Three Things

Ireland recap, easy dinners, re-entry rituals

Greetings friends. I’ve returned from Ireland and though I’m always happy to come home, I am now acutely aware of how few sheep-dotted pastures there are in my everyday life, and how decidedly not-green New York can feel even during the first week of summer. (Happy that, by the way.) Some of this can be remedied by a stroll in the park, but for the immediate future, I’ll have to be content extending my Ireland dreaming through the Edna O’Brien novels I packed for the trip and never managed to crack. (Though I did finally wrap up Paul Murray’s epic 2010 novel Skippy Dies which, as promised, delivered on all counts.) Before we officially begin, I wanted to put three meals on your radar for the week…

…this Craggy Chicken Patty Caesar Salad (above) a really fun twist on the classic; Rie McClenny’s Chicken-Tofu Toskune, tender Japanese meatballs that are great with rice and sweet soy sauce; and Justine Doiron’s Miso Corn Rice with Chili Cod, even though it’s not quite corn season yet. I’m not breaking any news with this observation but Justine is so good — she’s always up to something innovative, in this case, blending corn kernels with aromatics to create a flavorful plant-based broth. Sold!

Herewith, your Three Things…

1. Our Ireland Itinerary (in Shorthand)

Last year for the holidays I told my kids I wanted only one gift: A week in June earmarked for family vacation. I know that doesn’t sound like a very hard ask, but anyone with adult children probably understands how complicated it can be to nail down timing when your kids are no longer under your control roof. Gone are the days — at least for me! — when mom takes a look at the family calendar, cross-references various camp or school schedules, then picks the dates and books the tickets and airbnbs and done and done and done. This is the world working the way it’s supposed to, is what I tell myself.

But miraculously, my holiday wish was granted, and last week we had the kids to ourselves in Ireland for seven days of hiking and Guinness-ing and cliff-walking, and swimming, and fish-and-chipping, and World Cup-in-the-pub-ing! It was the best and I was so grateful for the trip that I didn’t even have FOMO about missing Knicks euphoria wash all over New York in my absence. (Well, ok maybe I had a little.)

All this to say, I tried to be as present as possible — no obsessing over getting the right photo or scribbling post-dinner food notes in my journal — which means instead of writing up the usual comprehensive Vacation Highlight Reel, I’m instead giving you the broad strokes of our itinerary: We flew from JFK to Shannon, drove our rental car to Dingle in the southwestern part of the island, stayed at the Pax House for three nights; then headed to Kenmare for two nights and stayed in an Airbnb which was an ideal launching point for driving the Ring of Beara; for the final two nights, we drove about two hours east (with a minor lunch detour in wonderful, technicolor Kinsale) to stay at Ballymaloe, a 15th-century castle-turned-hotel, home to the Chez-Panisse-y, everything-from-the-farm restaurant and world-renowned Cookery School. In between we hiked and explored, and discovered charming cafés and restaurants — we even had enough sunshine to power us through four bonafide swims.

I miss you, Ireland! As always, subscribers are welcome to DM me on Substack Chat for the day-by-day list of places we ate, hiked, swam, and explored.

P.S. I think I had a version of these oats almost every morning (#wheninIreland), whether I was eating at a hippie cafe in Kenmare or at Ballymaloe’s bountiful breakfast buffet. I know, cue the T-shirt: Jenny went to Ireland and all she brought back for us was this lousy porridge! Yes, I do plan on adding stewed apricots to my morning oatmeal for as long as the fruit is in season, thanks for asking.

2. Avo Toast of the Week

In the day or two leading up to vacation, I like to challenge myself to use up as much produce and as many perishables as possible. Some set-ups are better than others, which was the case before we headed to Ireland. For lunch on the day I left, I had a perfect avocado (rare in my world, though I know people swear by this guy) a few straggly cherry tomatoes, and an almost empty jar of pickled onions. There is always a loaf of Bread Alone peasant bread in the freezer and some Everything Bagel Seasoning in the spice drawer. The result? Would you have ever known that the above sandwich was a throw-together situation? I would’ve paid fifteen bucks for it in a cafe and been thrilled.

A simple dinner: pinto bean tacos with feta, pickled onions, kale

3. Re-Entry Rituals

Tamar Adler’s latest Kitchen Shrink dispatch came through while I was sitting in the Shannon airport waiting for news on exactly how many hours our flight back to JFK was going to be delayed. (Four. But in that time, I did meet three travelers I wouldn’t have otherwise.*) Tamar’s newsletter is an advice column, and this week she was answering two queries about beans, which is sort of like James Joyce answering questions about Dublin. It’s impossible for her not to sound poetic on the topic — there is a chapter in An Everlasting Meal devoted to beans called “How to Live Well” — even when she’s giving a strict culinary how-to. Or maybe I was just projecting, sitting there in the airport envisioning the comfort of being home and plunking a pot of beans in water on the stovetop, then babysitting them all day as they’d soak and simmer and, finally, get folded into dinner.

When I woke up in New York sixteen hours later, prepping my beans was indeed the first thing I did. The second thing? Hard-boil a few eggs. Next, a trip to Fairway to stock up on fruit, yogurt, avocados, plus tofu and cabbage for lunch, and all the ingredients I’d need to turn my beans into dinner. When I closed the full fridge, everything in its place, I was reminded of how much comfort I derive not only from eating certain familiar foods, but also from the almost meditative ritual of hunting and gathering and stocking those foods — especially when I return home after time away. This has been the case for as long as I can remember, even when I had little kids and the idea of anything “meditative” might’ve felt like a laughable luxury. It also reminded me of something my friend Lygeia said over breakfast last month, how she’s teaching herself to look at everyday tasks from a different angle. “There are a lot of things on my to-do list that could be reframed as rituals,” she said. Not always easy, but I’d argue it’s definitely worth a shot.

Have a good week,
Jenny

*please be impressed by the distinct way I’m not complaining

The light ✨ (Co. Cork)

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