Report | Oct 1st

Reading

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. Heartbreaking, well-paced, and intimate, this book dives into humanity, female friendships, reality, and much more. While not a lot happens —the main character is basically just walking and trying to stay alive the whole time—, the prose of this book made it impossible to put down. I just had to know what was going to happen next. I am disappointed in the ending only because I knew deep down it was the only way it could have ended. I will be thinking about this book long after finishing it.

“If you do something that is forbidden, it is the action that is the target. If you do something that isn't forbidden, and they intervene, then it's not the activity that's attracting the attention, it is you yourself.”

#55 // 4 Stars

Eating

Tinned. Fish. I am in my tinned fish era. Of the incredible tinned fish family, which is my favorite you ask? Sardines. I got into the sardine game for the incredible Omega-3 fatty acid health benefits. Good for your brain, hair, skin, and nails but even more importantly than that, they are delicious.

My go-to way to eat this is on a bagel or toast. Simply assembled with cream cheese, thinly sliced red onions, capers, and a drizzle of the amazing olive oil that comes in the can. But I don’t just stop there. I be makin’ pasta, patties, you name it with tinned fish. Some of my favorite recipes so far are the Mackerel Mediterranean Pasta you can see on the right, Greens, Beans, & Sardines, and a Spicy Sardine Sandwich. Sardines!

Playing

As the weather is getting colder, the fall is lulling me into my calm, mellow playlists. Particularly, soft pop bangers by women with beautiful voices

Trick of the Moon x Eloise

Silver Springs x Fleetwood Mac

The Outside x Taylor Swift

Rose Colored Lenses x Miley Cyrys

Love & War in Your Twenties x Jordy Searcy

Obsession

Sourdough! Finally, after months and months of agony, got my starter established. Now? I am a bread-making machine. The process is long and treacherous, with numerous ways to go wrong, but I prevail. One move can underproof, overproof, and leave your loaf flat and dense, but that taste? Still amazing. I am still afraid I’m going to kill my beautiful starter but I am trying my hardest to treat it with the love and care it deserves.

Breatopia has been instrumental in my success so I need to give credit where credit is due.

Recommendation

Gung Fu Tea in the East Village. Every time I have gone to this tea shop, the people have been extremely helpful and I walk out with a new tea obsession. This time, I got my new favorite mug as well as a new green tea, I picked this particular tea because it was called the Green Snail :)

Treat

Since this is my first post, I have chosen to highlight my favorite, most eaten, most loved sweet treat. PB Dates w/Chocolate & Sea Salt. They are fudgy, chocolatey, salty goodness!!

Start with dates (I buy the ones that still have pits because they seem to stay fresh longer, so make sure you remove those), and smash those down a little bit for the base. Then, I heat up some peanut butter** but that’s not totally necessary, I just feel fancy doing it. Top with chocolate chips, I do at least half of them 70% cacao chips for the health benefits and some nice finishing sea salt.

Dates are high in fiber and antioxidants and have also been linked to benefits for pregnant women to reduce labor time. I definitely think they help in my menstrual phase which is when I primarily eat them, although I do just eat them whenever I crave them, which is all the time.

**Extra points if you make your own peanut butter. I don't think people realize how easy it is. All you have to do is put peanuts --I generally do 2-3 cups at a time-- in your food processor and blend until smooth. It's marvelous.