A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Getting In That Couch Time

We have a podcast episode jam-packed with randomness coming for you—because we can’t stop thinking about box cutters, nineties screensavers, and BREAKFAST, ok? If you’re thinking now might be the exact-right time to sign up for Secret Menu—and to get another enthusiastically service-y email from us every week—April new subscriber $$ is headed to the climate justice org The Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment, which supports grassroots efforts in low-income communities and communities of color.

Erica’s Things

• Marveling at the eloquence of this “life is like a chocolate-chip cookie” metaphor.
  

• Considering the one-year tattoo.
  

• Applauding some downright brilliant branded content: the Barilla pasta-cooking playlists, ensuring you don’t end up with limp linguine.
  

• Sending a Sunprint Kit to a niece ‘n nephew...and kind of wanting one for myself? The springtime energy! The packaging! The nostalgia for my youth!
  

• Arguing that Vegan Ranch Veggie Sticks and Fiery Hot Paleo Puffs have absolutely no business being as out-of-control good as they are. And! They’re 25% off with the code ATHINGORTWO. #SPONSORED
  

• Noticing the lampshade trends—patterns, pleats!—coming for hats...and liking that far more than I’d have ever anticipated.

Claire’s Things

• Wishing I had space for another sofa in my life because this one looks perfect. And, speaking of lampshades, how about one of those that I also don’t need?
  

• Handing it to the pros at HBO for taking a book that is somewhere on the spectrum between weird and completely unhinged and making it work for television. (The casting is very chef’s kiss.)
  

• Eyeing some beautiful beans.
  

• Living for a good BCC error. (Remember when that was the thing everyone was mad at Substack about?!)
  

• Confirming that printers are among the most frustrating pieces of technology we are forced to contend with.

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Getting Glassy-Eyed

Do the other podcasts you listen to answer your pressing questions regarding how many coffee makers are too many coffee makers, how to write a good sex scene, what to do with impending social anxiety, and which beauty products go the distance? Didn’t think so. Psst: If you’re ever looking for episode recaps loaded with links, you can get ‘em right over here.

Erica’s Things

• Loading up this rotary grater and stashing it in my fridge for fresh clouds of parm with the flick of the wrist. (Unclear why I didn’t do this earlier?)
  

• Immersing myself in a podcast about Selena and identity. If you liked Dolly Parton’s America...
  

• Experiencing a sudden yearning for colored-glass jewelry, and I blame these lilac earrings, this grass-green pendant, and this color-shifting ring.
  

• Dabbing my eyes over a story about a pet bunny that’s way more than a story about a pet bunny.
  

• Joining all the teens crushing on Nico Hiraga—if it’s possible to do so in a non-creepy way—after watching this gem.

Claire’s Things

• Willing onigirazu (basically: onigiri dressed up as sandwiches) to become the next big food trend after partaking in their excellence at Big King in Providence, RI.
  

• Having myself a nice little cry over Rubik’s Cubes.
  

• Keeping tabs on Dendwell, a site undertaking the daunting task of aggregating all the online vintage home-goods sellers. 
  

• Appreciating Grant Levy-Lucero’s work for many reasons, including that it gives us something else to say about Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Gorilla Glue.
  

• Drinking up whatever the women behind Ode to Babel are serving, including their newly (and beautifully!) bottled gin. 
  

• Spending more time outside and leaning hard on this glorious sunscreen, which blends right into whatever else you’re putting on your face. It’s 10% off with the code ATHINGORTWO, too. #SPONSORED

Classifieds

• Find the job you *actually* want. Introducing a new platform for ALL of your job search. 1-on-1 coaching, resume building, practice interviews, community workshops, & access to employers. Work with a ~fire~ team to land your next role — and make new profesh friends along the way.
  

• Loving this modern bra designed by and for womxn with small boobs. It's made from super soft fabrics sourced from deadstock, plus the band size range is 32A - 40B. We recommend grabbing one (or the whole collection!) now, before their Kickstarter ends next week.
  

