Hanging in there
Hi friends -- I've said the above a lot in the past few days, either prefaced by "I'm..." or "I hope you're.." Both are very true; I don't think anyone is, like, flourishing right now, so hanging in there is a good sign, that we're still here, and taking this day by day, and doing what we can. I've been doing my best to keep busy and accomplish tiny goals (I'm keeping a running to do list and adding everything I can to it, anything I can check off feels major right now), and trying my best to go outside at least once a day. I hope you're all not putting too much pressure on yourself to like, run ten miles a day or write a ton or cook elaborate meals -- if you're doing that and it makes you feel better, great, keep going! But if you're not doing it and you thought you would, that's okay! We're going through a really hard, unprecedented event, so whatever we all can do to keep going day by day is just fine.
Oh, before I forget -- the ebook of The Proposal is on sale for $2.99 right now! I think this sale is on only for the next few days (until Sunday, April 5th) so get it now if you don't have it already! In other book news, a few books I read advance copies of and loved came out recently. First, Wow, No Thank You, by Samantha Irby, which is funny and smart just like her previous books, but even more full of heart. And it's a collection of essays, which is perfect for right now; I know I'm having trouble concentrating on everything, so a book that I can pop in and out of is just what I need. Second, The Glass Hotel, by Emily St. John Mandel (which I told you about a month ago, when we only sort of knew what was about to happen) is now out, and it pulled me in so much when I read it that I forgot about the world, so I hope it does that for you two.
Both of those links above are to a new site, Bookshop, which supports independent bookstores with every purchase; independent bookstores are suffering right now -- most of them are closed to the public, and while they're shipping out books, it's not the same. If you can manage it (some people can't, I understand!) please order books from a local independent bookstore, or from Bookshop. Here are a few indie bookstores I love, all around the country: East Bay Booksellers (Oakland, CA), Books Inc (Bay Area, CA), Skylight Books (Los Angeles), Vroman's (Los Angeles), The Ripped Bodice (Los Angeles), Changing Hands (Arizona), Tattered Cover (Denver), Third Place Books (Seattle), Subtext Books (St. Paul, Minnesota), Joseph Beth Booksellers (Cincinnati, OH), BookPeople (Austin, TX), Parnassus Books (Nashville, TN), Word Bookstores (Brooklyn, NY), Books Are Magic (Brooklyn, NY), Greedy Reads (Baltimore, Maryland), Politics and Prose (Washington, DC), East City Bookshop (Washington, DC), Loyalty Bookstores (Washington, DC), Bookmarks (Winston-Salem, North Carolina). Order from any of them, or your own favorite!
Okay so the last time I wrote this newsletter I was over-optimistic and thought I was going to make cinnamon rolls. Well, that hasn't happened yet (though my mom keeps asking for them, so it should happen soon) but I did make two things this week that I recommend. The first was oatmeal cookies -- I had a craving for them, but I had exactly one scant cup of oats in my pantry, and all of the oatmeal cookie recipes I could find used either three cups or one and a half cups, and they all used either one or two eggs, which made division hard. So I put up a plea on twitter, and a friend of mine pointed me toward the Joy of Cooking recipe, which uses exactly one cup of oats, and it was so delicious that I'm furious I have no more oats and couldn't find them in my trip to the store yesterday, because I want to make them again asap. They're perfect with coffee for a pre-breakfast snack, if you're like me (or an actual breakfast, if you aren't). That recipe is below!
The second thing I made this week was the Everyday Meatballs, from Smitten Kitchen. I basically made them exactly as she tells you to, except that I usually do a combined ground beef and pork (just like she says) when I make meatballs, but I only defrosted ground beef, so I very finely chopped two slices of bacon and added that to a pound of ground pork, and it was excellent. Oh, and I also didn't have parsley or onion powder, so I used lots of minced green onions instead. I've made meatballs a lot before, but never this recipe; I always fry them before putting them in sauce, and was doubtful of her method, but they were very tasty. Meatballs also freeze very well (and defrost quickly, especially small ones like this) so they make a good thing to make extras of, and then toss some (uncooked) in the freezer, so that on the nights when you don't have energy to cook, you can just pull them out and cook them up.
Oh, and with the meatballs I made the Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat focaccia, which was perfect with it!
Oatmeal Cookies
(makes about 20-25 cookies)
Ingredients
1 stick (or 8 Tablespoons, or 1/2 cup) butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup oatmeal (quick rolled oats)
Additions: raisins, chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, however you like your oatmeal cookies!
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Cream the butter with a mixer or a big spoon (I didn't have the energy to pull out my mixer for this and creaming butter by hand worked off some rage). Add the sugars and beat it some more until smooth. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and milk. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, then add to the butter mixture. When smooth, add the oatmeal until all is combined.
Scoop heaping spoonfuls of dough and roll into balls; set about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake 11-13 minutes, until edges are brown and middle is golden. Enjoy.
I hope you're all safe and well, everyone.
Jasmine
Oh, PS: my link to the enchilada recipe from the last newsletter didn't work, it's here!
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