Issue #2: Time isn't real

Let's Get Lost, February 10, 2024

In this issue:

+ Some thoughts about time our 2024 travel itinerary!

+ Two New Recipes! Healthy-ish cookies and Quick Spanish shrimp

+ No Recipe Required: Cheesy, super quick stuffed flatbread

+ One Useful Thing: An easy homemade vinaigrette hack

+ Featured Cookbook: Cod salad from How to Dress an Egg

+ New On The Blogs: Mushroom ragu, Red velvet muffins, Gluten free cheese crackers, and Peanut butter oat protein balls

+ February Bake Club Challenge: Oatmeal raisin cookies

+ Reading, Watching, and Listening Recommendations

A quick note before we get to it, the length of this post means it might be truncated in your inbox – just click to expand and read the whole thing or read it directly on rebeccablackwell.com.

→ Read more about me what this newsletter is all about

Time isn’t real

We have been in the Seattle area since last October and in Washington state since last July. It’s the longest (by far!) that we’ve spent in one place since moving into our RV in May of 2020 and both my husband and I thought we’d be feeling extremely restless by now. What a surprise then that we don’t.

I snapped this photo earlier in the week from our back deck. The fog rolling in over the lake that we are backed up to just captivated me.

I don’t know where I read this quote by writer Margaret Visser, but it impacted me enough to write it down: “Our perception that we have no time is one of the distinctive marks of modern western culture.”

Wowza. The idea of never having enough time has been a hallmark of my entire life, an element of our culture that I have taken to heart. I am positively obsessed with thoughts of not having enough time, of time running out, of not having taken advantage of the time, of not using time efficiently, and on and on to the point of tedium.

The kicker, as I am beginning to actually truly realize, is that it’s all made up. Our oldest daughter often says, “time isn’t real” and we laugh because it’s not really true but also because it is. AND, as if the universe wanted to validate the point, not two days after writing the previous sentence, I listened to a Short Wave by NPR podcast titled “Our Lives Are Ruled By the Illusion of Time” for which the entire point was to say that time isn’t real.

Message received.

Conceptually I do understand that having time and using time exist only as ideas inside my own mind. Time is not mine to posses and all strategies to control time eventually fail because everything is impermanent anyway. No state of mind or experience can be held onto or sustained indefinitely. It strikes me that all my striving to grasp the ungraspable is a rather insane approach to life, and one that has caused much unnecessary stress and suffering.

The folly is in believing that there’s something to manage and protect. In truth, everything exists as it is and I had absolutely nothing to do with it.

There is something about living as a nomad that is helping me learn these lessons and I must say, it’s about time. (Ha! Did you see what I did there? 😂)

I spend so many hours planning our yearly travel itinerary. The planning itself is a good thing and I’m always happy I’ve done it. It makes the year much more enjoyable than it would be if we were constantly scrambling to figure out where we were going and where we would stay when we got there.

But the whole endeavor is underwritten in part by the fear of not having enough time.

I know that it’s actually impossible to see everything there is to see and have every experience there is to have in any given place no matter how long we stay there. But it doesn’t stop me from trying.

As I worked on our travel plans for this year, I tried to remember that there is no such thing as the right place and the wrong place, the right experience or the wrong one. There is no such thing as wasted time or even my time. There is only this.

We have enjoyed being in one place for such a long time (which is kind of a lie because our RV has been in the same location but we have still traveled to visit family for the holidays and are heading out tomorrow for a vacation in Costa Rica because we are, perhaps, incapable of actually staying put.) And also I am looking forward to moving on.

If you want to see where we’re headed, here’s our 2024 Itinerary.

Also, a question we get asked frequently is, “what are the favorite places you’ve visited so far?” If that’s also something you’re curious about, we have a list! You’ll find it here: Road Trip Bucket List

→ If you’d like to read more about what this newsletter is all about.

---

---

Healthy-ish cookies

These are soft, surprisingly addictive little cookies that contain no flour or additional sugar besides what’s in the ingredients themselves. After baking the first batch, I took a bite and thought they were ok… then I ate four in short order and had to stop myself from grabbing another. Make of that what you will but my husband did the same thing so when I say they are surprisingly addictive I think that’s actually exactly true.

