'll start kindergarten in San Diego in September. New school. New classroom. New friends.
Hazel took three consecutive steps without holding onto anything today. Not walking — lurching. But FORWARD.
Made fish tacos tonight. The California goodbye food. We eat California until we leave California, and then we eat California wherever we go.
Fish tacos are California to me in a way I can’t fully explain — the crunch, the brightness, the way they taste like the coast even when you’re eating them at a kitchen table surrounded by half-packed boxes. The coleslaw is where it all lives, honestly. That sweet-and-sour tang is the thing that makes every bite feel like a proper goodbye to this place that was so good to us. Here’s the slaw I piled onto every taco that night, the one I’ll be making in San Diego, and wherever the orders take us after that.
Sweet and Sour Coleslaw
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 45 min (includes 30 min chill) | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 4 cups shredded green cabbage
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup shredded carrots (about 2 medium carrots)
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Prep the vegetables. Shred the green and red cabbage thinly using a sharp knife or mandoline. Shred the carrots and slice the green onions. Combine all vegetables in a large mixing bowl.
- Make the dressing. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the apple cider vinegar, sugar, vegetable oil, celery seed, salt, and pepper. Stir and heat just until the sugar dissolves, about 2–3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Toss and coat. Pour the warm dressing over the vegetable mixture and toss thoroughly until everything is evenly coated.
- Chill. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. Toss again just before serving. The slaw will soften slightly and the flavors will meld — this is what you want.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 75 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Carbs: 11g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 155mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 367 of Rachel’s 30-year story
· San Diego, California
Rachel is a twenty-eight-year-old Marine wife and mom of two who has moved five times in six years and learned to cook a Thanksgiving dinner with half her cookware still in boxes. She married young, survived postpartum depression, and feeds her family of four on a junior Marine's salary with a freezer full of pre-made meals and a crockpot that has never let her down. She writes for the military spouses who are cooking dinner alone in base housing and wondering if they're enough. You are.
