I still love romance and amethyst jewelry and staring at the sun reflecting on bodies of water from a car window. I still love Stephen Sondheim and compliments and the recitatives in Handel’s Messiah. But if there’s one great longing that rises above the rest and connects me to who I truly was between the tender ages of 10 to 13, it is my love of playing hooky.
Taking a day off as an adult can connote responsibility. Doctors appointments. Cleaning out your closet. Or it can suggest fun—going to the beach or a movie, spending time with your partner or kids. These are worthwhile activities, but they are not what I mean. I am referring specifically to the exquisite pleasure of staying home when everybody else in your household is gone. I am referring to that gorgeous, uninterrupted solitude, that blissful pause in the churning busyness of everyday life.
This story concerns such a day. I was 11, and in the past year I’d discovered a foolproof tactic to get me out of school. Desperate for that pause from the routine, that sense of stolen time, I developed a way of appearing undeniably sick, and did it frequently enough so that neither of my parents could miss any more work to stay home with me.
That day, after everyone had left, I settled onto the couch, inappropriate snacks in a bowl, inappropriate television on the screen, my dog, Lisa (who I wanted to call Isobel but came with her name), curled on my lap. It was the dawn of expanded cable, and during the commercials for Divorce Court I flipped around, eventually landing on one of the new channels that, at the time, was considered so niche that people made jokes about it. The Food Network.
Esta historia es de la edición May 2023 de Bon Appétit.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición May 2023 de Bon Appétit.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
The Bargaining Table
To face her toughest critic, chef Michelle Bernstein of Miami's Cafe La Trova empowers her kid with choice
Into the Woods
The only thing standing between me and a perfectly executed faux sick day was...a cake
Built to Last
California design studio Commune outlines sustainable strategies for kitchens
In the Limelight
At Este in Austin, pastry chef Derrick Flynn's Oaxacan crema semifreddo is like a Key lime pie that went on vacation to the Mexican coast
VEGAN FOR EVERYONE
This one's for the vegans, and the sometimes vegans, and the never vegans, and anyone who wants a fast, filling, and delicious weeknight dinner that also happens to be vegan
Trash Talking
At Shuggie's in San Francisco, everything is garbage and that's a good thing
DIGGING AT THE ROOTS
In her latest book, Ever-Green Vietnamese, beloved teacher and food writer Andrea Nguyen takes a closer look at the plant-centric origins of her culinary heritage
DO YOU KNOW YOUR WATER FOOTPRINT?
You’ve heard of a carbon footprint. But hinking about its lesser-known counterpart is becoming ever more urgent
Take It Slow
For Pierce Abernathy and environmental art collective Aerthship, mindful eating is a way of life
Soufflé for Seder
Claire Ptak, owner of London bakery Violet, makes a lofty molten chocolate cloud that's kosher for Passover