The bloggiest thing I could possibly do is to apologize for being away for so long. Gift guide aside, the last time I wrote to you it was about mediocre films and cookbooks, a year ago. Which I find myself thinking about again but I will keep my thoughts to myself for once. For now.

WHAT’S COOKING

Over the last year a handful of recipes have been in regular rotation in our house. I have come to terms with the fact that I hate daily meal planning and production. I just don’t care! It’s so boring and unsatisfying. So finding reliable recipes that fit into my life make this kind of cooking a little less of a slog.

This tomato and lentil soup is so simple, cheap, and delicious. You can have all of the ingredients on hand at any time. So much more than the sum of its parts. Serve with some crusty bread.

This meatball recipe convinced me conclusively that I don’t need to brown meatballs and in fact I prefer them like these, poached in sauce, because it’s so much less hassle. I think this is the perfect meatball. I like to serve them on polenta and turn leftovers into meatball sandwiches.

I probably shouldn’t have needed a recipe for this, but these blackened chicken breasts are in regular rotation, usually destined to top a Caesar salad (still using Julia Turshen’s genius Caesar salad dressing recipe). Is blackened chicken Caesar salad my favorite food? No, mozzarella sticks are. But it is close. And they’d make a great pairing.

Bronwen Wyatt (who has a fantastic newsletter and is one of my favorite recipe developers) created the most perfect cornbread recipe ever. Highly recommend ordering the cornmeal she uses in the post—it is very good. I tend to make this and serve a slice with a fried egg and a pile of greens.

It is probably weird that most of these are New York Times recipes. But I can’t handle searching for recipes anymore and the totally deranged results, all from some website called something like Sandy’s Yum Yum Adventures. Help.

If anyone has other reliable dinner recipes, would love to see them in the comments.

CULTURAL CONSUMPTION

Merve Emre, friend of this blog, started a podcast last year on cultural criticism that is fantastic. The Critic and Her Publics manages to be intelligent, fascinating and…fun?

Despite being able to count on one hand the number of podcasts I have listened to more than one episode of, I am now writing to recommend a second podcast. Who do I think I am? Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud can be a real delight! It can also be a slightly insufferable slog. It all depends on the guest. But hearing people like Kate Moss, Nick Cave, and even the ole’ conservative Nicky Haslam talk about their relationships to clothing has been one of the highlights of the last year. And having now grown to love Bella Freud, I am willing to endure even the rough episodes.

I read a bunch of newsletters. Some highlights in the food arena include: Kitchen Projects (forever favorite), Save Me a Slice, From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy and Vittles. I also like Blackbird Spyplane (fashion) and For Scale (Interiors/Design). There are so many more I wish I could subscribe to, but who has the money for any of this? Wild the ways in which we create impossible situations for ourselves.

The best novels I read recently were: Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt (which is also one of the best titles of anything ever), Intermezzo by Sally Rooney, Rhine Journey by Ann Schlee, Stoner by John Williams, and Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey.

I don’t like Severance (sorry!) despite watching it, but I do like The White Lotus. And I love Slow Horses.

I listened to The Last Dinner Party a lot last year.

I saw fewer films this year, but I did enjoy Anora. A rare instance where the Oscar winner was not upsetting to me. And speaking of films, if you’re not familiar with the writing of A.S. Hamrah, his yearly reviews of Oscar films for N+1 are so good. As is his weekly newsletter, Last Week in End Times Cinema.

EVEN MORE ME

I’ve had the pleasure in the last year of hosting some great events in Chicago. Way back in June, Natasha Pickowitz and I talked at Middlebrow about her inspirational cookbook, More Than Cake, and her James Beard nomination. At the start of November, my long-time internet friend (and food blogging inspiration!), Luisa Weiss, finally became an IRL friend. She and I discussed her wonderful book, Classic German Cooking at Chicago’s DANK Haus (the image up top is my spin on the zitronencreme from CGB). Later in November my dear friend Camilla Wynne came through town to celebrate her masterpiece, Nature’s Candy. We had a fun hang out at Spinning J (they made the Stolen Pound Cake, which is one of my favorite recipes from that book) and then we hit the road for a very special event at Granor Farm in Southwest Michigan. And just last week, Nicola Lamb was in town from London as part of a mini book tour. We had a great talk at Floriole where the staff made a selection of treats from her gorgeous and important book, Sift. I hope to continue to help bring pastry friends from all over the world to Chicago. I’m already working on a couple of cool things for later this year. I have recently realized how much I enjoy this part of my life and am grateful for the community of baking enthusiasts in Chicago who always turn up for these events.

At some point I also started a small side-side project called Lotts. It’s intended as a space for me to work with designers and producers of beautiful things to create real life objects and events. If that sounds vague, it is meant to. I am not sure where it will go and that is what I like best about it right now. My first collaboration was with a very talented ceramicist Julia Finlayson of Grandmont Street Ceramics in Evanston. She brought to life my dream of the ideal cookie platter for serving your holiday cookies.

IN CONCLUSION

This all makes it feel like things are good. Which in many ways they are not. Our country is a new kind of nightmare and so far the response has been for everyone to bury their heads in the sand, scream into the social media echo chamber, or to wear pink. None of which is going to make any real difference. Neither will the directionless economic boycotts that mostly serve to make people feel better about themselves and require almost no sacrifice from anyone. Too many people want change as long as nothing in their lives gets less comfortable. I suspect real change is going to be uncomfortable.

Love you all.