a new format, come see the mess my husband made, and a common sense preview
Welcome to Spaghetti, my (mostly) regular newsletter where I throw a bunch of ideas at the wall and see what sticks. Expect musings on food, society, and whatever else tickles my fancy.
I’m trying out a new format, so enjoy and let me know what you think.
Olio
Olio is a critical ingredient in nearly all good spaghetti (primary exceptions being a good carbonara or amatriciana 🤤). It’s the first thing that goes in the pan, so this fun and frivolous section will be how I’ll kick off future editions of spaghetti – at least until I change my mind.
I’ll try to keep it interesting. It’ll definitely be brief. It may end up just being all the silly videos my friends and I send back and forth on Instagram. Time will tell. But Olio very much falls into the “I just want to” category of spaghetti, so deal with it.
Currently planning: A backyard garden. I checked out a book from the library. Sketches and lists have been made. It’s happening. I need a hobby and this one just seems to tick so many boxes.
Latest food hyperfixation: Avocado bagel with feta + a fried egg. (PS - the brioche bagels from Aldi slap.) I mash my avocado with a bit of garlic powder, salt and some lemon. Is there anything else I should try? Let me know!
Strangers on the internet: I am perhaps among the least cool people you’ll ever meet, so I tend to be wayyyyy behind the curve of discovering what’s new, but I discovered @hearthrobanderson on Instagram this week and I cannot stop watching his stuff. His retelling of The Merry Gentlemen (which admittedly was terrible and not even in a fun way) and list of things that Gwyneth Paltrow would not survive had me rolling. Do yourself a favor and dissociate to his comedy for a bit.
Contemplations: The way we divide ourselves up as humans is wild. You were born here, but you could have just as easily been born there. You have a lot, some people have a little. A seemingly endless number of circumstances big and small dictate nearly everything about what our lives become, how much and which part of the world we get to “claim” as ours. But none of this even belongs to us OR better, it all belongs to all of us. We all belong to all of us. There is no us and them. There is only us – all of us. It would be really nice if we could all try to remember that.
Sauce Everywhere
Ok, first things first, I have Benny’s written permission to talk about the messes he makes in the kitchen and provide photographic evidence.
Secondly, hear me out. My vision for this new section of spaghetti is one that allows me to lean into the kind of loose structure I love – just like spaghetti itself. I don’t feel like there are many things I can count on to be constant in my life anymore, but there is one thing I can always be sure of. At some point during the week, my husband will create an epic mess in the kitchen.
So to that end I’ll be serving up Sauce on the weeks that I don’t have a main dish (longer form essay). I may put this section together awkwardly at first, but I hope you’ll bear with me.
Here’s one of the messes that Benny made in the kitchen this week:
Actually not bad, I must admit. But I need to back up here.
My husband is Sicilian and was never allowed to mess around in his mamma’s kitchen growing up. The first time he cooked a dish from start to finish was during his inaugural visit to my family’s home back in 2004. And he’s been splattering red sauce on the cabinets ever since.
While I have been known to crack eggs directly into a pan to half-assedly scramble them there and keep a “trash bowl” on the counter to throw scraps into, Benny approaches cooking with the type of fevered chaos that a squirrel chasing another squirrel around a tree might. Or a mad scientist who just has to use every single pot, pan, and bowl we own.
Where I often lose patience and absolutely miss the mark in that final bit of execution that can be so ‘make or break it’ in the kitchen, Benny throws human timetables and laments into the flames of the stove to further fuel the final stretch (and I do mean ‘stretch’ in the literal sense). When Benny says five more minutes, you know you’re looking at 15-20 minimum.
But dammit if he isn’t right.
Good things just can’t be rushed.
And boy, I didn’t know that’s where I was going with this until I just typed those words. THAT is exactly what I was hoping for from Sauce Everywhere. 🤌
Whatever dark, dreary season I (we) have been slogging through the last 18 months (or 5 years? but who’s counting?), I've always known that what’s to come on the other side of it will be so so beautiful.
Of course I’ve been pining for the present days to just get on with it so we can enjoy what the future is bringing. That’s such a human thing to do!
But if the best is truly yet to come and good things can’t be rushed, well, then. We all just need to hold our collective horses.
What Benny actually made
Farro salad with salmon.
This was a favorite salad at the restaurant where Benny worked for so many years and we miss it! While it wasn’t exactly like Hummingbird’s, it was close enough and brought back many fond memories.
Benny’s version had:
farro (naturally)
crispy kale
fraschettano olives
shaved pecorino
Pecans
red wine vinaigrette
Verdict? The mess was worth it. Holding onto the hope that years down the road we’ll be able to look back at this time and say the same.
Spaghettino
I’m attempting to write spaghetti regularly. For real this time. But also don’t hold your breath… Although, I have made a spreadsheet, so we’re trending in the right direction.
Anywho… the fourth week of every month, I’ll have a full dish for you, like a longer essay where I just get really self-indulgent and word vomit onto the page. YOU’RE WELCOME.
For the other weeks, you’ll get this version of the newsletter. And yes, there will be a fresh mess my husband made in the kitchen for me to unpack with you
I’ll also give you a glimpse into what I’m working on for the full dish, so here we go!
“Common sense is the best distributed commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is well supplied with it. For it is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.”
René Descartes
This one has been rolling around in my head for a looooong time. That doesn’t mean I’ve fully formed any good thoughts on it, either.
I guess this one could fall under the umbrella of a philosophical musing.
What is common sense? Has it disappeared? Can it even exist anymore as we all seem more polarized than ever on every issue known to man? Can we get back to a place where common sense exists and helps us move toward a better future for all of us?
This main dish is waiting for you in next week’s (we hope?) spaghetti.
I love a good garden!! ❤️