Makes about 24 cookies.

Ingredients:

• 3 very ripe bananas

• 1/3 cup apple sauce - The same amount as one of those individual 4 ounce lunchbox containers

• 2 cups old fashioned oats (also called rolled oats)

• 1/4 cup unsweetened and unflavored almond milk

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

• 1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt - I like quite a bit of salt in my sweet foods so I add a whole teaspoon, but you should add as much or as little as tastes good to you

• 1/2 cup chopped nuts - I like roasted, salted almond

• 1 cup (approximately) chocolate chips

• 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.

Add the bananas, apple sauce, oats, almond milk, both extracts, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix until the bananas are well mashed. Mix in the nuts, chocolate chips, and shredded coconut.

The batter will be wet and goopy and you’ll think there’s no way it will bake up into cookies, but it will. Use a spoon to drop piles of dough onto the baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. My cookies were slightly larger than a golf ball. Bake for 15 minutes.

These make a delicious breakfast treat, by the way.

---

Quick Spanish shrimp with crispy fried potatoes

This super quick method for cooking shrimp is adapted from a recipe in How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. It can be modified in a multitude of ways by simply swapping out the spices. We love to eat it with crispy fried potatoes, but it’s also great over rice or pasta.

Makes enough for 2 people, but can be easily adjusted to serve however many people you like.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup (approximately) extra virgin olive oil 

• 1 small shallot, minced (about 2 tablespoons)

• 4 cloves of garlic sliced very thin

• 3/4 to 1 pound of shrimp, peeled and deveined (I usually make no more than 6-8 shrimp per person, depending on their size, when serving it with something filling like crispy fried potatoes.)

• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika (or any kind of paprika)

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Chopped parsley or any other kind of fresh herb

Pour enough olive oil into a large skillet or cast iron braiser to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the chopped shallot and set the pan over medium heat. Cook until the shallot is soft and translucent.

Add the sliced garlic, shrimp, paprika, and cumin and stir everything around in the pan to coat the shrimp in the oil and spices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring every once in a while, until the shrimp is opaque. This will only take 3-5 minutes. If you’re unsure whether the shrimp is cooked through, remove one from the pan and cut it in half. If the center is opaque, the shrimp is done.

Scrape the shrimp onto a plate and sprinkle with parsley.

We like to eat these over crispy fried potatoes with a drizzle of Aleppo pepper oil. They are also delicious served over rice or pasta (especially if it’s homemade pasta), or on toast. They would also be delicious folded into homemade flour tortillas, chopped into small-ish pieces and added to crispy corn tortilla quesadillas, or layered onto a sandwich.

Use your leftovers

We had a few shrimp and some Aleppo pepper oil left over and also some bread and rosemary aioli left over from the mushroom sandwiches in last week’s issue. I used all of it to make avocado toast and it was honestly better than the original meal. Here’s the basic idea:

1. Toast thick slices of really good bread. Let them cool then spread with aioli.

2. Use a fork to smash an avocado in a bowl with some salt then spoon it onto the toast.

3. Drizzle with some Aleppo pepper oil then top with chopped up pieces of Spanish shrimp

I would (and will) happily make the shrimp, aioli, and Aleppo pepper oil just for these sandwiches. So good! Too good for me to even have snapped a picture. 😁

---

Quick and easy stuffed flatbread

No Recipe Required is a collection of quick and easy dishes that are more of an idea than a recipe. Each dish in this series is meant to inspire delicious, quick, and easy meals that can be adapted to what you like, what you have on hand, and how many people you're cooking for.

Ok. So you do need to follow the recipe below to make the flatbread dough so strictly speaking, this isn’t exactly a “no recipe required” kind of thing. BUT, you don’t have to be super exact in your measurements for making the dough and can fill these pockets of deliciousness with anything your heart desires. In the photo you see here, the flatbreads were stuffed with mozzarella cheese and mushroom ragu.

Ingredients:

Makes 2 or 3, depending on how large you make them.

