2018 was a big year. We launched our own line of home and kitchen products, our podcast Burnt Toast saw its third season, and Genius Desserts was born. We explored the intersections of food and culture, personal and national history, body issues, depression, and why the heck no one's talking about Cuban pizza.
Here are 10 of our favorite stories (of many) from what was a very exciting, thought-provoking year. We can't wait to share more of them with you in 2019.
"'If you work in a bakery,' a woman in the back row hollered, 'why are you so thin?' She had short hair and big earrings and dropped the last word the way you would a dirty dish towel."
"I'd always thought that you're supposed to learn something about yourself when you come out, but I think I learned more about my parents."
"Clara Cannucciari became internet famous at 91 years old. She was 66 when video cameras first went on sale and 74 when the World Wide Web was born."
"In the backyard of my grandparents' house on the island of Sardinia, off the western coast of Italy, there was a fig tree."
"Perhaps she considered her life unremarkable, or didn’t want to bore us with the details. The story of her green spaghetti shed light on some of what she'd experienced."
"In some instances, cornbread was the 'glue' that held stewed vegetables together so that diners who couldn't afford utensils could eat with their fingers."
"In this golden culinary past, people remained friends forever, couples never divorced, families never fell apart."
"As Alzheimer's slowly enveloped her, and she began to lose her sense of the present—movie titles, directions, occasionally my mother’s name—such dark memories seemed to hold her in their grip."
"This sophisticated balance of sweet and savory signaled to me that there was much more to Cuban cuisine than what I was raised to believe."
"I was at once embarrassed and touched that, in the midst of my great, leaden loneliness, someone was watching over me the whole time. It made me wonder if we’re ever really alone."
What was your favorite story to read this year? Is there a recipe or subject you'd like us to tackle in 2019? Let us know in the comments below.
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