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Day 27 – The Last Friday Five of the Series

Posted in 31 Days, Books, Food, Friday Five, Fun, Home, Mental Health, Nostalgia, Seasons on October 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Tomorrow, our Rise and Shine book club is discussing spooky reads and there’s a Halloween party in the evening. On Sunday, there is a book fair at a local bar and our annual Spiderdead show in the afternoon, and then I have an RLA interest presentation (the last one I’m giving this year!) early that evening. I’m definitely taking Monday and Tuesday off for what will be some much-needed and long-overdue downtime. 

Here are five food-related/adjacent ponderings I’ve had this week:

  • I especially love this time of year because, while I do enjoy some spooky things and darker themes, I mostly just love how much cozier everything is. Cool weather (actual cool weather, not the “it’s no longer in the triple digits must be a cold front ha ha” phenomenon) is on its way in the next 48 hours. I will wrap up in a blanket with a cup of tea and a bowl of popcorn while I settle in to re-watch a soul-soothing show or movie any time of the year, but cool weather means I can do that without cranking up the A/C. Tonight I’m probably going to watch something hygge/homey/foodie from this list. My regulars are Chocolat or Under the Tuscan Sun, but the list reminds me of quite a few I haven’t seen in a while, and also how did I miss A Good Year?
  • Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree – I think I’ve found the genre I want to write. Cozy fantasy. This one was especially lovely to me because the main character is an Orc who decided to leave the mercenary life to open a coffee shop. I WANT TO LEAVE THE MERCENARY (I mean, Student Affairs, but sometimes it’s basically the same) LIFE TO OPEN A COFFEE SHOP. It’s like The Hobbit, but if Bilbo had just said, “No, thank you, but would you like another spot of tea?” instead of going on the adventure. It taps into my deep-seated desire to have a home that is so cozy and welcoming that I never want to leave and is also a place where I can feed people and watch their faces as they have those little moments of joy that a really good cup of coffee or delicious pastry can bring. 
  • The main thing I like about joining Tertulia is all the discounts I get (and also I enjoy their co-op vibe). Another thing I like is that I get curated lists like this one in my inbox with recommendations to add to my home foodie collection. Alice Feiring’s To Fall in Love, Drink This has been on my TBR for a while. That may be my next Tertulia purchase.
  • I’m pretty good about keeping my pantry and freezer (and to a lesser extent, my fridge – sometimes some questionable things linger in there) reasonably stocked and cleaned out. When space is limited, it only takes a little swerve in the direction of either sparse or out of control to have me ordering takeout more often than I (and by I, I do mean my budget) would like. But occasionally, I get a wild hair and end up buying way more of one item than I need. Right now, I have so many canned beans in my apartment. I mean, as overages go, shelf-stable ones are my preference, but dang. I guess I’m having beans in just about everything I cook at home for the foreseeable future. 
  • I really could have used a list like this when I was first starting out as a new-ish home cook. There’s lots of great advice and resources linked in here. It also sparked a bit of nostalgia through several moments when I thought, “I remember when I learned that!” It took me so long to figure out that “What are your favorite flavors and textures?” is such an important question for me when it comes to a meal plan that I’ll actually use (rather than one that I feel is a good plan I should want to use – very different things). 

My long weekend is so close I can taste it. I hope your weekend is nice!

I’m writing about food and home this month.

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Day 20 – Free Friday Five

Posted in 31 Days, Books, Food, Friday Five, Fun, Home, Joy, Mental Health, Roots, Work on October 21, 2023| 2 Comments »

I love having a free day. I was off work today, and my car is fixed, and I had cookbook club tonight, and it was just a great day.

Here are some foodie things I enjoyed reading this week.

