Good morning, everyone. A really good morning! Where were you when you heard the news? We were walking back from the farmer’s market, when the phones in our pockets started buzzing like crazy. We FaceTimed Phoebe in college, then called Abby, who was driving home from practice. We instructed her to lay on the horn the whole way home. It was 70 degrees, the blue, cloudless sky presenting a dramatic backdrop for all the golden and red-leaf November trees. We cracked open that Pappy! We donated to Stacy Abrams’s Fair Fight. We checked in with everyone we knew, like we had just had a baby. That is actually what it felt like. My brother texted back “It really feels like someone pulled a nail out of my brain.”
Later, my oldest friend Jeni and her husband, Ben, drove up from the city for champagne and chili around our fire pit, and they showed us videos of New York losing its collective mind. We ate cheese, guacamole, and two roasted vegetable dips (sweet potato-tahini, beet-yogurt-horseradish) and served with baguette slices. They brought iconic, absurdly indulgent Levain cookies up from the city, and we spent a solid ten minutes debating whether the chocolate peanut butter was better than the oatmeal raisin. We drank a lot of champagne and completely forgot to watch Biden and Harris (KAMALA!!!!) deliver their victory speeches.
I know that nothing is over, and that this country faces an uphill battle, given how divided we are right now. I know there are people reading this swearing they will never come back to my dinner table again. But for one weekend, it felt hopeful that a big piece of the puzzle, the person whose instinct was to stoke hatred and divisiveness, would be rendered powerless. Wow does that feel good.
This week, in the interest of realigning everyone’s equilibrium (I still can’t get a good night’s sleep) I’m going to post a bunch of my favorite easy dinners, some familiar — like this chicken that Bon Appetit’s instagram reminded me of yesterday — and some new. I’ll probably get back to the Project-Pantry-Purpose series, too, because the winter promises to be hard, and I feel like we’re going to have to pull together again in a big way. I hope you’ll come to the table as always.
Oh Jenny! I felt a weightlessness in my back that hasn’t been there in years, I kid you not. It was SUCH a wonderful weekend! Sharing the joy with my daughter was incredible. I am thrilled to hear you might come back with more pantry meal posts this winter. I LOVED them the first go round!
Jenny, you’re the best, always nailing it. I was just thinking how I’ll always remember “where I was” when I found out – it was that epic and cathartic. So glad you’re going to stick with PPP, it was one of my favourite things to read when the pandemic was getting me down and I’ll continue to come back to it with a cup of tea in hand. Stay safe.
I really love love your book. I love all the traditions around food. It hurts my heart to read your political post. I’ve tried to ignore them and not let them get to me because we do all have a right to our opinions and beliefs. but, why do it? Who does it help? You? Your readers? Remember others who are just as sad at this outcome. So today, my heart doesn’t feel warm and fuzzy about dinner! It feels sad that I have to even think of politics tonight while I cook. Remember half of America has very conservative values. From one cooking mama to another.
I wonder how you would feel if she were posting about the opposite? Whether it was celebrating a Trump victory or lamenting his loss. Then would you still be posting that she should keep politics off of her blog? Or applauding her for sharing her feelings?
Staci – Thank you for your respectful comment. There have been a few along the same lines that I couldn’t approve because they didn’t meet the normal standard of “Is this how you would speak to me if you were next to me at my family dinner table?” So truly, thank you. I have a few things to say. For starters, I think the “stay-in-your-lane” accusation became irrelevant as soon as this country elected a reality TV star to be head of the free world. (I know you didn’t specifically suggest that I “stick to writing about dinner,” but many MANY people have.) Next, as you pointed out, it’s my personal blog, I’m entitled to my personal beliefs, and since 2010 the DALS mission has been devoted not just to the food on the dinner table, but everything that happens around the dinner table, and what we talk about at the dinner table. (Because of this mission, I suspect maybe even you have gotten a book or podcast recommendation or a holiday gift idea from me? Or at the very least come back the next day because you want more than just a recipe?) Much to my dismay, the conversation at my dinner table, almost every night for the past four years, has revolved around an administration that has been systematically destroying the institutions of democracy, disrespecting women and marginalized communities, discrediting public health officials and science in general, recklessly lying to its electorate, stoking hate and division between an already polarized nation, and setting what I think is a very damaging, very un-empathetic example for how to treat and speak to people. Believe me, I VERY MUCH WISH we could focus only on the deliciousness of the baked chicken and the latest George Saunders novel and who sat next to who at the lunch table. But the reality is, I feed two very engaged teenage daughters who care about the world beyond the four walls of the kitchen, and at a certain point, it felt irresponsible and dishonest to pretend that we were only talking about who scored in the game and how caramelized onions make everything taste better, and other “warm and fuzzy” things. Lastly, I think you can look back at some of the reader comments over the past few months and find at least a dozen who have mentioned that this blog has inspired them to donate and get involved in their own phone banking, text banking and GOTV initiatives. So when you ask me “Why do it?” During what I thought of as an all-hands-on-deck election, that is my favorite justification, and the one I’m most proud of.
