Your Sweet Potatoes are Bland

Holding space for defying gravity, the Gossip Girl Thanksgiving episode, diners, and mussels

Hi friends,

This week has been a tough one. I’m dealing with some medical stuff that’s been both painful and time consuming. I will be fine longterm but will be having surgery at some point which I am not looking forward to. I’ve also been on antibiotics that mess with my stomach which is a bummer. I know I can take time off from TNHS (and I certainly will as I recover from surgery), but I wanted to write to you today to keep a sense of normalcy and share some good things from this mess of a week (film and TV has been a highlight).

With Thanksgiving and Black Friday coming up, I hope you’ll take a peek at my gift guide. I’d also love to hear what you’re making for the holiday in the comments. We’re going upstate to Dale’s mom so I’ll be having Jamaican food for Thanksgiving, which I love.

Now, let’s dive in.

Something to cook:

I made an egg scallion pancake wrap for dinner one night, with arugula, chili crisp, and some pickles (it worked).

I’ve leaned into simple meals like eggs and toast, toast with butter and jam, and leftover hashbrowns made extra crispy in the cast iron pan.

I’m finding a lot of joy in my morning coffee with a shake of pumpkin spice. It’s the little things.

Something to order:

After a doctor’s appointment, I needed something to improve the vibes so I picked up lunch from Daily Provisions (a chickpea veggie sandwich) and added a maple crueller. It was delicious and did cheer me up a bit.

I saw Wicked on Thursday! I loved the performances (Bowen Yang was a scene stealer), costumes, and choreo, but thought the visual effects gilded the lily a bit. I’m seated for part two. Before the movie, Julia, Julianne, Hillary and I got pizza at Ace’s. It’s a Detroit style pizza and they let you do half and half pies, which is much appreciated. We got half mushroom and half burrata with hot honey.

On Friday, Amy and Hillary and I braved the rain for the coziest dinner at Tournesol. This French spot in Long Island City is a gem (I first came when I was in high school and I’m 99% sure it’s the first place I tried mussels). The mussels are still great and so are the desserts, I’m still thinking about the chocolate mousse

A gorgeous pot of mussels and frites

Rose and I tried the new Kellogg Diner, which is a major upgrade and back to being open 24 hours. There was no line at 10:45 and I got the omelette with salsa macha and we split the masa pancakes, which was so good (La Posada in Guatemala served the most delicious blue corn pancakes with a pecan syrup and I think about them often). I want to go back and try their dinner menu.

Tilden and I rang in Thanksgiving week by watching the Gossip Girl Thanksgiving episode (mmmhm Whatcha Say, it’s season 3 episode 11) with food from Taste Korea 232. The SoonDuBu with silken tofu and hot stone bibimbap were excellent

I can’t drink while I’m on antibiotics so I’ve been having Diet Coke, which can hit the spot

Dale and I had a Sunday night dinner at Bar Camillo, which has lovely pinsa and bite and a heated terrace. They also just opened a vinyl bar in the basement on weekends. We got the pinsa, a roasted delicata squash with mozzarella and the baked cacio e pepe, which is like fancy mac and cheese.

Something to read:

The 25 Most Important Recipes of the Past 100 Years

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A necessary tonic for the week ahead: Black Friday? More Like Every Other Friday by

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I’m Going to Miss the Wicked Press Tour (and am holding space for the lyrics of Defying Gravity)

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Hang in there, friends and have a lovely and restful Thanksgiving. If you have a general surgeon you like in Manhattan, please share their info!

xo, Abigail