Mom's Chopped Coleslaw -- The Recipe That Carries Her Hands

Canning in Grinnell. August, still. The ritual that doesn't stop. Mom can't stand at the stove for long — the fatigue hits in waves, sudden and heavy — but she sits and directs, and I do the lifting and pouring and processing, and the kitchen fills with steam and the jars line up on the counter and the pop of the lids sealing is the same sound it's always been.

Roger brought in sweet corn from his garden — six ears, small, a silver queen variety. Six ears. Enough for two quarts. I blanched them and cut the kernels and the smell was the August smell, the corn smell, the smell that is Marlene and Roger and this kitchen. Mom stood at the counter for those two quarts. She stood and she filled the jars and she wiped the rims and she tightened the lids and she processed them herself, because these were Roger's corn and Roger's corn deserved her hands. She processed two quarts and then she sat down and closed her eyes and I put my hand on her shoulder and she put her hand on my hand and we stayed like that while the canner hissed.

I canned twenty more jars that week — green beans, pickles, tomato sauce from Roger's garden Romas. Combined with what I'd already canned in Des Moines, the total for this August is over seventy jars between both kitchens. Seventy jars. More than any year before. I am canning against the future. I am preserving against the winter that is coming, the winter that is not just a season but a permanent condition, the world without Marlene in it, and the jars are my defense, my ammunition, my evidence that she was here and she taught me and the teaching is in every jar, sealed and labeled and waiting on the shelf for the day when I open one and the steam rises and the kitchen smells like every August that ever was.

Kevin sends photos of the kids. The garden is still producing — Jack harvests and Jack cooks simple things, grilled cheese and tomato soup from the Romas, the boy feeding himself and his siblings with food he grew. Noah practices saxophone. Emma has started a pandemic art project: a series of portraits of family members, rendered in colored pencil, hung in the hallway. She drew Marlene from a photograph — the wedding photo, young Marlene, twenty years old, the face I see when I close my eyes, the face that is changing now, sharpening, the flesh receding, the bones becoming the architecture that the flesh once softened.

After those two quarts of Roger’s corn were processed and the canner had gone quiet, we needed something simple to eat —something that required no heat, no hovering, just a knife and a bowl and whatever the garden still offered. Mom’s Chopped Coleslaw is exactly that kind of recipe: the one she made without measuring, the one I watched her hands make so many times that my own hands learned it without being taught. It belongs to August the same way the canning does, and sitting across from her with a bowl of it between us felt like one more way of keeping the season.

Mom’s Chopped Coleslaw

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1/2 medium head green cabbage, finely chopped (about 4 cups)
• 1/4 head red cabbage, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded or finely chopped
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil (such as canola or vegetable)
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

1. Chop the vegetables. Finely chop the green cabbage, red cabbage, carrots, green onions, and bell pepper. Aim for small, uniform pieces so every forkful has a little of everything. Add all chopped vegetables to a large mixing bowl.
2. Make the dressing. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the white wine vinegar, sugar, oil, celery seed, dry mustard, salt, and black pepper until the sugar is fully dissolved.
3. Dress and toss. Pour the dressing over the chopped vegetables and toss thoroughly to coat. Taste and adjust salt or vinegar as needed.
4. Rest before serving. Let the coleslaw sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, or refrigerate for up to an hour, to allow the flavors to meld and the cabbage to soften slightly. Toss once more before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 85 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 10g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 210mg