Popping in so briefly with our weekend catchup. I spent most of the past week working on some backend stuff for the site that I had been putting off for months, so I’ll be avoiding screens as much as possible the next couple of days. If you follow me on Instagram, I haven’t been active there at all oopsy. I mentioned this last week, but recent policy changes continue to make me wary of Meta as a whole. My relationship with it definitely ebbs and flows! The temptation to jump ship grows stronger by the day though. Would love to hear from other folks on this if they feel comfortable.
Also want to signal boost this post from Danielle Belardo for assisting LA animal shelters and rescues in need. Be well and keep taking care of each other out there ♥️
5 Things I’m Reading:
- Doing Nothing With Your Favorite People Is Really, Really Good for You via SELF
- Minimum & maximum creative time via SEE YOU on Substack
- Stuck in a rut? This radical approach can provide a powerful shift via Fast Company
- This Near-Extinct Bird Has Returned to the Rice Fields of Japan’s Sado Island via Mother Jones
- Why a ‘Third Life’ Is the Answer to America’s Loneliness Epidemic via TIME
5 Things I’m Enjoying:
- Treating your smartphone like a landline phone when you want to minimize screen time. Basically you leave your phone in one spot in the home so that every time you want to send a text, check Instagram etc, you have to walk over to that spot. Obviously using a phone like this is very situation-dependent! It does make me miss the days of landline-only though.
- Emily O’Leary’s sleeping dog rugs are wildly realistic
- Love, compassion and care transformed this sweet goat’s life.
- Science Friday podcast: What Lichen Tell Us About Ecology, Air Quality, And More
- I was gifted some excellent aprons from Search & Rescue Denim Co. recently. I know some folks may not think about the “fit” of an apron, but these ones do fit nicely. They even did custom embroidery on one of them for me! These would make such a great gift.
5 Questions:
- I’d love to know your take on parchment paper…..I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a recipe where you have used it. Do you have pros/cons?
I do use parchment sometimes! The obvious pro: it makes cleanup a lot easier. The cons: it’s not 100% necessary and it does contribute to increased waste in the kitchen. But another crucial con for your consideration: roasted vegetables don’t seem to caramelize as nicely when parchment paper is in play. My favorite trick is preheating my sheet pans (I use Nordicware’s Prism line) in the oven with a drizzle of oil on their own for about 10 minutes. Then I drop the veg and seasoning on the hot sheet pan and stir everything up. You’ll hear a nice sizzle right from the hop. The browning and crispiness is unmatched! I will bust out the parchment paper if I’m feeling a bit lazier or baking/roasting something particularly messy - I wonder if you have any advice on an everyday cooking utensil? Silicone spatulas seem popular – you seem to favour wood – I imagine this is a materials based preference? If wood is the way – specifics to look for? What about cleaning/hygiene?
I use a mix of both. I love my Earlywood wood tools (especially the sauté sticks) as they just feel nice in the hand and they are effective for stirring and breaking up clumpy mixtures in the pan. They also just photograph nicely, which is why you’ll see them often in photos of my recipes. But I also love my seamless silicone spatulas (this one is my all-time favorite and most-used)! These are especially good for getting every drop of batter out of a bowl. I love both for different reasons and both have their place in my kitchen. Earlywood has a whole page dedicated to the cleaning and maintenance of your wood tools. - Favorite non-alcoholic drinks lately?
A local brewery makes excellent flavored sparkling water, which we’ve been into. I’ve enjoyed every Aplós drink I’ve tried so far. The Perpetual Paloma from Collective Arts is a strong go-to. And Ghia’s lime and salt spritz is excellent. - What’s your favorite vegan cheese?
Nuts For Cheese’s Black Garlic wedge or VegNature’s Herbes de Provence Bûchette. - How do you store banana bread/quick breads after they’re baked?