  • And we’re right out of the gate with some controversy, but I really need to get something off my chest. Sweet potato pie is superior to pumpkin pie. Discuss if you must, but I said what I said.
  • We had a whole discussion about favorite holiday foods and favorite sides at staff. There were divisions, alliances were formed, shots almost fired. It was glorious. Best staff meeting ever. In related news, I need cranberry salsa in my life. 
  • When I find a foodie book I really love, I often re-read it. In fact, of all the genres, foodie memoir or fiction is what I’m most likely to re-read. We are discussing Lessons in Chemistry in a book club at work on Monday, so I’m listening to it again this weekend. It may be my favorite book I’ve read this year. It’s so good. I’m also re-reading Love, Loss, and What We Ate by Padma Lakshmi, and I love it just as much as I did the first time. The stories people tell about food, its place in their lives, and its impact on culture are meaningful to me. It’s one of my favorite ways to get to know someone.
  • The Modern Proper: Simple Dinners for Every Day by Holly Erickson and Natalie Mortimer – I adored this cookbook from the beginning when one of the authors was talking about her grandma teaching her the “proper” way to dice. What little culinary education I gleaned during childhood was learning the proper way (i.e., Mom’s way) to do something. My mom and I once had an argument because I was adding water to the pie crust recipe wrong (my point was that I had seen several bakers doing it a different way and their pies turned out ok…to which she responded “But they weren’t baking in my kitchen.” Welp, they sure weren’t. She had me there.). Conversations like this one were why, while most of my formative memories of food stem from the place I grew up, most of my actual cooking skills were developed when I had a kitchen of my own. Like the authors of this cookbook, I have great memories of observing Mom, Aunt Gale, MeMaw, and (later in adulthood) Dad in the kitchen, but my workable knowledge is the result of experimenting and creating my own sense of the proper ways to do things. It’s how I learned that the way I add water to a pie crust is just fine and also that if you replace half the water with vodka (or gin), you get a flakier crust (the dough puffs as the alcohol evaporates). Sometimes learning new ways to do things is good.
  • And this has absolutely nothing to do with food, but it has everything to do with home, and also I love Jenny Lawson, and maybe someone here might benefit from reading it, and plus…I do what I want. Actually, looking at the drawing, I can picture myself curled up in a blanket, drinking something warm and eating something comforting in that little house. So it IS sort of food-related after all (if you really want it to be). Read all the way to my favorite line at the end – “Sometimes the mistakes are beautiful. Just like you.”

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I hope you’re enjoying this series on the food that reminds me of home this month!

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Day 12 – What I Want in a Restaurant

Posted in 31 Days, Food, Fun, Home, Mental Health on October 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[Wine. I want wine.]

I didn’t grow up eating out a lot – my family is very much a part of the We-have-food-at-home crowd. When we did go out to eat, it was usually to the local steakhouse or to the place where MeMaw and Granddad (on Mom’s side) were regulars. While I was not about to complain about this occasional treat, there were elements present that would deter me today.

Most of the days we went out to any restaurant, there were so many people. They all seemed to be talking at once. It was so, so loud.

And the LINES.

We waited in line to get a table.

We waited in line for the salad bar (which we always were compelled to get).

We waited in line for the bathroom when we drank too much tea that was refilled before it was even halfway empty (which, admittedly, is great service).

We waited in line to pay.

So. Many. Lines.

Seeing how much Mom relished becoming an unapologetic homebody who spent a lot of time alone outside once she retired makes me wonder if we have some of the same sensory issues in common. I suspect this is the real reason we didn’t spend a lot of time at restaurants, particularly on Sundays when it was sure to be crowded and loud.

When I lived in various apartments during college, my roommates and I went out to eat a lot. It was convenient and still felt special to me. After a while, it just became a habit. I was having fun, and I learned to ignore the overstimulating environments. And by “ignore” I do mean “refuse to make the obvious connection between them and my increase in nervous gastro issues.”

The stay-at-home portion of the pandemic drastically changed my outlook on going out to eat. I really enjoyed not doing it and not having to explain why I didn’t want to hang out at a loud, busy place. I still supported local restaurants – most of the ones I frequent adjusted to offer some curbside or reliable delivery option – but I got to enjoy the delicious food and drink in the quiet of my own space. My favorite was the local cheese shop that delivered wine and cheese pairings. I spent a ridiculous amount of money on wine and cheese in 2020.

After everything started opening back up again, I just kept…not going out. People can choose whether they want to understand (or not, and thus hurt their own feelings by stubbornly refusing to employ the empathy that’s necessary to do so), but I’m not going back to that habitual torture.

