a look at caro's new guest cottage

plus dan pelosi's dream turned reality

Hi, everyone! Have you started cooking the back-to-school meal plan yet? If so, how’s it going so far? It’s a very solid line up, and we hope that it has made this busy season just a little easier for you.

While we’re talking meal plans, we’re always looking to make our really simple meal plans as helpful to you all as possible. Will you please take a moment and answer a few questions for us as we nail down September’s?

Tav and I went to the new house yesterday to talk to the plumber about installing our new water filter!!

From Caro: These days when I’m not cuddling/feeding Tav, I’m at the new house FaceTiming with Lily and/or meeting with contractors and delivery people with him in tow. The other day a VERY EXCITING shipment arrived: our whole-home Aquasana water filtration system! I did some research and found that our tap water at the new house contained 37 contaminants, 15 of which were at levels that exceed EWG health guidelines, so we are using the same whole-house filtration system that I installed at our current house a few years ago. Our system, the Rhino Max Flow, filters out 97% of chlorine and will last for 10 years (or for 1,000,000 gallons of water, whichever comes first!). It’s just one less thing I have to worry about, it makes our water taste better, it improves water pressure throughout the whole house, and, bonus points, it makes my hair shinier and I’ve found that I have to wash it way less. For the new house, we’re also installing a UV filter, which sterilizes 99.99% of bacteria and viruses in the water. A whole-home system is definitely an investment — so FYI they also offer under-counter water filtration systems and a counter-top tap water filter! Use code WTC55 to get 55% off all Aquasana systems. Thank you to Aquasana for sponsoring this edition of So Into That!

the current kitchen outfitted with an Aquasana filter!!

Speaking of Caro’s new house, the guest cottage — AKA the Crash Pad (Caroline’s mom’s grandmother nickname is Crash!) — is the first area that’s decorated. It was ready just in time for her mom to stay with them for a few weeks to help with baby Tav, and is filled with crisp, classic furnishing and bedding from Quince (plus gorgeous microwave-friendly plates from East Fork).

Here’s an in-process look…

And the finished product!

We’ve compiled the sources below, for anyone who may need them!

upholstered bed frame / black-out curtains / gingham duvet cover set / linen sheets / fisherman throw blanket / waffle robe / couch / chair / rug / coffee table / wine glasses / plates

We are thrilled to share that Dan Pelosi (GrossyPelosi on Insta) is our guest of the week!! Dan, who lives in Hudson Valley, New York, is a NY Times-bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, and everyone’s favorite friend on the internet — plus he’s a WTC veteran! In 2023, he shared the recipe for his fall apart tender early dismissal pot roast with us. Last fall, he dished on his top holiday wishlist item (more on that below!). And this week, he’s back with a sneak peek recipe from his brand new cookbook, Let’s Party, which is out NEXT WEEK and features more than 100 recipes for entertaining, organized via 16 different dinner party menus! There’s a menu for literally any occasion you can think of, from a tomato-centric feast (that chapter’s titled “Tomato Girl Summer”) to a pumpkin carving party (“Pumpkin Spice Up Your Life”) and beyond. Dan’s recipes are fun to cook and always insanely delicious — and he himself is a true delight.

Book cover and image of Dan by Johnny Miller

Molly: Hi, Dan! We’re so excited to have you back at WTC — and for the upcoming release of Let’s Party! Let’s back up: Tell us about your first official job in the food world.

DP: I’d like to say that my first official job in the food world was helping folks get through the lockdown and the pandemic by sharing everything I knew about staying home and cooking for myself and others, stocking my pantry, and using ingredients efficiently, and creating a home that I enjoyed being in — which are all the things I love to do most. (It helped that I grew up in an Italian-American family, where we pretty much only do those things!) None of those things were “official,” and they didn’t feel like a job at the time, but they certainly helped me get to my first official job in the food world, which was a branded partnership with IKEA and Pinterest! I will never forget receiving an email from someone at Pinterest! I have long referred to myself as a “Pinterest Mom,” because I love hosting and celebrating holidays in new ways (hence my book, Let’s Party). I created a video for Pinterest and IKEA (another favorite of mine!) for the holidays, making my Italian Holiday Cookies with Ikea products. Holiday cookie season is the most important season to me, as I throw my famous annual Holiday Cookie Party (also featured in Let’s Party), so this was all just a dream come true!

Molly: A perfect partnership! How would you define your current job in the food world?

DP: The short answer is that I identify as a home cook. The long answer is that I identify as a home cook, recipe developer, cookbook author, and lifestyle content creator. Most importantly, I love what I do and feel honored to be able to do it. I learned to cook and develop recipes by cooking alongside my parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents as a child and then all my incredible friends as an adult. I never went to culinary school and I have no interest in cooking on the line in a restaurant. Cooking to me is always about serving people food at my table, and that is what I hope to help people be able to do in their own homes.

Molly: It feels like Let’s Party is the book you were destined to write! What's a career accomplishment you're proud of but not many people know about?

