Welcome to our weekend hang, one of the last before summer’s official start! Its been hot and humid here (some of my plants are stressed from the whiplash), so I’d say the season is in full swing. We are seeing Rosalía this weekend and I am so, SO excited. I’ve been trying to avoid spoilers of this tour, but it’s hard. Probably gonna cry my eyes out in that joyous cathartic way–can’t wait haha.

Not much else is new over here! I’ve gone down to 3 days of weightlifting at the gym (just for the summer) and am walking a lot more, working in the garden, and doing YouTube Pilates outside in the shade. I feel great and am actually sleeping better lately. Beyond that, I’m hoping to get some local strawberries this weekend for a cake recipe and for my daily smoothie of course.

Hope you’re taking care and staying cool out there :)

5 Things I’m Reading:

1. Robert Macfarlane on How to Love Birds in a Time of Loss via Atmos
2. Beneath our human shallows via Aeon
3. Could Underwater Autonomous Robots Save Coral Reefs? via Smithsonian Mag
4. The Triumph of the Book in Nature via Chasing Nature on Substack
5. Michael Pollan Wants You to Rethink Consciousness via Lion’s Roar (click here for non-paywalled option)

5 Things I’m Enjoying:

1. Listening to CDs in the car. My car is from 2015 and probably the best thing about it is the CD player. My guy has a few old CDs hanging around and the thrift stores are absolutely STACKED with them. No fiddling with the phone, no connection issues, just one album from beginning to end!
2. Really into Muskoka Brewery’s non-alcoholic beer (called veer) with lime. So refreshing after a bit of gardening.
3. Loved scooping up this black bean mango salad with lime tortilla chips (really on a lime thing right now).
4. I’m thinking about starting a sourdough journey. For the sourdough bakers, please let me know some of your favorite beginner-friendly sources (books, blogs, creators on Instagram etc) in the comments! Email is also fine :)
5. This interview with Karen Hao (Author of Empire of AI) on Channel 4 News

5 Questions:

1. Do you have a go-to meal for when it’s too hot to cook, use the oven etc.
   I do the smoothie for dinner thing surprisingly often. Something about the intense heat makes me much less hungry at that time of day. Cold noodle dishes are also a go-to, a bunch of grilled things with some loaded rice (made in the rice cooker), or a nice dip with a bunch of veg, crackers, pickles/olives, nuts, vegan cheese etc–I believe they were calling this “girl dinner” for a bit lol.
2. How do you wind down after a really full day?
   Shower with a candle or other ambient light, make an easier/more straightforward dinner, and then one or two of the following: go for a little after-dinner walk, watch whatever show we’re currently on, or sit outside with a book. And then I go to bed early. It’s the simple things!
3. Is there a cookbook you keep coming back to over the years? Looking for vegetarian cookbooks with longevity that I won’t end up giving away.
   All of Yotam Ottolenghi’s books, Amy Chaplin’s At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen, and Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons.
4. What does your morning look like in the summer versus the rest of the year?
   I drink my coffee outside and I take the dogs for a walk pre-8am. Usually I’ll read the news or look at Pinterest while I drink coffee, but in the summer I tend to just look at the trees swaying overhead or putter in my garden. Everything else is the same! Also if I’m working on a recipe that involves the oven/stove/any heat, I try to get to that before noon.
5. Do you ever take a real break from the internet? Can you?
   Not much lately! Changes to Google’s search algorithms (that now favor AI summaries rather than original content sources & discoverability) have me working overtime these days. If you follow me on any of the socials (FB, Insta, Pinterest), I’ve been a lot more active there–just trying to utilize the channels that I have to share my work with folks! And of course I’m always trying to grow my email list to reach people directly. I’m someone that values my offline time and has a lot of hesitancy around giving attention to social media, buuuut it’s also my job. Other than a weekly set of stories that I post to Instagram on Sundays, I mostly try to stay offline that day. And I always switch off after 7pm.

Pinned Recipes This Week:

1. Cold Veg Mango Noodles with Spicy Citrus Dressing
2. Grilled Pizza Portobellos with Lemony Cashew Ricotta
3. Summer Picnic Salad with Blueberries & Vegan Feta
4. Grilled Cauliflower Wedges with Tahini Yogurt, Sumac Onions & Crispy Chickpeas
5. Vegan Strawberry Crumble Muffins