Ice Cream Sandwich Summer
Beach days, meal prep, and spritzes in Hoboken
On Friday, I went to the Rockaways and now it officially feels like summer. We ate at Tacoway Beach, swam in the ocean, and tried not to get sand on the blanket. Then we took two buses to my parents’ house for Shabbat dinner. It was nostalgic to show up still in a bathing suit, have a snack (because being at the beach makes you so hungry), and shower and change for dinner. The city felt alive this weekend, with Pride celebrations and park picnics galore. Summer always seems to fly by, so I’m trying to soak it in (and give myself a few quiet hours to watch the Nanny between all the excitement). I wrapped up the weekend with Erica teaching our first summer meal prep class together in person. We had an incredible time with students from all over the world and the food was delicious. We have three more summer classes if you’d like to join!
Now, let’s dive in.
Something to cook:
My parents really outdid themselves with dessert on Friday. They made ice cream sandwiches from scratch, with black cocoa powder and sprinkles. My mom kept them a surprise the whole night and then brought them dramatically to the table. They’re a perfect summer dessert and I recommend them for any upcoming parties. They made a double batch, which is a good idea.
We started the night with a cheese board with farm cheeses from upstate New York. I cannot wait until I have the storage space for lots of cheese knifes and a big board.
I didn’t photograph the whole meal but we also had challah, grilled veggies, meat, and fish skewers with pesto, and this broccoli farro salad. Such a special evening.
My personal cooking was a lot of recipe testing for July’s class. A highlight was blanched sugar snap peas, a crisp and refreshing snack. Boil them for just under a minute and shock in ice water to stop the cooking.
One of my favorite dishes from class yesterday (it’s hard to pick) was the veggie burger. It’s a black bean patty I’ve tweaked over the past year and I’m sharing it with paid subscribers on Thursday, just in time for the long weekend. I’m a longtime vegetarian, but this burger has gotten raves from many omnivores.
Something to order:
I worked as a poll worker last Tuesday for the primaries and it was a long day (5 am till 9:30 pm). The night before, I picked up two La Colombe Draft Lattes and they really came in handy. Tuesday was very different from my first experience as a poll worker in November. There were fewer workers, fewer voters, and overall, much less enthusiasm. When you vote, always thank your poll workers!
I deeply missed oyster happy hour and have been looking for new spots and returning to old favorites. Lizzi recommended Maracuja and she was spot on. Amy, Julia, Julianne, and I enjoyed $1 oysters and $18 wine carafes until 7. The food is tapas inspired with mussels and clams, mushrooms with manchego, and pan tomat. The signage is leftover from the German bar that used to be in the space so you have to know where you’re going. It’s well worth a visit and the staff is lovely.
Though I am a born and raised New Yorker, I had never visited Hoboken. Dale had a client dinner there and I got to tag along. We went to Sorellina, an Italian spot on a historic stretch of Washington Street and it was delicious. We loved the pastas, the housemade focaccia, the burrata, and the cocktails (there’s nothing like a spritz on a hot day).
Tacoway Beach is one of my favorite restaurants in the city—it truly feels like a vacation even though it’s just a subway ride away. Julia, Julianne, Hillary and I had a beach day and fueled up with tacos (they have three vegetarian options and you can’t go wrong), guacamole, and watermelon juice. Try to get a table in the shade if you’re there for lunch.
Something to read:
Can HR save the restaurant industry from its own toxicity?
Why Stephen Satterfield drinks hot water every morning
Last week, Cuomo ended takeout alcohol sales with one day’s notice. This is incredibly unfair to restaurants, who purchase inventory and supplies months in advance and have relied on alcohol sales to stay afloat.
Making up for lost time this summer
Pandemic neighbors and friends are so special
An experiment to find the best cheese to melt on burgers (the results are surprising, to say the least)
Meet the bagel rollers of New York City (heroes in my book)
Garlic powder deserves some respect
I moved to Hawaii—here are the kitchen items I brought with
How the pandemic changed the way women think about drinking?
