What Time Is It

Summertime! Enter beach fries, birkenstocks, and ballpark nachos,

Yes, my subject line is a High School Musical 2 reference. There’s nothing like a three day weekend, right? As I spent the weekend relaxing on sand and on the couch, the people of Rafah were on my mind. The massacre of families in a an alleged “safe zone” or anywhere for that matter is horrific and must stop. You can donate to help families here.

It’s hard to transition to food and fun after that but that is the world we are living in!

Thursday’s newsletter will reflect on one year of working at Isetta (TLDR I love it). I get a lot of questions about freelancing and transitioning to a full time role after freelancing and want to talk about it!

Now let’s dive in.

Something to cook:

I am a big fan of veggie burgers made from actual veggies (no impossible burgers for me) and homemade ones are fantastic (see recipes here and here). I don’t always have time to whip up a batch so I usually keep frozen ones on hand from Dr. Praegers. They sent me the new crunchy sweet potato burgers, which have chipotle and other smoky flavors and get nice and crispy in a pan with some oil. If you have any favorite storebought veggie burgers, I’m all ears. Also I follow the

Lukas Volger

school of veggie burgers—they don’t always need to be eaten in a bun. Try them chopped in a salad, in a wrap, and with all sorts of condiments and toppings.

I am really into the kale and cashew pesto from Trader Joe’s. Toss it with rigatoni, the best pasta shape and some spinach, which I wilt when I drain the pasta, a trick I learned from

Erica Adler

when she used it in this recipe. Top with parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, a drizzle of olive oil, and maybe some nutritional yeast if that’s your jam

This is a great way to eat spinach because the spinach basically disappears

Breakfast tacos are always a good idea. Salt and scramble your eggs and cook them in butter. Melt in some cheddar and spoon the eggs over charred tortillas. Add at least of the following: avocado, hot sauce, or a more cheese.

I’ve had this Target plate since college, she’s a real one

Tilden and I made dinner on Friday (mostly she cooked) and we made a riff on eggplant involtini (this recipe is a winner). While it cooked, we snacked on olives and fava bean dip from Saraghina.

I got a bottle of Select Aperitivo at an event earlier this year and it makes the best spritzes. Grab a bottle for summer or ask for one if you see it at a bar (they’re also on the menu as Venetian spritzes).

proud of the color on this spritz and my craigslist marble coffee table

Something to order:

Hunter Harris

and Substack hosted an event at the Georgia Room all about niche pop culture obsessions (I have many!).

Hung Up

is one of the few newsletters I pay for and it’s worth every penny. The drink menu was hilarious and I had to get a Power Publicist Tree Paine Paloma. Related: I am still on the hunt for Eras tour tickets, ideally in Amsterdam or the UK (flexible on dates). If you or anyone you know is selling, please let me know!

Dale came to the event with me and we grabbed dinner afterwards at Old Town Bar, which has a lovely veggie burger and a dumbwaiter, which is just cool. Dale loves their wings.

I saw Challengers again with Julia and we grabbed dinner before at Leo. We ordered pizza, a caesar salad, and a carafe of wine and then saw a book displayed on the bar called Salad Pizza Wine. Art imitates life.

Dale and I spontaneously went to the Mets game on Saturday (they lost) but we had fun at Citi Field. My favorite veg food option is the nachos and I got an aperol spritz in a Mets cup, which was hilarious. Who needs summer in Italy when we have Queens? (I’ve never been to Italy and very much want to go). The women’s merch selection is a lot better than last year!

Even though it was pretty foggy and not that warm on Sunday, Julia and I headed to the Rockaways. We tried Rockaway Beach Bakery for the first time and it was incredible. The menu changes all the time and we tried a blueberry yuzu bun and a ramp biscuit. Both were so good and it’s going to be a regular stop—you need fuel to look for parking by the beach.

Love a sweet and savory bakery run

After a few hours, we got Rippers, which means it’s officially summer. The Rippers hack is to get a vegan burger with non vegan cheese and the cheese fries with the cheese sauce on the side so they don’t get soggy.

I would buy the seasoning blend Rippers uses on its fries

Something to read:

Is bar soap cool again?

Summer reading recs! I read The Paris Novel by

Ruth Reichl

and Golden Girl over the long weekend and really enjoyed both.

I love a Grub Street Diet that includes meeting up with a high school crush

Birth control is good, actually

Andrea Aliseda

wrote beautifully about choosing and then choosing to stop being a vegan. Change is a part of being alive.

Love to see Nicola Coughlan wearing her ceasefire pin as she promotes Bridgerton

Where to eat in the Rockaways this summer

Can we talk about the Abbott Elementary season 3 finale?

The Lookbook goes to American Girl Place

What is your shoe of the summer? I’m a Birks girl (the Evas are the perfect beach shoe) but looking for something a tiny bit more elevated and also very comfortable for my walking commute. I want to see these in person this week.

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Have a good week!

xo, Abigail