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Hello all, happy week-end! It’s Saturday early morning, still quite dark. I’m sitting here with a candle and a foamy mug of coffee finishing this newsletter to you. What a busy week it’s been! I’ve been centering my focus on the small joys of the week instead of how much anxiety I’ve been feeling lately. Here are some of my pleasures this week:
a really beautiful Datura flower at the arboretum, blowing gently in the breeze, very large yet very delicate, glowing a purply white, while I was waiting for a friend to arrive. Reminding me of Georgia O’Keeffe and her gorgeous florals.
I read Yasmin Zaher’s The Coin and wow, was it strange, but so smart and elegant. The writing is evocative, precise, beautiful. The main character is a young, beautiful, wealthy Palestinian woman who has moved to America and is teaching in a private school for underprivileged boys. She is exacting and meticulous in her routines, her standards, her quest for cleanliness and purity and right vs wrong. Her life starts out very controlled and quietly, methodically, spirals put of control. Next, I’ve started Elif Shafak’s There Are Rivers in the Sky, which, so far, is a lovely historical fiction that I’d really recommend.
A fresh vase of flowers every week on Friday. Beauty is something that is really important to me, it makes me feel happy and feeds my joy and creativity. Right now, I’m loving dahlias or chrysanthemums in oranges and deep blood reds.
A fruitful winter squash harvest from the garden, all lined up in its bright orange glory on top of the living room hutch.
Swapping out our summer picture books for autumn themed ones, it always feels so nice to do this at the beginning of each season. It really does make it so special, packing books away to enjoy them at certain times of the year- like seeing a dear friend again.
A coffee and pastry date with a friend, at our local arboretum. Chatting about nothing and everything, surrounded by beautiful plants, a balm for the soul.
Masterpiece Mystery on PBS on Sundays, we have little rabbit ears for our TV and it is so fun/nostalgic to watch something that’s on in real time, and only one episode, waiting til next week for the next episode to air. We pop a batch of stovetop popcorn and settle in. The little animated intro makes me so happy every time! It reminds me of being a child at my grandparents house.
This week’s meal plan incorporates a few more warm and comforting meals (ragu, creamy ramen, tomato soup) with some fan favorites (rice bowls, tacos, pizza), plus a few fun things (apple cider margaritas! apple cider cookies!) to round the week out. I hope you find a little inspiration here for your own week of food ahead. Can you believe October is just around the corner? I’m holding out for pumpkin things till then, but so excited. Here is a little post I put together last year, of all the things i’m doing to prepare for the transition to autumn. You may find it helpful as we navigate this seasonal shift. xx A
the meal plan
Sunday: ragu with pappardelle + green salad with lettuce, parsley leaves, dried cranberries and candied walnuts
Monday: creamy miso ramen with crispy mushrooms and bok choy- going off this recipe for the base
Tuesday: sweet potato tacos, again, with cabbage cilantro slaw and avocado (they’re just so easy and good!)
Wednesday: vegetable rice bowls (see recipe below; from the cookbook Hot Sheet)
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: pizza night, using Alice Water’s dough recipe from The Art of Simple Food, you can find the recipe online here.
Saturday: tomato white bean soup + grilled cheeses, green salad with apples, walnuts, and vinaigrette
weekend bake: Alice Water’s apple tart, a repeat from 2 weeks back- it’s very simple and very good.
cookie: apple cider cookies
weekend breakfast: spelt apple pancakes
date night cocktail: apple cider margarita OR we might do an apple cider tasting, I’ll pick up a few different brands/types and we’ll blind taste test them while doing a cute little autumnal puzzle I picked up at the thrift this week.
Sending you love and wishes for a restful week-end. Leaving you with a poem by the wonderful Jane Kenyon, called September Garden Party: