{"id":18112,"date":"2024-11-28T09:32:34","date_gmt":"2024-11-28T15:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/?p=18112"},"modified":"2024-11-30T10:14:48","modified_gmt":"2024-11-30T16:14:48","slug":"the-year-of-the-cauliflower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2024\/11\/28\/the-year-of-the-cauliflower\/","title":{"rendered":"The Year of the Cauliflower"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>The Year of the Cauliflower<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-social-links is-content-justification-right is-layout-flex wp-container-core-social-links-is-layout-765c4724 wp-block-social-links-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-facebook  wp-block-social-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=61556140010887\" class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M12 2C6.5 2 2 6.5 2 12c0 5 3.7 9.1 8.4 9.9v-7H7.9V12h2.5V9.8c0-2.5 1.5-3.9 3.8-3.9 1.1 0 2.2.2 2.2.2v2.5h-1.3c-1.2 0-1.6.8-1.6 1.6V12h2.8l-.4 2.9h-2.3v7C18.3 21.1 22 17 22 12c0-5.5-4.5-10-10-10z\"><\/path><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-instagram  wp-block-social-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/boudin_mcneese\/\" class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M12,4.622c2.403,0,2.688,0.009,3.637,0.052c0.877,0.04,1.354,0.187,1.671,0.31c0.42,0.163,0.72,0.358,1.035,0.673 c0.315,0.315,0.51,0.615,0.673,1.035c0.123,0.317,0.27,0.794,0.31,1.671c0.043,0.949,0.052,1.234,0.052,3.637 s-0.009,2.688-0.052,3.637c-0.04,0.877-0.187,1.354-0.31,1.671c-0.163,0.42-0.358,0.72-0.673,1.035 c-0.315,0.315-0.615,0.51-1.035,0.673c-0.317,0.123-0.794,0.27-1.671,0.31c-0.949,0.043-1.233,0.052-3.637,0.052 s-2.688-0.009-3.637-0.052c-0.877-0.04-1.354-0.187-1.671-0.31c-0.42-0.163-0.72-0.358-1.035-0.673 c-0.315-0.315-0.51-0.615-0.673-1.035c-0.123-0.317-0.27-0.794-0.31-1.671C4.631,14.688,4.622,14.403,4.622,12 s0.009-2.688,0.052-3.637c0.04-0.877,0.187-1.354,0.31-1.671c0.163-0.42,0.358-0.72,0.673-1.035 c0.315-0.315,0.615-0.51,1.035-0.673c0.317-0.123,0.794-0.27,1.671-0.31C9.312,4.631,9.597,4.622,12,4.622 M12,3 C9.556,3,9.249,3.01,8.289,3.054C7.331,3.098,6.677,3.25,6.105,3.472C5.513,3.702,5.011,4.01,4.511,4.511 c-0.5,0.5-0.808,1.002-1.038,1.594C3.25,6.677,3.098,7.331,3.054,8.289C3.01,9.249,3,9.556,3,12c0,2.444,0.01,2.751,0.054,3.711 c0.044,0.958,0.196,1.612,0.418,2.185c0.23,0.592,0.538,1.094,1.038,1.594c0.5,0.5,1.002,0.808,1.594,1.038 c0.572,0.222,1.227,0.375,2.185,0.418C9.249,20.99,9.556,21,12,21s2.751-0.01,3.711-0.054c0.958-0.044,1.612-0.196,2.185-0.418 c0.592-0.23,1.094-0.538,1.594-1.038c0.5-0.5,0.808-1.002,1.038-1.594c0.222-0.572,0.375-1.227,0.418-2.185 C20.99,14.751,21,14.444,21,12s-0.01-2.751-0.054-3.711c-0.044-0.958-0.196-1.612-0.418-2.185c-0.23-0.592-0.538-1.094-1.038-1.594 c-0.5-0.5-1.002-0.808-1.594-1.038c-0.572-0.222-1.227-0.375-2.185-0.418C14.751,3.01,14.444,3,12,3L12,3z M12,7.378 c-2.552,0-4.622,2.069-4.622,4.622S9.448,16.622,12,16.622s4.622-2.069,4.622-4.622S14.552,7.378,12,7.378z M12,15 c-1.657,0-3-1.343-3-3s1.343-3,3-3s3,1.343,3,3S13.657,15,12,15z M16.804,6.116c-0.596,0-1.08,0.484-1.08,1.08 s0.484,1.08,1.08,1.08c0.596,0,1.08-0.484,1.08-1.08S17.401,6.116,16.804,6.116z\"><\/path><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Instagram<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Lucy Duggan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The worst Thanksgiving dish I ever tasted was a lemon and lavender cauliflower cheese baked by my Aunt Bristol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">She was an excellent cook. People always said so. In fact, they said: \u201cWhatever else they say about your Aunt Bristol, she\u2019s certainly an excellent cook.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I remember that her cauliflower cheese looked very inviting, just like all the delicious dishes she\u2019d brought in the years before. The cheese on top appeared to be browned to perfection, and although I have never loved cauliflower in the way I love broccoli or chard, I was certain that she had created another \u201cpi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance\u201d. That is what my mother called Aunt Bristol\u2019s dishes, though she pronounced \u201cpi\u00e8ce\u201d in such a way that it sounded like \u201cpiss\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I had loved Aunt Bristol from the moment she gave me a miniature scarecrow for the garden behind my dollhouse. That is my first memory of her. The garden originally contained nothing but little plastic flowers in tiny red plant pots, but later she helped me lay out real earth beds and plant seeds. The plastic inhabitants of my dollhouse never seemed too impressed by the crop of cherry tomatoes the size of their heads, or by the rosemary trees which soon stretched up out of their reach, but then, they had never expressed any gratitude for the care I lavished on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Aunt Bristol read me <em>The Borrowers<\/em>, and when we reached the end and I asked her whether she\u2019d ever caught sight of a real live tiny person cutting bristles from her doormat or taking postage stamps from her desk, she smiled mysteriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Aunt Bristol was really called Olivia, but she had gone to live in Bristol, Maine, after finishing college, and since that was such a long way from Montpelier, Vermont, everyone called her Bristol. It suited her better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">At the time of the cauliflower cheese, I was thirteen. I know that because I\u2019d just fallen in love with Claudia Grace, and I was in a state of miserable confusion because Claudia Grace was a girl (even if she did wear her hair short and try to persuade people to call her \u201cClay\u201d), and I was a girl too, an ordinary one with long hair and a set of miniature dolls dressed