Again, thank you for commenting. Even though you (and many others reading this) disagree with me, I very much appreciate that you’re here.
So well said, Jenny. I admire the fact that you took a stand. My family is very divided politically and I find it very difficult to speak up to those who disagree with my views. I’m tired of keeping quiet but also don’t know how not to get shouted down. I have a long way to go, but you and others have inspired me to try to figure it out.
While my political views do tend to lean left, I have many family members and friends who hold traditionally conservative views. I respect their views, but the current POTUS represents so much more than traditional conservative views. I find myself pining for the republican party of John McCain and Mitt Romney, and both Bushes. While I didn’t always agree with them, I did believe them to be decent human beings who truly wanted what was best for this country and for our world.
In contrast, the current administration is full of self-aggrandizing and self- enriching people who are looking out for themselves, seek to attack the norms of our democracy with a wrecking ball and do not care about the plight of every day Americans (threatening to cut the ACA during a pandemic, with record high-unemployment, or refusing to take up an economic stimulus package until after the election, to name a few examples).
If a traditional conservative republican is elected in 2024, yes, I’ll be disappointed, but I won’t fear for my country.
I was home and cried tears of joy and relief. I can totally relate to the nail being pulled out of your brain comment
Yes!!! Thank you for this post, and for the work you have done throughout the election season to keep people sane and motivated to vote/participate. It truly feels like we may be able to take a deep breath and not exactly start over, but maybe reset our course a bit here as a country. PHEW!
I was just coming back from a (masked and distanced) hike with my two best girl friends when we heard the news. A leader who shows empathy and dignity! A woman VP! No more Trump! We jumped up and down, cheered, and promptly opened a bottle of champagne (sparking grape for my kiddos and my pregnant self). It was a glorious day, for sure.
Second, those dips look sooooo good.
I love your website and your politics. I am phone banking Georgia to get democratic senators to win in the run offs and then I will turn my attention to making Texas blue. Never give up.
Thank you, Jenny! This picture of you two is amazing. I appreciate every podcast, recipe, book recommendation, travel review and political engagement idea you provide. I’m late to this post, but still happy. I was driving alone and started whooping with joy. The car really is an amazing place to let any emotion flow. And your brother’s nail out of brain analogy is dead on.
I am so looking forward to the project, pantry, purpose. It was a sanity saver last spring.
Yay!!
Just a comment on the panko-crusted chicken you linked to above. I tried it last night and the whole family thought it was DELICIOUS! So thanks for linking to it. Just a note that I think there is a typo or missing word in this sentence of step one: “Arrange skin side up a rimmed baking sheet and smear all over skin side of thighs”. It threw me for a loop for a few minutes. Thought you might like to know!
Hi! Any insider tips on the Rip Van Winkle bourbon? I’d love to surprise my bourbon loving husband (and several friends) with this for the holidays. I’m in PA and only see bottles in the $1000’s from the website. Thoughts?
Thanks! Sherri
My son and I were driving to the outlets from Atlanta when we heard it and our phones started blowing up. I could barely see the road from the tears streaming down my face…..It was in North GA, very red, so for the rest of the day we were the only ones with a smile on our faces. We turned GA blue and switched the light on these dark times