• 1 1/3 cup (160 grams) of all-purpose flour + more for sprinkling 

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup (237 grams) of plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt 

• about 1/2 cup of grated cheese + about 3/4 cup of any kind of filling (see below for a list of filling ideas)

• garlic butter: salted butter + minced garlic + crushed red pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to a bowl and stir to mix. Add the yogurt and stir until a very wet mess of a dough is formed. (You can do this in a stand mixer if you like.)

3. Dump the dough out onto a clean work surface that’s been dusted with a bit of flour. Use your hands to knead the dough for a minute of two until the dough is smooth and cohesive.

4. Cut the dough into two or three pieces. Roll each piece of dough out into a disk or a square that’s 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick.

5. Pile one side of the dough with about 1/4 cup of cheese and whatever filling you’re using. Fold the other side over the filling ingredients and press the edges of the dough together to seal into a packet. Gently press the top of the flatbread with your palm to flatten it down a bit.

6. Cook the flatbreads one at a time in a dry skillet set over medium-high heat. Cook each flatbread for about 3 minutes on each side until the outside is golden brown. Put the flatbreads on a baking tray lined with parchment and set in the oven to bake for 8-10 minutes until they feel springy. 

7. While they bake, add the butter, minced garlic, and crushed red pepper to a small saucepan and set it over medium heat. When the butter has melted and starts to simmer, cook for about 3 minutes longer until the garlic is turning golden brown.

8. Brush the flatbreads with garlic butter and serve.

Flatbread filling ideas:

• The flatbread pictured here is filled with mushroom ragu

• Taco meat or vegan vegan taco meat

• Any kind of roasted or sautéed veggies

• Leftover chili con carne or sloppy joe meat - add some grated cheddar for a chili-cheese dog vibe

• Any kind of cooked meat - the super easy poached chicken in last week’s issue is perfect in here. Three other favorites: Asian short ribs and pork carnitas and leftover Italian meatballs or Greek meatballs, cut into pieces

• Sun dried tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, and olives

• Of course, loading these up with nothing but cheese is awesome

• For something similar to a calzone, add whatever pizza toppings you like in there plus cheese and then serve them with some marinara sauce for dipping

---

Super easy, basic vinaigrette

Making a basic vinaigrette takes about 5 minutes, allows you to make only as much as you need, and is a kind of blank slate for incorporating whatever flavors you like.

At it’s most basic a vinaigrette is nothing more than oil and vinegar (or citrus juice). Oil and vinegar do not like to combine and honestly, you don’t have to combine them at all. You could simply drizzle your salad with a bit of oil followed by some vinegar. Or stir oil and vinegar together in a bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper, drizzle that over your salad and be done with it.

However, if you don’t do something to emulsify the vinegar and oil (force them to combine), you’ll end up with oil clinging to the top of your salad and all the vinegar pooling at the bottom of your plate or bowl. Also, the greens in your salad will wilt faster.

In contrast, an emulsified vinaigrette clings to salad greens, providing an actual “dressing” that flavors each and every bite. It also keeps the greens crisp and fresh tasting for longer.

So, taking a moment to fully emulsify vinegar or lemon juice and oil is essential to a salad that’s crisp, fresh tasting, and full of whatever flavor you’re hoping to get from the vinaigrette.

The easiest way to emulsify a vinaigrette is to include a surfactant - an ingredient that attracts both water (vinegar) and oil.

There are three surfactants that work well in vinaigrette: mustard, mayonnaise, and honey. I like to use a little bit of all three. Here’s the basic ratio:

• 2 parts oil to 1 part vinegar or lemon juice

• 1 teaspoon each of mustard, honey, and mayonnaise

• Additional flavoring: chopped shallots, salt and pepper + anything else you want to add. At the moment, I’m obsessed with adding some crushed roasted almonds that I’ve pulverized in the food processor. OMG, it’s so good! Here’s a list of more flavoring ideas.

Add the vinegar or lemon juice to a bowl and add the mustard, honey, mayonnaise, shallots (if using), salt and pepper, and any other flavorings you’re adding. Use a fork to whisk it all together then pour in the oil while continuing to whisk. In mere seconds, the dressing will come together in a delicious, creamy sauce that will cling to the greens in your salad and flavor each and every bite.

Apple Cheddar Salad

This is the salad I’m currently obsessed with. My husband and I eat it at least once or twice a week. It’s just so good!

