I’m writing this unusually ahead of time, partly because one homemade martini seems to be the catalyst for any personal writing (either a great perk or a concerning notion) and because by the time this gets sent, I’ll be up in the sky en route to Vancouver, wondering if 10am is too early to drink a Bloody Mary (it is, but we carry on anyway).
It was truly week of no cooking interspersed with few-and-far-between instances of chopping; some light toasting and occasional arranging of things on a plates. Which left a new and intensified relationship with the Deliveroo Plus free trial, and involved almost exclusively any combination of noodles and dumplings I could find. Pho and spring rolls; prawn wontons and sesame paste noodles; pork soup dumplings and spicy beef dan dan noodles; momos and buckwheat chilli noods; wonton soup and Singapore noodles. I’m ready to retire from the takeout game for the foreseeable future. My bank account hates me.
Either an exercise in sadness, laziness or just because I was feeling luteal: this dinner of a cheese, tomato, fennel and rocket salad sandwich with hash browns (defrosted in the toaster) and a liberal squeeze of mayonnaise. And yes, that’s a martini.
A severe case of literal heartburn after eating the above dinner.
On that note: I will be downloading the Heartburn (Nora Ephron) audiobook as narrated by Meryl Streep for my flight.
A new tip for keeping lemons fresh: storing them whole in a massive Kilner jar of water. Who knew?
The meditative glory of pouring coffee over ice cream.
A gift of book + cake from a friend. It’s so rare that someone just pops by your place these days. I’m into it.
A extremely long but satisfying read in The Sewanee Review about author Raven Leilani’s masterful ability to construct sentences “full of air and teeth” by the equally impressive Gareth Greenwell.
I skimmed through this Atlantic article about 12 unforgettable descriptions of food in literature. Most I hadn’t heard of or read; some felt a little underwhelming. I’m resolved to write a list of my own.
TW: eating disorders. This piece by Rosalind Jana for Dazed on thinness and whether fashion is making a worrying return to size zero.
I’m personally in for your own list of food descriptions in literature 🙋♀️
Enjoy your trip!