Three Things

A vegetarian feast, a lemon trick, the coolest bday gift

Good morning! My friend Bonnie told me yesterday that she saves all these newsletters in her inbox because she’s afraid that if she deletes the emails, the recipes will disappear forever. Please listen and listen closely: Every single recipe and post you read in your email inbox ALSO lives FOREVER right here in my very searchable archive. You can bookmark it and access it just like a regular old website. Please tell me that you understand this! Thank you! I’m now exhausted from shouting, so here are your three things…

1. Easy-ish Menu for a Vegetarian Party

On late Saturday morning, on our way back from a soccer game an hour away from home, I found out I was cooking dinner for a group of 11 teenagers that night, five of whom were boys (you know how that usually terrifies me), four who were vegetarians, and two who were vegan. (God, I love this generation.) I won’t go into how this happened or why it had to happen on this particular night, and not the next when I had more time to plan and cook, but it was actually….not that stressful? I realize how braggy that sounds, but I don't want to take any of the credit here. In fact I completely credit the kids. Somehow, their restrictions made it easier to figure out the menu. When everyone eats everything, I can suffer from paralysis of choice, and it can take me days to nail down the food line-up. But this time, mentally scrolling through the recipes in my next cookbook, I figured out the menu and the shopping list with Abby before merging on to 95-South. Another helpful restriction: Everything would have to be procured at the Stop & Shop 5 minutes from our house; no messing around with specialty markets. This is what we came up with and why:

3 Mushroom-Leek Galettes - This was a specific request from one of the guests who saw a glimpse the galette photo from the cookbook; how much do I love specific requests? Would this be amazing using farm market hen of the woods mushrooms wrapped in a pate brisée. Of course, but the beauty of this one is that it’s just as satisfying using supermarket creminis and a freezer pie dough.

2 Shredded Cabbage-y Salads with Tofu, Peanuts, and Ginger Dressing (Vegan) - I didn’t have time to go to any farm markets, and in this case, I always find that cabbage is going to be a good way to get a no-cook, fresh hit on the table. It’s cheap, has great texture and color, and a little goes a long way.

Super Indulgent Mac & Cheese The book has many of these kinds of indulgent vegetarian recipes, which I am convinced helps entice the meat-eaters over to the other side. Plus: When M&C is on the table, carnivores are less likely to miss the meat.

Brothy Bean Bar I know, I can hardly get through an hour without talking about my Lima Beans. This time, I surrounded a big bowl of them with optional toppings: burrata, store bought pesto (I looked for vegan but couldn’t find) and Romesco sauce. The Romesco sauce I made was sort of a cheat — I blended a 12-ounce jar of sweet red roasted peppers with almonds, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. It’s such a gorgeous, vibrant orange, and completely vegan. This recipe will also be in the book!

There were a few things I’d maybe do differently next time — hit a farmer’s market to get some beautiful spring greens and vegetables, maybe explore some vegan cheeses. (I hear great things about Kite Hill brand.) But all in all, it worked. I hope this doesn’t sound like one big mean tease for my book — I’m only writing about the menu because I just found that the general formula was something you could riff on with your own savory galettes and salads.

2. Good Use for Old Lemons

For some reason I always have wayward lemon halves in the refrigerator. Do you? Is this normal? I save them because I save everything, but mostly I love having them around to throw on the sheet pan when I’m broiling or roasting something at high heat. (Like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, chicken, or this Sicilian-style sausage ring.) Once cooled a bit, the juice is squeezed out so easily and is more concentrated than a fresh spritz. You’re welcome!

3. The Coolest Birthday Gift

I am forever in search of idea-driven gifts as opposed to the majorly ca$h-driven kinds and I think I have stumbled upon the motherlode in that regard. Brooke Reynolds, who used to write the most enchanting blog called Inchmark, told Like Magic about the gift she organized for her father’s 70th birthday party a few years back. She arranged to have 70 people in his life send him a favorite memory on a pre-stamped postcard. I don’t want to say it was exactly easy — there was a lot of coordinating involved — but in the end it was memorable and meaningful and you can read all about it here.

P.S. On the menu this week: fried fish sandwiches! What about you?

Housekeeping

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