friendsgiving, but make it thanksgarten
friendsgiving, but make it thanksgarten
plus the things you're into right now
Hi! I’m writing to you from NYC, where I’ll be hanging with a bunch of you tomorrow night at The Invisible Dog in Brooklyn for a Butter Pants party thrown by
!! , , , and will be there too. I cannot wait!The city already feels festive, and we’re currently working hard on gift guides — headed your way next week! — to help you holiday shop efficiently for all the people in your life. The holiday season has BEGUN and I’m very into it.
Last Monday, the salad club ladies and I hosted a Thanksgarten lunch for a group of our friends. If you’re new here, my friends Leslie, Jillian, Megan, and I started getting together two years ago every single week for a quick lunch and catchup. We trade off who hosts, and the rest of us just show up, are fed, and then head back to work. It’s the absolute best.
We all love Ina (duh) and have been talking about throwing an Ina tribute Friendsgiving for years, but Covid and travels and kid sicknesses have cancelled it until now! We donned our best denim blouses, wore brunette bobs (that we bought years ago when we first had this idea), and ate a feast of Ina fare. It was SO FUN. I also started listening to her new memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, on my flight Tuesday and am extremely into it. Have you read/listened yet? If so, what’d you think? Listening to it right after watching Martha Stewart’s new documentary is giving me a whole lot to look up to!
If you’ve found your way to What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking and don’t know who Ina Garten is… how?! Kidding! (Kinda.)
Ina Garten has been a culinary icon for decades, hosting the cooking show Barefoot Contessa and writing more than a dozen cookbooks between 1999 (when she released her debut book The Barefoot Contessa) and 2022 (when she published her most recent cookbook, Go-To Dinners: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook). She makes entertaining feel casual and comfortable — and her recipes are excellent.
Here’s what we cooked, for anyone who’s curious!
Starter: Savory palmiers
Salads: Curried couscous, tricolore salad with oranges, and roasted butternut salad with warm cider vinaigrette
Protein: Engagement roast chicken
Carby side: Mushroom and gruyère bread pudding
Dessert: Outrageous brownies
The other week we posed the question “what are YOU so into?” and, as always, you all delivered very smart, fun, and inspiring ideas. Here are some of the many highlights!
From Shannon: “I am so into taking candid photo of my friends with their babies, and surprising them with the images after bedtime. It’s my love language!”
From Mattie: “I am so into accepting that I am inherently worthy of rest, and don't have to ‘Earn’ it!”
From Katy: “Red Clay Chili Crisp! Thanks for sharing the promo code last week. It. Is. Amazing!” THE PROMO CODE = Caro15
From Kayla: “I am so into taking beginner ballet classes as an adult! There are fun outfits, new friends, and a great sense of accomplishment at trying something new as a 30-something mom.”
From Emily: “So into Gap's ‘midrise easy Horseshoe jeans’ - they're similar to the ones you've been hyping but with a drawstring (!) waist. 3rd trimester and I can flip the waistband and tie them under the bump for a cute maternity denim option (who knew that existed?!) when I want to switch it up from sweats.”
From Priya: “I was just thinking about this last night and laughed because what I’m so into is my What to Cook cookbook! Every recipe has been a hit, I love that it’s organized by time and that my kid will eat most of what I’m making. It’s brought joy back to the kitchen for me, which is such a victory.” (heh heh, I couldn’t *not* include this)
From Sarah: “So into roadtrips with my husband! I’m probably a little older than the target demographic for this newsletter (still a favorite) and I’m here to say: those demanding early years payoff. I’m on the other side doing whatever the heck I want!”
From Lolly: “I’m so into installing some no frills shelves in my garage after years of seeing the Christmas tree decoration boxes EVERY DAY in my little apartment. Now they are in the garage waiting for the holidays. My house is a reflection of my brain state and I’m feeling so much clearer and calmer with less stuff around. Yippee!”
From Natalie: “I am SO into breakfast salads - basically a deconstructed breakfast (roast potatoes, crispy bacon, avocado, tomato, soft boiled eggie) with easy olive oil/dijon/white wine vinegary dressing lightly tossed in arugula. Game changer and energizer. Another thing I am into is walks after every meal - helps digest!”
Click here to read all of the comments!
I recently chatted with chef and cookbook author
for her podcast, Worst Day of Your Life (So Far) and the episode aired this morning! In her pod — which she shares with paid subs of her newsletter Food Processing — Carla interviews people about a kitchen disaster of their own making, proving that there’s no success without some failure along the way, both in the kitchen and in life in general. We chatted about a hilarious mashed potato debacle (very seasonal, lol) from my catering days when I was absolutely winging it. Click here and subscribe to hear all about Mug Mashed Potatoes!
It’s a new month, which means it’s time to mail ONE PAID SUBSCRIBER a big box full of cool things brands have sent me recently! This month’s haul is such a good one, with an Erin McDermott clutch. Merit day glow and flush balm, an apron from Anthropologie, embroidered napkins from a What To Cooker(!! Please tell me your business name I couldn’t find!), Hilma supplements, a Beautiful to-go blender, and a few great books (Bodega Bakes by Paola Velez, Rebel Girls Cook cookbook, and my used copy of Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer).
We just now used a random number generator (it picked number 7,186)… now we’re exporting the paid subscriber list… scrolling down to row 7,186… and…
Mindy Armstrong, you are the winner! Mindy, we’ll email you to coordinate delivery.
What to Cook launched in December 2020, which means there are almost 200 recipes in the archives. To help you cook through them, let’s revisit what we cooked this week last year, and the year before that, and the year before that.
sheet-pan chicken with cauliflower, butternut squash & brown butter sage vinaigrette, 2023
If you don’t go the Thanksgarten route, this is the meal to make for Friendsgiving! I actually had Friendsgiving gatherings in mind when I developed this recipe last year. It’s beautiful and delicious (did you see that title? BROWN BUTTER SAGE VINAIGRETTE), and yet, of course, is very doable. She’s a stunner.
beef and three bean chili, 2022
Hello again, beef and three bean chili. Yes, you saw this recently in the November meal plan — and that’s because it’s a truly perfect mid-fall meal. We use big chunks of beef and cook them low and slow for a few hours, until the beef is tender and falls apart in your mouth.
peanut vegetable curry, 2021
Next time you are craving a super cozy, insanely delicious bowl of veggies on a chilly fall day, cook this curry! It’s a great meal-prep recipe — it makes a huge pot, and you can microwave bowls of it throughout your week for an easy, nourishing, and satisfying lunch.
I'm also listening to her book and like to announce, "I'm going to go hang with my friend Ina" before I press play. My best friend, Ina. Duh.
I'm listening to Ina's book right now and I'm enjoying it so much. Her enticing descriptions of ingredients, adventures in Paris, the twists and turns of her career, the different phases of her marriage...she has been on such a unique path and it's been really fun to listen to so far! I also watched the Martha doc and I agree, the Ina book has been a good follow up!