For any of my quick bread recipes (banana bread, pumpkin bread & zucchini bread), When the loaf is fully cooled I’ll place it on a plate and loosely wrap it in either aluminum foil or beeswax wrap. I’ll just keep that setup on the counter at room temperature for up to 5 days. I don’t like to cover quick breads too tightly because the loaf can get too moist in those conditions. What quick bread should I make next? Cinnamon swirled sweet potato might be nice for winter. Or morning glory? I also want to share my blueberry muffin recipe, which could easily translate to a loaf. Let me know 😉
5 Seasonal Recipes:
- Crispy Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Edamame & Peanut Sauce
- One-Pot Spinach Artichoke Orzo with Chickpeas
- Sticky Ginger Tempeh with Coconut Rice
- Veggie Sausage White Bean Skillet with Kale & Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Ginger Sweet Potato Coconut Milk Stew with Lentils & Kale
I think Substack has real potential. I’m done with anything Meta, but I don’t rely on it for anything important. I will always follow your newsletter. :)
I follow you on Instagram but rarely come here to read the weekly text. I do come for recipes tho. If you leave IG, which I would understand, I would 100% subscribe to your newsletter. I also love Collective Arts for non-al beers! They are the best (Pale Ale is our to-go). I also store my banana bread in beewax, I do leave it in Pyrex, but we eat it fast lol.
Breads, muffins! I adore your banana bread – blending the banana/liquid is so smart! Also, my son always preheats the pans and no parchment -and that’s your process too.. okay I’m in!! Thank you – love your weekly SatSun!!
Hope you give the preheat trick a try! I swear by it :)
-L
I work as an art teacher in a city school and we just enacted a no cell phone policy for kids this past week, bell to bell. They are no longer able to even look at their phones, even in the hallways or at lunch. It was an amazingly calm week throughout the school! If we look at a school as a microcosm of society, I feel it would benefit us all to not only boycott Meta, but to put screens aside for a huge part of our day. Laura, as a business owner, I, with others, understand your challenge, but you are a highly integral person. You are so loved for your creative ideas, your ethics, your aesthetics. Perhaps limiting social media so you feel fine is the answer. Maybe just using Pinterest, your site, shorts on Youtube would be enough for your wonderful sharings. Supporting Zuckerberg or Musk just can’t be part of my ethics or aesthetics, but understand your struggle. Sending lots of love and thanks to you. Whatever you decide, you will keep your following!
Same! I also like the intentionality of going to the websites of the people I’ve followed on Insta/FB. I’m deleting all meta accounts tonight after I retrieve my photos. A poignant reminder that I spend too much time scrolling: I spend mornings scrolling in bed next to my almost 19 year old cat girl to whom I will say goodbye on Thursday; she often reaches her paw up to block the screen & make me look at her instead.
Will try the landline phone idea too. All of the extra time I have will be spent building my writing business, improving my photography skills out in nature and also drawing,
I’m so sorry about your cat, Sherryn. My furry friends swat my phone out of my hand all the time. They really do know what’s best ♥️
-L
Thank you for this kind and thoughtful comment, Sharon! The more I mull it over, the more optimistic I get about a future without Meta honestly! I don’t want to act too hastily, so I will be thinking it over for a couple months and then hopefully taking a summer break from it to see how everything shakes out. I might swap my email subscribers over to Substack so that I can do live cooking/hangout sessions more often. Either way, the website and email subscription is here to stay!
-L
Yes please to cinnamon swirled sweet potato quick bread!!
I’m on it!
-L
I’m really over Meta and about to delete my profiles and remove the apps. I would 1000% support you taking a break/stepping away. I can understand as a business owner/ creator being apprehensive about it, but your blog is amazing and people will continue to visit it and subscribe to your emails : ). Somewhat related – treating smartphone like a landline is something I’ve been experimenting with lately. I call it ‘pretend like its 1995’ though. I get so much more work done when it’s not right next to me. I struggle with leaving it at home when I go on errands or walks (mainly because I miss having the ability to listen to music/podcasts and have it track my steps lol).
Thanks for this Hilary! I’m going to think it over the next couple months and maybe try a summer break from social media to see how it goes. I may not be as dependent on it for work as I previously thought. Also thinking about moving email subscriptions over to Substack, so that I can do live cooking hangouts with email subscribers. We’ll see! I’m definitely more optimistic about a future without Meta than I was even a week ago.
-L
Yes to the cinnamon sweet potato loaf, morning glory and blueberry muffin recipes!
Coming right up! :D
-L
Morning Glory! I haven’t had that in awhile and that sounds lovely.
Morning glory is going to be first up for sure! It’s my personal favorite :)
-L
Hi Laura,
I am not on any social media; dont see the need. I like better real life with real people. Besides, the tendency they are taking now with X and now Meta of not fact checking the info, letting hate, anger and false publicity linger around is not ethical for me. In the past Meta sold personnal info to a company that managed to influence several elections around the world. So seeing them controlling the mood and influencing tendancies around the place is neither safe nor toward the better.
