Salad Days of Summer
Birthdays, my first martini, and summer reading
It feels like summer is flying by (how is it mid July?). Erica and I are staying very busy with some secret projects and I’m trying to plan more beach days. I’m also planning two TNHS events for August and the first one is a Cyclones Game on August 5th. Minor league baseball in Coney Island is peak summer (the food options are pretty good or you can eat on the boardwalk before). If you grab your ticket (only $15 including fees) with this link, we’ll all be in the same area to hang out and if 50 of us come, we all get free hats! I hope to see you there and please bring friends! Also, I hope this is obvious, but I don’t get money from this, it’s just a way for us to hang out and enjoy summer in the city!
Speaking of money, Thursday’s newsletter is going to be about “free” meals and how they work. I try to be quite transparent about comped meals that I receive (and am extremely grateful for the opportunities that your support makes possible) and I want to explain how the process works and answer any questions. If you’ve got any burning Qs, let me know and I’ll include them!
Now, let’s dive in.
Something to cook:
Erica and I have been cooking up a storm. We taught a meal prep class yesterday with a summer BBQ menu and I am loving the pasta salad and bean salads we made. It’s always fun to cook virtually with people in many different places.
We’ve also been testing recipes for our August class including a salad that’s a riff on a TikTok famous recipe. I’ve been eating it for the past few days and it’s so good.
Julia made us such dinner for last week’s Bachelorette viewing. She used the Omsom Yuzu starter with tofu and made rice bowls with all the toppings: mango, shredded carrots, cucumber, cashews, scallions, steamed broccoli. It was so fresh and the toppings really help stretch a block of tofu for three people.
I’m cooking a fun birthday dinner for Julia tonight that I will tell you about next week because I want parts of it to be a surprise.
Something to order:
I had the very special privilege of eating at Gramercy Tavern for the first time with Allie, who works at Union Square Hospitality Group (she treated me to dinner). She is a fellow Penn grad in food and we had a great time. I also got to meet Erin IRL, who is their beverage director (I interviewed her for this story last year over the phone). We sat outside and had the garden menu, which is geared towards sharing. Everything was delicious especially the cheese plate, the oysters, the lumache pasta, and the cucumber soup (so refreshing on a hot day). Don’t skip dessert, the beignets with apricots were perfect.
My mom’s birthday is tomorrow (so many cancers in my life) and she’s going to be out of town so we celebrated early with a very her outing: lunch and a museum visit. I was invited to try Storico, the restaurant at the New York Historical Society and knew my mom was the perfect person to bring. The outdoor seating overlooks Central Park (prime people and dog watching) and the summer menu is so good: we split tomato panzanella and an eggplant parmesan sandwich, with some ice cream for dessert. The museum has a great exhibit about the Civil Rights Movement, as told through children’s books, and there’s also a big collection of art that depicts New York that I saw back in January. My mom definitely gave me an appreciation of museums so it was very special to go with her.
Tilden and I took a long walk through Bed-Stuy that started at Stonefruit. I had their lavender vanilla latte which was so cozy and we split the olive oil loaf.
It had been years since I’d had string cheese but Dylan said the Wegman’s version was particularly good and it really is. It’s a great snack to have on hand.
Something to read:
I share additional reads in the Thursday newsletter.
As food prices rise, Anela shares five ways to save money at the store.
Why this company permanently adopted a 32 hour workweek
What’s the deal with Athletic Greens? (so many podcast ads)
An old school Italian restaurant with a robust vegan menu
Negotiation tips for writers! Always ask for more! Every Time! Even if you think it’s awkward, you’ve got to ask! The worst they can say is no!
How recipe development became a cool job (it is a ton of work and I’ve learned a lot in my first year of teaching cooking classes).
Blind, bisexual and polyamorous goose involved in love triangle dies
A dinner party “can activate the ‘will to live’ and ‘I love living’ circuitries like nothing else.”
Nearly 100 have been hospitalized, but Daily Harvest still doesn't know what's making people sick
How I became a pathological liar
Alicia’s writing about her brother and grief is always so powerful
Lifestyle creep is so hard to avoid.
This week, I’d love to hear about your go to snacks that you loved as a kid (string cheese comes to mind). I was a huge fan of milanos and my sister loved goldfish (I preferred pretzels). Send your favorites and I’ll share them next week.
Have a good week and take care!
xo, Abigail
That martini/oyster (right? and seaweed? beauts) plate is so dang eyecatching. I keep scrolling back up to ponder and admire.
I will share that I also had my first gin martini in recent time and actually enjoyed it - and I am NOT a gin person. I can't say what liquor it was, but it was cold, there was a garlic-stuffed olive, and it was made by my 69 year old neighbor who's been getting into making cocktails. A delight, all around.
String cheese is seriously a go-to snack for me. Also, pita chips, rice cakes with honey and almond butter, olives- and recently my partner and I have been really into Grippos (local to us) pretzel loops- they’re a super dark, super salted pretzel. So good. We crave them whenever we watch a show before bed.