art + community
it's how we'll survive.
The horrors of this new Administration are already coming at us at breakneck speed. I won’t repeat them here —y’all have your own sources of information. I succeeded in staying away from the television, the radio and my phone (mostly) all day yesterday. I went to brunch and a movie with my friend Abby which was SO good for my soul. And FUN.
If you have not seen Babygirl or have not heard about the Nicole Kidman + Harris Dickinson buzz, where have you been? Go see it. Or maybe wait and watch it in the comfort of your home (you might get a little uncomfortable, hehe). It was the best two hours of steamy distraction I’ve had in a looooong time (don’t read into that). It was written and directed by a woman, Halina Reijn, and the feminist take saves it from being another “Secretary” (the one from 2002, directed, of course, by a man).
I can’t stop listening to George Michael’s “Father Figure”; it’s on repeat on my phone and in my head today, as is this scene.
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I noticed today that I’ve been doing a fair amount of emotional eating. Grabbing a couple Siete bite-sized vegan, GF chocolate chip cookies every time I walk into the kitchen (they’re so good!), drinking too much espresso (with a couple of biscotti to go with it.) It’s fine, it’s understandable. The times we are living in call for some coping strategies. But what I’d rather do, and something that has always helped me in difficult times, is cook and bake—comfort food, nothing fancy.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Pasta e fagioli, pasta and bean soup. It’s super easy. I use any kind of small, short pasta like elbows or shells, plus kidney or pinto beans—from a can is fine, we are keeping it simple but if you like to cook dried beans, go ahead. Lots of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with crusty bread. It’s like a warm hug from a plump Italian grandma.
Pizza chicken, it’s just what it sounds like. Chicken breasts cooked in a skillet with marinara and mozzarella melted over the top, basil if you have it. That’s it. June loves it.
Beans on toast, another super quick—and nourishing—weekday meal. Any kind of beans will do but we like cannellini. Use good jarred tomato sauce (Rao’s is the best imho). Cook the beans in garlic, maybe some red pepper flakes. Pour the warmed sauce over the beans piled high on toasted bread, some parm sprikled over the top? Most importantly, use good, thick slices of bread like sourdough.
I recently baked brownies and chocolate chip cookies (we have the BEST recipe, sprinkled with sea salt on top). And, because I adore lemons and love to use them all winter long in anything I can, I made a fantastic (and easy) lemon Bundt cake. I shared it with two friends who raved and we ate the rest. It was moist, bright with lemony notes from the juice and the zest, and it looked as good as it tasted. Here is the recipe from a Swedish blogger I recently discovered on Instagram. I am obsessed with her beauty, her photography and her recipes. Her blog is what I aspired to create back in my old food-blogging days.
Baking and cooking, for me, are a way of making art, of making something beautiful. (See my friend Susannah’s wonderful newsletter this week on finding beauty). Sharing what I make with friends and family is a way of creating community. Art + Community are two things that are going to get me—and us—through this terrible time. Watching sexy movies doesn’t hurt either. ;-)
I’ll close this out with something good I plan to latch onto and read every so often instead of reading the news. I’ll stay informed, yes. I just can’t and won’t get consumed by news and politics the way I have in the past. Protecting my peace and my mental health is my mantra these days. I heard about this website today while listening to my fave station, WNXP, on my drive home from a doctor appointment. It’s called Reasons to be cheerful, an online magazine founded by the great David Byrne:
“Through stories of hope, rooted in evidence, Reasons to be Cheerful aims to inspire us all to be curious about how the world can be better, and to ask ourselves how we can be part of that change.”
Stay strong! And eat some cake. It’s a salve for these dystopian times.