A New Year
Plus, Brooklyn birthday venues and a new favorite pasta spot
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It’s a new year in the Jewish calendar and I am ready for it. As I’ve mentioned before, this season always feels more like the start of something than a January day. I feel very lucky to get to celebrate with my family—for the past two years we’ve done dinner outside at their house and it’s been lovely. My parents are so generous with guests and my sister and I always invite our friends (this year we were a party of 14 and made place cards). There are certain foods that are always on the table: apples and honey (my mom loves honey and got this really special lavender one), this fig challah (it’s a project I look forward to each year and I just chop the figs small to skip the food processor step), and many desserts. This year, we had rugelach (Ian crushed it), babka from Zabar’s, and apple crisp (Julia doubled the apples and tripled the topping, which was perfect). I’ll take all the symbols for a sweet new year. This salad was a hit as well, we used Japanese sweet potatoes instead of beets.
I don’t usually go to services, but I always do something to reflect: the 10Q. It’s a series of 10 questions sent out during the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which are known as the Days of Awe and the holiest time of the year. It’s also one of the busiest, especially this year. I answer the questions on the site and they go into a vault until next year, when I receive the answers and can look back. Last year, a lot of my thoughts were about the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests, and the 2020 election as well as my recent cohabitation with Dale, the struggle of freelancing during a pandemic, and more. It’s transportive to read those back, along with older reflections. I started doing this in 2014 and it’s wild how much has changed since then. Here are few of the questions (they’d make great journal prompts too):
Describe a significant experience that has happened in the past year. How did it affect you? Are you grateful? Relieved? Resentful? Inspired?
When September 2022 rolls around and you receive your answers to your 10Q questions, how do you think you'll feel? What do you think/hope might be different about your life and where you're at as a result of thinking about and answering these questions?
What is a fear that you have and how has it limited you? How do you plan on letting it go or overcoming it in the coming year?
I usually answer these in a few spurts, as it requires switching gears from my daily work and I never regret taking the time. The questions aren’t religious or specifically Jewish (though the timing coincides with the High Holidays), if you’d like to give it a try.
No matter how you celebrate (or if you’re just feeling Virgo season/back to school vibes), I wish you a sweet new year and hope we can continue to work to make the world better. L’shana tova!
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Q: Hello! I'm planning a little early for my October bday party. I was wondering if you have any recs for an outdoor casual beer garden type of vibe, where people can drop by and there's enough seating for roughly 10-15 people at a time outside. Preferably near Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, but open to anywhere in the vicinity. (For reference, I'm currently thinking of Barely Disfigured or Leyenda as potential options)
A: Happy early birthday! I've never been to Leyenda but I've heard the margaritas are incredible, so that certainly sounds fun. I also think Gowanus will have great options for you! I went to a drinks thing at Lavender Lake recently and it's perfect for this purpose. They don't take reservations on the weekends for parties, but it's never too crowded and if you got there early you could snag a table in the backyard for people to cycle in and out. They have food, great cocktails, and water coolers everywhere. Threes Brewing is another good option: they have a yard and you can reserve for up to ten people (you could have a friend make another reservation for 10 people at the same time to secure two big tables). They also have a burger pop up with the Meat Hook, including a veggie option so people can eat. A little further away is Krupa Grocery in Park Slope which takes reservations for up to 10 people (I'd email them and see if you can secure a table for longer than the 75 minute limit). Their backyard is great and you can always hang in the park afterwards, weather permitting, or continue the fun at the Nitehawk bar. Some of these places might not be taking reservations for October yet, but it can't hurt to send an email and check if you have your heart set on somewhere!
Two final things:
1) Erica and I are putting the finish touches on September’s meal prep class and we would love to see you there! There’s an apple dessert on the menu as well as a delicious pasta sauce and a great salad dressing shortcut. And you’ll receive the recording if you can’t make it live.
2) Dale and I had one of our best meals in recent memory at Faro in Bushwick. I’ll share more on Monday but you should go ASAP and get the heirloom tomato salad and sesame focaccia. I’ve been thinking about it nonstop since Sunday.
See you on Monday and take care!
xo, Abigail