DP: In 2021, during holiday cookie season, I received a DM from a follower that changed everything for me. She had made my Peanut Butter Blossom recipe and wrote to me to let me know that her grandmother always made these every year for the holidays and when she passed, she took her recipe to the grave with her. This follower had been trying to find a recipe that matched her grandmother’s for a long time, but had not had success until she made mine. She wanted me to know that my recipe was now “grandma’s recipe.” I was floored, deeply honored, and, of course, sobbing. This one DM defined the goal of what I hope to do with my recipes so beautifully and perfectly. Since then, I have gotten DMs from followers telling me that my Spaghetti Sauce recipe is now referred to as “mom’s spaghetti sauce” by their kids, or that my viral Vodka Sawce is their “celebration pasta” for when they want to have a special dinner at home. I don’t talk about these DMs often, but they are what keep me going daily.

Dan’s peanut butter blossoms and famous vodka sawce

Molly: Love that so much. What's been bringing you a lot of joy lately?

DP: My garden! Last year I built my dream kitchen, and this spring built a garden right outside of it. I grew up gardening with dad and grandpa, but have not had a serious garden of my own as an adult. I am obsessed with it. Getting to walk outside and see new growth every day, taking time to water it every morning and evening, and obsessively weeding and pruning it are all bringing me so much joy and improving my mental health. I made a promise to myself that while I share everything I do on my instagram and offer tips, advice, etc., that I would make the garden a space that I would keep personal. I have asked my followers not to send unsolicited advice as I share the garden and am clear that I am not (yet!) giving garden advice myself. Researching, experimenting, and learning from my own mistakes has been such an incredible and joy-filled journey!

Molly: I remember when you shared the vision for your home garden when we were chatting about holiday wishlists last fall, and am just so happy for you that it has come to fruition. And I completely agree about the mental health benefits of tending to a garden! I had to say goodbye to my beloved cat a few days ago and obsessively weeding my garden has been getting me through!

What’s a pantry staple that you can't live without?

DP: Pasta. Predictable as an Italian-American, I know, but it’s the one thing I must have on hand to last-minute feed myself a satisfying meal or feed a crowd a feast. It honestly helps me sleep at night just knowing it’s there.

Dan and his dream garden turned reality!

Molly: Ha! Honestly — same. Your favorite or most-used specialty kitchen tool?

DP: I use tongs for just about everything. I love tongs, they are like an extension of your fingers but without the danger. I have so many tongs, it’s a bit out of control. Tongs for cooking, tongs for serving, tongs for grilling. A lot of cooks use their hands for the things I use tongs for, and this is because I have literal bear paws for hands and will drop anything I pick up with them!

Molly: Finally, who’s favorite person to cook with and why?

DP: While I enjoy cooking alone in my kitchen listening to Broadway musicals, I truly love nothing more than when someone saddles up to my kitchen island and hangs out with me while I cook. Keeping me company is really the main thing I’ll task them with, but I am also happy to give them things to do if they are eager to help cook. My favorite person who saddles up the island regularly is my boyfriend Gus, who happens to be the funniest person in the entire world, so he keeps me laughing while I develop recipes or cook us dinner.

Sounds so fun — I want to come saddle up to your kitchen island, too! Congratulations on your new book, and thank you again for being here!

On Saturday, Dan will be back with not one but two recipes from Let’s Party that together make the most amazing meal — either for a dinner party or for a random Wednesday night. For more from Dan, follow him on Instagram, check out his website, and/or pre-order Let’s Party, which will be out this time next week!

Since launching in December 2020, What To Cook has grown into a library of 230+ recipes. Each week, we pull a few seasonal favorites from this same week in past years to inspire your cooking and meal planning — here’s this week’s lineup!

1. grilled chicken and pita chop, 2024

Think of this as fattoush turned main dish: juicy grilled chicken, crisp cucumbers, ripe tomatoes, red onion, avocado, and crunchy pita all tossed with mint, feta, and a bright lemon vinaigrette. It’s fresh, hearty, and best eaten with a spoon so you can scoop up every last bite.

2. sunshine curry with cilantro-lime rice, 2023

This is late-summer comfort food at its finest: quick-cooking veggies, juicy corn, and tender chicken (or tofu!) all simmered in a creamy, zesty curry broth that tastes (and looks) like sunshine. Served over cilantro-lime rice, every bite is bright, cozy, and deeply satisfying. Bonus: it’s make-ahead and freezer-friendly, so you can tuck away a taste of summer to enjoy when the weather turns cold.

3. chopped italian goddess, 2022

Think Italian sub meets creamy, herby green goddess — in salad form. This one works two ways: toss it all together for a big old chopped salad, or serve platter-style so everyone (kids included!) can build their own plates. Between the salami, cheese, olives, and dreamy dressing, it’s hearty enough for dinner and fun for picky eaters, too.

4. sausage stuffed zucchini, 2021

An absurdly easy weeknight dinner that’ll surprise you with how much flavor is packed into such a simple method. Garlicky sausage, tomato sauce, Parm, and couscous get stuffed into tender zucchini boats and roasted until bubbly and golden.

We want to celebrate Dan’s new book and send a copy of Let’s Party to one of you!! To enter to win, share a favorite thing from August (a book/product/show/outfit/moment you loved) — comment before next Wednesday, September 3, to enter to win¹!

PS, congrats to Allie (@allie132538), Taylor (@taylorhamandcheese), and Erin (@erinreilly946511) — the winners of a copy of What to Cook the book!

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1. Giveaway open to paid subscribers of this newsletter who are at least 18 and live within the U.S.