Excited that Ten Bells has a new Brooklyn location
Andrea’s piece on nixtamal is beautifully written and so informative
SF Chronicle restaurant critic Soleil Ho doesn’t want to be the first and only
The Making of a Water Crises in Morocco
There’s a paywall on this piece on Great Jones but it’s absolutely worth the read. A very toxic startup story.
Jenny Rosenstrach Knows You Can Do More than Meatless Monday
During downtime on Election Day, I tore through Crying in H Mart, an incredible memoir by Michelle Zauner. It’s sad, evocative, and so well done.
Now, let’s talk about reopening! I’ve been taking public transit a lot as the weeks get busier and am very pro masking there. I went to a bar last week where you had to show proof of vaccination to enter, while other venues are using the honor system. Thank you all for sharing your thoughts!
Katie is cautious for good reason: Love the idea of incorporating more breakfast dates into post-pandemic life! I think I’m going to try doing that with my friends. As someone who worked in retail during the pandemic, the relaxing of mask wearing mandates kind of freaks me out? Since I’ve been dealing with all sorts of people during that time I feel like not ~everyone~ is vaccinated and thus are using the mask recommendations to just not wear masks. It’s very strange to be plunged back into “normal” times! Im interested to hear others’ thoughts about it.
Steph’s comparison to early 2020 is really interesting: As someone who was privileged enough to get both doses of vaccine earlier this year (my state did a great job of making vaccines fairly easy to obtain pretty early in 2021), I am still conflicted by current mask wearing etiquette in public. I am 100% supportive of and ok with masking up anywhere I'm asked to, and I reflexively put on a mask in most public places such as grocery stores and at work (at work I have no idea who has and hasn't been vaccinated, and my employer does not require masks any longer). And I want to be in solidarity with anyone who still needs to wear masks, no matter their reason. But it is VERY spotty as far as restaurant staff wearing masks in my city. If they are wearing one, I usually also wear one. If not, sometimes I wear one anyway if we're not sitting outside. It reminds me of early 2020, BEFORE mask wearing was mandatory in my state. Nobody really knew what to do, so everyone did whatever they wanted and justified it to themselves however they could. It feels like the Wild Wild West to me, but so far no bad vibes in my experience.
Julianne knows it’s depends on where you are: I'm fine with (myself) going maskless in restaurants in NYC and when I was in Seattle (rates were so low and vax stats so high!). I am also feeling better about servers being maskless here; I went to a restaurant on the UWS where the maskless servers had pins on that said "I got the COVID 19 vaccine" and I so appreciated that. Otherwise I will do whatever the rule is; those who don't wear a mask on the subway look like jerks even if they're vaccinated and the subway turns out new air every 3 min. Even if it's not a risk I'm just annoyed by (traditionally male) holier than thou complex. But this all is v based on my own experience where I live and would be v different in places where getting a vaccine isn't the norm!
Liz takes cues from the staff: Since I have been fully vaccinated, my rule of thumb has been "when inside a business, do what the employees are doing." So, grocery shopping = still masking; taking car to the mechanic = no mask. I'm primarily still doing takeout, but the handful of restaurants have been mixed masking protocols, so I tend to err on the side of caution and wear one.
This week, I want to know about your ideal ice cream sandwich. Is it a chipwich? A classic Good Humor bar? Or something else? I’ll share the replies next week.
What else is happening with TNHS?
Erica and I are prepping for July’s meal prep class in a few weeks. Grab your spot here. If you want to take all the summer classes, grab the package for a discount (it includes the recipes and recording from yesterday’s class).
Paid subscribers make these free newsletters possible. Thursday’s paid edition will feature my veggie burger recipe and personalized recommendations. When you subscribe, you’ll have access to the full TNHS archive.
Next week’s newsletter will arrive on Tuesday due to the long weekend. Hope you can enjoy some time off!
xo, Abigail