In this issue
+ Coming home
+ What to Cook This Week
+ Two New Recipes! Butternut squash and sausage sheet pan dinner with oregano and hot honey, and Banana custard parfaits
+ No Recipe Required: Arugula pesto on everything (but especially pasta)
+ One Useful Thing: A mix and match chart to spice up your morning oatmeal
+ Featured Cookbook: Huevos De Caja from Nopalito
+ March Bake Club Challenge: Irish Apple Cake
+ Reading, Watching, and Listening Recommendations
Hello friends! I am writing this on Monday morning. My husband and I have just returned from a vacation in Costa Rica. I am snuggled up on my couch covered by a quilt my mom made for me years ago, my laptop on my lap. It’s a cool morning, but the coffee is hot, the heaters are on, and the candles are lit. I can hear my husband in the next room on the daily morning call with his team and he sounds happy to be there.
While there have been times in my life when it was difficult to get back into real life after some time away, this isn’t one of them. We loved the two weeks we spent in Costa Rica. And also we are both happy to be home.
It occurs to me that one of the valuable things about travel is the insight offered in how I feel about going home. There have been times in my life when the dread of work on Monday morning after a vacation was almost not worth the vacation. This was an impossible-to-ignore siren signaling the urgent need to make a change.
These days I feel no resistance to coming home no matter how fun the vacation because I genuinely like my life. I am aware of the preciousness and fragility of that truth and it is filling me with enormous gratitude for the present moment.
Although we live in an RV and travel is a part of our normal life, it had been a while since the two of us had taken that much time away from work and the disruption from the normal was good for us. I needed a break from all the regular things and now the regular things are all I want to do. They are as comfortable as the warm quilt stretched across my lap.
My favorite things about getting away:
the disruption of normal routines
new experiences
My favorite things about coming home:
getting back into normal routines
familiar comforts
I am also grateful for the timing of this reminder. Our son’s birthday is in two days. But instead of celebrating his turning 28, we will grapple with the reality of loosing him at the tender age of 24. We will wonder at all the things that might have been, that I can’t help but feel should have been.
And here’s the thing I want to say about that: When the worst thing happens to you, as it happens to all of us, the things in your life that you are tolerating or ignoring will become intolerable and impossible to ignore.
The annoying becomes insufferable. The cracks in your relationships become gaping canyons. You will not be able to find energy or motivation for the things you want to do let alone the things you don’t want to do.
Likewise, the good, supportive things in your life that you love will become essential. The relationships that are good for you will solidify and become the foundation for your survival. Simple comforts of everyday life will become your lifeline. And if you are fortunate enough to have work that you love, it will offer you a little corner of shelter from the relentless storm that has become your new reality.
Since then, I have tried to communicate one of the only pieces of advice I have about making choices when you are young: Do everything in your power to create a life you love. Do this for the best days, but especially for the worst days.
And here is something else I am grappling with on this Monday morning: There is a deep well of sadness in me that I try to ignore because I am terrified of it.
I was never good at compartmentalizing, but I think in the years since our son died that I’ve gotten much better at it. This new skill has been useful in helping me get through the past few years, but I suspect it’s no longer serving me. I would very much like to compartmentalize this suspicion.
I am afraid that if I open to it completely, the sadness will consume and overpower me. And what then?
Something that I heard recently on a podcast that I am trying to cling to: Don’t shut out the sadness. You don’t know what work it’s doing inside of you.
Oh son, how I miss you. I feel so weary of this pain. Without you I am less. And also, the brutal truth is that if I can be brave enough, loosing you is an opportunity to become more.
Ok. Two more things before we get to this week’s new recipes:
If you’re not familiar with Substack, the platform that this newsletter is published on, you might not know that there is the ability to comment on these newsletters at the bottom of each one. If you have something to say, I would love to hear it.
I have much more to share about our trip to Costa Rica then just our experience of coming home 😁, including a batch of new recipes inspired by our time there. All of that is coming later this month. Until then, I hope you find something in this week’s issue to make your week more delicious.
xo
What to make this week
In addition to the new recipes you’ll find below, here are a few other suggestions to add to this week’s meal plan:
Mexican Adobo Chicken (Adobo de Pollo) is chicken cooked in smoky, vinegar-based red chili sauce. This one-pot dish is pure comfort food that's super easy to make. Using boneless, skinless chicken thighs and 25-minute adobo sauce means this dish will be on the table in about an hour. Make extra and then use the leftovers to make chicken tortilla soup and crispy corn tortilla quesadillas later in the week.
Spanish Seared Pork Bites with buttery Fried Apples is a weeknight staple in our home. Bite size pieces of pork tenderloin are coated in a Spanish inspired dry rub, sautéed quickly in oil until tender and juicy, then tossed with lemon juice, honey, olive oil, and fresh oregano and served with apples cooked in butter and brown sugar. Leftovers reheat well, so I recommend making enough for lunch later in the week.
