A long-ago neighbor said, "If you have enough money for two loaves of bread, buy a loaf of bread and a pot of geraniums." This section includes stories, memories, and recipes that feed the spirit along with the body. Or: each post, often by a guest author, is a loaf of bread and a pot of geraniums. Through our common language of food, Bread and Stories aims to cross many different kinds of borders.
Bread and Stories
It sizzled the moment it touched the iron, filling the little kitchen with the smell of salt-cured pork and hardwood smoke. I was probably no more than six or seven years old, but I already knew what came next. Thicknin' gravy.
Bread and Stories
Reminiscing about his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut, my friend Larry said, "Back then, everything was possible." That wistful statement resonated far beyond its context. Back then—however far back you want to plant that bright flag of possibility in your or the nation's history—
Bread and Stories
A chance to cheer on —and cheer up — a remarkable family.
Bread and Stories
It's such an odd little word: short but drawn out, comical yet faintly sinister.
comfort food
I had craved the warming spices of the chai, but someone smiling at me with genuine warmth was the comfort I truly needed. In a world that often feels numbingly cold, comfort food and human community are both essential sources of warmth, and they are best served together.
Tuareg
Spring is time for feasts and festivals of renewal and rebirth—Easter, Passover, and Iran's Nowruz (literally "new day")—but this year it was hard to get into the spirit. [I link to Inhinan's post below, but I'm putting it here, too,
Bread and Stories
Tea is our wine. We drink it morning and night.
Bread and Stories
Pondering the Enlightenment while defending the castle.
crepes
French Pancakes: we ate them all the time as children, generally for dinner, mostly in winter. Standing at the stove of our Southern home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia
Bread and Stories
I was sitting here thinking about the kinds of love—how no matter what the movies try to sell us, nobody can make it on eros alone.
love story
I told a version of these friends' love story for Valentine's Day two years ago. They are always the first people I think of when trouble boils over within Iran and between Iran and the U.S. It seems like a good time to retell their story...and to share Solmaz's world-famous walnut cookie recipe.
Jewish grandma
Food and stories: in the case of my old Jewish relatives, it's impossible to separate the two.