Is it even possible to create a happy life?

+ A short tour of Substack, Chicken Durango, Fried Summer Squash with Chimichurri Sauce, and Blueberry Corn Muffins

To everyone new here, welcome. I’m Rebecca and this is the Let’s Get Lost newsletter. Many of you know me from my recipe websites, Of Batter and Dough and A Little and A Lot. This newsletter comes out every Saturday morning and includes stories and photos from our life on the road plus a weekly menu of new recipes inspired by the places we visit and the people we meet.

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Here’s what you’ll find in this week’s issue:

• What is Substack? A short video tour

• Thoughts about what it means to create a happy life

• What’s happening in the Lost Supper Club

• This week’s menu: Fried Summer Squash with chimichurri sauce, super easy Chicken Durango, and Blueberry Corn Muffins

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What is Substack?

Substack is a media platform powered by subscriptions not by advertising. The best metaphor I’ve come up with to describe this platform is this: Substack is like an art gallery in which the work of many different artists are represented.

If you visit an art gallery, you are able to peruse, consider, evaluate, and absorb the work of every artist represented there. If one piece speaks to you and you decide to purchase it, you are not only supporting the work of that artist, but also the studio itself and thereby the other artists who are represented there.

On Substack, you can consume the work of many different kinds of writers who are creating content on every subject imaginable. When the work of a particular writer really speaks to you, you can upgrade to a paid subscription. In so doing, you contribute to the overall sustainability of the platform which also benefits the other writers who publish their work here.

It’s an ecosystem that doesn’t require advertising dollars and that’s what makes it special.

Earlier this week, I did a short live tour of Substack and how to navigate this platform. If you missed it, here’s where you’ll find the replay:

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What does it mean to live a happy life?

Steve and I have spent our free minutes this week trying to cram for our upcoming American Sailing Association certification class next week.

The start of anything new feels overwhelming, doesn’t it? At some point, our brains acclimate to new information and new skills and it begins to feel normal, natural, and easy. But before that, it feels foreign, clumsy, and difficult.

We are at the foreign, clumsy, and difficult stage of learning to sail.

But really, I’m just looking forward to getting on the boat. We have a vision in our minds of what it will be like after we know what we are doing and are off on the open sea, just the two of us, sailing.

We think we’ll love it. We think that the act of sailing, and of knowing how to sail, will be, for us, a happy one.

Recently, I listened to a podcast discussing the hedonic set point. This is a theory that all of us, regardless of our circumstances, activities, or situation, consistently return to a basic baseline level of happiness.

We think that things will make us happier, and perhaps for a moment they do. But then we acclimate. That new thing, whatever it is, becomes one of the normal things, and we return to the same basic level of happiness.

Cover us in diamonds, set us on a yacht, give us the dream job and the perfect partner and plant us on a beach in Bali. You will still be you, and I will still be me.

We are who we are.

Knowing this, I’ve been ruminating on what it even means to create a happy life. What’s essential? What does happy life even mean? Is it achievable? Or is it simply a disposition you lucky enough to be born with?

I find these to be difficult questions. Perhaps it’s easier define what a happy life is not.

A happy life is not a problem free life, even though on the surface, that’s what we might be going for. But ask yourself: do you really hope to reach a point where there is no problem to solve? Would that make you happy? Unlikely.

In the same vein, a happy life is not equal to an easy life. In fact, the people I know with the easiest life are the unhappiest. Also, I think there is an important distinction here between easy and ease…

I have approached difficult things with an attitude of ease and with an anxious attitude of hinderance. One is definitely better than the other.

That anxious attitude of hinderance just creates suffering.

Huh. Suffering.

Maybe a happy life is one without suffering.

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” - Haruki Murakami

Maybe it’s about accepting who we are and doing our level best to not create suffering for ourselves and in so doing, not create suffering for others.

Solve all the problems, achieve and acquire whatever you like. Buy an RV. Travel the world. Learn to sail. Endure much failure, heartache, and grief along the way.

You will still be as happy as you are. Everything as it is.

But if we can manage to do it all without suffering, perhaps that’s what it means to live a happy life.

But, we already knew that, didn’t we?

We haven’t even started yet and I am dreaming about what kind of boat we’ll buy someday. This one will do. 😉

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What’s happening in the Lost Supper Club (exclusive content for paid subscribers)

—> Here’s where you’ll find every single piece of content that’s exclusively for Lost Supper Club Members.

—> Class replays: LIVE classes are free for anyone to attend, but the replay library is a perk of being a paid subscriber. Click here to access all the class replays!

