get inside caro's head!
ask-me-anything answers, and some other things we're into right now!
Good morning from Coronado, the happiest little (peninsula) island in America!
We lived in Coronado for two years when George was stationed here as a SEAL and man, life was so simple back then!! We had one car, and we hardly used it, favoring our beach cruisers for coffee and grocery runs — we even had surf racks on our bikes for our boards (yes, we used to surf!).
We’re once again staying at the Shore House at Hotel del Coronado, a truly idyllic spot whose iconic red roof towers above the entire island. It is absolute heaven for families with young kids. When we lived here as young newlyweds we honestly never talked about having kids — but we’d always be like, “it’ll be so fun to bring the kids for Spring Break at the Del one day and show them where we lived!” And we’re doing it!
We’ll spend the week roasting s’mores on the beach, going to the zoo, swimming in (heated — it’s a lil chilly here!) pools, searching for the ghost who haunts the old Victorian part of the hotel, strolling and scooting around town, and catching up with friends from when we were stationed here. George even lined up a tour of the SEAL base for the boys, they are so excited.
If you’re also on spring break — or already were — and traveled somewhere fun, give us your recs! I’m always looking for amazing hotels that are fun for the whole family. For instance — I wish there was a search feature for hotels with zero entry (aka sloping beach style) pools! They are, in my opinion, key to enjoyment of a pool vacation for parents with small children! (From Molly, who’s on the East Coast: SAME!}
This week I’m going to answer some AMA questions that you all sent in weeks ago. Keep reading for those! But first…
Who’s planning to cook the 2025 easy-but-fancy spring menu for Easter?! Reminder that, while I developed the menu to be served altogether — and gave you a detailed plan of attack for cooking it all without stress! — you can, of course, pick and choose a few elements to cook this weekend and save the other dishes for another time.
From Molly: That’s what I’m doing! My fam and I are headed to a rental on Seabrook Island for the holiday weekend. It’ll just be the five of us and I know my kids will only eat the rolls, pasta, and ham (and be sugared-up enough from their Easter-basket Reese’s eggs), so I’m planning to just cook those and save the roasted veg, snack plate, and strawberry skillet torte for another time this spring!
If you cook the menu, tag me in any pics you post to IG, or share them in the WTC chat! It’s such a joy to see these special-occasion menus come to life in your homes. And thank you again to Maille for making this menu free for all readers.
I've been taking Needed's Prenatal Multi throughout this entire pregnancy and, while every pregnancy is different, I truly feel stronger and more energized during my fourth pregnancy than all of the others. Your nutrient needs are at an all-time high during pregnancy, and it can be difficult to get what you need through food alone. That's why many doctors recommend taking a prenatal. I recently found out that 95% of American women are nutritionally depleted even if taking a prenatal. I'm grateful to have found Needed, whose standards go far above what's required for dietary supplements, including third-party testing every single product batch (it's insane to me that this isn't required, but it isn't, and most women's supplement companies are not doing it!). If you're pregnant or just a woman looking for better nutritional support, use code CARO20 for an extra 20% off your first purchase here. Thank you to Needed for sponsoring this edition of So Into That!
My friend Nicole Keshishian Modic — aka kalejunkie on Instagram — launched her newsletter Beyond the Kale this week! On IG she’s known for her easy, healthy, insanely delicious recipes (like her viral crispy rice salmon salad). Through her newsletter, she’ll get into behind-the-scenes topics like entrepreneurship, motherhood, travel, her grocery lists, etc. To celebrate her launch on Substack, I popped by her kitchen in SF and together we developed this spring veggie and herb pasta salad with lemon-tahini dressing and it’s honestly SO GOOD. Add it to your rotation of good-all-week lunch salads — the pasta absorbs the dressing while it sits, in the very best way. I’ll be making it on repeat all spring.
From Molly: I stocked up on some spring/summer basics from Quince before our weekend at Seabrook and am in love with my new swim coverup (I like how thick the knit is!), dress, and linen pants! From Caro: I got the boys these Quince dino trunks and they’re SO CUTE (and inexpensive!).
What to Cook launched in December 2020, which means there are more than 200 recipes in the archives. To help you cook through them, let’s revisit what we cooked this week over the last few years.
1. 30-minute cheesy broccoli pesto pasta, 2024
Steamed broccoli, cottage cheese, basil, Parm, lemon, and a few other pantry staples whirl together in your blender to create a creamy, dreamy, nutrient-rich pesto for pasta. You’ll also learn a basic and delicious method for cooking chicken thighs in a skillet — together they make a 10/10 spring meal!
2. one-pot lemony garlic butter shrimp orzo, 2023
If this meal looks familiar it’s because it was the first iteration of the recipe that landed on the cover of WTC the book! So needless to say, it’s a fan fave.
3. my mom’s egg salad, 2022
Apparently a grated-egg egg salad is going viral right now on Tiktok, but Crash (aka my mom) has been grating eggs for her egg salad for decades, so IMO she invented it. It truly is a superior way to make egg salad. If you haven’t tried it, you need to make this recipe asap… then pack up the leftovers in your kid’s (or your own) lunchbox.
4. chipotle black bean flautas, 2021
From Molly: This is one of my most-cooked WTC recipes! I love it SO much — as do my kids and husband. When I really don’t feel like cooking, I’ll skip the toppings and just serve the flautas with sour cream and salsa but wow, the fresh mango and lettuce, chipotle crema, and pickled red onions really do put it over the top.
