THE SPREAD

BY TRACY SCHLAPP & DANNY WILSON

Before someone releases, we celebrate by making a spread — that’s prison jargon for “fancy meal” if you consider ramen, instant refried beans, and squeeze cheese the core ingredients for fancy. Prison food is highly processed and made to have a shelf life counted in years. Sometimes I consider that it is counter intuitive to make a meal for someone, when in just a few days he’ll have access to a world of food I can’t remember the taste of — though I often try. Think, things that are leafy and green, or juicy and fresh, or even cheese that must be sliced and melted, not opened and squeezed.
Phillip Luna, Walking Out

Many homes today will be filled with food preparation, sampling, snacking, and finally feasting. Along with your traditions, we bring you audio recordings — Phillip Luna reads his essay Walking Out, a poignant piece about marking a person’s departure from prison. Fernando Pelayo Brambila’s memoir Without Borders describes the harvest season from his childhood in a remote Mexican village and the feast of stone-ground corn tortillas made simply and cooked over an open fire. Finally, read Ricky Fay’s Turkey Call and consider the way we serve one another: “Is this intentional poverty-shaming or is our principal honestly so clueless he can't see how humiliating this is for us poor kids?”

At Oregon State Penitentiary yesterday morning, we put together a holiday menu. Unlike the spread in Walking Out, this one features home cooking. As I looked around our table, I could imagine the men arriving with their covered dishes, shirts tucked in. For most, it has been decades since they have tasted family food. We savored the conversation and asked specific details about recipes. For the record, Mother’s Banana Pudding recipe can be found on the back of the box of the Nilla Wafers, (but you know there is a secret that makes it all her own.)

THE OSP WRITERS THANKSGIVING SPREAD —
STARTERS
Miranda: Pickles and olives
Tracy: Butternut squash soup with fried sage and cranberry compote

MAIN DISHES
Quentin: Turkey
Tracy: Dad’s grilled salmon fillet
Josh: Honey ham
Buddha: Mom’s beef ribs and sticky rice
Ezequiel: Pho
Jai: Spicy Poke

SIDES & SALADS
Devere: Bacon asparagus
Chin: Bacon bits and brussels sprouts fried in butter and brandy (until crispy on the outside and tender inside)
Dustin: Greenbean casserole
Josh: Candied yams
Le’Var: Grandma Na’Na’s yams
Matt: Grama Ruth’s macaroni salad with spam
Danny: Candle salad
Buddha: Papaya salad (Laos)
Le’Var: Grandma Na’Na’s potato bread

DESSERT
Quentin: Pumpkin pie
Dustin: Pie
Matt: Fruit salad
Stressla: Mother’s famous banana pudding

From all of us, enjoy your time with family and friends. | TDS & DJW