• Feeling stuck? Get this free newsletter on how to have a happier, more meaningful life.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Stepping Inside A Children’s Book

We’re frustrated, angry, and exhausted by the endless ways that white supremacy manifests in this country, including escalating racism and violence toward Asian communities. These are a few things we’ve found useful in processing last week’s murders in Atlanta and other recent attacks on Asian people: this fact sheet of anti-Asian violence resources, this Twitter thread on Asian-American history, this petition to stop the U.S. government from profiling Asian Americans and Asian immigrants, this bystander intervention training, and this list of places to donate to support Asian communities (which includes the wonderful Heart of Dinner, our March Secret Menu org). To anyone who’s scared for themselves, their families, or their friends, we’re sending our love, and we are with you in this

erica’s things

• Getting my browser tabs in fighting shape by grouping them in folders with Chrome. Control-click your way to sanity, team.

• Urging you to seek out a can of the pineapple-juice goodness that is Bit con Tajín (which is for sale at my local grocer but not on the internet). My next Tajín-related acquisition, which is online: these gummy peach rings.

• Landing on a magazine subscription that’s full of surprises: one that sends you a different indie title each month.

• Craving hoisin sauce even more now that this jar is in my fridge.

• Lighting up over Rachel Antonoff’s prints—the food ones specifically. Olives on a skirt, toast on a tote, prawns on a dress!

claire’s things

• Queuing up a very low-key, low-stakes nine-minute guided meditation.

• Thinking a lot about children’s lit via an art show that puts you inside of the Goodnight Moon house (come on!) and a fascinating look back at Cricket magazine (embarrassed for my seven-year-old self that I never had a sub).

• Feeling genuinely impressed anytime someone manages to make tech accessories chic.

• Gearing up for The Met’s Alice Neel exhibition by re-watching the excellent 2007 doc about her by her grandson.

• Hallelujah-ing that someone is keeping track (in one place!) of all the ultra-special NYC food purveyors that have been popping up of late.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Egging You On

Because we love nothing more than talking about stuff we love, welcome to another round of Thingies this week on the podcast! Right this way to learn about the greatest bras, CBD, shaving cream, and horseradish in all the land. If you missed out on our inaugural picks for best-in-category products ‘n services, there’s a very simple way to fix that.

Erica’s Things

• Feeling moved by a tax-accountant love letter.

• Experiencing decision paralysis shopping for pens. What do you do if they’re all too good?!

• Learning that Jane Fonda’s ab-sculpting has always funded environmental activism.

• Wanting to break something. Specifically these cascarones—confetti-filled eggs just beggin’ to be cracked.

• Accepting my deep affection for these food-storage containers after struggling to find them anywhere for weeks. Their sell: a small fridge footprint (what a turn of phrase!) that makes them ideal for soups, leftover grains, all that.

Claire’s Things

• Stocking up on Deiji Studios for summer. (A nap dress alternative, perhaps? Or a matching set?)

• Whipping up the thickest foam ya ever seen this side of the non-dairy spectrum ℅ Elmhurst’s milked nuts.

• Feeling like a wifi wizard after hooking up this magical device that makes it go further and faster. Truly life-changing.

• Downloading the digital-age equivalent of marking your kid’s height on a wall every year.

• Looking forward to Omsom’s newsletters almost as much as I look forward to their sauces, which is really saying a lot.

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Getting Our Sunshine in All Forms

If you are currently in your thirties, will be in your thirties soon, or are still processing your thirties, well, we have the podcast ep for you: We’re breaking down the decade and what it means now with Kayleen Schaefer, whose new book But You’re Still So Young would be required reading if we had any control over assigning such things. Should you be interested in the rest of our newsletter and podcast book recs, explore ‘em all right over here.

Erica’s Things

• Assembling the ideal wine rack, which you can put together in all sorts of ways and expand over time, too.

• Considering the bar for frosted flowers officially raised. I mean! We must discuss!

• Becoming an official Elizabeth Acevedo stan.

• Feeling pretty damn self-satisfied after whipping up tamago.

• Thinking of starting a baseball-card collection just for these artist-designed charmers.

Claire’s Things

• Mixing this superhero into salad dressings, sauteed greens, the oil that I’m pan-searing fish in...it gets around.

• Finding so much of what I’ve been craving in Mary H.K. Choi’s latest, which is both unputdownable and an extremely satisfying love letter to NYC, among many other things.

• Swooning over the perfect bridal looks at Kamperett.

• Feeling seen.

• Making an exception to my “meh” stance on sheet masks for this one that serves up instant gratification and glow. 

Small-Business Thing

• Getting the tiniest taste of spring...and imagining swimsuit season. OOKIOH is “a cool brand that wants to make sustainable fun, accessible, and inclusive.” They’re working on completely eliminating plastics—from their packaging, systems, etc.—over the next two years, and they’ve designed this pretty perfect black one-piece. Share your favorite small business with us!

