When I moved away for college, I left a hundred little handwritten notes around my house for my parents to find because a bird canāt leave an empty nest and because I feel a constant need to remind everyone that Iāve ever known that I love them I love them I love them. I left one on the fridge and one inside a Rice Crispy box and I left one buried under the thirtieth tissue in a box on my dadās bedside table. And they said thank you and Iāll see you soon and they counted down the days and then I moved to LA and I never went back. Iāll see them next week. I lied to you again. Sorry, it just keeps happening. One was in my brotherās left shoe and one was in the dogās leash and one was somewhere I donāt remember and maybe theyāve found it and maybe weāve all forgotten.Ā
This is just to say, I love a handwritten note, I love to see the way you cross your Tās, I love how a pen smudges a little because you were so excited to turn the page. I love lefties when the ink tattoos their palm. I hate being right.Ā
I missed last month and Iām sorry. I mean it. I mean I missed last month as in life moved so fast I think I forgot everything that happened and I mean I missed it as in I didnāt send a newsletter and Iām going to pretend itās because I decided to hand write snail mail to you instead and it got lost three turns away from your house but you can pretend it got there and you can pretend it said exactly what you needed it to say. If I wrote you a letter right now, what would you need it to say? If you wrote you a letter right now,Ā what would you need it to say?Ā
This month, weāre writing about food because itās Wednesday night and itās a little past my usual dinner time and Iām a habit creature but I wanted to say hello.
I want to be fourteen coming home from soccer practice and itās late and I hate select soccer but mom made soup and everything will be okay. I hated being fourteen. Maybe I loved it. Who remembers fourteen? Everything will be okay. The best soup mom makes is the miso broth from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home and that cookbook has tattered pages and some perpetually sticky hoisin sauce on the cover and thatās okay. It has dogeared sections, too, and weāre always told not to fold the corners of pages, to never be dog-eared and only be dog-eyed, but isnāt that the greatest compliment of all, to want to remember something enough to make it permanent?
On annotated recipes Ā
How do you cook soup?
Boil water until you break,
let noodles float.
Lessons learned from carrots: unexpected things will help you see.
Tell someone when they have spinach in their teeth,
you can grow up big and still not like mushrooms,Ā
mom will always know best.Ā
*my notes on pg. 31, āMiso Soupā
*write down the extra teaspoon mom adds, write how she laughs when the steam fogs up her glasses, write what she remembers about her momās cooking. write it down write it all hold it forever.
Question to ask your mom:Ā
What is your favorite recipe?
*if this has typos Iām sorry Iām so tired lol ily