I truly can’t believe I’m writing this. The final recipe.
There were days when I wished time would speed up so I could arrive here. There have been far more days when I wished time would slow down to delay things a little longer. I wish I could go back and taste certain dishes for the first time, feel the rush of those small victories all over again. I wish I could relive all of the conversations and community shared around those meals.
For a whole year, my social life has primarily revolved around a cooking project. For a whole year, I’ve filled moments of solitude, of dreaming about the future, of rest, of worry, of exhaustion - with cooking and writing. It would be impossible to count the hours spent on this project, but there’s really no need to do that. I would do it all over again.
It feels sort of odd to end such a journey with a recipe as simple as spiced corn nuts. Somehow this one slipped through the cracks till the very end. Yet, after what’s felt like a marathon of the past month, perhaps it’s fitting to end with a snack that only requires baking corn nuts in oil, then tossing them in nutritional yeast and aleppo pepper. What results are highly addictive and oddly irresistible toasty corn kernels - perfect for a party or sharing with coworkers the next day. A dish meant to be shared. (I couldn’t for the life of me find quicos, so I used the Love Corn brand of corn nuts, which are less salty).
This project started out of a desire to reincorporate my artist-self back into my daily life. After years of studying theater and making art all the time, the years since have felt drier, lacking. This project changed that by providing an outlet for self-expression and personal growth all in one. I don’t want to go back to my old way of being. I’m ready to keep going.
This is not the end. I believe it’s only the beginning.