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Belonging Among the Wildflowers

Two questions we’re answering this week on the podcast: What’s it like to not want to have kids when most of your friends do? And how hot can we take our romance novels? Also, calling all wannabe Secret Menu subscribers! This month’s new-member $$ is going to Heart of Dinner, which has been feeding Asian American seniors in NYC throughout the pandemic. 

Erica’s Things

• Flattering myself with a lip balm dubbed Well Red, which keeps my face from looking full-blown Zoombie.

• Feeling 38 years young after devouring this.

• Kicking off March by sharing my most successful and satisfying gardening project of last spring: scattering mixed wildflower seeds—created specifically for my region—all over the place. 

• Picturing one of these paintings on my living room wall.

• Tackling—quite successfully, if I do say so myself—an ingredient that’s always intimidated me: baby artichokes.
  

Claire’s Things

• Applauding activewear brands for finally getting into the maternity and postpartum game: Nike, Adidas, Girlfriend—yay.
  

• Doing so little but achieving so much with this shrimp recipe. (You could sub out the greens for rice or really anything that’ll soak up the sauce.)
  

• Nodding, yes, I do want to know what all these interesting people are reading.
  

• Snoozing in a cheeky number.
  

• Marveling at the truly insane world of novelty AirPod cases. 

Small-Business Thing

• Getting real Betty Draper vibes from The Bitter Housewife—which, yes, is a bitters company. Because “who doesn't need a great drink right now, with or without alcohol?” Big Q is whether we start with the cardamom or the hazelnut concoction. Tell us about a small business you love supporting, huh?

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Scarfing Up

When we feel compelled to read a cookbook cover to cover, we know we’ll be cooking from it just as comprehensively, and this week on the podcast, we have the distinct pleasure of dissecting our new fave, Simply Julia, with kitchen hero Julia Turshen herself. Something else we’re doing: feeling so much for Texans and doing what we can to help.

Erica’s Things

• Putting together a simple and satisfying meal that requires two skills: the ability to set a timer and to boil water.
  

• Confirming that, yes, Minari is just as wonderful as everybody says it is.
  

• Ruining myself for bottles of Cholula and Tapatío that aren’t turned into art.
  

• Hoping Alula, a thoughtful hub for cancer patients and their families and friends, is a sign of so many more resources like this to come.
  

• Tying on this wee scarf, which warms my neck without needing to be squished into a coat and never gets caught in a gust. A dream!!

Claire’s Things

• Wading through an absolute treasure trove of music docs and iconic concert footage.
  

• Sudsing up with a clarifying shampoo that doesn’t dry out my hair to the point that it’s literally squeaky clean. You know what I mean?
  

• Basking in extreme feel-good vibes listening to Sergio Hudson talk about what it was like to dress Michelle and Kamala for the inauguration.
  

• Jumping on the air-fryer bandwagon with glee (nudged by the discovery that my Instant Pot transforms into one). I’ve found that, second to chicken wings, brussels sprouts are really where the method shines, and you can adapt pretty much any roasting recipes.
  

• Really living for the budding romance between Maxine Waters and Megan Thee Stallion. (The meet-cute, if you missed it.)

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Putting Flowers Anywhere We Can

How do we set goals, uh, now? (Aside from, say, finishing the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy?) What should we do when we miss our friends’ friends? We dive into all that ‘n more during our podcast chat with Dr. Ben Michaelis, who’s been nurturing our relationship and contributing to our sanity for the last five years. Also, can we just take a sec and thank you all for leaving us such heartwarming reviews?

Erica’s Things

• Disecting happiness—or, maybe more importantly, contentment—with a cast of characters that includes Chelsea Manning, Roxane Gay, Mookie Betts, and Drew Barrymore.
  

• Getting in a tennis-season mindset with (gasp) everything-bagel grip tape. In other everything-bagel developments…
  

• Queuing up the brilliance of the Celebrity Book Club podcast. When the Jessica Simpson ep drops, I’m going to cancel all my plans (lol, plans).
  

• Stocking up on olive oil from Séka Hills, owned by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation in Northern California.
  

• Wishing for spinoffs for all of the characters in this novel.

Claire’s Things

• Offering up a solution for anyone wanting to get a little extra about their in-home floral displays...or even just their lighting.
  

