Bagels Against Fascists 🥯

stress baking our way through this election

Women’s March here in LA 2017

I don’t know about you, but I plan on eating my feelings until the end of the year. It’s the only thing that makes any sense. This US presidential election has my brain in tatters. The most horrific news story breaks, then another one, and another one, and it just doesn’t seem to matter. People are still voting for that man, despite *gestures to everything*. Those aren’t leaf blowers you hear every morning, it’s the sound of women waking up and screaming at all of this insanity. None of this is normal. I grew up watching the news every night with my mom; politics and voting were always topics of conversation. I was excited to register to vote when I turned 18 and I wouldn’t shut up until all my friends were registered too. My grandmother was born in 1919, the year before women got the right to vote in this country. I make choices every day that she could never imagine making for herself back then in Oklahoma. I don’t take my hard-earned civil rights for granted. I remember the hanging chads in 2000, the Swift Boats of 2004, all the Palin bullshit in 2008, the insane rhetoric and sexism of 2016, the fear in 2020, but this year? This year is fucking bananas. Every one of us who’s still cooking, cleaning, raising kids, taking care of loved ones, or going to work deserves a damn medal. Me? I’m stress baking through the election.

From a homemade election map in 2008. I thought that would be the craziest election in my life. Ahhhh, simpler times.

You don’t need me to tell you how to vote. History, logic, and common sense all tell you to never vote for a fascist. You know that. But what do you do after you vote? You’ve told your friends, registered people to vote, checked in on family who might need help getting to the polls or sending in their absentee ballots, and then what? Now you’re just left to absorb the increasingly unhinged news coverage of treasonous acts as though it’s just another day. Not me. You can catch me in the kitchen, doom scrolling between my baking projects. You should be too. It helps with all the stress. Baking is something you can control; steps taken to create a foreseeable outcome. It’s like a meditation and a science experiment rolled into one. Feeling in control of something will help us keep our sanity. Right now, I’m going all in on bagels. Vigilance and hope are both easier on a full stomach. Trust me on that.

Baking has a grounded rhythm. Mixing the dough, watching it rise, shaping it into bagels, boiling and baking them takes an amount of time you can’t negotiate away. It helps you stay present and stops your mind from drifting into one of the 10 million worst case scenarios you can imagine. Stay busy. Yes, you might end up with an avalanche of bagels. That’s ok, they freeze like a dream. You don’t need to stress eat every single one. But I wouldn’t judge you if you do. These are extraordinary times. You could be enjoying a delicious homemade bagel from the freezer every day through the new year. We know this bullshit won’t be over quickly so might as well start storing some reserves. Plus, this will save you money in the long run. Homemade food always does. Stress bake to save your sanity, your bank account, and your optimism. We are turning the page on this horrible time in history. It’s almost over. I have hope. You should too. But you should also have bagels.

Need a recipe? Tomorrow I’m dropping my current obsession: seasonal, autumn bagels. I’ve got pumpkin, cinnamon apple, and a carrot cake flavor ready to go for you. They’re delicious, easy to make, and will keep you grounded while the world stays insane. Give it a try. Even if they don’t help with your stress for some reason, you still get homemade bagels. It’s worth a shot.

Still have enough working brain cells to throw a Halloween party? I’ve got some recipes that will help you host all the ghosts you could ever want. Grab a copy of my latest ebook before the veil closes for the year.

Thank  you again for all your support here at Stir the Pot. I’m so grateful to have you lovely people to chat with every weekend and I hope you join me in stress baking our way to a safe, sane presidential election.

xoxox,

Michelle