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At the beginning of October a friend and I stayed a night in a hotel in downtown Phoenix because we both needed a little break and the month is wrapping up with cool weather right in time for our favorite holiday: Halloween. It doesn’t matter if you’re actually a spooky gothy person, everyone is excited to walk around outside after a hellish summer.

Reading

I finished Vibration Cooking or, The Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, and so enjoyed the discussion of it with Alicia Kennedy’s bookclub. Also recently finished The Power Worshippers by Katherine Stewart and Edith’s Diary by Patricia Highsmith. Two very different books but both taking a slice into the horrors of white supremacy’s effects on culture.

Writing

October was full with preparations for Phoenix Zine Fest and reviewing grant applications for the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture. This round I was reviewing nonfiction, fiction, and poetry applications and got to learn so much about artists in my area. Very fun!

On this ol’ newsletter I published:

• Reintroducing Myself

• Art Meal: Harvest

• A Storm is a Food Problem

• Dinner, in 16 Difficult Steps

Up next week is a short essay about tending to my food system grief and an Art Meal focusing on the artist Alison Knowles and her project The Identical Lunch.

Eating

Ok, first off the staycation at the beginning of the month was so fun — we went to a dive bar to start (where I got a surprisingly good vegetarian chopped cheese) and then to a swanky little bar in our hotel to finish up the night. I was in bed by 11pm and spent two hours reading in bed in the morning. Perfection.

Martini that came with a pickled grape in addition to cocktail onion and olives.

A spritz with a carbonated grape as a garnish. So extra.

There was a jar of peanut butter languishing in the pantry — there was something about the texture my family found abhorrent. I couldn’t tell a difference. But I made peanut butter blondies for the first time ever, and yes, they disappeared quick.

Lunch was more bowls of rice or sweet potato, tofu (or sometimes sardines), greens, and sauerkraut. Topped with Korean BBQ sauce, whatever fresh herbs I have, or a vinaigrette. It truly has not gotten old.

After the bookclub about Vibration Cooking, it was lunchtime and I tried to cook the way Vertamae encouraged. I grabbed leftover roasted potatoes and broccoli and mashed those in a bowl until smooth-ish. I cracked in an egg, added some homemade breadcrumbs, and a bit of shredded cheddar cheese. After mixing vigorously it was a rough batter that held its shape when I scooped ¼ cup portions. I rolled them into balls, flattened them into patties, and fried in olive oil for a few minutes per side. The vibes were immaculate and I was thrown back to when my mom would make a similar meal with leftover mashed potatoes.

What’s a highlight from your eating, cooking, or reading of October?

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