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“some of us are Black”

“Advice to Aspiring Artists”.

• Dress.

Date: 1900-1905

THE PERFECT BAKED POTATO

Roasted Garlic Asiago Potato Salad

Bacon, Potato, and Egg Casserole

Chili Baked Potato with Cheese

Cheesy Loaded Potato Bombs

Mini Potato Skins

Mashed Potato Pancakes with Meat Filling

HOT AND BUTTERY SAMPHIRE POTATO SALAD

Savory Roasted Red Potatoes

potato and red pepper tortilla

SAMOSA POTATO CAKES WITH GREEN CHUTNEY

Fully-Loaded Baked Potato Muffins

SCALLOPED POTATOES

More potatoes here!

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What Cleopatra actually dressed like:

I am searching for reasons to look forward to fall this year in order to get rid of this aversion I suddenly have to the idea of cold weather. (Long story short: I had a real bad fall and winter last year, and I need an attitude adjustment this year). 

So here’s installment one: a list of soups that I’ve made before and that I cannot wait to enjoy in the next few months:

Daube Provençal (from Katie at the Kitchen Door). French beef stew with orange zest, olives, and an entire bottle of Côtes du Rhône in it. N made it for me a couple of months after we got together, and I always crave it when the weather starts to turn cool.

44-Clove Garlic Soup (from Smitten Kitchen). This soup literally has 44 cloves of garlic in it, some roasted and some boiled. It is far less overpowering than you’d guess from that intimidating number – instead, I found it refined, rich, elegant, autumnal. Absolutely sublime for dinner on a cool evening, with a glass of wine and a toasted baguette.

Chicken Tortilla Soup (from The Pioneer Woman). I am not a fan of Ree Drummond or her show, but I can tell you that around Christmas last year, I made three batches of this soup in one month. It is legit, and it makes a ton. N and I made a huge pot for his family when they came over for Christmas Eve, and they ate every. single. drop of it. in one sitting. Be sure and serve it with lots of fixings: radishes, cilantro, lime wedges, crema, cotija cheese, tortilla strips, diced avocado.

Wild Mushroom Bisque (my own recipe, from the bricolab). I have been working on this recipe for years, through at least a half-dozen iterations. Here is the best version. A cup of it is like a holy grail containing essence of mushroom. Not a pretty soup at all, admittedly – but rich, thick, earthy, and insanely delicious.

Spring Pea and Onion Soup with Crispy Shiitakes and Parmesan (my own recipe, from the bricolab). This one is, no joke, a ten-minute recipe, including sautéing the mushrooms. Vividly green and sweet/salty.

Poached Cod in Tomato and Saffron Broth (from Bon Appétit). Not technically a soup, but you can double the ingredients to make more of the addictive spicy/winey broth. 

Cauliflower Soup (from America’s Test Kitchen). Yes, this soup does have a whole stick of butter in it (about half of it goes into the brown-butter-sautéed cauliflower garnish, which you can omit if you’re a fool and hate good food, or if, you know, you’re watching your fat intake). It does not have a drop of cream in it at all, but you would never know it. A creamy, delicious, magical soup.

Garlicky Carrot Soup (my own recipe, from the bricolab). Kind of a “cleansing” soup. Very easy, very healthy, and very pretty and vivid.

Pasta e Fagioli (adapted recipe, from the bricolab). Made this for the first time recently from a lightly-adapted recipe. Huge fan. Huge. Put in a Parmesan rind if you have one.

Vichyssoise (adapted recipe, from the accidental kitchen). I took a 1962 recipe from Gourmet magazine and spruced it up a bit with truffle oil and Greek yogurt, both of which make this soup something really special.

Thai Coconut Shrimp Noodle Soup (from Food52). Green curry based. Add mushrooms, substitute all tofu, dowhatchalyke.

Thai Coconut Curry Soup (from Chef Michael Smith). Tied for favorite Thai soup recipe. Red curry based. 

At the same time, you’ve got a legitimate right to be angry!  

READ: “Why I’m Absolutely an Angry Black Woman” by Dominique Matti 

“Because when I was five, my kindergarten classmate told me I couldn’t be the princess in the game we were playing because black girls couldn’t be princesses. Because I was in third grade the first time a teacher seemed shocked at how “well-spoken” I was. Because in fourth grade I was told my crush didn’t like black girls. 

Because I am not seen as a woman. Because I am not allowed to be fragile. Because the nurse that checked me in at the hospital to deliver wouldn’t look my husband in the eye. Because the vast majority of people won’t look my husband in the eye. Because when the doctors put my son in my arms and I saw that he was as dark as his father, I knew life would be even harder for him.

Because I am trapped here. Because the playing field isn’t leveled. Because I love my skin. Because I love being a woman. Because not hating myself is considered radical. Because I’ve been called racist for defending myself. Because all the major protests are for cis black men. Because I’ve been told that talking about the women who’ve died is taking away from the real issue.

Because I get no break from fighting. Because everything is a struggle. Because my anger isn’t validated. Because they don’t care about my pain. Because they don’t believe in my pain. Because they forgive themselves without atoning. Because I’m not free. Because the awareness of it permeates everything. Because it’s not ending. Because they teach the children that it’s already ended. Because someone will assert their supremacy over me today. Because they’ll do it tomorrow.

Because I want more. Because I deserve better.”