I occasionally find myself in a busy restaurant with lots of chatter and intense, competing smells and loud music and all sorts of other stimuli, but it’s back to being a special-occasion situation like it was when I was a kid. I still love going out sometimes, but I much prefer a quiet place where I don’t have to raise my voice to have a conversation. I want good service that is attentive but not hovering (I tip well regardless, but I am over the top about it if they hit this sweet spot). I don’t want a lot of bright or flashing lights. Just…everybody calm down and have a relaxing time.

And please don’t make me stand in line.

I’m writing about culinary experiences that make me feel at home this month.

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Day 4 – The Family Coolers

Posted in 31 Days, Food, Fun, Home, Nostalgia, Roots on October 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »

This cooler is currently sitting in my apartment. Actually, there are two of them. They’re identical – right down to the Terry name written on them in permanent marker right under the handle – and neither of them is technically mine. I’m usually pretty good about taking the one I have with me to the farm every time I go, but I guess I missed one of them at some point. No worries. Dad knows they’ll eventually show back up. They always do.

They’re the family coolers.

These coolers have gotten a lot of use over the years. When Tammy and I were growing up, they were mostly used for transporting food that needed to stay cool from the house to a potluck through the Texas summer heat. They were also useful when we had to drive anywhere and wanted to have sandwiches or snacks along the way.

My first memory of using the coolers was on our trip to Colorado to see my Aunt Vicki. The cooler sat in the middle of the backseat, and I was tasked with keeping it from falling to the floor or shifting around too much (why this was important is less clear to me – I suspect it may have just been something to occupy my attention during the long drive). It was probably filled with a mix of our go-to favorite sandwiches and snacks:

  • Bologna and cheese on Mrs. Baird’s white bread (with Miracle Whip)
  • Tuna or chicken salad sandwiches (also with Miracle Whip…usually on white bread but sometimes on wheat for the grownups)
  • Carrot sticks
  • Celery sticks
  • Cucumber slices
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Vienna sausages (still in the can but also in the cooler because they’re “better cold”)

Eating the same type of food anywhere except our kitchen table always elevated it to something special. It made it seem like a treat to us but also must have saved our parents a lot of money on food while we were away from home. Double win.

Now the main thing we use these coolers for is transferring food from the farm to our own homes. Every time I visit, for example, Dad takes the opportunity to make steak, and he always grills more than we can possibly eat while I’m there. We also make extravagantly larger portions of sides, even though there are really just 1-3 more people for each meal.

When we were growing up, this simply would have meant we had lots of leftovers for later in the week. What it means now that there are just two of them there most of the time is that the leftovers come home with us.

I mean, I will take leftover steak (or potatoes…or green beans…or bacon…) that I neither had to cook nor buy. I will take that every single time.

Thus, there is usually one of our coolers in my apartment, a constant reminder of one of the specific ways our parents show us that we are loved.

I’m writing about food and home and how those two concepts intertwine this month.

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Friday Five – Friday, Finally

Posted in Books, Food, Friday Five, Fun, Music, Writing on September 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Half the office was out sick earlier this week. It was madness. I’m so tired, and despite all the work I’ve done every single second when I’m there, I still feel behind. Also, I have ingested about a vat and a half of Emergen-C. So…come at me, germs (actually, please do not come at me. Just continue staying far away, germs. That goes for you, too, allergens. Do not want.). 

But I got to go to Molten Plains on Wednesday and I get to go to cookbook club tonight in my pajamas. So the week is pretty decent overall.

  • Speaking of Molten Plains, the second Molten Plains Fest is going to be at Rubber Gloves on December 8-9. You can see a list of artists and sign up for updates here. It’s going to be amazing!
  • My friend Shadan (host of cookbook club) is writing/has mostly written a cookbook, and her publisher wants her to have a more solid social media following. Highly recommend – I’ve learned so much about food from her. Follow @shadankp on the Instagram and TikTok.
  • As is my custom every autumn, I am reflecting on my resolutions to see how far I’ve come and how much I have left to do (and also whether I still want to do them or if I’ve come up with an even better plan ). One thing that is helping me with my weekly creative goal-setting (and goal-meeting) is DIY MFA. The information on this site is solid, and it helps me organize and prioritize in a way that makes sense to my brain rather than just dumping everything into one big to-do list that never fully gets done.
  • The Booker Prize shortlist is out! I haven’t read any of these yet, but I am most excited about Sarah Bernstein’s Study for Obedience. 
  • Finally, I’m calling it. It’s officially Cozy Reading Season (™). If you love mysteries with lovable characters, ACF Bookens would be right up your alley. 

