Gentle January
Slow mornings with avocado toast & long dinners with friends
For as long as I’ve had a phone with internet (since my junior year of high school), I’ve started the day with blogs. I have a small rotation that’s shrunk over the years, all with varying publication schedules. One constant is Joy the Baker, a New Orleans based baker and writer, who shares warmth, compassion, and cupcake recipes through the screen. I went to her cookbook signing in college and she could not have been nicer. I even won the event’s raffle prize, a food processor I still have today.
Yesterday, I woke up slightly anxious—Erica and I taught a meal prep class together and there’s always a lot of preparation and anticipation leading up to those. I started reading Joy’s Let it Be Sunday post and found a phrase that I’ll never forget: Gentle January. Here’s how she describes it, “At the start of every new year, my friend Karlee Flores of Olive and Artisan reintroduces her concept of a Gentle January. A start to the year where we ease in, recover from the holidays, do things that please us and just take all the diet and detox talk down to zero. It’s a revelation and I’m working on it.” As someone who has long struggled with winter (I shared my winter essentials—candles, joggers, citrus, and more—in last week’s paid subscriber issue), this concept really resonates and maybe it does for you. I’m going for a gentle January with soft fabrics, cozy mornings, and comforting meals.
Now, let’s dive in, gently.
Something to cook:
I am watching the new season of the Bachelor, which means more nights to cook with Julia and Julianne. Omsom generously sent me their new flight, an epic sampler pack to try their products. It also includes a code to get a subscription to your two favorites (mine are the bulgogi and lemongrass BBQ). We made rice bowls with lemongrass bbq tofu and mushrooms topped with blanched broccoli, smashed cucumbers, cilantro, scallions, cashews, and chili crisp. If you want to try Omsom, use this link for $5 off!
Wednesday’s dinner was a true back of the pantry miracle. I made rice, doctored up some canned black beans (smash them with some spices, it works every time), and made a little fresh tomato sauce with starting to soften yellow cherry tomatoes and onion. I topped the bowls with greek yogurt and salsa and they were very satisfying.
Leah and I checked out the new Trader Joe’s in Williamsburg, which was pretty well stocked (it’s in a basement with no service so make sure you have your grocery list handy). We got pita chips, green goddess dip, and Thai vegetable dumplings for dinner (they’re so good pan fried).
On Saturday morning, I took things slow and made a fancy avocado toast inspired by the West, one of my favorite coffee shops. I mash the avocado with lemon juice, red pepper flakes, sumac and salt and top it with salted Persian cucumbers and more spices. Absolutely delicious. The West adds goat cheese but I didn’t have any.
Tilden got The Korean Vegan Cookbook for Christmas and has been raving about it. I came over to make sweet potato japchae with all the veggies. We also did a bit of a non alcoholic cocktail flight, starting with Ghia and soda and a drink with Lyres Rosso Aperitif, Topo Chico, and lemon juice (really good and you can also use the apertif to make a negroni inspired drink)
Finally, Erica and I cooked up a storm with so many of you yesterday! We made a baked pasta with zero chopping required, a tomato white bean soup with coconut milk that I’ll be sharing with paid subscribers this week, make ahead garlic bread, a bright wintery salad, and a coconut rice porridge that I enjoyed for breakfast today. You can grab the replay, which includes the recipes, here and join us for an upcoming class (we also do privates).
Something to order:
To accompany our reality tv, Julia made cocktails with Haus aperitifs. She recently got a sampler set and we did a little tasting and all had different favorites. I really liked the spiced cherry and the citrus flower, but they were all well balanced. We mixed them with seltzer and there are more recipes on the site.
Oset and Natalie mentioned an Italian restaurant in an old pharmacy in our group chat and it was an instant yes. We grabbed dinner at Locanda Vini e Olii in Clinton Hill and it was such a cool setting (they have shelves of apothecary bottles). The food is homey Northern Italian. I loved the white bean toasts, the mushroom pasta and the negroni menu.
On Friday, Julia, Julianne, Hillary and I went to Bamonte’s, an old school Italian restaurant that still had all the Christmas decorations up (Zoe, we missed you). It was my second time visiting and we ordered even better than last time. The appetizers should be the bulk of your meal: the eggplant rollatini, the spiedini alla Romana, a stuffed cheesy garlic bread, and the mussels marinara, which have such a flavorful sauce (if you eat pork, my friends loved the clams casino). We also got the enormous cheese ravioli (they give you steak knives if you order ravioli) and penne alla vodka (not vegetarian so I couldn’t try). Drink Montepulciano and finish your meal with the American cheesecake.
Tilden and I ended our night watching Knives Out (my first time seeing it, so good) and doing face masks. She picked up vegan cupcakes from Clementine Bakery and we were both very impressed by the dulce de leche one. Next time I’m in the neighborhood, I will be getting some.
Something to read:
Rachel Gurjar and Sahara Henry-Bohoskey spoke out against their former employer Feedfeed for a racist and sexist work environment along with wage discrimination and a failure to pay overtime. They filed a federal discrimination lawsuit and the story is a must read. Feedfeed and Jake Cohen, a popular Jewish food person, who was named in the suit, have both disabled comment and tags on Instagram. The Feedfeed is sending cease and desists to people who are supporting Gurjar and Henry-Bohoskey. It’s awful to hear what these talented women experienced and to know how common it is in media and especially food media. The industry has such a long way to go and believing and amplifying these accounts is an important step forward.
The bitter past and promising future of sugercane
To make better mushrooms, squish them
A Film Captures Jewish Life in a Polish Town Before the Nazis Arrived
Hitha shared this interview with Christy Carlson Romano and it’s fascinating. Being a child star is such a loss of control and it starts so young.
I really want to get a cat and this story only convinces me further: They bought a blender. Three weeks later, their cats continue to hold it hostage.
How to make brownie mix taste homemade
It hasn’t passed yet, but to-go cocktails should be coming back to New York!
The Eric Adams administration is unsurprisingly disappointing. His comments about low skilled workers are an awful start and I’m not optimistic it will improve.
I just donated to this verified GoFundMe for victims of the Bronx fire, caused by a space heater, which was needed because the building wasn’t properly heated.
Lessons from one year of living with Type 1 Diabetes
I’m also sharing five more links in Thursday’s paid subscriber post!
Now, let’s talk about the sweet and savory things you’re baking this winter.
Rebecca’s recipe sounds so good and brings me right back to elementary school: I know it's my own recipe but my favorite recipe to make right now are these snickerdoodle chocolate chip cookies!
Xio’s partner sounds like a real champ: My partner made samosa pie from Nik Sharma's Flavor Equation as a weekend baking project and it is so gooooood. Have been reheating in the toaster and eating with coriander & tamarind chutney drizzled on top!
This week, I’d love to hear your thoughts on gentle January! Are there any special things you do to make the month better and easier? As a reminder: this is not a place for diet culture/detox talk. Reply to this email with your thoughts and I’ll share them next week.
Paid subscribers, look out for one of my favorite soup recipes (it’s gotten me through two pandemic winters), bonus reads, and the next installment of Recommendation Station, the TNHS advice column, on Thursday! Subscriptions are $5 a month or $50 a year and if that’s out of reach, email me and I’ll hook you up.
I hope you have a great and gentle week ahead and thank you for reading This Needs Hot Sauce.
xo, Abigail