By Week 388. Summer 2023. I am 40 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like grilled food and garden herbs and this is my life. This is the life I built.
I went for a run this morning — the Saturday routine, the greenbelt, the river, the particular meditation of feet on a path and lungs filling and the body doing what it was told it couldn't do. The running group meets rain or shine.
Mason is 12 and reading everything he can find and examining the world under a microscope with the intensity of a tenured researcher.
Lily is 10 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.
I made corn on the cob this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.
Corn on the cob was on the table this week, and so was this — a glass of cold, fresh tomato juice made from garden tomatoes, the kind of thing you make almost without thinking, the way you breathe. There’s something about the simplest recipes, the ones that require almost nothing from you, that end up meaning the most; they’re proof that the ordinary day happened, that the kitchen was warm, that you were there to make it.
Tomato Juice
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 8 large ripe tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional, to balance acidity)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2–3 fresh basil leaves (optional)
Instructions
- Simmer the tomatoes. Combine the chopped tomatoes and water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20–25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are completely softened and broken down.
- Strain the juice. Pour the cooked tomatoes through a fine-mesh strainer or food mill into a large bowl, pressing the solids firmly to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the skins and seeds.
- Season. Stir in the salt, pepper, sugar (if using), and lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Chill and serve. Let the juice cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour. Serve over ice with a fresh basil leaf if desired.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 45 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 10g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 410mg