Call Your Girlfriend
Pancakes, phone calls, and sticky rice pudding
Call Your Girlfriend is an incredible Robyn song and a wonderful podcast about friendship, feminism, and more from Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow. The podcast ended in February 2022 and I miss it, though I keep up with the hosts through their newsletters (here’s Ann’s and Aminatou’s). The podcast was dedicated to long-distance besties everywhere and even the more serious episodes had an undercurrent of friendship. Last week, I was feeling under the weather and canceled a bunch of plans. I focused on getting work done, resting, and not much else. It was the right call for my body but it left my mind bored and a little lonely.
The solution was right at my fingertips: call a friend. I called my grandma, who is also a friend, and made plans to catch up with Natalie tomorrow. I felt better and more connected in very little time. My focus as Covid restrictions have lessened has been on in person gatherings, which I love, but there’s something special about an old school phone call, not a Zoom or a facetime, but a call. I believe so much of life is about showing up and there are many ways to do that. A call can meander, it can be short, and it always leads to some good stories. Taking a call during a neighborhood walk means explaining the background noises, asking someone to hold on while you order a coffee, and mentioning the restaurant you walked past that you think they’d like. It’s a way to share a slice of life without having to meet in person, ideal for long-distance besties everywhere. If you do nothing else this week, call a friend. And drink some water, that’s always good.
For near-distance New York based besties, I hope you’ll join us at the first TNHS event of year on March 9th in Williamsburg. We’re having a night at Club Curious, home of Curious Elixirs, a NA drinks brand that just celebrated eight years and has a great community. I’m excited to be cohosting the event with them. Come enjoy musical performances, booze free drinks, and meet fellow TNHS readers in a beautiful setting. Alicia and I attended a Club Curious event a few weeks ago and it was a blast—we got tarot readings, saw burlesque performances, and enjoyed delicious drinks. There will also be food for purchase. Space is limited so RSVP at this link and please feel free to bring a friend! Club Curious is near Mo’s General if you want to grab some dinner before the event. I can’t wait to see you there!
On Thursday, subscribers will get my reflections on a major milestone: a decade of vegetarianism! Plus, I’m answering a fun question in the TNHS advice column, Recommendation Station.
Now, let’s dive in.
Something to cook:
I was reminded of the simplicity and perfection of buttered toast with jam and salt. I do one slice with jam, salt, and butter and one slice with butter and flakey salt. It’s not a very filling breakfast but it’s satisfying in other ways.
Subscribers got the cheesy rice recipe I grew up with and a long list of ways to enjoy it. Making it to take a photo was really just an excuse to eat cheesy rice, which we did.
By Friday, my energy was returning and I wanted to cook. I made Grossy Pelosi’s vodka sauce, which requires a lot of whisking. That evening, the whisking was relaxing, accompanied by a glass of wine, the Knicks game, and chats with Dale. I substitute one can of coconut milk for the heavy cream and used cascatelli from Sfoglini. I roasted some broccoli to serve on the side.
Pancakes are one of those foods that are harder to make than they seem, especially with a small stove (growing up, my parents used bisquick and a huge grill pan to make many pancakes). I struggle to flip pancakes and don’t keep buttermilk on hand. Enter Alicia Kennedy’s pancake recipe from her Friday newsletter
. I had everything on hand and the pancakes were delicious (I used banana as the egg replacement and added chocolate chips to a few of them). The batter rests for an hour which was enough time to workout, shower, and get life in order before breakfast on the couch. Highly recommend.
Something to order:
Best Pizza opened a new location on Grand Street and I stopped by to pick up slices. They’re still adding to the menu (caesar salad is coming) but the pizza is very good.
Baba cool is a favorite spot of mine for a coffee meeting and it’s also lovely at night. They invited me to a Filipino pop up with chef Woldy Reyes and it was delicious (and very plant forward). Frida and I especially enjoyed the starters, brussels sprouts with coconut labneh and socca with crispy shallot, dill, and radicchio. The suman dessert, a sticky rice pudding with winter citrus, was so good.
Comfort food is key when you’re not feeling your best and I am always comforted by curry from Sage, my go to Thai takeout spot for almost six years. I love the green curry and the massaman curry is Dale’s current fave.
Something to read:
I share additional reads every Thursday for subscribers.
Appalling: 90% of drivers searched or arrested by the NYPD in 2022 were Black or Latino
profiled Usher at his Vegas residency and it's a joy.Rick Steves was a huge part of my first trip to Paris with my family (Dads love Rick Steves) and I loved this interview about his latest book on Italian food.
At Lodi, a new restaurant in Rockefeller Center, workers are unionizing.
The tyranny of faux self care. I loved how this interview gets at how one activity could be self care for one person but not for someone else. It’s not as simple as a yoga class or a massage.
Shoplifting at Whole Foods (if you see someone shoplifting, it’s none of your business)
It’s awards season and the pantry awards are lots of fun
After a crushing breakup, this couple got back together in their 80s.
The Soup Doula Nourishing New Parents in NYC
Life advice from a decision coach
The Story of Crown Heights’ Beloved Cafe Rue Dix
Andrea tasted so many flour tortillas and found the best ones.
The Gatekeepers of New York’s Most Coveted Tables Tell All
The Ozempic wave and the way people taking it talk about food and thinness is very depressing.
Alone and Exploited, Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S. Children are working for huge companies and it’s so dangerous and sad, particularly in meatpacking and processing. There are so many levels of failure that led to these situations.
Sheryl Lee Ralph and Lisa Ann Walter have a beautiful friendship. Also last week’s Abbott episode…IYKYK
Let’s talk about the little things, which continue to matter so, so much.
Eden’s little things include pancakes (yum): For the second year now a friend and I have been attending Clinton St Baking Co's Pancake Month and I hope to keep this tradition! After we take down a stack of that day's specialty pancakes, we walk it off at a museum. This year we went to the Met and took one of the free tours offered for their Date Night programming. It was such a low key fun day and marked my first big (but also little) foray back into the world post-surgery 🙌
Hitha inspired me to delete Instagram from my phone for a weekend and it was great: Something small that's made my day (week, really) has been the Zodiac Academy series, which my friend Becca recommended. It's a contemporary fantasy romance that feels like a college-esque Discovery of Witches set fully in a magical world. I will say that you can't judge the series by the first book because the character development is transformative over the series, and I can't stop thinking or talking about it (much to the annoyance of everyone around me). Also, deleting social media apps from my phone for over a week helped appreciate the little things - watching my kids play together, the little designs my husband makes in my latte - that I used to just skim right over. Highly, highly recommend.
This week, my ask is that you call a friend! If you feel so inclined, let me know how it goes in the comments or by replying to this email!
I hope to see you soon at Club Curious and wish you a great week!
xo, Abigail