The Very, Very, Very Great Divide

+ Apple streusel cake, Ricotta Bruschetta with Roasted Tomatoes, Late Summer Salad with Lemon Maple Vinaigrette, and Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

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.

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When I was 30 years old, I left religion. Both my husband and I were raised in devout Christian households and that’s how we entered our early adulthood - deeply committed to our Christian beliefs and impressively sure of our rightness.

In our 30’s we left. That’s not what I want to write about today but the best analogy I can think of to describe what that experience was like is this: I was, for my whole life, standing on one side of the Grand Canyon. I knew my side well. It was real and true to me in every way. We were right on this side of the canyon. We knew the truth.

Then, slowly, I ventured over to the other side. I spent some time there, I was constantly amazed at all there was to discover. I changed my mind on many things.

Then, with all my new experiences and ideas and thoughts, I looked across the expanse to the other side of the canyon and realized that I could no longer speak to the people on the other side. It was like I couldn’t remember the language. That’s not quite right… I didn’t want to speak their language any more. And they didn’t speak mine.

For some still living on the other side of the canyon, I was now the enemy. I looked back over my life with fresh eyes and was deeply saddened and in some cases horrified by what I had seen, believed, and done there. Some of them became the enemy for me too.

And the gulf got wider.

And this, my friends, is where I feel our entire country is. Was it always this way and I just didn’t notice? We each live on one side of the canyon or the other and the view is very different there. We don’t speak the same language. The “truth” and the “facts” are in direct opposition. We are taught and presented evidence about how terrible it is over there. We are told, and we do the telling, that “those people” are dangerous and evil. We believe that they spew hate. They believe the same about us.

And so, we each react and prove the other correct.

Do not take this, my friends, to mean that I think our current situation is just a big misunderstanding. I do not. We are drowning in willful ignorance.

And while I have proven that I have the ability to change my mind with new information, I also have some big lines drawn in the sand and feel quite immoveable about some things.

• I think the ideal that ALL people are equal before the law is a worthy goal and that we are all better off when our government, however imperfectly, endeavors to create a system where everyone has a chance.

• I believe in the separation of church and state. I don’t see any evidence, from our present moment or from history, that a theocratic nationalist government is in anyone’s best interest, even the theocratic nationalists.

• I would very much like to live in a world where everyone is free to come to their own conclusions about who they are and how they want to live and that includes gender and sexuality and reproduction. No good comes from a small group of people trying to imprison others in the box of their own making because they believe it is the one true and right way. This is often communicated as “for your own good”. This is not what it feels like inside the box.

• I am highly suspicious of any assertion that is sold as a “god given right”. Because whose god are we talking about here? The rights are rarely (never?) bestowed equally.

• I believe that character matters. It matters in our close personal relationships and it matters even more at the highest levels of power. How can we expect a good outcome when we put the most difficult decisions and complicated issues in the hands of the most dishonest and unethical?

• Democracy isn’t a perfect system but it’s the best we’ve come up with so far. I would like to keep it. Friends, I don’t think we’re keeping it. It may already be lost.

Here’s the problem for which I do not have a solution: You will read those statements from the comfort of whichever side of the canyon you are on. And this will greatly influence how you interpret them. And it doesn’t actually matter what I mean, it matters how you hear it.

So here we are. I do not have any hopeful, optimistic words about bridge building. I do not know how to build that bridge. I’m not sure it can be built.

The tragic truth of human history is that we are much better at creating divides than building bridges.

Growing up in the Christian church, it was common and normal for churches to split and friendships to be lost because of different interpretations of the SAME BOOK.

What then can we expect if we are not even starting from that common ground?

If at some point in the distant future humans are able to experience something approaching unity and the common good, we are still at the starting line.

I hope we get there. But we have a very long way to go.

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Ok. So somehow I am to transition us from that dire outlook to cake.

A tall order indeed.