I can understand the dilemna as a business owner though; as someone else suggested, may be just staying away for a bit and seeing how it feels before opting out…
I like your Saturday sun with the suggestions and the pictures; I like your recipes which are different and very good too. I like your standpoint on many things; you are certainly questionning yourself abour different issues too.
Yes any new recipe!!!
Chantal
Chantal, I am with you on all points. It’s all entertainment for a lot of us with social media, but these companies have enacted policies with harmful real-world consequences time and again. It feels unethical to build out a portion of my work on their platforms at times. I’m going to think it over and maybe work up to a full summer away from Insta and see what happens from there. Thanks for this thoughtful comment!
-L
Another for cinnamon sweet potato bread! Yum!
I do like seeing your insta videos but god, those policy changes and everything that precipitated them are scary! I support what feels right to you!
Love, love, love the blog in general and Saturday Suns in particular! Excited to dive into this weeks’!
And I love making the videos! I’m not leaving Meta platforms yet though. I do want to totally think it through and maybe do a trial social media sabbatical over the summer first. I’ve been looking into Substack since I learned that creators can go live on there. Might be fun to do some cook alongs there if I do decide to leave Insta once and for all. Thanks for this comment, Amanda!
-L
That would be very fun!
Morning Glory bread!! Yes please!
I’m on it! :)
-L
I support stepping away from Meta (I always just read your emails or go to your site anyway) and I am voting for MORNING GLORY BREAD!
Morning glory is definitely first up for the quick breads!
-L
I also would love to see the cinnamon swirl sweet potato bread recipe! I am looking for new sheet pans, but the NordicWare is aluminum, and it seems best to stay away from aluminum?
Anodized aluminum is generally considered safe for cookware. Stainless steel sheet pans are an excellent alternative to anodized aluminum though.
-L
I’m putting in a vote for cinnamon sweet potato bread!! I’ve been thinking of leaving instagram but I’m also worried about losing what is on there and that maybe they can control it. I guess I don’t know how to “safely” leave. Also as someone who has moved around it a lot, there are pros of connecting me to others even in person as I see them somewhere or vice versa. But I spend too much time there so I like the landline tip. I’ve also been thinking about getting a brick so I at least get off instagram while I’m working. Thanks for the Saturday sun and general inspiration as well as sharing la resources. Have a great weekend!!
Meta does make it so hard to leave their platforms! There’s so many detailed guides on totally shutting down your accounts so that they don’t retain your information. It truly should not be this complicated! But this aspect adds to my wariness of them in general. Thanks for this comment, Amy!
-L
I think social media in general is bad for everyone. Meta or not. It utilizes people’s time way too much. If you’re being so careful about waste in the kitchen, start eliminating waste of time. You will never recover that..
I definitely agree that it’s a time waster, whether I’m using it for work or not!
-L
I would love to see a recipe for a Morning Glory Loaf. Al your other loaf recipes are delish. Thank you
I definitely have a soft spot for morning glory, so I think that one will have to be first. Thanks Linda!
-L
Yes, PLEASE share cinnamon swirled sweet potato quick bread recipe! Love quick breads and all your recipes! Blueberry muffin bread sounds great, too! Thanks! Always love reading Sat, Sun – thanks for sharing. Looking forward to another cookbook.
Thanks so much, Catherine!
-L
I think if quitting Meta feels right to you, then go for it! I can understand worrying about it from a business perspective, though. You could always give it a try for a set amount of time and see if you notice any major drawbacks that have you wanting to return.
I’d love to see a morning glory loaf recipe! I love your others. Also, I got the Elements of Baking cookbook by the creator of The Loopy Whisk for Christmas, after discovering her through your Saturday Sun link. It’s totally amazing! I’d definitely recommend it to anyone interested in baking for special diets.
I’m definitely mulling it over for a few months! I don’t want to hastily quit and then regret it, that’s for sure. I think a summer sabbatical from social media might be a good test though. Also, so glad you’re enjoying The Elements of Baking! It really is such a great resource.
-L
Would totally support you cutting the cord from meta! Even though I am still (too) addicted to insta I am trying to wean myself off it so I too can quit. Love this newsletter and your recipe emails ❤️
It’s hard because I do have great connections with folks via Meta platforms! I’m going to brainstorm an exit strategy/figure out if it’s worth it over the next few months. ♥️
-L
Yes to blueberry muffin recipe! That would be great!
Just did a blueberry muffin test over the weekend. Not quite there, but on its way! Hoping to have it posted in March :)
-L