• Discovering that I have it in me to feel passionately about a makeup brush.
  

• Greedily consuming any new fiction from Kiley Reid.
  

• Eyeing (hungrily) the designy, delicious goods from Conserva Culture.
  

• Gifting my guy some sneakers that I liked so much that...I also bought them for myself. Sorry? (Wow, all these Adidas collabs.)
  

Small-Business Thing

• Wondering if now is the time to buy a keyboard and start playing the piano? Kelsey Georgesen’s (online) classes “give history and context to the music, and she has created a space where folks can donate free lessons to Black and Indigenous students.” (Her scales books are cute, too.) If there’s a small biz you love, we wanna know!

The Classifieds

• Babies are cute, but let’s be real: new parenthood can be tough. Fovi Health supports pregnant and new moms throughout the transition to motherhood. Our new (giftable!) courses can help with lactation, stress, sex after baby, and even reduce your risk of postpartum depression. You deserve it!
  

• Has COVID made you realize that your life is...not quite working for you? Sign up for this free newsletter on how to have a happier, more meaningful life.

A Thing or Two We’re Doing Besides Staying in Bed

Don’t know about you all, but there are a lot of quar (coronial?) babies in our lives—and more to come!—so we’re taking the opportunity to chat baby registries, almost upsettingly chic carriers, the best of the bouncy chairs...and, oh yes, Craigslist scams on the podcast. If listening makes you want Claire’s ~extremely thorough~ registry rundown, Secret Menu members can get the motherlode here.

Erica’s Things

• Finding—miracle of miracles—a TV show as soothing as a shoulder massage.
  

• Shipping some not-right-for me personal-care products off to Project Beauty Share.
  

• Developing a soft spot for extremely focused home retailers. First up: lighting supplies. Next: shelving.
  

• Taking in a gripping personal history that includes the intersection of incarceration, maternity, and art.
  

• Getting all in my feelings over Old Gap. Who knew an ad for Dream perfume could evoke so much?! Oh, also: Naomi.

Claire’s Things

• Clocking the (free!) courses in Slow Factory Foundation’s Open Education program with much interest—it’s got a superstar instructor lineup featuring the likes of Erica Chidi and Tracy Reese.
  

• Going googly-eyed over Rosita Studio, especially the bed linens—like, don’t you think this is what Daphne Bridgerton slept on as a child? Also, the monogrammed napkins would make an A+ wedding gift.
  

• Urging you to watch that Britney doc, whether or not you think you care.
  

• Top-shelfing the first cannabis-infused beauty product that hasn’t felt like a gimmick to me: an extremely rich oil that gives very good glow.
  

• Developing a fascination with the inventor of Liquid Paper, now the only girlboss I acknowledge. (This rabbit hole, and many others, inspired by the delightful Stationery Fever.)

Small-Business Thing

• Scoping the horchata body scrub and the pan dulce mani bombs from Loquita, a Latinx-owned, California-based line of handmade vegan bath products (that sure knows how to deliver the nineties vibes). Is there an up-and-coming biz you want to tell us about? Do share!

The Classifieds

• From candlelit dinner to sensory rituals, Shabbat is about heightening joy & pleasure. OneTable knows that Shabbat is SEXY. They asked people to sit down with their sweet + candid grandparents and explore intimacy, relationships, sexuality, and Shabbat. PAUSE + tune in to hear what happened!
  

• Done with your unrealistic new year’s resolutions? Get this free newsletter on how to eat in a way that truly works for you — without diets, body-shaming, or a lack of pita chips.
  

• Stryx makes makeup for men who don’t wear makeup. Every guy has had a blemish ruin his day; Stryx makes it easy for guys to have perfect looking skin without building a beauty routine. Chosen by E! as a "Valentine's Day Gift Your Man Will Actually Use & Love" Available online or at select CVS stores.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Poodling Along

This week on the podcast, we’re getting the scoop from the woman who keeps us abreast of all the best (and, frankly, funniest) media news ‘n trends: Delia Cai of Deez Links who, as always, really delivers. Plus! If you’ve been curious about Secret Menu, we’re donating February new-subscriber $ to the Center for Black Women’s Wellness, an Atlanta-based org that offers gynecological care, no-cost health services for uninsured adults, and community prevention programs and has been doing this work for 30 years.

Erica’s Things

• Appreciating these construction tips as much as the women giving ‘em.