"Made this today 2/26/24! Oh my gosh, it was mouth watering. Relatively easy. I purchased fresh pork loin by Beeler’s out of Iowa. I always have my spouse rate. He was jumping up and down - saying it’s a 10. I always have him rate from 1 to 10. Won’t make anything a second time if not an 8 or higher. Thank you for this recipe!" - Linda
Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash is one of those all-in-one, simple, satisfying, feel-good meals that I can happily eat from October through March. It just happens to be vegan and therefore dairy free but makes exactly zero sacrifices on flavor or that hearty stick-to-your-ribs feeling that just might get us through to spring.
These little buttermilk caramel cupcakes are the kind of thing that you can have a hankering for at 3pm and be eating by 4pm. 👏 And this has been our everyday buttermilk pancake recipe for decades. It's not an exaggeration to say that we've been eating these about once a week for years and no one around here is mad about it.
Butternut squash and sausage sheet pan dinner with oregano and hot honey
When I made this for my husband and I we ate almost the entire amount between the two of us. So, technically, I’d say this recipe serves 2-4 people, but if you are planning to serve it to 4 people, consider adding cooked brown rice or quinoa, or bread (maybe buttermilk biscuits or dinner rolls), or mashed potatoes or crispy fried potatoes, or a salad such as Israeli Salad, simple roasted beets, or jicama and apple slaw.
1 medium size butternut squash
Extra virgin olive oil
chili powder
ground cumin
salt and pepper
12 ounces smoked Andouille sausage or any kind of sausage links
About 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
2- 3 tablespoons diced red onion or shallot
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
3-4 tablespoons hot honey
1/3 cup roasted salted almonds or any kind of roasted salted nut
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano leaves
Heat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
Use a sharp knife to cut a butternut squash in half. Scrape the seeds from the squash. Cut away the peel and then cut the flesh into 2-inch cubes. (This recipe for couscous and butternut squash bowls includes a tutorial for how to peel and cut a butternut squash.)
Add the squash cubes to a bowl and pour in a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Stir the squash around in the oil to coat, then spread the cubes out onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle the squash generously with chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper then place the pan in the center of the oven to roast.
Meanwhile, cut the links of sausage in half crosswise then cut each in half lengthwise. Set aside.
Add the vinegar, diced onion, minced garlic, and hot honey to a small bowl and stir to combine. Add the almonds to a food processor and pulse to chop the nuts into very small pieces. Alternatively, use a knife to chop the almonds into very small pieces. Stir them into the onion and garlic mixture along with the chopped oregano and a pinch of salt and pepper. Use a fork to whisk in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.
When the squash is tender enough to where you can pierce a cube with a fork but still feel resistance, move the cubes over to one side of the pan and lay the sausage on the other side of the pan, cut side up. Roast until the squash is very tender and the sausage is beginning to brown.
To serve, pile plates with squash and sausage and drizzle with a generous amount of dressing. Serve with additional hot honey on the side as an option for anyone who wants more. You can also serve this with greens and drizzle the greens with the same dressing.
Banana Custard Parfaits
These creamy vanilla and banana parfaits are kind of like a deconstructed version of black bottom banana cream pie but without the chocolate. Although, you can certainly keep the chocolate by sprinkling in a layer of chocolate chips or (be still my beating heart) hot fudge.
This recipe begins with my all-time favorite pastry cream recipe, which I have been making for decades. To say that this recipe is tried-and-true is a considerable understatement. It is the foundation for all types of desserts including these 16 recipes.
This recipe makes a very generous dessert for two, or modest portions for four, or mini portions for six. Portion size is completely dependent on the size of jar or dish you build them in.
3/4 teaspoon (2.3 grams) unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 teaspoons cold tap water
3 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons (15 grams) cornstarch
1 cup (227 grams) whole milk
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt (a generous pinch)
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
3 or 4 shortbread cookies (or any other kind of cookie such as gingersnaps or Biscoff cookies)
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
about 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste
1 large or 2 small to medium size bananas, sliced
Make the pastry cream:
In a small dish, stir the gelatin and water together to combine. There should be just enough water to moisten the gelatin, creating a rubbery paste. Set aside.
Add the egg yolks and cornstarch to a medium size bowl and beat with a wire whisk to combine. Set the bowl on a kitchen towel somewhere close to the stovetop. (This will keep the bowl from sliding around on the counter when you whisk in the hot milk.)
Set a 1 or 2 cup heat proof measuring cup next to the stovetop, preferably one with a pourable spout.
Add the milk, sugar, and salt to a medium sized heavy bottomed saucepan and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, just until it barely begins to boil. Remove the pan from the heat.
