Hello and welcome to the weekend. I’m really hoping that the rain holds off so that we can get some things planted and a few perennials and shrubs split/relocated. My mom treated me to a woody/tree peony from one of the local garden centers this week, so I need to decide on a spot for that also.

I’m baking a little treat–double chocolate scones with coffee glaze, and bringing that to a hang with my mom and family on Sunday. Combining her three faves (scones, chocolate, coffee) seemed like the right thing for this weekend.

Apologies for double dipping NYT in the reads this week, but I truly loved both of these essays (for very different reasons!). Anyway, heading out and keeping this one brief! I need one of those cute “I’m in the garden” signs for my website/overall online presence this time of year lol. Take care out there :)

5 Things I’m Reading:

1. Loving a careless world via The Green Chapel on Substack
2. My Wife Is 85. She Takes My Breath Away. via The New York Times (gift link)
3. Billions of Birds Have Vanished in a Generation via The Walrus
4. Meta Is Dying. It’s About Time. via The New York Times (gift link)
5. Bees are in trouble. Mycelium can help. via Paul Stamets on Substack

5 Things I’m Enjoying:

1. We have fully embraced sniff walks with the dogs lately. I think I’ve mentioned this before? Either way, we’re really getting into them now. They lead, long leashes and they can sniff any spot for as long as they like. Tails are wagging the entire time and both are exhausted after.
2. Mother Trees
3. Not a thing I can link to, but I cancelled Bravo TV and logged out of Reddit permanently 2 months ago and my life is so. much. BETTER!
4. Back on daily iced hibiscus tea with this genius cold brew infuser.
5. Re-framing social media as an ad platform messed me up a bit! But also makes their extractive ideology crystal clear. Like, am I really gonna tell my partner that I just want to sit on the couch for a few minutes and scroll the ad platform? Absolutely not!

5 Questions:

1. From last week’s edition: The drinks pictured above look amazing – is there a link for them with their recipes?
   The one drink is just a regular latte with my homemade nut milk–a double shot of espresso, a bit of maple syrup, and then I steam the nut milk (I mention the current recipe I’m using in last week’s edition, which is linked in the question). I usually sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on the espresso before pouring the steamed milk. The other drink is an iced matcha latte with an orange and vanilla bean syrup–you can find the syrup recipe here. I used a tablespoon in the matcha latte itself and then whipped up a little bit of Silk’s vegan whipping cream with another teaspoon of the syrup for the cold foam on top.
2. Your fave salad dressing?
   Currently it’s this shallot, thyme and champagne vinegar one that I posted a few weeks ago. I love it on crunchy boston lettuce salads, arugula and fennel salads, bean/lentil salads, grilled vegetables, grain salads, pretty much anything!
3. What’s your favorite part to create – the recipe, the blog post, the reels etc?
   My favorite part of the recipe creation process is when I’m working on the test rounds, researching, making lots of notes, and just taking basic observational photos with my phone. It’s the part that’s least prone to distraction. When this part isn’t working out, I’m super motivated to get it right and keep pushing. Writing the blog post is fine–I don’t feel any type of way about it. When I’ve moved on to the actual photography/shooting the Reel and it’s not looking right, I get incredibly frustrated and a little defeatist–I think it’s because I have the least amount of control during this phase hahaha yikes.
4. Noticed you’re linking Substack a lot. Are you going to be posting there?
   No, everything will always be here. I’m just enjoying it for longer reads and discovering new work/ideas. I have noticed a lot of hallmarks of AI “writing” on there recently though, which is unfortunate!
5. Is the fiber gloop supposed to be a thick gel? Do you add the whole thing to your smoothie? How often do you eat this?
   I’ve been posting my fiber gloop mixture to Instagram stories lately and people have questions! As a reminder, I use this gloop for smoothies and it is: 1 tablespoon ground flax, 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds, and 1 teaspoon psyllium husks covered with about 1/4-1/3 cup water. Leave it in the fridge overnight and use in a smoothie the next morning. I started doing this because I found that I digested these ingredients better this way and I liked the resulting smoothie texture a lot more. Yes, it will be thick! I add the whole thing to my smoothie, but if you’re new to these ingredients, just use less. I have this every weekday in a smoothie! I pour the fiber gloop into my blender and then top up with soy milk to the 1 cup line (ish). Then I proceed with my other ingredients.

5 Seasonal Recipes:

1. Strawberry Salad with Mint Poppy Seed Dressing
2. Sweet and Spicy Grilled Tofu and Pineapple with Herbed Cauliflower Rice
3. Lemony Shaved Fennel Asparagus Salad
4. Grilled Carrots with Lentils & Roasted Garlic Chive Yogurt Sauce
5. Tender Vegan Lemon Loaf with Strawberry Sumac Glaze