White Jacket Required by Jenna Weber Page B

been calling me since I was a baby, even though no one else in the world did.
    â€œOf course, come on in!” I called.
    Mom was wearing her pajamas, too, and her shoulder-length blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail. Growing up, I always wanted to be just like her, and it sometimes struck me how similar we’d become as I’d grown older.
    â€œI just wanted you to know that I’m proud of you . . . really. Great-Grandma would be proud of you, too. I think you’re making the right decision,” she said, sitting down on the edge of my bed and picking up one of the faded recipe cards.
    I smiled. “Thanks,” I said.
    â€œYou always did have that stubborn streak in you, just like Grandpa. Once you get your mind wrapped around something, there’s no turning back, is there?” Mom let out a soft laugh and reached over to gently squeeze my shoulder. “But I think baking is much more up your alley,” she added.
    I could hear John’s video games almost shaking the bedroom wall, and Mom rolled her eyes. “See, or rather hear , what you’re missing? That boy will be the death of me.”
    I thought about asking my brother to go to a movie over the break, but I knew he would say no. We had never been very close, but I had always wanted and wished for a best-friend type of sibling relationship. With my living away from home and his being a sullen teenager, that seemed almost impossible now. Still, it couldn’t hurt to try. I just hoped he wasn’t falling in with the wrong crowd at school. Mom reassured me he wasn’t, but I had my doubts. A few times I thought I had smelled pot in his car, but when I tried to confront him about it he just laughed it off and denied anything. John had been pushing the limits in every way since we were kids; he was as much of a rebel as I was a conservative rule-follower, and I hoped he was staying safe. Mom had also casually mentioned that a few times a very cute, soft-spoken girl with long brown hair had been hanging around the house. Of course, whenever she brought it up with John, he turned bright red, muttered a one-word response, and ran up the stairs.
    I laughed and chatted with Mom for a while longer before turning off the light and climbing into bed. A sense of peace washed over me that I hadn’t felt in quite a while. I still had almost two whole weeks at home to think and plan for the change. There would be no more butchery, no more precision cuts, and no more bleeding all over the onions.

    Linguine with Escarole and Brie
    Serves 4
    Peppery escarole, creamy Brie cheese, and salty, crisp bacon—in a word, delicious! If you can’t find escarole, use kale instead.
    8 ounces dry linguine pasta
    2 ounces bacon, chopped
    1 large garlic clove, minced
    1 shallot, minced
    1 pound fresh escarole, chopped into 1-inch ribbons
    Â½ pound Brie cheese, rind removed and cheese diced into medium-size cubes (it doesn’t matter if the cubes aren’t perfect!)
    Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
    Cook the pasta according to package directions in a pot of boiling salt water until al dente .
    Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet until crispy. Add the garlic and shallot and cook for another two minutes, stirring well. Add the escarole and toss together, cooking until wilted.
    When the pasta is cooked, drain it (reserving ½ cup cooking water). Toss the pasta with the escarole in the skillet until well combined, then add the Brie. Cook until the Brie begins to melt, adding a little of the extra cooking water if the pasta gets too dry.
    Season with salt and pepper and serve.

    Old-Fashioned Chocolate-Walnut Torte
    Serves 6
    Ahh, the dessert of my childhood. This torte screams “retro,” and you’ll never guess the secret ingredient.
    2 egg whites
    1¼ cups granulated sugar, divided
    20 saltines, crushed
    2 cups heavy cream
    3 tablespoons cocoa powder, plus additional for dusting
    1½ cups