Pour the hot milk into the measuring cup. Very slowly pour the hot milk from the measuring cup into the egg yolks, whisking constantly while you pour. Then, pour everything back into the saucepan and set it over low heat. (It’s important to heat the eggs slowly so they won’t scramble.)
Cook, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick and begins to boil. As soon as it thickens to the consistency of pudding and barely begins to boil, remove from the heat and whisk for about 20 seconds longer. Pour the pastry cream into a bowl.
Break the gelatin into small pieces, dropping them onto the hot pastry cream. Let stand for about 20 seconds to let the gelatin to melt, then stir until the gelatin is completely incorporated. Stir in the vanilla and almond extract.
Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap over the surface of the pastry cream. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 48 hours.
Prepare the parfaits:
Add the cookies to a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to crush them into crumbs.
Use an electric mixer to beat the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, nutmeg and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla until the cream is thick enough to softly hold it’s shape. Remove half of the whipped cream from the mixing bowl and set aside. Add the pastry cream to the mixing bowl with the remaining half of the whipped cream and beat with an electric mixer until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
To assemble, spread some pastry cream in the bottom of each dish or jar. Sprinkle with cookie crumbs and top with a few banana slices. Spread a layer of whipped cream over the bananas then repeat the process - pastry cream, cookie crumbs, banana slices, and whipped cream. Sprinkle the top of the parfait with a few more cookie crumbs if desired.
Also, if bananas and custard are your kind of dessert, you might want to add this banana cream cake to your baking list.
Arugula Pesto
Arugula pesto on everything, always, forever and ever, amen.
Make a batch of arugula pesto this week and put it on, oh I don’t know, anything, and you will promptly turn into an obsessive pesto evangelist ready and waiting to douse everything you and everyone else in your household eats with spoonfuls of the stuff.
I tell you the truth, friends.
I’m going to give you the recipe for this magical sauce, but before I do, here are just a few of the things I have made with it recently.
#1. Arugula pesto over roasted cauliflower with fresh cherry tomatoes. Simply toss cauliflower with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast it at high heat (at least 450 degrees) until the bottom of the florets are blackened. Douse with arugula pesto and top with cherry tomatoes that have been cut in half.
The pan you see here was dinner one night and my husband said, “If I could tell my younger self that I’d be this happy to eat a plate of cauliflower for dinner, I wouldn’t believe myself.”
#2. Arugula pesto and mushroom open face sandwiches made with garlic bread. Toast the garlic bread in the oven then spread it with arugula pesto and pile on plenty of mushroom ragu or just simple roasted or sautéed mushrooms.
Mushroom ragu recipe: alittleandalot.com/mushroom-ragu/
#3. Arugula pesto pasta. This is so good I made it three times in the span of about a week and a half. You’ll find the recipe below.
How to make arugula pesto:
Fresh baby arugula
Garlic cloves, peeled
Anchovy fillets or anchovy paste
Grated pecorino Romano or parmesan cheese
Almonds, roasted or raw (or any kind of nuts)
Crushed red pepper flakes
Lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Add everything except the olive oil, salt, and pepper, to a food processor. The quantities are up to you - adjust them to how much you want to make and your own personal tastes and preferences. If you’re unsure how much to add of anything, start by adding a small amount and then add more later if you like after you taste it.
Pulse/ process until it’s all chopped up into a paste. With the machine running, pour in however much olive oil you want to achieve the consistency you like. I usually like to make this thick and chunky, so I don’t add a lot of olive oil. But if you want it to be thinner and saucier, add more.
Taste the pesto and add salt and pepper to taste plus any more of anything else you think it needs.
Arugula pesto will keep well in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
By the way, after using a Cuisinart food processor for years, I purchased a Ninja food processor a few months ago and I LOVE it. If you’re in the market for one check it out.
How to make arugula pesto pasta:
Cook any kind of pasta just until it’s slightly underdone. Drain it in a strainer placed inside the sink, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water. Rinse the pasta under cold water to prevent it from continuing to cook.
Add some arugula pesto (about 1 cup per pound of pasta) to a skillet, large saucepan, or braiser (my favorite pan, pictured above) and add about a half cup of the reserved pasta water.
Add anything else you like or nothing at all. In the photo above I added cooked chicken sausage and roasted mushrooms. Heat to simmering, pour in a couple tablespoons of cream, add the pasta and cook until the pasta is cooked through. Add more pasta water as needed if and when it starts looking dry.
Stir in cherry tomatoes that have been cut in half. Serve with chopped parsley and shredded Parmesan.
I would, as always, like to make the case for homemade pasta. In the picture above, I made homemade spaghetti noodles early in the week, allowing them to dry overnight then storing them in an airtight container until I wanted to use them. With the pasta ready to go, this whole dish takes about 20 minutes, start to finish.