I hope you’ve had a good week, but even if it’s been a mess, I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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Fall Fun List

Posted in Food, Fun, Home, Joy, Lists, Mental Health, Seasons on September 18, 2023| 3 Comments »

It was 67 degrees outside this morning. I mean, it’s already hotter and is still going to get up into the 90s today. BUT IT WAS 67 DEGREES THIS MORNING YAY.

Of all the seasons, I love fall the most. I wish Texas got more of it. It’s a busy season, though. So I’m taking a page out of Joy the Baker‘s book and making myself a fall bucket list. Except I’m calling it a fall fun list, because 1) alliteration, and 2) when I hear the word “list” every ounce of ambition I have rises up in me and soon I just have another list of chores to do. That’s not the energy we’re going for here. I want to take the time to notice the leaves changing and enjoy it. And also maybe come out of my heat-induced social slump a little.

So here are a few things I love doing in the fall and hope to enjoy in the next few months:

  • Baking something with apples in it
  • Making delicious soups
  • Using fresh bread from the bakery as a utensil for eating homemade soup
  • Taking walks
  • Sitting around a fire with friends
  • Drinking all the warm beverages (except pumpkin spice anywhere near my coffee – I’ll leave those for y’all- please enjoy)
  • Listening to live music outside while drinking a warm beverage (and maybe there’s also a fire or heater nearby)
  • Getting new boots
  • Exploring cozy spots in town (alone or with friends)

This is not an exhaustive list, but it’s a good start. What are some things you enjoy doing in the fall?

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Friday Five – Home (and Office) Update

Posted in Alive, Beauty, Books, Food, Friday Five, Fun, Home, Mental Health, Resolutions, Work on July 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

From The Museum of Ordinary People by Mike Gayle – “The older you get, the more home becomes about people rather than place, I think. The older you get, the more roots are about where you want to be rather than where you come from.”

Our cookbook club meets tonight, and the theme is pickles. Up until this week, I was going to make cheddar and dill biscuits but it’s so very hot, so I’ve made pickled carrots and bought a nice cheese to go with them instead. I love sharing food with these folks. It’s one of the things I look forward to the most each month.

  • This piece – “The Poetics of Family Life” – outlined some interesting insights into the home being its own harmonious entity, not just a reflection of public life and its guidelines. It’s more zoned toward families, but there are some nuggets of wisdom that I’m chewing on for myself, too. 
  • It will depend on how much the paycheck actually changes in the next few months, of course, but I am already breathing easier about finances. The thought of being able to not only make my overall budget and beef up my savings but also have enough left over to go out for dinner/drinks with friends a few times a month without sticking to a diet of pb&j and ramen the week before payday, or replace worn-out clothing and shoes as needed without having to dip into an emergency fund, or just buy cute little upgrades for my home like these pillows on a consistent basis is so incredibly freeing. I might even be able to start a fun fund within the next year for extravagances such as vacations or a car.
  • On being the person you are on vacation…this is a good reminder to make time not only for the practical work that I need to do to make my home run well but also for rest and rejuvenation. I’m working through The Artist’s Way again, and while I remembered writing morning pages from the time I worked through it before (over a decade ago), I forgot the instruction to schedule a weekly artist date with yourself – something to feed your creativity. While I would argue that once a week is not enough (acknowledging, of course, that the time to be able to work in more than one a week is a privilege some don’t have), this was another gentle reminder to not let weeks slip by without being intentional about protecting my calm and creativity.
  • I am at the overwhelmed stage of the new job. That’s fine. Everything’s fine. But these tips on how to stay grounded and feel at home with yourself really came in handy this week. I only hyperventilated once. Good job, me!
  • The title of that last article also reminded me that I need to get some plants for my office because I can BECAUSE I HAVE A WINDOW NOW (those caps are excited-shouty, not angry-shouty). We’re doing two weeks of training for the student staff that I supervise, and then we open all the buildings for fall, but after that chaos has passed, I think my treat to myself after that is going to be some greenery for the office. Because I enjoy having indoor plants but not necessarily planting them, I’ll probably be scouting for new little windowsill friends at True Leaf Studio.

