Sauce season is back!
When it rains, make some pasta!
Hello! I’m writing on Tuesday after Yom Kippur. I hope you had a meaningful day, however you spent it! After a rainy weekend, I’m looking forward to a change of scenery this weekend in Vermont and thrilled that it’s cool enough to make vodka sauce.
ICYMI, I did a review of my summer bucket list here. On Thursday, I’ll be sharing a fall recipe (I share recipes once a month, you can browse them all here).
Something to cook:
I made a nice lunch salad with orzo, cannellini beans, broccoli (cooked while the orzo was cooking), toasted pepitas, this really good cheese that was described as a “tangier manchego” at Whole Foods, oil, vinegar and smoked jalapeño flakes. I mixed in baby kale each day when I packed it for lunch.
I’m still on a breakfast taco kick with cherry tomatoes and even treated myself to some greenmarket eggs after a doctor’s appointment.
Hillary, Julia, and I had a rainy night in. It was the coziest evening and we made vodka sauce (this recipe with coconut milk instead of cream), roasted broccoli and boxed brownies. We roasted the broccoli at 400 and finished it with lemon zest, juice, and parmesan cheese. And boxed brownies are a perfect dessert with extra chocolate chips and flakey salt on top. This whole combo paired perfectly with 27 Dresses, which mostly holds up.
Something to order:
Camille and I celebrated the launch of For The Culture, Klancy Miller’s gorgeous new book on Black Women and Femmes in food. It’s an incredible roadmap for anyone who wants to join the industry and so beautifully designed. The party was at the brand new Babel Loft, which is a beautiful space from the team behind Ode to Babel. I also got to meet Shanika in person for the first time which was such a treat (check out her newsletter
).
The team had a belated birthday celebration at Greenpoint Fish and Lobster (because oyster happy hour is the perfect way to celebrate). They do $2 oysters during happy hour alongside drink specials. We also had the excellent brussels sprouts, fries, and a caesar salad and it was really nice to hang outside of the office.
Ivy and I celebrated Cherry Bombe’s new issue all about the future of food (shoutout Abena for her work on the package and her awesome pod, which I’m lucky to have been a guest on) with a party at the Moxy hotel in Williamsburg. It was fun to see so many food friends and enjoy lots of cheese (Kerrygold is a sponsor).
My family saw Rachel Bloom’s show about death (on brand) and got a late dinner afterwards at Hudson Clearwater. It was busy but so good—we split a bunch of apps including a savory tart, burrata, and a radicchio caesar. The gnocchi and lemon pasta with clams were also delicious.
Rose, Mandy and I braved the rain for brunch at 12 Chairs, which was very cozy. We started with hummus and matbucha and I always get the eggs siniya, which are baked with a tahini sauce
Something to read:
Savory cookies are trending and Frida is on it!
Bringing a New Mexico chile roast to Brooklyn
Why are people so obsessed with marriage these days?
Coffee drinks are sweeter than ever and that’s fine!
The best of New York’s storefronts
For The Culture gives Black women their due
How these Latinas are navigating fertility, IVF and family
on non dairy yogurt! The yogurt aisle is incredibly overwhelming. is on substack, a huge get! Excited to read more from Big Salad.I trust Ruth Reichl on kitchen essentials
The government is sending out free covid tests again, get yours.
Kelsey Russell is making newspapers cool again.
The story behind Monterey Jack cheese
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
xo, Abigail
A friend and I call these savory cookies adult cookies (cookies kids might not like). A recent one we made was a shortbread with olives and rosemary. Sort of looks like chocolate chip cookies, and then biting into them is a surprise. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023679-savory-shortbread-cookies-with-olives-and-rosemary