One useful thing: a mix and match oatmeal grid
In the last issue I shared a couple of high-protein oatmeal recipes that we eat around here on the regular. This grid is (hopefully) just a starting point to get you thinking about all the ways to dress up that morning bowl of oats and add both flavor and nutrition!
Some of our favorite combos include:
dates + collagen powder + chia seeds + almond milk + diced apple + cinnamon+ nuts
chocolate almond milk + peanut butter + sliced banana + roasted peanuts
stevia + cardamom + collagen powder + hemp hearts + oat milk + frozen berries
I like to add everything except toppings to the saucepan all at once and let it all cook until the fruit is broken down (if using) and the oats are soft and creamy. I love the flavor and consistency of steel cut oats but don’t love the longer cooking time, so almost always use Bob’s Red Mill old fashioned rolled oats.
This month’s featured cookbook is Nopalito by Gonzalo Guzman and Stacy Adimando.
Huevos de caja
Nopalito is one of my favorite cookbooks for many reasons. The recipes are bright, creative, and filled with my favorite flavors. But the book is also peppered with information about tools and ingredients, the origins of dishes and preparation methods, as well as photos and stories about the people Chef Guzman works with in his San Francisco kitchen. It’s a good read that will make you hungry.
This week I made a version of the book’s recipe for huevos de caja. The name means “eggs in a box”, and according to the recipe notes originates in the north of Mexico where you’ll most often find the eggs scrambled. The recipe in Nopalito uses poached eggs instead. I opted for soft boiled 7-minute eggs.
However you prepare the eggs, the basic idea is simple and delicious: Fry a corn tortilla until it’s crispy (like a tostada shell) then place it in a cast iron pan and top with black refried beans, salsa, and cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted and then top with eggs. We also topped ours with pickled onions and some chopped fresh cilantro.
The bake club is a monthly baking challenge with a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card. To participate, 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 was oatmeal raisin cookies and the winner is Barbara Crane. “Funny, I connect oatmeal cookies to my grandfather as well, in fact I took my mom to the grocery store two days ago and in the cookie isle we were trying to figure out the brand of oatmeal cookies my grandmother always got for him. Sadly nothing looked right, so these hit the spot! As someone who needs gluten free I made these with a GF all purpose flour and they came out wonderful. I plan to freeze some and will flash freeze them first and store with parchment between so I can snitch one at a time from the freezer bag to enjoy! Thanks for so much a timely recipe and memory jogger!” - Barbara
The March challenge recipe is Irish Apple Cake.
Corned beef and cabbage with Mustard Sauce and THIS cake are on the must-bake list at our house every year on St. Patrick's Day. But honestly, we love this cake so much that I don’t just relegate it to one day a year.
Irish Apple Cake is a light and tender vanilla spice cake with a crunchy sugar topping that's loaded with tart, crisp apples. It’s delicious all on it’s own, but even better drizzled with creamy vanilla custard sauce or buttery whisky sauce.
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 April 1st, 2024.
What I’m reading, watching, and listening to
I just finished two books that I highly recommend: The Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah and Go As A River by Shelley Read. (You’ll find links to both books on the Resources Page.)
Kristin Hannah’s books are hit or miss with me, but I really enjoyed The Winter Garden. It’s a story about the complicated relationship and family history of a mother and her two adult daughters. Their life is a patchwork of extreme hardship, loss, misunderstanding and missed opportunity, but also love, forgiveness, and redemption. This book was hard to put down.
Go As A River was recommended by my mom and what a great recommendation it was! This is also a story of the complicated landscape of family and small town culture, of misunderstanding and missed opportunity, and the power of love and forgiveness. I adored the main character and identified with her struggle to always do the right thing even though the “right” thing is often only visible in retrospect.
Both books had me reading later into the night than was wise. 🙂
What are you reading these days friends? If you have any recommendations, please leave them in the comments below!
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I have been reading your newsletter since you started and I have been so envious of your life. You are literally living the life I want to live. This issue just goes to show you that you should appreciate what you have because although you live a rich and fulfilling life I’m sure you would give anything to have your son back. I have a 23 year old son and I can’t imagine how devastating it would be to lose him. My heart goes out to you and I just want you to know that I admire the way you are coping, but I am so very sorry for your loss.
Rebecca! The newsletter is amazing! I've always been a big believer that good recipes and good books are meant to be shared. And I love hearing about your travels. I can't wait to try the arugula pesto. Last year, I got some fresh arugula from a neighbors garden and it had a real spicy punch compared to store bought. I hope I get some of their arugula harvest this year to make this pesto recipe. Imagine that on thick sliced toasted sourdough with bacon, tomato, and avocado! Peace and Love to you and Steve! Lynn