Make a Wish

A week full of cake, cocktails, and all the celebrations

Hi friends,

Welcome to This Needs Hot Sauce! It’s been quite a week, as I celebrated my birthday, hosted a happy hour, and soaked in quality time with so many people.

Let’s dive in.

Something to cook:

I made this very easy lentil salad last week and it’s definitely going in the regular rotation: the dressing is really flavorful and the feta cheese makes it fun. I enjoyed it over greens and it kept well in the fridge. If you don’t own za’atar, buy a small canister—it’s also great on cauliflower or make a blend of salt, thyme, sesame seeds, and oregano.

I was in Queens for dinner and my mom made these sweet potato tacos. They’re so good and easy to make ahead. Don’t skip the refried beans as they provide the perfect glue for the veggies. I love Ducal brand because I used to eat it in Guatemala or the Trader Joe’s kind. Warm up the beans with a little bit of cumin and sauteed onion and of course, add hot sauce.

Emma hosted me in her lovely new apartment and made stirfried tofu with ketchup. The ketchup got really thick and garlicky and was so good with steamed broccoli topped with sesame seeds.

Our apartment has a new signature cocktail: the aperol grapefruit margarita! I scaled this recipe up for my birthday party and it was a hit, not to mention the prettiest color.

Emma got a kitchen aid and took it for a spin to make this chocolate olive oil cake which she brought to the party. It was so so good and I’m happy to have leftovers.

Last but never least, Bar Nuts: I made these for my birthday party and did a demo on Instagram stories (saved in a highlight). If you’d like to see more cooking videos, reply with requests!

Your next party needs these: sweet, salty, and totally addictive.

3 ½ - 4 cups of nuts

(I never measure these but here’s the sitch: you need to fill up a cookie sheet with nuts. I always buy 1 bag/canister of mixed nuts and then 1 of peanuts to keep costs down. Shop the bulk bins for the best prices.  Use unsalted nuts, preferably raw.)

Seasonings:

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped rosemary (use the leftover in a gin and tonic or with some roasted potatoes)

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon of coconut oil
Preheat the oven to 350. Spread nuts on a cookie sheet and toast until golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Set a timer because burning nuts is the saddest cooking mistake. While they’re toasting, melt the coconut oil in a saucepan and stir in the brown sugar, salt, cayenne, and rosemary. Heat until smooth. When the nuts are toasted, transfer them into a bowl (carefully!). Add the oil blend and stir to coat. Some clusters will form. Return the nuts to the cookie sheet and return to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes until they’re a little more golden and your kitchen smells amazing. Sample liberally for quality control before guests arrive. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Something to order:

I went to Philadelphia really briefly for a funeral. My 100 year old great great uncle passed away and the funeral was beautiful. It was a celebration of connection, family, and love. Leah and I got lunch at Goldie after and I continue to endorse their tahini milkshakes (original flavor) and the falafel salad full of herbs.

That very same night, I hosted Happy Hour at the Topaz. Their back room is a great spot for events (It may be haunted according to a bartender who may or may not have been lying). We had lots of fun hanging and drinking Old Fashioneds. September’s event will be a day party, details to come!

A few of us went to Los Tacos after happy hour and we tried their queso fundido which includes refried beans. They serve it with tortillas instead of chips for maximum cheese surface area. Wholeheartedly approve.

I send this newsletter via SubStack and so do lots of other cool writers. One of Substack’s founders Hamish was in town from San Francisco and hosted us at the Library at The Public. It’s a great space, full of books and New York vibes and there was an excellent crudité situation with a romesco dipping sauce. Need to look into making that.

Coffeeshop dispatches:

I got coffee at The West and stuck around to read the fun sections of the New York Times (travel, real estate, metropolitan and my favorite, the kids section).

Hungry Ghost punchcard lattes are the best lattes.

19 Cafe saved me during a Spectrum outage last week.

Haven’s Kitchen in Chelsea is a very pleasant spot to work. It’s a cooking school and they have a huge library of food related books for browsing. Thanks Erica for introducing it to me.

Leah and I did some work at the West Village Stumptown which seems to always have seating.

Finally, I’m writing this at the Williamsburg Toby’s Estate and Dig Inn because of a big leaking situation in my apartment so feeling very grateful for the “third place” right about now.

Now for a birthday recap:

My dad’s birthday is this week so we had a joint birthday dinner at Barano. Right under the Williamsburg bridge, this restaurant is so good. The pastas are incredible —the saffron gigli is pink and slightly sweet, the fazzoletti had a green garlic stripe, and the mushroom ravioli was perfect. Start with a zucchini blossom pizza which you cut yourself, order wine and cocktails and definitely get dessert. The cannoli and the torta caprese (a super chocolatey tart) are classics and there’s currently a smores special. If you don’t have a special occasion coming up, visit Barano for their happy hour, which goes till 7:30 at the bar. They make a mean aperol spritz and you can split a pizza and pasta for a fairly affordable night. It’s really dark inside so I have no pictures but c’est la vie.

