Democracy, Gratitude, Cake

Not knowing what else to do...

This week, my friend Rory and I were having the same text exchange I’ve had with most of my friends lately. How are you holding up? I can’t focus on anything. I can’t read the news, but I can’t tune it out either. In case you don’t hear from me, I might just go to sleep and not wake up until after the election. After sending a gif (To Do: Inhale ✅ Exhale ✅) Rory sent me a link to that famous story in The Onion that ran a week or two after 9/11. The headline: “Not Knowing What Else To Do, Woman Bakes American-Flag Cake.”

From the story:

Pearson, who had never before expressed feelings of patriotism in cake form, attributed the baking project to a loss of direction. Having already donated blood, mailed a check to the Red Cross, and sent a letter of thanks to the New York Fire Department, Pearson was aimlessly wandering from room to room in her apartment when the idea of creating the confectionery stars and stripes came to her.

Of course, like all their stories, it’s fake and absurd, but could be totally real and absurd, which has always been what makes The Onion so genius. Just last week, when I asked readers for All-Day Kitchen Projects to keep fidgety brains and hands busy, you all came through for me, and the ones that hit the deepest were 100% the baking projects, including:

• From Briana: Melissa Clark's recipe for Chocolate Babka is SO GOOD and SO MANY STEPS…And the pies in Lauren Ko's Pieometry are genuinely delicious, humbling and make you feel like a patisserie chef.

• From Jennifer C: Claire Saffitz Makes the Most Delicious Pastry: Kouign-Amann. It looks so good and I'll never make it but it's the first thing I thought of when you asked.

• From Ninni: In (the late) Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee year there was a competition for the most fantastic pomp-and-circumstance pudding (= British English for dessert). This Lemon Swiss Roll and Amaretti Trifle won. I made it. It took many hours.

• From Julie: Smitten Kitchen’s Hot Fudge Sundae Cake: go the whole nine yards and make every component from scratch so worth it!

I was preparing myself mentally for that Kouign-Amann when a newsletter from A.J. Jacobs arrived in my inbox that made me feel…could it be…Positive? Inspired? As part of a gratitude project,