I hope you have a great and restful weekend!

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10 Things I Loved About the Dewey’s Readathon

Posted in Books, Food, Fun, Lists, Reading Challenges on July 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Dewey’s Reverse Readathon was so much fun! While the event itself was technically only Friday night and most of Saturday, I’ve had a few days off, so I took the liberty of extending it through yesterday. It did not disappoint. 

As previously mentioned, links to books are affiliate links to my Bookshop.org page.

  1. Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens – I started this book back in June and just couldn’t get into it. I read a couple of chapters every few days and slogged my way through the first half. When I started the readathon, it was still perched at the top of my book pile, judging me. So I finished it. Quickly. Turns out, it picks up pretty fast at about the halfway mark. I ended up really liking it. 
  2. The Dewey’s Discord – This was the first readathon I spent on the Discord, and I really liked it. I already knew I liked the layout and organization of Discord much more than other platforms where the community congregates; it’s so much easier to find the posts I’m looking for so I was able to engage in more meaningful ways. I always love connecting with other readers all over the world during these events, but I felt more like I was a part of it this time. 
  3. Tiny Love Stories: True Tales of Love in 100 Words or Less, edited by Daniel Jones and Miya Lee – I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THE EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER THAT WAS THIS BOOK. I mean, I probably should have been. To tell a story in 100 words or less, you need to be pretty intentional about which words you use. You have to pack a lot of meaning into a small amount of space. Perhaps I was expecting it subconsciously, though. Perhaps that’s why I waited until I had almost used up all the renewals I had for my library copy before reading it and letting it in. I’m glad I did, and I used the red ribbon bookmark to mark my favorite story for its next reader. I hope they like it as much as I did.
  4. Multiple cups of the coffees my sister and brother-in-law brought back as my prize from their recent trip – Specifically, the Stiff-Legged dark roast from the Fainting Goat Coffee Company and Project Sunrise from First Watch Coffee. Thanks to them, I stayed well caffeinated throughout my reading time.
  5. The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (And Their Muses) by Terri-Lynne DeFino – If I must live in a retirement home someday, I hope it is with a bunch of writers/artists. To collaborate with them until the day I die sounds like the perfect end to a life lived well. I am a sucker for stories about found family, and this one was lovely. 
  6. Simple food – I cooked exactly twice in the last six days, and even then it was just pasta with tomatoes and basil and eggs for breakfast. As much as I like to create delicious meals, I also like the freedom that having a lot of fruit, veggies, cheese, crackers, etc., on hand to snack on when I am feeling peckish. It freed up the time I would typically spend cooking and cleaning the kitchen for more reading and relaxation. 
  7. Sobremesa: A Memoir of Food and Love in Thirteen Courses by Josephine Caminos Oria – I almost took a break to make empanadas while reading this book. While the overall narrative lagged sometimes, the descriptions of the food and the lovingly written family recipes were fantastic.
  8. Adding to my TBR – One of my favorite things about any of the bookish communities I’m in is that they always lead me to read something I never would have known about or picked up on my own. This community is huge and global and has diverse reading tastes. So many possibilities!
  9. Not To Disturb by Muriel Spark – What a quirky story. I loved the dark wit. I could easily see this onscreen. I even started picturing which actors I’d like to see play the characters. Not your typical murder mystery, but I enjoyed it!
  10. Five days of staycation – With the excitement of the new job and office and the impending busyness of August on the horizon, this break was exactly what I needed. I took a few hours off during the actual readathon event to nap because I knew I’d have the time to get in more than 24 hours over the next few days. And I did. I still left the apartment almost every day to go to lunch or take a Pilates class or get my hair done, but I mostly rested and enjoyed the slow pleasure of getting lost in stories. I’ve been in kind of a reading slump lately; it felt good to come back to it.

