Hi, y’all. The pressure cooker newsletter is cooking more like a Crock Pot: low and slow. Come back next week - I know I said that last week - to read it. I’ve got a lot of thoughts about this subject, and they need some time to percolate.
Finding space and time for writing has been increasingly tough. Summer is here! That means we are spending our days learning how to swim, tending to the garden, watching/playing baseball, reading poetry and novels poolside. We are moving slow, and it’s a welcome pace.
So today I’ll leave you with a few small things.
Mary Oliver's poems have been speaking to me lately, and inspiring me to look at my own life through a poetic lens. Sometimes this helps me re-center when things feel monotonous. And reading poetry also gives me a sense of accomplishment. I’ve finished reading something!
I’ve been reading Oliver’s work on the porch swing during nap time, or with my toes dipped in water under the shade of an umbrella, while my kids have the time of their lives in a blue plastic kiddie pool. After a scene just like this, I wrote what follows: a free verse poem about one of many short but splendid adventures to our neighborhood mulberry tree.
The Mulberry Tree
Warm sidewalks Drenched in sun Meet bare feet Running to The mulberry tree Laughter echoes Mine and yours Together a harmony Rising into A breath of afternoon air Rushing through the leaves Blonde hair Tight curls Bounce ahead of me This is sweeter even Than a mulberry Tiny hands reach up Pull branches down Pluck treasures Purple and plump We thank the birds We thank the tree For sharing their bounty Walk home Feet stained blue With memories sweet
Good People + Good Food
Gaby’s summer specials at Nourish Cafe debut this week! Both inspired by a summer in Greece, they serve a double purpose of nourishment and community support. An excerpt from Gaby’s post reads:
This is a divine Mediterranean medley of flavors and textures – a bed of local greens with olive oil potatoes, juicy cherry tomatoes, creamy feta, and crunchy walnuts. But the real star of the show? A mouthwatering tapenade vinaigrette that ties it all together. ✨ Finished with a perfect jammy egg for a protein punch, and you’ve got a salad fit for Olympus itself!
A portion of the proceeds from this Guest Chef Summer Series will be donated to the Community Garden Coalition (CGC)! Their mission to empower people in our community, especially low-income families and children, to grow their own gardens and access healthy, local food deeply resonates with us at Nourish.
And, she’s continuing with her *gorgeous* Sunday summer garden focaccia series here on Instagram. Don’t miss it!
The Skillet Diaries & Cosmic Birthday Nudges
I connected with Verna Laboy this week about some research I’m doing into the life of the late Annie Fisher, Columbia’s Beaten Biscuit Queen. Annie was a Black entrepreneur in the early 1900s, and she built her empire on biscuits and Boone County ham. In short, she was a badass woman. Do you know Annie’s story? I won’t be surprised if you don’t; her legacy has long been forgotten by many in mid-Missouri, but Verna knows it well; she’s been educating Columbians about Annie Fisher’s life and legacy for nearly 30 years. Here’s a podcast episode about Annie, and a story about Verna’s reenactments. I’ll be sharing even more very soon.
After sharing her own research, Verna reconnected me with journalist Donna Battle Pierce, another Columbian who has helped lift up Annie’s story. Donna and I talked back in 2018, when I wrote The Story of Us, a piece about legacy and family food traditions. Nina Furstenau also appears in this story! It’s a favorite from my writing portfolio.
During our interview more than six years ago, Donna told me about how she cooked her grandmother’s gumbo in lieu of attending her funeral - she was 2,400 miles away with no easy route home - and in this moment felt deeply connected to her grandmother and her legacy. An excerpt from The Story of Us illustrates this memory.
“In her San Francisco kitchen, half a continent away, Donna pulled out her grandmother’s gumbo recipe and fired up the stove. As she cooked, she knew she wasn’t alone. “I get goosebumps whenever I talk about it,” she says. “I made gumbo of course, and I made her rolls, and I made ambrosia, but not only was it the best gumbo I have ever made — I have never had gumbo turn out that amazingly perfect before — but everybody who came was just raving and dying to be in the kitchen with me.”
Donna wrote this week in her Sunday Substack, The Skillet Diaries, that she’d been preparing for her annual celebration of her grandmother’s life when she received Verna’s email, which included a link to this forgotten piece about her family. Donna called this a “cosmic birthday nudge.” Call in serendipity, a God wink, sim, whatever you’d like - I think it’s a reminder that we’re all connected here, through stories, through food, through each other. I’ve had a lot of these moments lately, and I feel them pushing me - and our work here at Leftovers Community - toward something really good. It feels a bit like poetry. I’m glad to be in the company of Verna and Donna as we continue to unveil and uplift Annie’s story, and of the reminder of the ties that food so often has to our greatest legacies - family.
Garden Views
A snapshot of what the garden has given us this week. We’re cooking our first eggplants of the season tonight! Poblanos are incoming! Cucumbers are abundant! The herb garden is totally out of control, and tomatoes are still green with promise.
That’s all for this week’s The Roots Of It All. Thanks for being here with us. See you next Sunday!