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You’ll Never Guess Where I’m Shopping for a New Duffel Bag

Also: Thanksgiving pie recipes, a rewatch of a beloved show, and the winter scarves in my cart.

Hello, hello. It’s the week before Thanksgiving and I’m bookmarking recipes like mad in prep for the three things I’ve been tasked to make this year: apple pie, pecan pie, and mac & cheese. I will certainly share my findings with you after the festivities have concluded, but for now, here’s what I’m looking at:

• My friend Kaila made this Dutch apple pie from Broma bakery as a test run before the big day, and it ruled. Her notes: swap the melted butter in the crumb topping with room temp or cold butter, and add a little more salt to the filling. The crust and apple texture was absolutely perfect as is.

• I usually use Genevieve Ko’s all-butter pie crust recipe with great success, and since I don’t have a food processor, I just rub the cold butter into the flour with my hands, and it’s worked well for me so far.

• When chatting pecan pies, my friend Celeste suggested adding some dark chocolate chunks to balance out the super sweetness of the thick, maple filling, and I think that sounds delightful. Last year I used Melissa Clark’s maple honey pecan pie recipe and it was sooorrrrr good. I added Maldon salt on top, too, because duh.

• Please let me know if you have any great mac & cheese recipes! In the absence of recommendations, I will probably default to this Stouffer’s copycat recipe from Eric Kim. I love a soupy, soft mac (as opposed to a stiffer, oven baked one) and I’m definitely not above Velveeta. In fact, I love Velveeta in mac & cheese, and we all need to stop acting like it’s evil. Thank you!

On My Brain

I’m Rewatching Succession for a Third Time

They could never make me hate you, Roman.

There are some shows that never ever get old (The Office, Veep, Normal People, The Real Housewives of New York) and Succession is one of them. Jeffery has never seen it all the way through, and we needed a new show to watch, so of course I’m all too happy to rewatch it for a third time with him. Things of note this third go around:

• Shiv’s fashion evolution (and then devolution in season 3 when she’s identity-less) never fails to delight me. Her season 1 looks were so… bohemian and frumpy (her wedding look?!) and I’m not sure the creators/wardrobe had a full grasp on who she was going to be. Then in season 2 she was wearing some of the best-tailored suits I’ve ever seen, and her blunt bob was the choice of all choices. Then by season 3 she starts to slip back into her muddled, confused fashion, and can’t seem to get a good foothold on what looks really sharp. I only watched season 4 once when it came out, though, so I’ll have semi fresh eyes for this last iteration of Shiv. Can’t wait.

• The dopey allure of cousin Greg has lost its shine. During peak covid, Nicholas Braun shot to the top of my running celeb crush list, but after hearing sooo many accounts of him being too present (and maybe creepy?) at his bar Ray’s, he no longer has a hold over me.

• Now… Tom, Roman, and Kendall? Those are my boys, and I’ll love them till I die.

• Marcia might just be the best character on the show (with a narrative arc second only to Tom). We have no choice but to stan, because she married smart, advocated for herself, and didn’t take shit from her crotchety husband or his sniveling kids. Go girl.

We Got Halfway Through an Adoption Application for Another Dog and Then Came to Our Senses

I told my friends this verbatim this past weekend and you know what one of them said? “Um, why? You were depressed for like, a year when you got Ozzie.” And that is sooooo fair. Maybe having a puppy is like childbirth—you forget how painful it was so that you keep procreating [bringing dogs home].

Anyway, we do want to get another dog in the next few years both because we’re addicted to dogs and we want to get Ozzie a friend, and I’d very much prefer to adopt one. I’m open to breed (Jeffery would love another French bulldog) so long as it’s a girl and she’s a portable size. I don’t think I could ever go back to big dogs (lol never say never) knowing how easy it is to transport Oswald everywhere we go. I have had a few dreams about a scruffy little terrier type dog, and I’m not too rational that I don’t take those as signs.

That said, I do follow a French bulldog rescue and when I saw the FACE on Raven, I kind of fell in love. She looks so much like Ozzie with the same little grumpus face, and she’s just a beautiful little lady. But she’s 8 months old, and realistically, neither of us feel like we can take on a puppy right now. But idk, if anyone willing to drive to West Virginia wants to throw their hat in for Raven, I’d babysit her anytime.

In My Cart

I’d Like to Get a Fluffy New Scarf

Winter is COMING and mommy needs a new scarf. I’ve been crocheting a striped cotton/mohair scarf but god knows if I’ll ever finish it or if I’ll even like it when I’m finished. So in the interim, I’ve been shopping around for a fluffy wool/mohair scarf (and fine, some of these have acrylic fibers in them) for extremely cozy vibes. My favorites: this Acne Studios one (but far too expensive) and this striped one from Damson Madder, but it’s out of stock (extremely lame). I also like this rather classic Harris Tweed plaid wool scarf, this more subdued plaid from Sézane, and the pastel-y green one from Cos. I will likely spend another week or so mulling this purchase over and end up pulling the trigger on one I haven’t even had open in my tabs… c’est la vie.

Okay Vera Bradley… I See You

Sometimes I enjoy being proven wrong and this is one of those times. Vera Bradley I’m sorry for doubting you.

I’m in the market for a new travel duffel (ye olde Dagne Dover has finally seen better days), and I’m too impatient to wait and see if some lovely individual might purchase one from our wedding registry. So I’ve been hunting, hunting, hunting. I want something that can fit nicely on top of my suitcase (I have the original Away carryon), ideally has a trolley pass so it stays put on top, can be machine washed, and can fit all my personal item essentials as well as under the seat in front of me on a plane.

