There’s no place like home. I spent this week mostly laying low and it felt so good. Doing little things like picking up our CSA, cooking dinner, making granola, and going to physical therapy. It’s not groundbreaking but it feels good.
I also shared the best of July (recipes & more) with a subject line that I hope makes you giggle.
This weekend, we’re hosting a major family event: a joint birthday party for my parents. We’ve been doing months of prep and I’m so excited for it. We have relatives traveling from all over to attend, including both of my grandmas, and I know it will be a night to remember.
On Friday, I’ll be sharing a more personal essay about hurting my foot (spoiler alert: it sucks, but there are things to learn from it).
Now, let’s dive in.
Jared and I had lots of produce to use up so I made pistachio pesto with all the basil and Jared used our onions and tomatoes to make a caponata of sorts with anchovies, white beans, and garlic. I added some cottage cheese to the pesto to make it creamier and tossed it with Brami radiatori. We had the caponata on sourdough toast with anchovies. Jared got Fishwife anchovies and they were really a treat.
I saw Hilary Duff on Thursday, which was wonderful. Metamorphosis was the first CD I ever owned and the whole concert was so nostalgic and fun. She even performed The Math for the first time on the tour and scream singing Why Not, Come Clean, and What Dreams are Made of was such a blast. Her daughters came out on stage and had (cold) Joe’s Pizza, engaging in some heated “best pizza in NYC” discourse. She described the show’s energy as a slumber party where you stay up way too late but really needed that and she was right. Summer is for staying up late and not regretting it the next day. Before the show, I made myself dumplings with cucumbers and edamame, dressed with Heydoh soy sauce (ABIGAIL gets you 10% off) and a little bit of rice vinegar. A dumpling salad if you will a la Hetty Lui McKinnon
On Friday, we wanted to use our CSA corn so we sautéed it with some garlic and tossed with with cherry tomatoes and farro. We topped the whole thing with fresh mozzarella and lemon zest, which made all the difference. To start, we made bruschetta with cherry tomatoes and drizzled it with a bit of balsamic we brought back from Italy. Summer produce is the gift that keeps on giving.
One of the CSA tomatoes needed to be eaten immediately so we made some tomato toasts with butter and flakey salt. The tomato juices soak into the bread in the most wonderful way.
Leah and Erika invited me over for a taco night with refried beans, cheesy rice, and all the toppings: avocado, lime, CSA romaine, salsa, and hot sauce. I brought two kinds of tortillas: flour tortillas from El Mercado Gonzalez in Costa Mesa. I brought these home over Thanksgiving and keep them in the freezer. I also got corn tortillas at the Meat Hook from a place in Queens that are so good.
On Sunday, I made granola with pistachios and almonds and got started on our CSA haul with crispy tofu tacos. I’ve made lots of types of tofu and lots of types of tacos, but this technqiue was new to me: you grate the tofu and roast it with tons of spices, then you add tomato paste and cook it some more. The result is super umami forward and crispy, it’s delicious. This is one of those recipes with pretty wide oven timing ranges so watch it to make sure it doesn’t burn. My oven is weak so I let it go a bit longer than she aid. I served the crispy tofu in tortillas with a version of the avocado mayo in the recipe, grated jack cheese, and a slaw made from CSA cabbage, celery, and red onion.
We celebrated National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day with the Tate’s team (client) with a team dinner and the shining star: Butterfield Market Frozen Yogurt topped with a Tate’s cookie. How bad can that be?
It was a big frozen treat week and Christina Heiser, Angela, and I got vegan soft serve at Matchaful. They have a matcha banana swirl that’s really good and not too sweet. If you’re celiac or otherwise GF, you need Christina’s newsletter Celiac Self-Care. She also hosts celiac friendly meetups.
Lizzi is in town which means dinner at Lighthouse! We split all the mezze and I got a tahini caesar which was perfect. It was made with little gem lettuce cause I am still very uncertain about what foods are safe, with new recalls being discovered everyday. The underfunding of the FDA and the lack of leadership that believes in science is making people sick and worse.
Oset and I got brunch at Hoexter’s on the Upper East Side where we had eggs and sourdough toast before a delightful hang with her daughter, who is almost walking. There’s nothing like a giggly baby who is down to hold your hands and walk around. Oset also writes a fab substack Service Continu and has the scoop on the best drinks menus in the city, NA and alcoholic.
I’m so excited for Alex’s new baking cookbook (preorder it, it comes out in late September) and this feature is so lovely!
The best ice cream in New York City by Mahira Rivers. I’ve been to 8 of these and my beloved Screen Door and Eddie’s Sweet Shop are on it!
Amanda Dobbins shares her favorite things.
I shared this hand sanitizer with our group after we got a little messy post froyo and multiple people commented on the smell. I buy the big container and decant into the smaller one.
Ann Friedman and Jade Chang on ways to DIY a writing retreat. I want to do something like this over the winter.
If you followed Brooke Averick on TikTok during lockdown, you should read her debut novel about a very anxious 29 year old looking to lose her virginity before her 30th birthday. Especially when subway stations are saunas, having a good book to read on your commute is vital.
Bowen Yang in Oh, Mary is huge news. Definitely going to see it!
Finding a space between denial and doomerism with regards to climate by Anya Kamenetz
We’re going to miss our consumer protections: both around lettuce and our 401ks.
Take care this week! Stay cool and stay safe and I hope you’re eating some wonderful produce and ice cream. Those are the summer rules.
xo, Abigail
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