Cranberry Gingerbread Crumble Bars
I recently made these Cranberry Gingerbread Crumble Bars that are extremely delicious. Recipe is by Asha Loupy, who is a genius recipe writer. They are a riff on another bar she makes with strawberries and pistachios, which I make all of the time. Now we have a version for each half of the year. And for the record, I think these are especially good cold (they need to be stored in the fridge).
Doma Cafe
Somehow took me longer than it should have to try Doma, a Croatian cafe in Chicago. I am in love. Not only is the food great (the hash brown is a work of art). But the design of the space is so rad. Feels like a mini-vacation. Can’t recommend highly enough. Also, they sell a t-shirt with the motto: “It’s Healthy if You Like It”, which—WORD.
Rachel Connolly
You know that feeling when a baby is so cute you want to bite it? I sometimes feel that way about writing. Like, the writing is so good I want to do more than just read it. I feel this way about Rachel Connolly. I’ve followed her work for years and she is one of a handful of people who seem to regularly make me better at thinking. She recently wrote a beautiful essay for The Cut called My Childhood Under Northern Ireland’s Abortion Ban, which tries to unpack the consequences of the environments we grow up in.
Gohar World Lunches
The Gohar World gang are now texting us all recipes for lunch. They come through on Thursdays and I love both the recipes and the format. The green minestrone is becoming a staple in our house and features a cup and half of olive oil. If you want to join in your text YUM to 833-648-0911 . As my friend recently said, imagine having one of the phone numbers that are like a digit off and getting random texts that just say “YUM”.
Interview With the Vampire (2022)
I have an uncomfortable relationship with vampire stuff because tweenage me was a little too into vampire stuff. The retrospective cringe I feel about a genre that is often objectively pretty cringey kind of taints the whole thing for me. But I am pushing through and genuinely enjoying this AMC series. I like that they’ve made it more obviously queer and the production is fun. My only real complaint is that it somehow feels too reserved, I wish they’d gotten a little more explicit in almost every direction.
Watcher (2022)
We try to watch as many horror films as we can in October. Watcher was definitely the best we’ve seen and one of my favorite films of any genre in recent years. A young woman moves to Bucharest with her partner and believes a man across the street is watching her. At the same time a serial killer is active in the city. The tThe production design is beautiful, I was genuinely tense from beginning to end, and Maika Monroe is incredible (as she was in another favorite of mine, It Follows).
Emily says:
October 25th, 2022 at 11:28 am
Did you know it was a double Maika Monroe year? Check out Significant Other if you haven’t, we liked both of them!
S says:
October 26th, 2022 at 2:04 pm
It always gives me a thrill to see a new post! I’m excited about these bars & a stack of new-to-me recipes on the Diaspora site! I can’t wait to order some spices next time I’m in the US. Also, how is Rachel Connolly news to me?! So excited to see a young woman from NI writing about such interesting topics. Thanks, Tim. Your posts are always gems!
Jenna says:
October 26th, 2022 at 6:44 pm
Echoing the gems comment above! Oh how I miss the long lost days of regular long form blog updates where I could rotate between L&D, Orangette, Bon Appetempt, Yellow House… Thanks for this :)
Y says:
October 28th, 2022 at 11:01 am
Thank you for all of these recommendations. The crumble bars look incredible! What type of baking pan did you use? It looks great too. I love the shape of the corner. Do you have a preferred 9” square pan?
Also – have you tried either Michelle Polzine’s mohnkuchen or Luisa Weiss’ mohntorte? I’d love your thoughts on them. As a poppyseed enthusiast, I think they’re both great
Roxane says:
October 29th, 2022 at 1:08 pm
I dropped by to grab an apple cake recipe and happy to find the new post. We will def be trying the cranberry gingerbread bars. T loves cranberry like no one I know. I had fun window shopping on Gohar. I now need a salami candle and a bottle apron. I’m tempted to watch The Watcher but I’m such a baby when it comes to scary movies. Maybe I’ll give it a shot. Come back to New Mexico. Love, R
P says:
November 1st, 2022 at 4:10 pm
I just came back from a long weekend at my sister’s and I can happily report that I made your spinning j coffee cake and the whole family loved it including my 3 year old niece ! I’ve been obsessed with american bakeries and cafes lately so I never miss an opportunity to show the world what i’ve learned on blogs . I’m happy to see a new post and hope you’re doing well . Take care
Dominique says:
November 21st, 2022 at 3:27 pm
I just made those cranberry bars and boy are they delicious! Your posts never fail to delight and inform me, and the recipes you share are always keepers – this one no exception. Thank you, merci, from a Canadian fan!