Nonpareils - 7
Read:
A Week’s Worth of Black Beans Without Any Boredom
One of my favorite Mexican joints serves this black bean dip which is as close to a perfect food as it gets. If I could, I would slather this stuff on a platter and devour it with a couple of sunny side up eggs, a mountain of chips and a shitload of Cholula Chipotle sauce.
Every one of these meals sounds delicious.
Tapear is the best way to eat - Tortilla Española, patatas bravas, aceitunas and croquetas with a glass of tinto de verano or gintonic. Never would I have thought the snack I grew up eating - the mighty samosa - would ever become a staple of the Barcelona snack scene. I can’t wait to visit and try Rashid’s samosas.
The Practical Magic Series by Alice Hoffman
The older I get, the more I realize that witchcraft is feminism and that I kinda wish I was a witch. I love the movie Practical Magic - it’s about witchcraft and sisters, it stars Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Margo Martindale and Stockard Channing , the set design is incredible and I swear, I dream of having a kitchen like that someday and hi - midnight margaritas - Totally up my alley.
So, I figured I would check out the source material and I am obsessed. Chronologically, the series is Magic Lessons, The Rules of Magic, Practical Magic and The Book of Magic. I’ve read all but the last one and they’re absorbing, sad, beautiful and empowering. Highly recommended.
Watch:
Bad Vegan (Netflix)
It is damn near impossible to watch anything when you have a toddler. My kid wakes up around 5:00am, snugs in bed with us until 7:00am and then, goes until 9:00pm. It is a long day and by the time he’s out, I’m running on fumes. But I’ve started watching Bad Vegan and it is a wild ride. I’ve got one more episode to go and I remain perplexed. Like, how? How could you believe this bullshit? Ma’am - he was talking about being an immortal being. PRINCE wasn’t immortal and if anyone among us should have been, it’s him!
I think being into true crime has just made me skeptical - I think everything is a scam/trying to kill me.
Listen:
Heaven’s On Fire - The Radio Dept.
The track opens with clip of Sonic Youth Thurston Moore from 1991: The Year Punk Broke, a documentary about the Sonic Youth/Nirvana tour.
“People see rock 'n' roll as, as youth culture and when youth culture becomes monopolized by big business, what are the youth to do? Do you, do you have any idea? I think we should destroy the bogus capitalist process that is destroying youth culture.”
GUYS. Do you remember being a teenager and being so fucking in love with music? Like, poring over liner notes and lyrics with Rabbinical zeal? Almost like if you looked hard enough, the secrets of the universe would peek out at you between the bars?
No? Just me and a bunch of folks who were way too into Rolling Stone magazine during their formative years? Yeah. That’s what I thought.
Eat/Drink:
Pizza with pesto.
Pesto should be on the table at every pizza joint alongside the parmigiana, crushed red chili and garlic salt. It’s a game changer.
Trader Joe’s Spicy Mochi Rice Nuggets
A good spicy snack is hard to find. Some are not nearly spicy enough (looking at you, every jalapeno chip ever) and some just come in hot with the last dab which is just rude.
This might be the best spicy snack I’ve ever come across. It’s satisfyingly crunchy (why aren’t we all eating more mochi rice? Is this a thing? Like, can I get it at H-Mart way cheaper and in an assortment of different flavors?) and features black pepper, white pepper, chipotle powder, habanero powder, red chili powder and shansho pepper as well as citrus peel, cumin and cardamom.
It’s delicious. Go to TJ’s and get some today. Eat the whole bag while you edit your company’s website. Don’t touch your eyes.
Fruit
Living in Florida (and especially in relatively close proximity to Belle Glade) means access to some really excellent produce year-round. Early season mangoes have already started dropping and they are tart and delicious.
My kid devours blueberries, strawberries and blackberries like no-one I’ve ever seen and I’ve started ordering more fruit/Açaí bowls when we go out for breakfast.
Because the TikTok algorithm is the all-seeing eye of Sauron, I keep getting videos about raw food veganism/fruit based diets which I 100% cannot/will not do because cheese and bread and wine exist in this world but I’m definitely going to start eating more fruit/trying to incorporate more big ass delicious salads into my diet.
Misc.
I feel like the people who like Jess Janz’ poetry and the people that listen to Kate Kennedy’s Be There in Five podcast is less a Venn Diagram and more a perfect circle.
