Desserts Here are some of our contributors’ favorite dessert recipes! __________ Peanut Crackups from Shirlee Jellum“One of my favorite holiday recipes that I make every year as gifts.” 10 cups popped corn1 and 1/2 cups salted peanuts1/2 cup butter1 cup brown sugar1/4 cup molasses1/2 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon vanilla Directions:Mix…
Read MoreThe Year of the Cauliflower Lucy Duggan __________ The worst Thanksgiving dish I ever tasted was a lemon and lavender cauliflower cheese baked by my Aunt Bristol. She was an excellent cook. People always said so. In fact, they said: “Whatever else they say about your Aunt Bristol, she’s certainly…
Read MoreA Finch Breakfast Erik Peters __________ The air was already sweaty with summer heat. Early morning rays beat fiercely on the curtains. The living room was stifling, but if I could get a through-draft, it might be bearable by evening. I shuffled to the sliding door, rubbing sleep out of…
Read MoreLast Thanksgiving Shirlee Jellum __________ Candles flickered on window sills and tables, golden light reflected on glass and polished wood, a warm welcome to family members arriving for the holiday feast. A centerpiece graced the dining room table—a handmade bouquet of crimson maple leaves, snowberries, rosehips and dried seedpods. Platters…
Read MoreThe Stretch Mehreen Ahmed __________ Even if I were to bark up the wrong tree, so be it as long as I am barking something. I don’t know how to climb a tree. Wrongs can’t be right until a climb has ensued. I slide many times before I correct my…
Read MoreRubus Sara Gonzales-Rothi __________ Each drupelet an August delight. Borne of leaf litter, restored in frosty slumber, blossoming through the thaw, ripened in sun-bake. Betwixt pointer and thumb, then palate and tongue: delectable revelry. The morn stretches left. The eve, right. We find ourselves. Every need satisfied, here in the…
Read MoreFall Feasts: Nov. ’24 Editor: Vallie Lynn Watson Managing Editor: Karris Rae Associate Editor: Taryn White Assistant Editors: Robbie Hess, Leah Joseph, Jade Turner, Meilyn Woods Crystal White, “Enough to Go Around,” photograph Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson Letter from the Guest Editor by Taryn White Prose…
Read MoreEditor: Vallie Lynn Watson Managing Editor: Karris Rae Guest Editor: Abbie Skinner Assistant Editors: Taryn White, Meilyn Woods Deborah Elam, “Witch’s Brew,” graphic design Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson Letter from the Guest Editor by Abbie Skinner Skinner Prize Winner “Monsters,” “Child’s Play,” & “Bring the Nightmares…
Read MoreGood Friday Julia Johnson __________ Today even crueler than yesterday, you in your suit, tucked in, great and holy Friday. I keep you in the book I do not hold. The brave clouds roll in. Maybe you were meant to balance a glass on your head in my dream. Maybe…
Read MoreFrom Inside Hollow Walls Melanie Whithaus __________ When we were young, my husband witnessed his friend die. It happened during the summer, right before the midwestern heat got too unbearably hot. I never knew this friend, except for that she loved pink and butterflies, as most seven-year-old girls do. I…
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