Unexpected joys
Dear friends,
I swear one of these months I'm going to have a boring month. Chill, maybe. Relaxed. But when I look at the 2025 calendar ahead, I have to admit that this boring month thing is a dream I have, not a plan I can see coming on the horizon. Is that the worst thing ever? Well, clearly not, or I wouldn't keep making the choices that lead me here. On the other hand, some of the stuff last month was not by choice (broken fridge in need of replacement going into a holiday weekend, woe, woe!). But! This newsletter is mostly about the stuff I chose to do! That’s more fun to focus on than household repairs anyway.
The new story that came out last month was A Shaky Bridge in Clarkesworld. This is a very personal story for me as well as being overtly topical: a lot of the emotional core of this story is the aftermath of my dad's first few strokes, and what I wish we'd had the chance to do after his largest one. I'm really proud of this story, and I've gotten quite heartening feedback on it from other people who have been in that place themselves...but also I want to give you that context, so you can decide whether you're in the right place for reading it right now.
Speaking of stories that have gotten positive feedback, though: the surprise of last month for me is that one of last year's stories is a finalist for the Washington (DC) Science Fiction Association's Small Press Award for short fiction! You can read about it and the other finalists here. Most of what gets published in short SFF qualifies as small press under their definition, and in this case it was a story in one of the most important magazines in fantasy, Beneath Ceaseless Skies. If you didn't have a chance to read that story last year, or if you want to give it another look now, it's A Pilgrimage to the God of High Places.
I hadn't been planning to go to Capclave (where the award is given), despite having several friends and colleagues in attendance, but when I got the news about being a finalist for this award, I thought, well, how often do you get the chance to go hang out with people who wanted to tell you they think you did something neat? Not often enough. So later this month I'm heading off to Washington, DC, to do a lot of convention time, a lot of friend time, a little museum time. I am expecting not to win, because I firmly believe that expecting not to win is the road to happiness. If the plan is "go! Enjoy being a finalist! Enjoy convention and friends and museums!" then hurrah, and if I happen to win the thing, that's bonus. Not just icing on the cake but sprinkles on the icing on the cake. I don't actually like either icing or sprinkles. Maybe nuts on the ganache on the cake? We can tinker with the metaphor later. Right now I intend to take this opportunity for unexpected fun.
A lot of the cooking I'm doing right now is to try to stay ahead of the garden's tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplants, etc., but one of the side dishes I made last month was a major hit with my family, so I'll share that with you now, and wish you success in staying on top of either harvest or planting season, depending on your hemisphere.
Excelsior,
Marissa
Cuban-style Black Beans and Rice
I think this recipe should scale down pretty well. I made a GIANT batch for family, but I think cutting it in 1/3 should be pretty easy and work just fine, as long as you use a smaller pot. If you have freezer space, this will freeze and thaw extremely well, so you can freeze smaller portions for later. You can top it with the protein of your choice, use it as the base for burrito filling, whatever.
I did this with 1 1/2 c dried black beans. I think you can skip this first part if you just use three cans of drained/rinsed black beans instead of dried. If you're using dried ,you want to: Cover with water (about 4 c) and bring to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for an hour. Drain and rinse the beans. Add enough water to cover again and bring to a boil; reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until tender, 45-60 minutes. Drain. Then do the rest of this. For canned beans, just start here.
Rinse 3 c white rice and set aside ready for use.
In a large stockpot, heat 1/4 c. olive oil. Add:
2-3 diced bell peppers, various colors
4 pearl onions and saute until tender.
Add 8 cloves garlic, peeled and minced/pressed, and cook a few more minutes.
To that add:
2 T tomato paste
3 T rice vinegar
1 T ground cumin
1 t oregano
1 bay leaf
2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
and finally the black beans you've either tenderized above or poured out of their cans. Cook that for about 5 minutes, stirring.
Then add 4 1/2 c stock (vegetable, mushroom, chicken, whatever kind you want) and the rice you rinsed. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook 20-30 minutes--until the rice is cooked and ideally you have a few crunchy bits along the bottom because those are great.