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This week’s menu

Fried Summer Squash with Chimichurri Sauce + Chicken Durango (recipe follows) + Blueberry Corn Muffins

Fried Summer Squash with Chimichurri Sauce

This super simple technique for crispy fried summer squash produces a light, lacy golden fry that makes the perfect side dish or appetizer, especially when served with chimichurri sauce for dipping or drizzling.

The key to a light, tender, crispy breading is buttermilk. The viscosity of buttermilk grabs and binds the ideal amount of flour to each slice of summer squash giving you the perfect amount of golden, crispy breading in every bite.

Here’s where to get the recipe —> Fried Summer Squash

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Chicken Durango

This recipe is an adaption from one in The Colorado Cache Cookbook, a book published by the Junior League of Denver in 1978. It’s a book I grew up with. My mom owned a copy as did my grandma and (I think) every one of my aunts.

I have my own copy which, I admit, I keep more out of nostalgia than because of the recipes. It’s a book of it’s time, which is to say that it includes a mix of true gems, as good today as they were in 1978, and plenty that are more interesting to read than they would be to prepare. (For example, there’s a recipe for Steak Hong Kong in which the only ingredient remotely reminiscent of Chinese food is a tablespoon of soy sauce).

That’s where this recipe comes from. I have modified it quite a bit.

The original recipe calls for marinading bone-in, skin-on split breasts in butter and spices before baking. Instead, I like to marinate the chicken in buttermilk and salt, then spread the butter and spices over the chicken right before baking.

Letting chicken soak in salted buttermilk for several hours is a genius trick I learned from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat (another treasured book on my shelf). The salt and acid in the buttermilk work together to flavor and tenderize the meat, and prevent liquid from escaping while the meat cooks.

Instead of split breasts, I like to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs. They cook much quicker and do not require you to pick the meat from the bones. Also, after soaking in the marinade and then baking, there’s no chance for the skin on split breasts to crisp and it comes out on the rubbery side. I also think dark meat tastes better, but you can certainly use chicken breasts if that’s your preference.

I have also decreased the amount of butter and increased the amount of spices. The end result is tender, juicy, and flavorful chicken that is quick and easy to prepare and will go with pretty much anything.

I made it for us earlier this week and we ate it with Fried Summer Squash and Crispy Fried Potatoes, all of it drizzled with Chimichurri Sauce + a plate of Blueberry Corn Muffins.

10 out of 10, highly recommend.

This is one of those things for which you’ll want leftovers, so if you can, plan to make more chicken than you’ll eat in one night.

Serves: 4 main dish servings

Time: 10 minutes prep + 6-24 hours of resting time + 25 minutes bake time

• 2-3 cups buttermilk

• ¼ cup salt

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts (*see note)

• 4 tablespoons (56 grams) butter, melted

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 2 teaspoons garlic powder

• 1 ½ tablespoons smoked paprika

• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

1. Add the buttermilk and salt to a zip-top bag or another airtight container large enough to hold the chicken; stir to combine. Add the chicken and press it down into the buttermilk so it’s completely submerged. Add more buttermilk if there’s not enough to submerge the chicken. Place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours.

2. Heat the oven to 400°F. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk marinade and place it in a 9x13 baking pan. Some of the buttermilk will cling to the chicken and pool in the pan, and this is ok. Discard the buttermilk marinade.

   

3. Add the melted butter, lemon juice, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and oregano in a bowl and stir to combine. Spread the mixture over the top of the chicken in an even layer, so each piece is coated.

   

4. Bake the chicken until the thickest parts register 165 degrees on a meat thermometer. How long the chicken will take to bake depends on how thick the pieces are. In general, boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts will take approximately 25 minutes to bake. Alternatively, to check that the chicken is done, remove one of the pieces to a plate and cut into it. If there is no pink in the center of the meat, the chicken is done.

   

5. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes. Serve drizzled with some of the sauce that’s collected at the bottom of the pan.

Recipe note: This recipe can be prepared using bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces but the cook time will be longer. Split breasts will take 30-45 minutes to bake at 400 degrees.

—> Lost Supper Club Members (paid subscribers): Download a pdf recipe card of this and every recipe in the complete recipe index!

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Blueberry Corn Muffins

These muffins are warm, comforting, and basic in the absolutely best possible way. Basic like your favorite sweatshirt or that movie you can watch over and over and never get tired of. Basic like that friend you are always happy to see and who has seen you at your worst and is still always happy to see you too.

Sometimes basic is boring. But sometimes it is everything you want and need. That's what these blueberry corn muffins are.

They take less than 10 minutes to whip up and are just as good for breakfast as they are for an afternoon pick-me-up or served for dinner with something equally comforting like Chicken Durango and Fried Summer Squash.

Here’s where to get the recipe —> Blueberry Corn Muffins

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For a limited time, receive 20% off your first year’s membership in The Lost Supper Club

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