for gardeners and farmers required a walk out back to the backyard of the Riddle House to see what other gifts might find their way into the pot. I pulled on a jacket and my mud boots and headed out into the drizzle and a rare moment of greater awareness. I walked past the old garden the Mennonites tended for nearly a century before us. I picked two of this spring’s first asparagus spears that Jason and Emily helped plant over 6 years ago. I walked past the chicken that Chad gave us and that Johnna nursed back to health (Don’t worry! He stayed in the coop – for now.) I crossed the bridge that Te helped build. I picked some sage that Jane gave us. I opened the garden gate that Riley built as part of the fence that Darrell built to keep out the pesky deer. I picked the marjoram that Brianna planted from the soil that Carl and Paul helped her shovel. I picked the kale that Oliver loves to eat fresh each time he visits the garden. I picked the thyme that Mac planted. I brought it all back and threw it in the pot that was a gift from my parents.
Aaron Wright is the Director of Brendan’s Crossing, an intentional community program for young adults focused on service, formation and discernment. The young adults live in community at the Riddle House. Aaron and his wife, Brooke, live on-site in an apartment with their three boys, Mac, Te and Oliver. The cast of characters is rounded out with a crazy corgi named Twist, two cats, Clyde the gecko, and chickens (including a blind, deaf, mute, asexual rooster named Shadow). Aaron’s life is rarely quiet and never boring.
I added the stock that Brooke made. And most importantly – I sipped the coffee that Les, Ryan, Adam and Courtney roasted on Greg and Mary’s farm. On this one quiet morning, in this one dish, in this one moment of awareness, all these gifts and all these connections came together for me in this one pot. I thought about the words of Brian Andreas that we painted on the wall of the community house kitchen over a decade ago. They’ve remained a constant truth as eating together has been the one consistent act through all the “fits and starts” of community life. “There are things you do because they just feel right and they may make no sense and they may make no money and it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other and to eat each other’s cooking and say it was good.” And on this morning in this dish I would add, “…to eat each other’s cooking and say it was good and realize it’s all connected.” My wife Brooke often “comments” on the fact that I can never recreate a dish because while I may reference a combination of recipes, I tend to make it up as I go. I’m pretty certain this dish will never be recreated, but here are the ingredients if you want to try:
and Rice: Riddle House Chickenity land for 100 years.
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