Ingredients:

• mixed greens

• a diced apple

• shredded cheddar

• basic vinaigrette (scroll up for the recipe) made with a little extra honey and mustard and plenty of crushed roasted almonds

• a handful of toasted and salted pumpkin seeds.

• I also sometimes add a handful of dried sour cherries.

The nutty, cheddar, and apple combo is 😋😋😋.

---

Every month, I showcase several recipes from a cookbook I’m loving to cook from right now. This month’s cookbook is How to Dress an Egg by Ned Baldwin and Peter Kaminsky.

This week I made Cod Salad with Tarragon Sauce and Boiled Eggs.

You get so much bang for your buck with this salad - salted poached cod, a briny sauce flavored with shallots, capers, lemon, and tarragon, soft boiled eggs - so much flavor with very little effort.

By the way, right after snapping this photo I had the idea of sprinkling the salad with toasted, salted pumpkin seeds that I had left over from the cheddar and apple salad pictured above and it was a delicious, crunchy, salty compliment to the creamy eggs and flaky fish.

---

New on the blogs

Mushroom Ragu. This, by the way, is the filling in the stuffed flatbread recipe above.

A ragù is traditionally an Italian meat-based sauce that's most commonly served with pasta. This version replaces the meat with mushrooms for an incredibly rich and versatile meatless ragù that can be spooned over pasta, potatoes, polenta, or eggs, spread over pizza, layered into lasagna and other casseroles, added to soups or stews, spread over bread or toast, tucked into homemade ravioli or flatbread, and spread over sandwiches.

Click here for plenty of ideas for how to customize it to your personal tastes and several delicious recipes and ideas for how to use it.

Red velvet muffins

These muffins are impossibly soft, creamy, and buttery with that smooth vanilla and cocoa flavor and subtle tang that is red velvet. They are filled with cream cheese and topped with butter crumbs that offer a delicious little crunch before promptly melting in your mouth.

After making successive batches of these I had to immediately put the muffins from these photos into the freezer just to save us from ourselves because they apparently have the power to annihilate our self control especially when they are freshly baked and still slightly warm from the oven so that cream cheese center is soft and creamy and just a little bit gooey. Ahhhh...

Honestly, I think my husband said it best, "These muffins are dangerous as fuck."

They are actually. Also, worth it.

Gluten Free Cheese Crackers with Almonds and Seeds

Mmmm, mmmm but these little crispy cheesy crackers are tasty. They are flaky and seedy, with a nutty crunch and rich cheesy flavor. And they just happen to be gluten free.

They are so easy to make it's almost ridiculous which is such a good thing because that first batch is going to disappear lickitysplit and you are absolutely going to want to make more. Probably immediately.

Coffee and Cream Protein Balls

These delightful little gluten free protein balls take just a few minutes to make, last for weeks in the refrigerator, are a little bit sweet but not overly so, and are packed with the flavors of peanut butter, oats, coffee, and (if you like) chocolate.

---

The bake club is a monthly baking challenge with a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card. There is no need to sign-up for the bake club, simply bake the challenge recipe and then leave a comment on the recipe telling me what you thought of it. By commenting on the recipe, you'll be automatically entered to win a $50 Amazon gift card.

Important: When you comment on the recipe, use the same email address that you use to subscribe to this newsletter. This is how I’ll contact you if you win.

The February challenge recipe is classic oatmeal raisin cookies.

These oatmeal raisin cookies are classic comfort food. They are huge, sweet, and buttery, with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg, and just the right amount of raisins and almonds. They are soft and chewy in the center and slightly crispy around the edges.

And, like a warm bowl of soup or a thick slice of homemade bread, they are the kind of classic cookie that makes me feel grounded, cozy, and a little bit better about the world.

To participate in the Bake Club Challenge: bake this month's challenge recipe and then leave a comment on the recipe telling me what you thought of it! By commenting on the recipe, you'll be automatically entered to win a $50 Amazon gift card. Bake the challenge recipe and leave your comment before March 1st, 2024.