• Gobbling up my new favorite squash (and maybe yours too?). I say roast it and throw dressed greens on top and some burrata on top of that, but, really, take it any which way you please.

• Tracking the Lisa Frankification of my decor tastes. This outlet cover! These candles! Prepare to reign me in.

• Calling bullshit on BMI.

• Cutting down on packaging waste with very little effort on my part.

Claire’s Things

• Amassing a collection of perfect lil tanks that cut a cute figure under a sweater (they do that neckline-peeking-out thing I like) and are primed to take center stage come summer.

• Utilizing this method of roasting a whole cauliflower with much success (and a lot less fuss than some of the alts). My one note: Throw the greens in the pan alongside it!

• Sending thanks to one of our podcast advertisers for introducing me to my new extremely good HG sunscreen in the wake of my old fave being discontinued. (10% off with the code ATHINGORTWO!)

• Getting some serious design inspo care of Whitney Houston’s letterhead...and Richard Avedon’s, Richard Simmons’s, and Shirley Temple’s, too.

• Taking note of a coupla exciting opps for early-career creatives from artists to aspiring screenwriters.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Checking Our Watches

Seeing that we’re card-carrying members of The R. Eric Thomas Fan Club, wow, are we thrilled to have this man—writer, comedic force, future friend (fingers crossed)—on the podcast this week. Also: If you’re not a pod listener but are looking to become one, our 13 most popular episodes of 2020 could be just the place to start.

Erica’s Things

• Welcoming back a slice of one of my favorite restaurants—a Covid casualty—in newsletter form.

• Contributing to this week’s good mood with Nat King Cole’s Japanese version of “L-O-V-E.”

• Finding myself one roll of double-sided tape away from giving a lampshade a wallpaper glow-up.

• Endorsing not one but two specialty mustards: This grape one makes anything else on a meat ‘n cheese board even better, and this walnut one takes quickie salad dressings to new places.

• Recommitting to buffing my nails and doing something nice for my cuticles with this, which is a real joy to use.

Claire’s Things

• Kvelling for our country after learning that the best soba joint in NYC now ships nationwide.

• Pre-ordering multiple copies of my most-anticipated book of 2021, from a guy who keeps giving even after he’s gone.

• Eyeing the end of Dry January with much anticipation so I can finally crack open bottles from a wine club that brings the personality, charm, and serious chops.

• Really feeling a fashiony watch vibe again thanks to Dimepiece.

• Mentally bookmarking some luxe presents for new moms that are (crucially!) not about the baby.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Bringing Miami To Us Sent

You know how there are those products that we won’t shut up about? Well, we created a home for them—or rather ✨ an award ✨. This week on the podcast, we bring you the first installment of the Thingies. If you want more of our recs ‘n raves, that’s what Secret Menu’s for.

erica’s things

• Experiencing belly laughs and flashbacks from @smallbizmemez.

• Swooning over this movie—the leads, the music, the costumes, the ROMANCE, the bonus dose of the Duke of Hastings.

• Getting acquainted with a bunch of new-to-me fruits. The most exciting package UPS has brought to my house in a long time!

• Continuing my important work as your intrepid stuffed-animal correspondent: These cats come wrapped like burritos. They are called Purritos, but of course.

• Putting pepper and cheeeeeese in my oatmeal.

claire’s things

• Sending thanks to Mateo Askaripour for finally breaking my can’t-read-a-book-to-save-my-life rut with Black Buck.

• Searching for a surrogate Australian address so I can acquire some of the rattan plaything madness from Juni Moon. Hello to this mailbox, that telephone, and, of course, the espresso machine.

• Going dairy-free for a bit and leaning on Cocojune for my yogurt fix, a habit I expect to stick around even after milk is back in the mix.

• Drinking out of a vessel that my husband triumphantly declared “the perfect glass.” I don’t disagree with him.

• Hoping that our listeners feel even a fraction of the warmth towards us that I feel towards the women of Poog, a podcast that truly feels like home.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Sticking With It

This week on the podcast: a moment for mental health...which is both evergreen and timely, no? Join us. And if you’re ever in the mood to leave us a review, we’re always here for it.

erica’s things

• Roasting daikon in curry powder and instantly regretting not roasting more daikon in curry powder.

• Marveling at how well this exfoliates without annoying the shit out of my skin.

• Considering the design of buildings through the lens of this book...while sitting in a building I’ve been inside for so many hours of so many days, of course.

