There was a moment, around Wednesday of this past week, when it seemed like we were on the up and up. James’ fever had passed, I was only moderately full of snot, and somehow Daniel had managed to avoid our colds altogether. So I disinfected every surface, washed all the bedding and blankets, and tried to air out the house a little bit. And ha! How naive I was! How young and foolish! I should have known that it always gets worse before it gets better. The three of us are now living in a thriving petri dish of our own germy germs, in a fort made of tissues, and just as you’d imagine, it’s bliss!
In an effort to make us feel better, I made a big pot of chicken soup—or “healing soup” as we call it—with loads of fresh ginger, garlic, broccoli, and kale. We make it every time one of us is sick, and it’s lovely. I also ordered a breakfast delivery of lattes, bagels, muffins, and scones from our local coffee shop early yesterday morning and while it didn’t heal us per se (but who can say!), it went a long way to make us feel good. Unfortunately no one delivers cake around here so I baked one with James by my side (we’re on a bender with Great British Baking Show, which I should note is actually pretty darn healing). We’ll eat said cake while we watch the Oscars red carpet tonight. Hope you had a restful weekend!
READ
The Latest Diet Trend Is Not Dieting
“The theory is that if you can have pizza whenever you want, it feels less essential to eat it until you’re uncomfortable when the opportunity presents itself, or to seek out the opportunity at all. Telling yourself you can’t have something, meanwhile, gives it undue power and allure. ‘I didn’t understand that the binges were created from the restriction,’ Bahr says. ‘I thought I was an animal.’ In the past, research has indicated that American women internalize the importance of restricting food intake as young as age 5, making it almost impossible to test how people would act toward food if they weren’t shackled by a culture of dieting. Tribole calls the unnatural urge to eat a particular food that arises because of anticipated restriction the ‘last-supper effect.’ ‘It’s the permission paradox,’ she says. ‘When you have permission to eat, the food still tastes good, but you remove the urgency.’”
LISTEN
I don’t have any other way to describe S-Town than to say, it’s stunning. Brilliant. One of the very, very best. How did it take me so long to listen to it? Surprisingly, despite it being two years old, I managed to avoid all spoilers (as you should, too, if you’re planning to listen) so I went into chapter I with very little idea of what the show was even about—and that’s a funny thing now, because I still don’t know how to encapsulate S-Town without giving anything away. If you’ve heard S-Town, Vox has a great article about the ethical problems with it: S-Town Is A Stunning Podcast. It Probably Shouldn’t Have Been Made.
About S-Town: John despises his Alabama town and decides to do something about it. He asks a reporter to investigate the son of a wealthy family who’s allegedly been bragging that he got away with murder. But then someone else ends up dead, sparking a nasty feud, a hunt for hidden treasure, and an unearthing of the mysteries of one man’s life.
WATCH
It only took me 5 years to catch up with the rest of the world and watch The Great British Baking Show! It’s the most heartwarming, joyful thing to watch, with the all-around loveliest group of hosts, judges, and contestants the world has ever seen. I get weepy at the end of every season. And I’m desperately in love with Mary, Sue, and Mel.
Most of the seasons are on Netflix, with the exception of seasons 1 and 2, surprisingly. “Season 1” on Netflix’s GBBS is actually season 5, and “season 1” on GBBS The Beginnings is season 3. I’ve been told you can find many of the episodes on YouTube though.
FIND
RunPee –An app that tells you the best times to run & pee during a movie so you don’t miss the best scenes.
I have to pee at least every hour (how many times can I tell you how fun I am?), so Daniel, bless his sweet, caring heart, downloaded RunPee a couple of years ago so that I would be able to slip out of a movie to use the bathroom without missing anything big.
MAKE
Oven Fried Korean Popcorn Chicken
Easy Baked Chicken with Basil Mayo and Breadcrumbs
Spicy Cauliflower Burgers
Grilled Artichoke, Olive and Pesto Flatbread Recipe
Chunky Monkey Banana Cookies
Healthy Chicken Broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo
S-town was brilliant, sad and thoughtful in so many ways. I actually grew to love John despite his bizarre tendencies and obnoxious humor. So sad but so intriguing and powerful. P.S. we are currently living in a petri-dish here as well with our 1 year old. I long for the days of daycare and work. That’s how I know I’ve been in this snowed-in Nebraska house FAR too long.
Do you have a recipe for your banana bread?
I’d love to see your recipe for “healing soup.” Where can I find it? Thanks!