Dale took me for a birthday lunch at Pearl’s, a new caribbean spot by the Bedford stop. They have a great patio and the cocktails looked great. We each got bakes which are sandwiches served in the Trinidadian fried bread. The chickpea one was so good, served with little cucumber ribbons and they have excellent sauces, including a scotch bonnet hot sauce that packs a punch and a sweeter tamarind one.

We got ice cream after at the Republic of Booza, where the ice cream doesn’t have eggs and is stretchy. From Grubstreet: “Salep, ground-up orchid tuber, and mastic, a piney plant resin, give it elasticity, and also do wonders in the flavor department. It’s chewy and dense, so it packs more concentrated flavor and, literally, lingers on your tongue.” While this definitely won’t replace regular ice cream, it was fun to try and there’s a huge flavor range. You can get two flavors in a small, so I had the pistachio and salted oreo, a flavor I would love to find everywhere. Dale really liked the brown butter pineapple one too.

Julia and Julianne got me the best cake from La Princesa, starting a trend I hope continues forever.

julia reinstein 🚡@juliareinstein

something great has started pic.twitter.com/HClcF6VSaO

August 26, 2018

On Sunday, my actual birthday, I got so many surprises! I spent the day following various rhyming clues from Julia and Julianne and really had no idea what was happening. For my anxious over planning self, this was a huge gift and luckily, my friends know me really well.

We started with breakfast burritos (and coffee) from Jessi’s on Julianne and Ian’s roof. The veggie one is delicious with extra green sauce.

Then we went to the public pool at McCarren park, which was free, enormous, and spotless. You have to leave your cellphones in a locker which may be the best part and I’m planning to spend most of next summer here (it closes after labor day). Read the rules before you visit but I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Dinner was at my favorite place, Win Son, where we enjoyed scallion pancakes, pea shoots, sesame noodles and their delicious house white which comes in liter bottles. Truly my happy place.

After dinner, I was shoved in a lyft and told to close my eyes. When I opened them, we were on top of the city at Westlight, the rooftop bar at the William Vale that’s been on my bucket list since it opened. It more than lived up to the hype. The views are insane, the decor is beautiful and sunset is the perfect time to go. We got cocktails (the mezcal tamarind one is so good) and beers (which are under $10) and they brought out a fancy passionfruit juice with a sparkler for my birthday. Julianne handled the reservation but her main tip is to look far in advance for any day you’d like to celebrate. She booked this in June and it was so worth it.

I mean, can you believe we live in this beautiful wonderland?

Not to get cheesy, but my life has changed A LOT in the past year and it was really special to have a weekend to soak that in with so many people I love.

Something to read:

Really want to try Sofreh, a Persian restaurant from a 59 year old woman.

“That’s why we’re here in Ghana. We need to know that this is really home.” Michael Twitty on eating and feeling his way through Ghana.

A very moving essay on H Mart and how food connects us to family and home. I love the H Mart in Ktown for all the kimchi varieties.

This, from Deb, about when and why cooking is worth it.

An honest look at the budget and income of Alicia Kennedy, a fantastic freelance food writer in Brooklyn.

Great news: Philly soft pretzels are coming to New York.

Something I wrote:

Grimm Ales is now open in East Williamsburg. I spoke to the owners about making beer, working together and what they’re excited about. This space is so cool and I can’t wait to go back.

Last week, I asked you about your favorite breakfast foods and got lots of fun ideas:

-Breakfast tacos

-Shakshuka or Breakfast Tacos

-eggs and lots of fresh fruit!

-Tea and biscuits w jam (Very classy, Tilden)

-Something light like fruit and yogurt

-really luxurious oatmeal (Yess, Delia)

-pastry and coffee

-veggie omelette & a form of potato

-french toast for sweet, breakfast tacos for savory

-Smoothie bowl

Isa making us all hungry: My ideal breakfast are chilaquiles (verdes, rojos, divorciados, you name it) with a fried egg on top. Spicy, the tortillas drenched but still a bit crispy, loaded with queso, crema and some cilantro. Add a fresh concha and a coffee and I'm in heaven.

I feel terrible admitting this, but Pop-Tarts are my favorite breakfast. I currently go with the Hot Fudge Sundae flavor and still miss the discontinued Red Velvet and Frosted Caramel Chocolate flavors. - Jessica

This week, I want to know what your favorite school lunch used to be (or is, if you’re a student or teacher). I brought cold plain pasta for the better part of fourth grade and was always jealous of the kids who got lunchables. Reply to this email with your lunchbox memories.

Happy eating and thanks for reading.

xo, 25 year old Abigail