The Edition: No. 171
May 14, 2020
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. // Winston Churchill
+ When your career is suddenly on hold.
+ Universal Standard is fully inclusive. This dress looks amazing.
+ Simple dinners for busy weeknights. How about a spiced toast?
+ My favorite denim jacket is Gap. I love it with this chic black shirtdress.
+ Use this time to let go of your pseudo-self and find the real one.
+ Two of my friends are raving about this clean Cold Brew Serum.
+ Self-quarantine and the rise of the caftan. (Love this one.)
+ Vogue made picks on Amazon for the CFDA. Smitten with these sunglasses.
+ My Boss Wants to Cut My Hours but Keep My Workload.
+ I added this foam roller to my acupressure mat to help soothe my WFH Back.
+ Has the pandemic primed big tech to takeover higher ed?
+ This little body brush prevents ingrown hairs like a dream.
+ Longreads: The Un-Heroic Reality of Being an Essential Restaurant Worker.
Marriage is just asking the other person what they want for dinner until one of you dies. No truer words have ever been spoken.
Kyle does 60% of the cooking in our house. It used to be 90%, and it was glorious, but his new job is a lot of work, so I took on some of the burden. I love to bake, but I don’t feel the same way about cooking. The chopping, the dicing, the handling raw meat, the constant cleaning…I’d eat takeout every night if my waistline and wallet could sustain it. But, alas…I will just need to learn how to enjoy cooking.
Since the weather is finally warming up, the comfort foods I was enjoying in the early pandemic aren’t as comforting. This morning, I woke up with a pressing desire to eat salad. So when I spotted this Crunchy Lentil Salad with kale and grapes, I decided that I should put the ingredients on my grocery list. This Southwestern Chopped Salad also caught my eye.
Kyle doesn’t consider salad a meal. He considers it a side dish. But after a quarantine filled with tacos, burgers, and braised meats, we could both use a salad.
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On the foam roller and acupressure mat – I think I spend more time stretching, foam rolling and using the acupressure mat than I spend working out. Losing an ergonomic workspace has seriously affected my back, neck and hips, not to mention not being able to get a massage. Best investments ever.
On essential workers – I read an article yesterday that said the “hero pay” raise they were given at the start of the pandemic is being rolled back at many essential work places, I guess as non-essential workers are beginning to be permitted back to work. I’ve never worked a job that had hazard pay, but it seems like the hazard hasn’t gone away, so why has the pay?
My husband also considers salad a side dish. So when we have salad for dinner, he usually adds an extra protein that just broils in the oven (typically fish, which I don’t care for). Minimal extra prep – frozen prepackaged single portions are great for this.
Make use of the library to find good cookbooks. I love Dinner by Melissa Clark.
I am honestly just amazed that I’ve never thought of this. Such a good idea!
Agreed! 90% of my library hauls are cookbooks. Melissa Clark is always excellent, and on the topic of salads, I recommend Salad for Dinner by jeanne kelley!
I got that Universal Standard shirt dress in their recent bestsellers package. I surprised myself by really liking it a lot when I had it on, since based on the pictures on the site I’d never have bought it for myself. I’ve been wearing it on days when I’m just tired of leggings and sweaters. It’s very comfortable.
I had the same experience with the denim dress. I wasn’t expecting to like it, but the fit is very flattering and the denim has a nice, subtle amount of stretch.
I also love baking and am very meh about cooking (apparently it’s a thing that lots of people are one or the other). One tip is to make a big portion of things that freeze well so that you can have a freezer full of ready to go meals, or at least major components of meals. This works best during soup season, but is also great for Indian food (which is surprising easy to throw together once you have all the spices) and lots of big “food projects” like dumplings or bread if you or Kyle like to do that kind of thing. But frankly I’ve been eating an apple with peanut butter for half my meals lately bc we’re so sick of cooking and doing dishes.
My husband also sees salads as side dishes. But if we add something warm on top of the salad, like warm rice, veggies or meat, it helps his stomach think it’s a main dish.
PS – the lentil salad looks great!
If you want more vegetables but still need comfort food, I love this recipe. https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/cheddar-cheese-grits-spicy-black-beans
Also, my favorite food blogger is https://www.budgetbytes.com/ for when I can’t find what I’m looking for at Cooks Illustrated. If you care at all about the science behind cooking techniques, Cooks Illustrated, America’s Test Kitchen, Cooks Country, etc are all the same company and explain their techniques so you can learn as you go. They have lots of shows on PBS.
I LOVE BudgetBytes! Her directions are so easy to follow – she has a great way of writing and includes so many photos of each step. I follow her on Instagram and find myself scrolling through her site whenever I’m looking for inspiration.
I was also going to mention Budget Bytes! Lots of simple, but delicious recipes.
I never in a million years would have bought an accupressure mat until I saw you and Hitha recommended it. Wow. It’s been weird to get used to– but it works!
Fascinating, I think people really are one thing or another – the fastidiousness of baking has never appealed to me. I wonder if certain personality types are drawn to one over the other?
For food bloggers, I like Pinch of Yum – I think you’ve linked her before. Unfussy but with very good flavors. As for cookbooks, I know it’s been said to death, but Salt Fat Acid Heat really was worth the hype. There are recipes, but it was more about using the “fundamentals of cooking” to improve my ability to improvise.
Her 5 ingredient corn soup is so simple..and so amazing.,, I love SFAH. Really positively impacted my cooking
If you don’t have a caftan, what are you waiting for? The most comfort and ease with high style and drama. You can literally nap, dance, eat, work, garden, or lounge in one, and if you have the right fabric (i’m partial to linen and/or silk) it can be worn throughout the year. Highly recommend.