mostly in frilly dresses which sat in the living room of my dollhouse looking haughty, and which I still liked to play with even if I was too old for it \u201cby a long shot\u201d, as my father said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Although I was certainly not planning to tell anybody about my unfortunate state of loving Claudia Grace, I couldn\u2019t help thinking that Aunt Bristol would understand. She always came to Thanksgiving alone, except for one year \u2013 the year before the cauliflower \u2013 when she brought a delicious chocolate beetroot cake and a tall woman named Anthea Snow, whom everyone called \u201cAunt Bristol\u2019s Friend\u201d far more often than was necessary. Anthea Snow admired the scarecrow and the rosemary in my dollhouse garden, and gave me some seeds which she said would grow into baby carrots. That was the only time I saw her smile. She had long, narrow fingers and a beautiful sweep of grey hair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">She did not come again the year Aunt Bristol brought the cauliflower. We sat at the long table in Grandmother\u2019s dining room, and as always, I tried to imagine Aunt Bristol sitting at that very table as a little girl. It was easy to think of my mother wearing one of those little blue dresses that never fitted me, solemnly watching Grandmother serve the turkey. And even though my father obviously did not live in that house when he was small, I couldn\u2019t help imagining him too, guzzling sweet potatoes and bellowing at my mother, \u201cYou leave all that to me,\u201d but in a tinny little boy voice. I never could imagine my Aunt Bristol as a child; she was too much herself in her dark blue jacket that looked much better on her than it would on a man, her hair pinned up on her head in a complex pattern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201cWhere\u2019s your friend this year, then?\u201d my father asked her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201cShe wasn\u2019t my friend,\u201d said Aunt Bristol softly, cutting her turkey into thin strips. \u201cShe was much more than that, as you very well know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">My father\u2019s eyes bulged, but I could see he was going to reply with a joke. First, though, he took a large helping of Aunt Bristol\u2019s cauliflower cheese. Meanwhile, my mother tried to change the subject to talk about how proud she was that my brother had been chosen for the school water polo team, and Grandmother asked Aunt Bristol when she was going to come back to Vermont. She always asked that, and Aunt Bristol always said, \u201cJust as soon as the Governor of Vermont offers me one million and one dollars.\u201d But this time, Aunt Bristol said, \u201cAnyway, she\u2019s gone now,\u201d and I took a tiny mouthful of cauliflower cheese, because I always wanted to savor her dishes. It tasted like soap mixed with lemonade and milk. I drank my whole glass of cordial to wash away the taste, but my father didn\u2019t succeed in maintaining such good table manners. He took a giant bite and then spat it right out on his plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Aunt Bristol stood up, and although she looked years older than before, I suddenly saw how small and young she was, too, how she would have looked at the age of seven, her hair black and curly, her eyes flashing as she stood up from the table, letting her chair fall over, glaring at each of the family in turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I looked around, and saw that everyone was choking or gulping water, soapsuds frothing from their mouths. I followed Aunt Bristol out of the house to her truck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201cTake me with you,\u201d I said. But she didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Lucy Duggan<\/strong> is a writer and translator based in rural Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. She is the author of <em>Tendrils<\/em> (Cambridge: Peer Press, 2014), a novel about long-lost enemies. Her work has appeared in <em>The Catweazle Magazine<\/em>, <em>The Spectacle<\/em>, and <em>The Washington Square Review<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>__________<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"438\" height=\"211\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1.jpg 438w, https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1-300x145.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 438px) 100vw, 438px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\">\ud83e\udca0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2024\/11\/27\/the-stretch\/\">Back<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2024\/11\/29\/free-pie\/\">Next<\/a> \ud83e\udca1<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">To learn more about submitting your work to <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/boudin-submissions\/\">Boudin<\/a><\/em> or applying to McNeese State University&#8217;s Creative Writing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/mfa-application-submissions\/\">MFA program<\/a>, please visit Submissions for details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 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: \u201cWhatever else they say about your Aunt Bristol, she\u2019s certainly an excellent cook.\u201d I remember&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[221],"tags":[75,146,100,26],"class_list":["post-18112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall-feasts-nov-24","tag-boudin","tag-fiction-2","tag-flashfiction","tag-fiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18112"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18256,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18112\/revisions\/18256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}