• Buying Cam hockey sticks that are as good-looking as Henrik Lundqvist.

• Needing all the meat-eaters to know ‘bout this.

claire’s things

• Fulfilling a decades-long dream of drinking tikka masala sauce as if it were soup.

• Keeping an eye on the Good on You app, which helps you vet your favorite brands based on their ethical choices.

• Poring over images of the work of Do Ho Suh and chasing them with a bite-size tearjerker of a doc on one of his projects.

• Stocking up on my kid’s favorite masks, which handily adjust to fit his rapidly growing noggin and somehow never end up beneath his nose.

• Snackin’ on a very good Substack.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Expecting So Much From Our Planters

Oh, January, we’ve never been so grateful to see you. If you took a break from any/all your feeds over the last few weeks (good on you!), we have a few podcast eps waiting: a discussion of the (Stacey Abrams!!) romance novel Reckless, a cozy chat with the Girls’ Night In and Whiled founder Alisha Ramos, and a classic combo platter (rice, hospital go bags, how we make money!) with just us.

erica’s things

• Making cooking with parchment paper about a thousand times less annoying just by crumpling it.

• Flagging my first “we can go places now?” purchase for when that time comes: a Flat Fifteen bag.

• Donating airline miles to refugees and asylum-seekers. (Ok, how smart is this??)

• Getting the most astute social-media commentary from a novel—Patricia Lockwood’s first. Pre-order this one.

• Handing it to some pillar candles for doing Lumière proud.

claire’s things

• Declaring my recent loyalty to a deeply unsexy but oh-so-good pen.

• Submitting an Oscar-worthy short film for your consideration. (It’s three minutes; I’ve watched it so many times.)

• Tucking my kid into tie-dye toddler pajamas.

• Wanting to fill my life with Coco J. Luna’s work—more specifically, wanting to fill this with dried flowers and this with a plant.

• Suggesting that you need neither a pressure cooker nor salmon to take advantage of this A+ recipe, which is really all about the outstanding sauce.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Crowning Our Best Books Of 2020

We read 26 books we found absorbing enough to distract us from 2020! If you can believe it! Here are the ones that earned newsletter endorsements over the past 12 months (shop ‘em all from Bookshop.org!), and if you’re looking to go deeper, well, how about podcast interviews with the authors of some of our very faves: This Is Big, Big Friendship, Big Macs & Burgundy, and Black Futures? (Apparently, having “big” in the title really won us over.) If you’re all caught up, how about tuning into our latest podcast episode featuring the amply bookish founder of Girls’ Night In, Alisha Ramos?

things we read

• Highly endorsing both the novel Doxology and its companion read: The New Yorker profile of Nell Zink, the book’s compellingly kooky author.

• Falling hard for two kids who spontaneously combust on the reg, along with their insanely likeable caretaker, in Nothing to See Here, one of the best books we’ve read in a good long while.

• Consuming Midnight Chicken more like an essay collection than a cookbook—and wondering if there’s a non-pretentious way to incorporate the Britishism faff into our vocabulary.

• Devouring our first non-binary coming-out story and romance ℅ I Wish You All the Best.

• Feeling relieved to have finished the outstanding Such a Fun Age after staying up way too late reading it.

• Setting aside four half-finished books to dive into this, which is sort of a mature, noir Harriet the Spy...but also something uniquely its own. Utterly absorbing, which is the best compliment we can give to any entertainment right now.

• Determining that now is definitely the moment to get into romance novels, and The Idea of You truly delivers: boy bands, art gallerists, and all kinds of good L.A. references.

• Giving much thought to what it’s like to be a person with a body through the lens of this spectacular book.

• Giving Imbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers our highest literary compliment...which is actually a question: “Who should be cast in the movie version?”

• Dispatching a copy of Kimberly Drew’s activism-oriented This Is What I Know About Art to the most creative teen we know.

• Burying oursleves in a romcom plot that’s got a male lead who loves romance novels and rugby and a female one who's committed exclusively to academia and casual sex.

• Basking in the cautious optimism, weirdness, and love of this book, which set the tone for a Saturday morning.

• Remembering all of the angst, confusion, and longing of the high- school years, filtered through the lens of a non-binary Black teen in Felix Ever After.

• Predicting the future (an especially daring move in 2020, we know): This is the book you’re going to be hearing about everywhere come fall.