I considered the Calpak Luka duffel (kinda gives diaper bag), the Away Everywhere bag (boring), the Baggu Cloud Carryon (they never have the patterns I like in stock), and the Longchamp Le Pliage travel bag (lack of shoulder strap is a deal breaker), but then what do you know… I got a targeted ad from Vera Bradley.

My friends from home will tell you that I was a Vera Bradley HATER as a youth. I thought the quilted bags were fugly, and to a certain extent, some of them are still fugly. But either I’ve gone full granny or Vera Bradley has leaned more Liberty London (or both), but either way, I’m in. I’m eyeing this quilted nylon duffel in a bright citrine green (a color much like my beloved Hydroflask cup), and even though it doesn’t have a trolley pass, it looks like it fits a ton but still has comfortable shoulder straps and can be stashed under a plane seat.

Birkenstock Bostons with Little Studs On Them

Ugggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh <3

I know I really, truly don’t need another pair of taupe Bostons, but how good are these ones with silver rivets along the edges? I don’t have much to say other than I live and die by my Birks (cause I’ve got bunions and plantar fasciitis like all hot girls do), and the little rivets make these feel more work appropriate and less rolled-out-of-bed-to-walk-the-dog chic, you know?

In My Belly

If you don’t like kale I need you to TRY AGAIN because kale is an elite vegetable, texture wise. What other leaf is as chewy and hardy as kale?? None, that’s who.

Creamy Sausage Zoouuuuupppp

Jeffery ordered me Matty Matheson’s new cookbook, Soups, Salads, Sandwiches, after we watched every single one of his YouTube videos promoting it, and what a delight. In this house, we love Marty Martheson, and we loved him before The Bear, okay? Anyway, I was skeptical that this soup would be any better than any other sausage and tortellini soup, but holy shit balls this is good. I did end up doubling the chicken broth because I boiled a Costco-sized package of tortellini and needed to stretch the broth a bit, but I actually liked it that way. I also added Calabrian chiles (duh), and subbed Tuscan kale for rapini (aka broccoli rabe) because I hate broccoli rabe :). Here’s the recipe:

  • 8 oz tortellini

  • EVOO

  • 4 oz guanciale, diced (I think you could skip this if you need to)

  • 2 sweet Italian sausages, removed from casings

  • 1 yellow onion, finely chopped

  • 2 garlic cloves, minced (I did 4, of course)

  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme

  • 1 cup dry white wine (seems like a lot but really adds to the broth)

  • 1 cup heavy cream

  • 2 cups chicken stock (I ended up doing 4 cups)

  • ½ cup grated Parm

  • 1 small bunch of rapini, cut into 1-inch pieces (I did a full bag of Trader Joe’s Tuscan kale)

  1. Boil tortellini according to package, drain and coat in olive oil to prevent sticking. Set aside.

  2. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add guanciale and cook until it’s crispy and the fat has rendered. Add the sausage and cook, breaking into smaller pieces until it’s browned and cooked through, about 5 mins.

  3. In the same pot, add the onion, garlic, and thyme (this is where I added chiles). Sauté until onions become translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the wine to deglaze the pot, scraping up any brown bits, and simmer until reduced by half. Add the cream and summer until it is reduced by half. Pour in chicken stock and bring back to a simmer. Add the Parm and simmer uncovered for 30 mins.

  4. Five minutes before finished, add your greens and the tortellini to heat through. Serve with olive oil, Parm, and fresh cracked pepper.

The French know… they just know.

Don’t Sleep on Ham & Cheese

Specifically, don’t sleep on a fresh baguette with high quality butter, Dijon, ham, and Swiss. “Go to the fancy store and buy the most expensive butter,” Matty writes in his cookbook, “Why is that butter so expensive? Because good butter tastes the best. You deserve it, and so does this iconic sandwich. Don’t ask any questions. Also get good ham. Get it sliced, not thick but not thin. Then get some Dijon and some Maldon salt. Eat this on the beach, on the train, or riding your bike in Paris. Or don’t.”

… and it’s great advice. A pile of cornichons (a kosher dill pickle would work too) and a pile of potato chips is non negotiable.

Bread Pudding for the Table

Shoutout Cafeteria for the goods.

Something we should all be doing? Ordering bread pudding for the table. There are some menu items I can never, ever pass up, and bread pudding is one of them. It’s the dessert version of pancakes for the breakfast table, and it’s the perfect thing for everyone to have one bite of. I personally love custardy desserts, like Portuguese pastel de nata, the galaktoboureko you get after dinner at Greek restaurants, and all manner of puddings (sticky toffee, banana, rice, tapioca, chocolate, etc.). Bread pudding is simply a custardy gift we should never take for granted, and if you’ve never had it before, your homework this week is to go try one. That’s all!

You Ask, I Answer

Jk!! Because I’ve run out of questions to answer, you little b*tches! Pls do me a favor and pop a couple Q’s in the form you’d like answered—help me, help you, etc. None too big, too small, too silly, too niche. Until next week, ILY!

Need a gift suggestion for your mother-in-law’s birthday? Stuck on how to rearrange the furniture in your living room? Want to know what to do with a jar of marinated artichokes? Come to mama. Hit me up with your questions, and I'll answer them in an upcoming letter.

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