This colorful gelatin dessert is as much a craft project as it is a recipe.
It’s because, metaphorically speaking, Kansas exists in black and white.
My world was so joyously transformed that everything, all of sudden, was as exquisite as Technicolor.
Photo: Rachel Marek, Holly Dreesman (food styling)
It’s not only life-altering; it can change the world.
It did for my generation, and has for generations since.
I suppose that’s why some people are afraid of us.
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Prop stylist: Holly Dreesman
To the tradition-bound, change is terrifying.
I came out in 1989.
Fueled by the homophobia that engendered government inaction, the AIDS epidemic raged in the gay community.
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Prop stylist: Holly Dreesman
Queer-bashing was common, even in New York City.
I stepped from my former life into a crisis and the political and cultural movement that confronted it.
Gran Fury plastered “Silence = Death” on the city’s walls.
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Prop stylist: Holly Dreesman
The Lesbian Avengers ate fire at demonstrations for women’s and queer rights.
Queer Action Figures distributed their political comic books.
RuPaul and other drag queens were hosting showcases at a legendary dive called the Pyramid Club.
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Prop stylist: Holly Dreesman
Some activists hated that.
“Talk about AIDS!”
they’d scream, enraged in their urgency to find a cure instead of dying.
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Prop stylist: Holly Dreesman
We needed both anger and humor.
We’d march through the streets, chanting, “We’re here!
Get used to it!”
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Prop stylist: Holly Dreesman
We’re beer."
Liz, Tom and I all worked in restaurants.
For one party, I pressed roasted vegetables into a terrine that resembled the Pride flag.
In those days, the flag was a simple rainbow.
It’s morphed over the years into something more complex.
That diversity is our strength.
Our community shares misogyny, racism and other inequities with the wider society.
My current partner and I have raised her son together.
In my mind, that’s freedom.
Live and let live in all our diversity, and together we experience joy.
They’re going after gay library books, gender-affirming health care, drag brunch.
In other parts of the world, it’s worse.
No matter what the missionaries would have good people believe, the punishment is not commensurate.
Such is the history of social movements.
We think we’ve done the work, then the gains slip away.
It’s one step forward, and two steps back into the woods.
Sure, it still drives me to march in the streets.
The latest iteration of the Pride banner is the 2021 Intersex-Inclusive flag.
Fruit is queerer, anyway.
There’s always a berry or coconut chip threatening to venture outside the lines.
Perfection is not a queer ideal.
So I invite you to tie on an apron and unfurl a rainbow.
No matter how it turns out, it’s yours.
you’ve got the option to be proud of it.
Download a PDFof the flag template.
Using a ruler, draw a horizontal line through the center of the rectangle.
Mark points at 34-inch intervals across the top and bottom.
Draw diagonal lines from each left-hand corner of the rectangle to the 4-inch mark on the center line.
Erase the center line within the triangles.
Brush the dish with oil.
Arrange the fruit: Place the casserole dish atop your diagram.
Mold the crushed pineapple into the shape of the smallest triangle, about 2 inches deep.
Pick up the casserole and look beneath to check and adjust your work as you go.
Fill the bottom horizontal stripe with raspberries in 2 layers, placing them right-side up within the stripe.
Toss apple pieces with 1 tablespoon lemon juice and arrange in the fourth stripe to 2 inches deep.
To hold the fruit in, stack prunes 2 deep in the outer triangle to create a border.
Then fill in the remaining stripe with the blueberries.
Fill in the triangle next to the prunes with dates in 2 layers.
Place 34 cup coconut chips in a small bowl.
Add food coloring and 2 tablespoons water.
Mix to coat the coconut with color; drain well.
Arrange the blue coconut 2 inches deep in the triangle next to the dates.
Arrange strawberry halves upside down in the next triangle, filling in gaps between them with right-side-up strawberry halves.
Fill in the remaining triangle with the remaining 34 cup untinted coconut.
Prepare an ice bath that will hold a heatproof bowl; set aside.
Place 34 cup coconut water in a medium bowl.
Stir in gelatin, and allow it to set.
Remove from heat; add the gelatin mixture and the remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice.
Evenly pour the mixture over the fruit terrine, pressing down on the fruit slightly.
Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or up to 3 days.
When ready to serve, run a sharp thin knife around the edge of the terrine.
Set the casserole dish on the counter and place a platter (or cutting board) on top.
To make ahead
Refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- Daily Values (DVs) are the recommended amounts of nutrients to consume each day.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient.
