Food, Love, and Five Things

Issue 116

Dec 28, 2023

Good Evening, Readers throughout the world. Your presence is felt and appreciated. I enjoy knowing we’re bound at least once weekly through this newsletter—praise Jesus!

I’m typing these words at 8:48 am. on Wednesday, December 27. If all goes well, I’ll make this Rosemary Brown Butter Apple Cake—except with pears because I don’t have apples. If all doesn’t go well—my kids are home for two weeks on winter break, and I’m working, with a cold, and likely over-committing—I won’t make the cake.

Update: It’s 3:11 pm, and I didn’t make the cake. But I did make granola, and my granola is bananas. I riff on this NYT recipe. It’s never the same thing twice, but this provides a great base to run with.

Olive Oil Granola With Dried Apricots and Pistachios

Love, Actually

I met Stephen one year ago. We met online—Hinge since I know you’re curious. I commented on a photo of him in a suit, his dogs underfoot, and a Hinge-provided prompt that read: “Me before coffee.”

“You wear suits before you drink coffee?” I responded. That got the ball rolling. But the start wasn’t the important part. There are too many important parts to recount without making us all barf. Suffice it to say, when we finally traded voice notes, he told me, “You have such a beautiful voice.” After our first phone conversation, he said, “I could talk to you all night.”

His compliments were so pure, without reservation nor expectation—and stopped me in my tracks. 365 days later, they continue with the same frequency and purity. 🙏

Because life is real, you must know that we have crunchy times, too—when one of us is triggered (usually me)—not easy, always illuminating. I’ve grown from every one. He reports the same.

To end, I share this quote I read on Instagram where I try NOT to get my therapy. Occasionally, though, something good pops up. This morning:

We need to model the partnership we want with ourselves so another person knows how to do it. —I don’t have the credit. Sorry.

Make it mean whatever you wish. I thought it was pretty.

Five Things

Apparently, these thermometers are helpful kitchen tools that last forever and help you see the actual temperature of your oven. (Spoiler alert: it’s often not where you’ve set it).
I’ll be subscribing to the hard copy of Cook’s Illustrated. What a great little mag with straightforward recipes and helpful tips. #hiddengem
I heard the movie May December is good. I have no other information.
Did you know? Nike’s tagline, Just Do It, created by the ad agency Weiden + Kennedy, was inspired by the last words of Gary Gilmore, a convicted murderer who was executed in 1977.

The book of Gary’s life, The Executioner’s Song, is excellent. There I go with prisons again!
A podcast about ADHD in kids from the well-loved psychologist Lisa Damore.