Closing the Cookbook

At the start of 2023, I shared a thesis statement for the year:

When we share food with each other, we make meaning from the sharing. Whether you’re feasting in triumph or lament or reflection or toil or rest or gratitude, you’ll have reasons to connect a meal to a moment. That moment will become a memory; maybe it will grow into a tradition. Maybe you’ll share it with your community. Maybe it will come to define you. Ultimately, no matter the reason for a shared meal, the truth of the feast is that it exists to create connections. This is going to be true of 2023: no matter who you are or where you live, you’ll have cause to feast this year.

Over the course of the year, I had the honor of publishing essays and recipes from authors around the world as part of the Personal Canons Cookbook series. Together, we proved that thesis over and over again. We celebrated holidays; we grieved losses; we learned how to feed ourselves and each other through moments of unspeakable horror; we learned how to care for our communities through food. We dove deep into hunger and abundance and poverty and celebration. We learned where to be flexible and where to hew to specifics. 

We learned to cook together. We shared food with each other, and we made meaning from the sharing.

Now the year is over and the series is wrapped. Below, you’ll find the sum of the online series. If you’d like to own the Personal Canons Cookbook ebook, which collects all these essays and recipes in easy-to-reference, clickable format—plus loads of bonus recipes from me!—join the Stone Soup Supper Club. The ebook is free for subscribers, who will get the download link in their inboxes in the first Supper Club email of 2024!

My immense thanks to Kate Burgener, Josh Storey, and Julian Stuart, who did the heavy lifting to make this ebook something truly stunning to behold. 

What We Shared: The Personal Canons Cookbook

January Editorial: Year of the Feast

• Cook For Iran: Making Khoresht-e Bademjoon When I'm Homesick by Naseem Jamnia
• Ode to a Grocery Store Sandwich by Meg Elison
• Huõguo by Kelsea Yu

February Editorial: These Recipes Aren't Ours

• Home Economics | Sweet Potato Bread by Alexis Lawson
• Novyi God Sure Was Different This Year | Olivier Salad by Marina Berlin

March Editorial: Who Is Good at Cooking?

• An Alchemist's Guide to Cuban Coffee by William Alexander
• Feeding Future Ancestors | "Spam" and Rice Bowl by Rae Mariz
• On All Other Nights, In All Other Places | Charoset by Francesca Kuehlers

April Editorial: Having People Over

• Trust the Process | Macaroni and Cheese by Hilary B. Bisenieks
• Porridge | Congee by Shing Yin Khor

May Editorial: No Substitute

• Your Tongue Remembers | Duò Lajiao with Duò Jiao Yú by Jen Coster
• The Vinegar Matters | Adobo by Matthew Marco

June Editorial: I Don't Feel Like Cooking

• Betty's Summer Surprise Fruit Dessert | Fruit Salad by Madeline Ashby
• Making a Home of Each Other | The Eggs by Lucy Bellwood

July Editorial: An Act of Transformation

• The Third Taste | Jjigae by Dong Won Song
• This Is Not About Your Grandmother | Pfeffernusse Cookies by Josh Storey

August Editorial: To Love a Long Recipe

• A Day to Remember | Alcapurrias by Alyssa Gonzalez
• The Curry Goat by Nuha Fariha

September Editorial: Fuck the Pit

• Back to Hashwi by Suzanne Walker
• Video Essay: The Joy of Rage Baking | Sweet Potato Cupcakes by Maya May
• Grains of Truth | Almond Butter Oatmeal by Allison Pottern Hoch

October Editorial: Constant Companions

• Innocuous Comments on Muffins | Jelly Doughnut Muffins by Brandon Crilly
• In Search of the Subtitles: an Anticolonial Recipe | Aloo Posto : by Ayida Shonibar

November Editorial: Scraps in the Pot

• The Last Supper | Balsamic Beef Braise by Katrina Carruth
• Life Lessons in the Kitchen | Seven Minute Frosting by Eden Royce

December Editorial: What I Have Eaten

• Sour Milk and Bitter Herbs | Labaneh and Zaatar by Amal El-Mohtar
• Finding Solace in Three Greasy Tortillas | Tacos de Huevos Estrellados by Héctor González