Here’s what I have for you: it is possible to create beauty and pleasure and comfort in every situation. And sometimes that means baking a cake. In fact, sometimes the very best thing we can do is bake a cake.

How was that? 🙂

On Thursday, many of you joined me LIVE to make one of my favorite Fall treats. Thank you for being there. If you missed it, the recording is now available.

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Join me this week to make a midwestern favorite… Hot dish!

This week’s menu

Ricotta Bruschetta with Roasted Tomatoes, Late Summer Salad with Lemon Maple Vinaigrette, Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ricotta Bruschetta with Roasted Tomatoes

Earlier this year, on a return trip from Mexico, I sat in a restaurant in the Chicago airport waiting for my connecting flight to Michigan. Nothing on the menu looked especially appealing, but the woman next to me was eating something that caught my attention. I asked her what it was and she pointed to the ricotta bruschetta in the appetizer section of the menu. I followed her lead and placed my order.

I'll have what she's having.

They were a delicious combination of crunchy and creamy, slightly sweet and savory, with just the right amount of roasted tomatoes and balsamic vinegar.

Not wanting to travel to the Chicago airport for a repeat performance, I got to work making them at home. This recipe is the result and I hope you enjoy it as much as we are.

Late Summer Salad with Maple Lemon Vinaigrette

If you’ve been here for a while you know I love salads with lots of different flavors and textures. I especially love to combine fruit and veggies and there absolutely must be something that adds some crunch.

This salad checks all the boxes for me and takes full advantage of late summer produce. The nectarines can be swapped out for any kind of stone fruit, and as with most salads, feel free to add additional veggies.

Time: about 15 minutes

Makes two large salads

For the maple lemon vinaigrette:

• 1 small shallot

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

• 3 tablespoons maple syrup

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• Salt and pepper

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the salad:

• A mix of baby kale and arugula, about 4 cups total

• One 15-ounce can of chickpeas, or cooked from dried: How to cook chickpeas in an instant pot, How to cook chickpeas in a slow cooker

• Two small or one large nectarine

• Beets: Oven roasted beets, a jar of pickled beets, or a package of cooked beets that can sometimes be found in the produce section in grocery stores

• About a half of a cup of crumbled feta cheese

• About 2/3 cup crispy fried onions

• About 1/2 cup roasted and salted pumpkin seeds

Instructions:

1. To make the vinaigrette: Chop the shallot into very small pieces and add it to a bowl. Add the lemon juice, maple syrup, mustard, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Stir and let the mixture rest while you prepare the salad. (Allowing the shallot to soak in the lemon juice for a few minutes will soften the sharp, bitter edges.)

2. Divide the greens between two plates. If using canned chickpeas, drain them in a colander set inside the sink and give them a quick rinse with cold water. Divide the chickpeas between the two plates.

3. Cut the nectarines in half and remove the pit. Cut into thin slices and divide between the two salads.

4. Cut the beets into thin slices or bite-size chunks and add a little pile of them on the side of each plate.

5. Finish the vinaigrette: Pour the olive oil into the vinaigrette in a thin, steady stream while whisking with a fork or a small wire whisk. Taste and add more salt and pepper if you like then drizzle over both salads.

6. Sprinkle the crumbled feta over the salads, followed by the crispy fried onions and pumpkin seeds.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last week, many of you agreed with me about the importance of a good night’s sleep and chocolate chip cookies. Of course you did, because you are my kind of people.

As such, I thought I’d share one of my favorite recipes - buttery little cream cheese chocolate chip cookies.

Fair warning: these little cookies are incredibly addictive. My advice is to not even try to resist. Bake up a batch and enjoy as many as you wish, guilt free. We all beat ourselves up about too many things already. Chocolate chip cookies doesn’t need to be one of them.

By the way, these cookies are extremely easy to make. The dough takes about 10 minutes to prepare, but it is important that you allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator for about 3 hours. So, plan accordingly.

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