• Highlighting passage after passage of Raven Leilani’s debut, which is a bit Little Fires Everywhere, a smidge Such a Fun Age, a dash Fleabag, and plenty something totally its own.

• Rediscovering a favorite tome: the amazing Macmillan Visual Dictionary.

• Singing our praises of this field guide to any NYC birding newbies. It delivers with that predictably charming cover, too.

• Leaning into the campus novel during a very, eh, Bizarro World back-to-school season. Highly endorse this one, about a Black, queer biochem grad student finding his way.

• Answering the question, what do eighties pop culture, witches, and field hockey have in common? This book.

• Feeling not at all surprised that Yaa Gyasi’s second book is every bit as beautiful and absorbing as her first.

• Marveling at how adeptly Melissa Faliveno weaves together gender, sexuality, and the American Midwest in her essay collection Tomboyland (yes, great title).

• Doing that thing where we search out every possible podcast, article, and review related to the author after finishing The Death of Vivek Oji.

• Learning fitting wine pairings for Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked, Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Gnocchi, and Sour Patch Kids. Finally.

• Getting our Paris fix with Margot instead of Emily.

• Flagging passage after passage of this book, which, honestly, is more validating than dread-inducing (which was a fear going in!).

• Getting drawn into Major Arcana’s portraits of and statements from self-identified witches from across the U.S. in ways we did not expect.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Rounding Up Our Go-To 2020 Recipes

What a year for cooking. (How’s THAT for an understatement?) These are 38 things we’ve made to great effect—and often even with pleasure—since January. Pulling together recipes from past installments of this newsletter sparked some “Oh, should I have that this week?!” chatter from both of us, and here’s hoping it’ll do the same for you. Should you want something altogether different from us right now: our thoughts on the romance novel Reckless (by Selena Montgomery aka Stacey Abrams!) are available for your listening pleasure. And, if you’re still searching for a last-minute holiday gift, may we suggest a subscription to Secret Menu?

things we cooked

• Frying eggs in cream and calling the result a revelation.

• Adopting a new go-to comfort food that’s only slightly more work than a box of mac ‘n cheese.

• Hearing the greatest compliment three-ingredient cookies could hope for: “They look like they could be in a magazine.” (And, hey, they taste great, too.)

• Making double batches of this extremely pantry-friendly enchilada sauce—but still managing to devour it all in one sitting.

• Saying “this really is so good” at least seven times while slurping up homemade, four-ingredient GF pasta. Bonus date-night vibes if you turn on the Louis Prima.

• Digging deep into the ol’ recipe archives for stuff especially well-suited to the “wait, we have to eat again?” rhythms of these weeks. Stars include this yogurt-y pasta, a cabbage salad that’s good the next day, a hearty soup (works with fake-meat sausage!), a Vietnamese (frozen) shrimp sitch, and another pasta that mostly involves draining cans.

• Throwing some polenta in the oven (and then slicing it up and pan-frying it the next day).

• Praising ourselves—and, more appropriately, Samin Nosrat—for a successful first go at (pseudo) tahdig.

• Boldly bucking the banana-bread trend by making banana-quinoa muffins instead—and positing that most muffins should have quinoa in them. A textural triumph!

• Taking as much satisfaction in the outcome of a recipe as in the name, a true beacon: back-pocket canned salad.

• Vowing to stop resisting recipe hype because the fact is that we could have been reveling in the splendor of Julia Turshen’s turkey and ricotta meatballs for months now.

• Turning leftover grains, jarred stuff, and veggie bits ‘n bobs into a toasty, crispy dinner that didn’t taste half as half-assed as it was. Please note that we’ve taken great liberties with this recipe!

• Dubbing this “shrimp-curry bolognese” and intending that as a huge compliment.

• Adopting a signature tiki drink that doesn’t even call for blue curaçao—and is possibly even better without the simple syrup.

• Getting our kicks where we can, this time from the at-home version of one of our favorite NYC salads: the shaved-fennel deliciousness from Café Altro Paradiso.

• Co-opting the spiced yogurt from this (excellent!) recipe for whatever vegetables the CSA sends our way.

• Letting Samin Nosrat’s kuku recipe be our guide to dumping whatever wilting greens and herbs we have into one pan.

• Dusting off an old-favorite recipe that requires zero cooking and tastes like pure summer.

