What Are *YOUR* Three Things?

Where do you find your daily joy?

A joyful take on ‘black-and-white’ cookies from William Greenberg.

Four years ago this week, the world began to shut down and, like the rest of you, I was scared and anxious and strangely overwhelmed by an urge to stock my pantry with flour and dried beans and, eventually, toilet paper. The headlines filled me with dread, and the only thing I could think of doing to maintain some sense of control over a world decidedly out of control, was cook, read…and write about cooking and reading. That was the start of “Three Things,” i.e. this newsletter, i.e. a random list of recipes, baking projects, novels, poems, podcasts, cocktails, charities, playlists, binge-worthy TV series, profiles, memoirs — anything that brought me even the smallest amount of joy. Back then, I called it “Project, Pantry, Purpose” and my goal for the series was “to keep us sane, distracted, connected, and useful.” Now that I think about, the whole thing was, is, a glorified, very public gratitude journal. (To go full meta on you, these days the act of writing Three Things every week is now the thing that brings me the most joy.)

Now, I want you to try.

Tell me Three Things that have brought you joy this week!

Don’t overthink this. When I texted Andy the question, his reply came back fast:

“Past Lives, the ESPN FC Champions League podcast, and Alex Mill work jackets.”

My daughter, Abby said “Marcella’s tomato-butter sauce with orzo, pick-up basketball, and Hamlet.”

My friend Jenn said “Rad Electric Bikes, my neighbor’s almond cake, and middle school kids.”

My friend Catherine said “Good-quality ganjang (a special Korean soy sauce), Isaac Mizrahi’s memoir I.M. on audio; and crazy fashion girls on instagram.”

As you can see, Your Three Things don’t have to be about reading OR eating and they can be completely unrelated items, which is the fun of it.

So what do you think? If you had to publish your newsletter in the next five minutes, what would they be? What are Three Things you’re excited to tell us about this week? If you have the energy to provide links to your recs: Fantastic! But not required.

🚨 🚨 ✨ PS: I’m giving away two copies of The Weekday Vegetarians to two random participants. If you already own the book, you’ll get an advance copy of my book coming out in August, The Weekday Vegetarians: Get Simple. Winners announced Saturday, March 16, 3:00 ET. 🚨 🚨 ✨ ✨

xo

Jenny

P.S. Comment threads are usually for paid subscribers, but in the spirit of this exercise, I wanted to open it up to everyone. If you’d like to become a paying subscriber you can do that here. Thank you to those of you who already support the operation! Forever grateful. ❤️