Waking from the fever dream
+ The new Cheap and Easy recipe series, A free Apple Recipe cookbook, Stuffed peppers, Jicama and apple salad, and homemade tortillas
If you’re new here, welcome! I’m Rebecca, a recipe developer and food photographer. You might know me from my recipe websites, Of Batter and Dough and A Little and A Lot.
My husband and I are nomads with an RV, a motorcycle, and a sailboat, so I write about life on the road, the incredible places we visit, and the experiences we have along the way. Plus, there’s recipes.
And, if you are brand new to Substack, I created this short video tour.
Well, I guess I knew it would happen and it did.
This week we took down our sails, got the boat prepped for winter storage, and motored it over to a storage facility where they removed the mast, hoisted it from the water, and moved it into its winter home.
Most of the boats in our marina have done the same. The sign on the ice cream shop says their last day is tomorrow. Our campground closes in a couple of days. We are on our way to Omaha. The season is over.
On Thursday we drove our sails to a shop that will clean, inspect, repair, and store them for the winter and were surprised when the owner recognized them. He’s been storing them for years, we learned, and actually built one of them. So, I guess they are in their winter home too.
Sails safely tucked away, we stopped by the storage lot that has our boat like we were visiting our child at daycare. We needed to grab a couple of things from the cabin but really, we just wanted to check on it.
There it was, tucked safely into it’s cradle, water still dripping from the rudder, stripped of it’s mast and sails, its naked hull on display, the keel on blocks instead of cutting through the water. At rest.
We got what we needed, turned off the lights, locked the door, and drove away. Steve said, “It feels wrong to see it there. I don’t like it.”
It’s an old boat, but it’s our new baby.
Leaving Michigan feels disorienting to me. Our summer was not what I had planned and required a kind of consistent, intense focus on the current moment that my brain is not accustomed to. My mind prefers to spend its time in the future, with short visits to the here and now before returning to the land of infinite possibilities. It resides in a time that doesn’t exist yet but might someday, if I can dream it into existence.
This summer, having dreamt a sailboat into existence, I was here. I spent so little time thinking about what would happen when the season was over that I only recently remembered we were leaving and hastily made our travel plans.
The summer feels like a lifetime and a fever dream. It demanded my full attention. It was the kind of experience in which you become so completely absorbed that when you finally look up, blinking, you don’t know what time it is and are surprised that the world around you still exists.
The lake became a given. A fact. A part of my own geography. Not something to leave behind.
And yet, here we are, driving to Omaha, and leaving it behind.
Farewell, Michigan. You’ve been so good to us. We’ll see you next year, when you emerge from your winter hibernation and we can do it all again.
Introducing the Cheap and Easy series. From now through the end of the year, each week will include a new recipe that’s easy to make and won’t break the bank. Because that’s just where I’m at right now and I’m thinking you might be too.
Starting us off are two stuffed pepper recipes - one with meat and one without. Serve either one with jicama and apple salad and homemade flour tortillas, although to be honest, stuffed peppers are a hearty and satisfying meal all on their own.
But also, do you really want to turn down homemade tortillas?
No, of course you don’t. Me either.
Meatless Stuffed Peppers with Corn Chips and Cheese
My husband and our daughters looked at me crosseyed when I said I was going to top stuffed peppers with Fritos. One of our daughters was like, “Have you ever bought a bag of Fritos in your life?”
Which, of course I have. But, she’s exaggerating a true point: I don’t buy a lot of packaged, prepared foods, and chips are generally not something I’ve kept in the house. (When our kids were teenagers they definitely held this against me. They probably still do.)
Lest you misunderstand, dear reader, not having chips in the pantry is just a matter of choices because we almost always have ice cream in the freezer along side a variety of really good chocolate bars.
You have to prioritize your junk food choices and, for me at least, chips don’t usually make the cut. (Also, I consider ice cream and chocolate essential food groups, not junk food.)
But, I wanted my stuffed peppers to include a blanket of crunchy corn chips under melted cheese. And wowowow, was I ever onto something because these meatless stuffed peppers are so satisfyingly delicious.
Not only are they layered up with plenty of smoky chili flavor, the combination of textures - tender crisp peppers, creamy black beans and rice, crunchy corn chips, and melted cheese - is killer. In a good way.
Also, these meatless stuffed peppers are my ideal combo of pantry items and fresh produce.
I almost always have a can or two of black beans and chopped green chilies in the cupboard, a bag of rice in the drawer, and some cheese and Better Than Bouillon in the refrigerator.
That means, all I have to do is pick up a few bell peppers, a jalapeño and a bag of fritos and stuffed peppers are less than an hour away.
All that and they won’t break the bank. Take your wins where you can, and these peppers are a triumph on every level.
Stuffed Peppers with Ground Beef
These stuffed peppers are the result of being hungry with very little in our refrigerator and a deep determination to not go to the store. I know you’ve been there.
I rummaged around and found a couple of bell peppers, some ground beef left over from making hotdish with Stephanie, and a hunk of cheddar.
45 minutes later, with a happy belly full of ground beef stuffed peppers, I was already scheming about making them again. I wanted a more intense chili flavor and also thought that a handful of tortilla chips might be a good idea.
It was a very good idea. The crunchy chip and cheese covered top of these stuffed peppers just might be my favorite part.
These are deliciously satisfying, super easy to make, and won’t break the bank. What’s not to love about that?
Jicama and Apple Salad
This is one of those salads that bridges the gap between summer and fall in the best way. It’s light, crisp, tart, and refreshing. It’s quick and easy to make and packed with nutrition.
The salad includes sliced jicama, green apples, and radishes with a touch of jalapeño and fresh cilantro all tossed together in a light honey lime dressing. It stays crisp and fresh for hours and is just as welcome at a summer cookout as it is on a cozy fall evening eaten alongside a plate of stuffed peppers.
Homemade Flour Tortillas
If you’ve never made homemade tortillas, let this be the week you give them a go. They are easier than you might think and so, so, so much better than anything you can buy in a store.
They require just a small handful of tortillas (the secret is butter!) and very little effort. But the payoff is huge and you’ll be lucky if you don’t eat them all before getting them to the table.
Calling all apple lovers!
Are you an apple lover like me??? Then I’ve got a free ebook for you with 17 of my favorite recipes!
This and That
My good friend looking absolutely adorable in her new Let’s Get Lost bucket hat walking her equally adorable dog on the beach. ❤️
Be like my friend and get yourself a bucket hat and a cute dog, and a beach.
From the notes feed…
What’s happening in the Lost Supper Club
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I am obsessed with my new mini pie plates and will very soon bring you several brand new mini pie recipes. Until then, we have chicken pot pie.
Chicken Pot Pie for Two + Foolproof Pie Crust
I was a young mom. Steve and I met in high school and married soon after graduation at the tender ages of 18 and 19. Our son came along less than two weeks before I turned 21.
The No Recipe Required Cookbook
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“My mind prefers to spend its time in the future, with short visits to the here and now before returning to the land of infinite possibilities. It resides in a time that doesn’t exist yet but might someday, if I can dream it into existence.”
Beautiful writing, Rebecca. The fun recipes are the icing on the cake! Enjoy this transition into autumn 💕
Becoming sailors has obviously been a profound and rewarding experience for you both! It sounds like a new “love of your life” for you both. I love Fritos (they are my secret, now not so secret, pleasure)!