---

What I’m reading, watching, and listening to

A couple weeks ago my husband and I watched two movies back to back and the difference in style made an impact on me: Maestro and Kodachrome. Actually, we watched half of Maestro because that’s all Steve could take before switching to Kodachrome. In his words, “This is a really well done movie. I just hate it.” 😂

I finished watching Maestro on my own later that week.

Steve summed up the difference well: Maestro is art. Kodachrome is pop. Not that pop isn’t art. But, also there’s a notable difference there that was brought into stark contrast for us by watching both of these films back to back.

I love pop. There’s a reason why things are popular. There’s a formula to it that works for most of us and Kodachrome has the formula down pat. It has the right number of contemplative pauses and mic drop one liners. There are an appropriate amount of comedic stunts and meaningful moments, and everything comes together as it should in the end.

All the main characters move through their own redemptive personal growth story arcs. There’s a wise sage that drops in at all the right times to say just the right thing and the perfunctory assholes that play a role in pushing the characters to learn the things they need to learn. We, the audience, root for all of them because they do such a good job of living up to our expectations. They do not surprise or disappoint us.

You’ve seen this movie even if you haven’t seen this movie. We loved it.

Maestro is not that.

Maestro made me think of the Buddhist concept of non-striving, a paradox that I don’t really understand but is inviting me to stop trying to be and just be.

I don’t remember where I read this but I think most of us will relate: I am so tired of trying to be me. The opposite of that is non-striving. And that is this movie. It’s not trying to be what you expect or want it to be. This makes us, the audience, uncomfortable and it does not care.

I loved it. And I hated it. Mostly, I would like more of this kind of art in my life. It’s instructive as I strive to show up in the world in a non-striving way. 😁

One final thing I want to say about Maestro. It’s 100% worth watching for Bradley Cooper’s performance alone, not to mention his direction and writing. It is a work of art and his performance is phenomenal. Also, if you get halfway through and want to quit, I encourage to to push through. I think you will be glad you did.

So, my question to you: What have you read, watched, viewed, or listened to that pulled you in without trying to meet expectations?

All recommendations are welcome.

And finally, I want to close with some challenging thoughts I am wrestling with after listening to a podcast episode earlier this week. It was an episode of The Daily podcast from the New York Times about the trial and conviction of Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley.

I want to say with as much clarity as is possible that this is not a commentary on Jennifer as a person or as a mother. It’s also not a commentary on the politics of the situation which are extremely complicated and completely overwhelming for any of us who try to be honest about the human experience at this particular place and time.

But one thing I know, as does every parent of a child who has done something destructive to themselves or others, is that it doesn’t matter what kind of parent you are, the world will point their collective finger and blame you. I don’t think this is out of malice. I think this is out of fear.

If we can just place the blame at the feet of someone else, we can pretend it won’t (it can’t!) happen to us. We can turn away from the bigger, overwhelmingly complicated deeper causes that in almost every case we are also contributing to, and say “that’s not the problem. She is the problem.”

The same day that I listened to the podcast about Jennifer Crumbley, I listened to an episode of We Can Do Hard Things (highly recommend!) in which this statement was made: If you stuck around and asked one more question, would you get to something more painful, but also closer to the truth?

---

Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying this newsletter, please consider upgrading your subscription for $5 a month or $50 a year.

• Two options for your subscription: free or paid. Free subscribers receive 2 issues a month (24 a year). If you opt to subscribe for $5 a month (thank you!), you will receive 3 issues a month (36 a year). There is no difference between the free and paid subscriptions except in how many issues a month you receive.

• Every issue includes stories from the road (if you’re new here, my husband and I are full time travelers) + several new recipes that you won’t find on either of my recipe websites + useful (I hope!) tips and tricks + a monthly bake club challenge + recommendations for cookbooks, books, podcasts, and other things that I hope will be of interest to you.

If you make something from this issue, snap a photo and send it to me at rebecca@rebeccablackwell.com! I’ll publish your photo in next week’s issue!

If you missed last week’s issue, you can read it here.

Next week’s issue includes recipes for crispy avocado tacos, avocado, citrus, and pumpkin seed salad, the lightest, softest citrus drizzle cake I’ve ever eaten, BBQ chicken nachos, and quite a bit more! See you next Saturday!

If you’re enjoying this newsletter, please tell your friends!