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Summer Bucket List 2023

Posted in Beauty, Books, Food, Fun, Home, Joy, Lucky, Lush, Mental Health, Resolutions, Seasons, Writing on June 22, 2023| 2 Comments »

Inspired by Joy the Baker, I have been making summer bucket lists for a few years. Summer is my least favorite season, which can feel isolating when it seems like it’s everyone else’s favorite. Sometimes I even trick myself into thinking this year will be different. My April and May self will see all the fun events planned for June and get excited. But when summer actually hits, I want to just curl up in a blanket and binge-watch something familiar (I’m currently rewatching Lucifer and Merlin). 

I suspect I have a little SAD going on, as this time of the year seems to be when I most need to ramp up good mental health habits. So the summer bucket list is partly self-care and partly a reminder that there’s something to look forward to.

  • Experiment with making summertime treats. Specifically, I have been obsessed with icebox pies lately. Some of them are recipes on their own; some are ice cream recipes I just freeze in a pie crust. I’ve got a long list to test and see which ones are my favorites, but here are a few to give you an idea of how delicious I intend my summer to be:
    • Coffee
    • Lemonade (also trying one with limeade)
    • Cherry (and blueberry and peach, etc.) cheesecake 
    • Maple whiskey
    • Banana cream
    • Tres leches
  • Have a two-day writing retreat at home. I am planning for this to be July 4 and 5, but I haven’t decided which project(s) I’m working on yet. I do know that I want to introduce the paid subscriber portion of my Substack by the end of the year, so I do need to edit some pieces to get them ready for the paying public. More on all of this later.
  • Have at least one reading retreat at home. If nothing else, I’ll be participating in Dewey’s Reverse readathon in July, but I’m open to more decadent reading days/weekends.
  • Take a mid-year financial health assessment – not necessarily for the blog (although I may post highlights) but just for my information. I feel like I’ve made considerable progress, but I want to actually crunch the numbers. 
  • Look for joy or luck or magic and document it (journal, Instagram, etc.). Take the lessons I’ve learned from past years’ themes and apply them. 

A medium-to-big life change is coming up soon, and I want to leave space for it. But I also don’t want to forget to take care of myself this summer so that I can keep overwhelm at a minimum.

Do you have any exciting summer plans?

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Friday Five – Weekend Potpourri

Posted in Food, Friday Five, Fun, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, Work, Writing on June 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

This week has been busy, work-wise. I had an interview for a new position in our office, and I think it went OK. So we’ll see! 

As far as reading goes, I’ve been basking in some super sweet meet-cutes this week. This is one of my favorite summer/comfort genres. I’ve listed one of the ones I finished below (others coming up in reading challenge updates), and I am looking forward to basking in more of them during the long weekend.

Here are some recent notables I wanted to share. Enjoy!

  • I love this reflection from Andi Cumbo – Writing Lessons from a Lawn Care Channel. I love laundry for the same reasons. And I concur with Andi –  that channel is really satisfying.
  • That Summer Feeling by Bridget Morrissey was a great summer read. If you’ve ever fantasized about going to an adult sleepaway camp, this might be right up your alley. Of course, you know what will happen pretty early on, but that doesn’t make it less fun. And there are some really wonderful relationship moments – familial, platonic, and romantic – that tug on all the heartstrings. Stayed up late to finish it – no regrets.
  • Getting Word is one of my favorite literary projects, and their annual fundraiser starts Monday. Check them out and donate if you are so inclined.
  • I haven’t solidified my summer bucket list yet, but I have a sneaking suspicion that icebox pies and other no-bake desserts are going to take up a lot of space on it. I am currently finishing a coffee/Kahlua pie (which is really just Nigella Lawson’s no-churn ice cream in a chocolate cookie crust). After the lemon pie that I’m making this weekend, I expect that this no-bake tres leches will be on deck.
  • Cleverly cautious – a classic horse trait. “CAN IT EAT US ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION JULIA.” Shout-out to Jessica who shared this with the office this morning. It made me laugh and laugh. 

I hope you all have a good weekend!

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