Rabbit Rabbit

August is here and does it even feel like summer?

On Friday I was listening to an episode of Las Culturistas where Matt Rogers was railing against people who start a social gathering by saying “I’m only going to have one drink.” He’s adamant you shouldn’t say that stuff at the onset because of the tone it sets. Now I am not advocating pressuring people to drink, but I see his point. Part of a great night is the spontaneity. Maybe you’ll have nonalcoholic drinks (I had a delicious watermelon agua fresca this week) and go for ice cream, maybe you’ll order a second bottle of wine and wind up chatting till midnight, maybe you’ll go dancing, maybe you’ll fall in love, or go home and watch a movie with some seltzer or tea. You don’t know until it happens. I’ve been struggling with this summer not feeling like summers past. I’m really focused on work and feeling the financial pressure of going full time freelance (upgrading to a paid subscription is so appreciated and gives you access to the full archive as well as weekly bonuses). I also have a lot of fall travel planned so I’m at home in a routine this summer and it’s not so carefree. But this little snippet from a podcast made me remember that summer can be a collection of moments and we never know when the next great one will come.

I am confident that Friday’s Cyclones game will be great! Coney Island, the sunset, minor league baseball, and the TNHS community! It’s going to be so special and I’m so excited to see you. Grab your tickets here and share this link far and wide—remember, if we hit 50 tickets sold, we all get free hats!

Now, let’s dive in.

Something to cook:

I’m sharing my peach pecan crisp recipe with paid subscribers on Thursday along with a recipe index so you can easily find past TNHS recipes.

Erica and I did a lot of cooking last for our upcoming project and it was fun to revist old favorites from past classes, like Erica’s go-to green soup, a veggie packed frittata and yogurt flatbreads (the recipe is here and they are great as a little flatbread pizzas).

A little BTS secret, this breakfast scene was around 2 pm

Besides our work together, I didn’t cook much at home since I had lots of leftovers. I picked up some heirloom tomatoes at the farmers market on Saturday and am planning to make tomato sandwiches or tomato toast for lunch.

Something to order:

Julianne took the bar this week and we had to celebrate with dinner at Kings County Imperial. I’ve been a bunch of times and I think my favorite dishes are the sesame noodles, the mushroom appetizers (the mock eel and the oyster mushrooms) and the vegetarian egg rolls. So good.

Dale and I got dinner at Mesa Coyoacan and I had a delicious watermelon agua fresca and mushroom tacos. We sat outside for maximum people watching (and because the heat wave broke so we could).

Tilden and I had an early dinner at Lighthouse to take advantage of their oyster happy hour and catch up. To round out the meal, we had hummus and an heirloom tomato special. We had another drink at Kini, a new wine bar on Metropolitan. It’s a newly renovated space with good wines, the service was great and happy hour is coming soon!

Here’s another Williamsburg itinerary: grab drinks in the backyard of Spuyten Duyvil (get the picpoul) and then walk three minutes to dinner at Leo. Zoe was in town so we grabbed dinner with Julia and Hillary and had such a good time. The food at Leo is great and perfect for sharing. We had a chopped salad, a tomato special (tis the season) and a few pizzas. My favorite is the pomodorini, especially with how good tomatoes are now, and the margherita and clam pie are winners as well. They always have interesting wines on draft.

I was gifted some bars of Spring & Mulberry chocolate, which is sweetened with dates. The cacao is from a cooperative in Ghana. They’re delicious (the pecan, salt, and date one is my favorite as I love salt in my chocolate) and the packaging is gorgeous (chic gift alert).

Something to read:

Paid subscribers get additional reads every Thursday!

Bill Russell passed away this weekend, his daughter wrote about how the family was treated during his NBA days.

Veggie burgers should be made from vegetables. I agree (and here’s my recipe).

Why the Kylie Jenner private jet story matters

Here for this abortion fundraiser

How to know if the heat is making you sick

A meet cute at the supermarket

The history of the flavored latte

How to Identify and Combat Grocery Store 'Shrinkflation'

Have you seen that oyster mascot costume? It’s, um, memorable

Fear of rampant crime is derailing New York’s recovery. This is such important data journalism!! Send this to the person in your life who keeps asking you if New York is safe!

One weird trick to forget about the housing crisis

The fantasy of the modern French corner store

Introducing Mela: A Black, Women-Owned Wine Brand 15 Years in the Making

Society has a vested interest in telling women that aging is terrible. Don’t believe it.

Needed to read this on creativity from Chrissy

Loved this look at Asian American chefs and their relationship with Italian cuisine and ingredients (and why more Italian restaurants should use woks)

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On the hydration front, Julianne is also a New York City tap water fan (I miss it when I’m out of town): I have just been guzzling water, endlessly refilling it, and feeling absolutely destroyed the second my water runs out. It's been rough! I get dehydrated so easily in the summer. I'm basically a plant!!!! I usually love to make spa water (some combination of herb+fruit infused water) in the summer, but with so much studying outside of home the past 2 months, I am just guzzling that plain ol' perfect New York City water! (I can't complain; it's the water that makes the world's best bagels AND we can drink right from the tap!) 

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This week, let’s have a one word check in! Describe your summer vibe in one or two words, no judgement. You can leave a comment or reply to this email! I always love hearing from you.

I’ll see you on Thursday for summer dessert and I’ll see you in Coney Island on Friday!

xo, Abigail