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WE’RE MORE THAN HALFWAY THROUGH 2023, and that calls for a short time-out. Just long enough to sit down at the kitchen table and make sure everyone is on the same page. Back when my kids were young and in school, we used to do that fairly routinely. Everyone gathered and said what homework they’re working on, if any projects were due, where mom would be traveling this week, oh, and what dad would be fixing for supper! We had order and disorder in that house of two working parents, especially when one of them—me—was often on the road writing and promoting my books. It wasn’t perfect, but nothing really is. You do the best you can, and considering my children still speak to me and want to hang out with me on vacation means maybe we navigated those years all right. But what about you? Were you wondering: What is Between the Layers? Did you think it would be a newsletter about frosting cake? Often it is, and often not.
For those of you who are new, and for those who need reminding, this is a newsletter about life and how it intersects with food.It is not about getting dinner on the table, although I often share some fabulous recipes for just that. It is also a bit about history when appropriate because I can’t help but bring in historical context when it seems right. And there’s the chemistry of cooking and baking, too, which I include to help us. How are we ever going to get better in the kitchen if we don’t understand how the processes work, right? This week’s roasted peaches recipe is a great example. Soft fruits like peaches are mostly water, but when they roast that water evaporates and their flavors condense and become more profound. In fact, roasting is the best hack for so-so fruit. Our mothers knew that with the curried fruit casserole! Toss with sugar, butter, and spices, and then let the heat of the oven do the rest.
Which gets me to one of the most frequent questions I receive from friends and readers when we talk about this newsletter:Q. How do you keep finding things to write about?A. It is crazy that after more than 40 years of writing about food, I can still think of something to write about twice weekly. For our newcomers, Tuesday—today—is a free post for all. And on Thursday, I write a paid post, which is more like a conversation. I will often get specific - last Thursday it was how to make a fabulous gluten-free lemon drizzle cake and perfecting a recipe found on vacation. It might be just sneak-peek photos from an upcoming cookbook photo shoot. It might also be an open thread—you and I discuss a topic, which is what we’re doing this week. I love how the Thursday posts are random and yet personal. They allow me the freedom to be me. And from a financial perspective, they let me take this newsletter seriously as a business. But the ideas? Some are calendar driven, but most just come to me on a walk, or before I wake up in the morning or in conversations with friends. They come to me when I am supposed to be paying attention to a lecture or a Zoom call—oh, how the mind wanders!—and then I madly reach for my phone or a scrap of paper to take notes. They come to me driving, and I am so glad I figured out the recorder feature on my phone! Story ideas come to me while I am cooking and baking, especially if I have that epiphany moment as I once did with pot roast and realized my pot roasts were better than my mom’s because I didn’t add water or tomatoes. The meat cooked in its own juices. Aha! In short, this is a mostly selfish (more on that in a minute) newsletter. I do listen to you, and I learn from you, but it is my ship, and I am a curious captain sailing toward topics that interest me. (Actually, when on water, I prefer that others steer the boat…)
Here’s another frequent question:Q. What do you do with all those cakes you bake?A. I share them with friends or stash them in the freezer. Also the pies, breads, casseroles, green beans and squash from the garden, whole wheat flour and cornmeal, steaks when they’re on sale, shrimp from Florida, pecans, almonds—my chest freezer in the basement is a goldmine, and it’s my friend, yielding meals without running to the store. Just last week, we had a weather-related power outage across Nashville. Thousands were without electricity for days. And yes, I was worried about my freezer and its contents. After 48 hours of tiptoeing around the freezer and seeing how quickly we could open the fridge door and reach in for eggs or milk, a friend dropped off a generator, which we connected right to the freezer. Everything was happy and up and humming, and within hours, the electricity was restored, thankfully. I had managed two days without air conditioning as if I were one of those people in the old family photograph, fanning themselves on the porch. I knew how to charge our devices in the car while driving, and blast the AC. I knew how to run my iPad off a hot spot on my phone, could shower at a friend’s, and my gas range could be manually lit, so it was all about my precious freezer.
Q. Why don’t you just stick to writing about cake?A. That’s been a super-popular question in my inbox and on social media lately. If you’ve been reading Between the Layers for the past few months, you know I have been one loud mouth about gun laws. As in, my state of Tennessee is more concerned with banning books and drag shows than requiring background checks for gun purchasers. It started with a tragic school shooting in my hometown. Three schoolchildren and three adults working at Covenant School in Nashville were gunned down on a Monday morning in March. It changed everything—the way I think about freedom, how comfortable I am driving into the shopping center that once seemed so bucolic, my knowledge of our state legislature and our country’s gun laws, and my role as a journalist with this platform. I feel a responsibility to speak up because it wasn’t always this way in America. I may never have known the violence and prejudice experienced by others, but I remember not worrying about guns and believe America needs gun reform (bring back the assault rifle ban) to take care of everyone, not just privileged neighborhoods and private schools. And yes, it won’t be easy because guns are everywhere. But if we can’t start someplace, are we just going stick our heads in the sand and let this mayhem continue? Aren’t our children and grandchildren deserving of a safer place to live? I do believe America is selfish, or possibly, it’s our politicians who are selfish and want to protect their livelihoods. They are the ones resisting, accepting gun lobby contributions, and we are noticing. More women should run for higher office because most women have this way of understanding that guns have no place in schools and that protecting everyone’s health and safety should be paramount. Come on, Sen. Marsha Blackburn. I am waiting for you to show the heart of a grandmother. These are the things I think about when I am baking a cake, stewing a chicken, taking a walk, or in line at the grocery. Food intersects with life at every moment. Just because we cook and bake doesn’t mean we can’t care about bigger things—love, life, happiness, and other people. That’s what I hope to do here at Between the Layers. I am glad you are here with me, and I always appreciate your perspective and comments. Have a great week! - xo, Anne This Thursday for Paid Subscribers, a Summer Open Thread! Let’s talk! I’d love to hear what’s on your mind this summer. What are you reading? What are the best things to cook or bake right at this very moment? Your best tomato recipes? Your thoughts on guns? You’ll find the link to the thread in an email this Thursday morning. And now, that easy recipe from my freezer. Ice cream with roasted peaches spooned over the top, a simple process that turns the flavor of summer peaches into something deeper and more complex. Enjoy!
THE RECIPE: Roasted Peaches with Vanilla Ice CreamAt the moment I am testing ice cream recipes for a new cookbook, and while I can’t share that recipe, I will share something wonderful to spoon on top of your favorite ice cream. It’s the perfect recipe for summer dinner parties, family vacations, and for just treating yourself. Our Southern peaches are slowly trickling in, and to be honest, I had to substitute some ripened nectarines for peaches today, and they were fantastic! Nectarines are the most forgotten fruit I know. They’re fragrant and easy to ripen, so if you’re waiting for your precious peaches to ripen, tuck a few nectarines into the roasting pan and see what I mean! Makes 4 servings Prep: 15 minutes Bake: 15 minutes
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