• Conceding that there was no way we was not going to like something called Mostly Olive Salad, but it was so good and had a whole lot of heft for something that calls itself a salad.

• Eating half of this parmy, oniony cauliflower recipe straight from the sheet pan.

• Making late-night caramel sauce for ice cream in a real shrug-emoji move that we don’t regret for a second.

• Taking cherries for a savory joyride.

• Collecting methods of preserving tomatoes, and this one’s a keeper (other faves include this and this). Don’t toss the oil—put it on eggs, stir it into labne as a dip, mix it with an acid for salad dressing...you get it.

• Spicing up car trips with Fun Dip for veggies. That’s right: Fun Dip for veggies!!!

• Making mediocre peaches exceptional like THAT.

• Finding any excuse to consume more fennel, and this easy, weeknight pasta (with plenty of anchovies to boot!) is a new go-to that’s even toddler-approved.

• Putting a jar of curry paste to excellent use. Two recipe notes: 1) This really did take 15 minutes, and we are grateful for its honesty. 2) Did it up with frozen shrimp.

• Slurping up the best soba noodles we’ve eaten outside of a restaurant...and doing so in the context of a super simple, hot-weather-friendly dish.

• Mastering crab fried rice that’s as good as takeout—especially if you happen to be using leftover coconut rice.

• Nailing that perfect transition-to-fall corn recipe.

• Contemplating blending cashews into all of our salad dressings after having done it to great effect in this recipe.

• Giving past-their-prime greens a new lease on life in, like, 10 minutes.

• Finding our way out of an “guess we’re having salmon again?” rut thanks to an extremely quick and easy recipe, which, to be fair, would probably work with any old protein.

• Hitting squash season hard. It’s about the pepita pesto on the pasta with the delicata, friends.

• Trying out various methods for recreating that restaurant-quality crispy fish skin and deeming this the best guide. (Seafood courtesy of these pros.)

• Using this recipe as a starting point for an addictive (vegan!) soup we’ve made twice in the last two weeks. Subbed fresh garlic, ginger, and onion for the spices and broth for the water, and we suspect it’s malleable in many more ways besides.

• Throwing this together with frozen shrimp when everything else feels like too much. Great use for that bottle o’ hot honey.

• Trusting you’ll forgive me for putting so many fennel recipes in this newsletter once you taste this truly decadent one.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Taking A Closer Look

We’ve got a big double date on the pod this week! We had the honor of chatting with Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham, the creative forces behind the anthology Black Futures, and it was basically “work-wife dreams really do come true!!!” As we plan for 2021 episodes, we’re itching to know what you want to hear about and who you want to hear from. WB with thoughts if you have ‘em!

erica’s things

• Finding myself with a favorite audiobook narrator all of a sudden: Robin Miles, who did a remarkable job with The City We Became.

• Calculating the ideal chocolate-chip cookie, whatever your ideal chocolate-chip cookie may be.

• Reflecting on salvaged mirrors that got a major 2020 glow-up.

• Reaching peak holiday spirit while shopping the wishlists of trans youth via @transanta.

• Satisfying a sudden tropical-fruit craving with a sparkling bottled cocktail that’s not too sweet, too alcohol-y, too anything.

claire’s things

• Picking myself back up after being knocked over by Time, a documentary that doles out feel-good and feel-infuriated vibes in nearly equal measure.

• Trusting you’ll forgive me for putting so many fennel recipes in this newsletter once you taste this truly decadent one.

• Taking in a little music education 101 with Rick Rubin as my instructor by bingeing Broken Record. I really do feel so much more in-the-know! (This helped, too.)

• Breaking out a remarkably handy digital tape measure way more often than I would have guessed.

• Extending my gratitude to all the ‘grammers using MixCaptions when they talk to the camera.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Coloring Outside The Lines

Friends! Part two of this year’s podcast gift guide is alive! And if you still don’t know what to get somebody, well, how about a gift subscription to Secret Menu? December new-subscriber money is going to Fair Fight, Stacey Abrams’s org to battle voter suppression and promote election reform. Speaking of Stacey: We’ll be discussing her romance novel Reckless (written under the wonderful pseudonym Selena Montgomery) on the December 21 ep of the pod if you feel like joining for a steamy read-along.

erica’s things

• Shipping a bubble tea kit to my favorite college student. Will a special drink make taking finals in her childhood bedroom less bizarre? Extremely doubtful.

• Finding a phone game I can get into. It’s described as “a gentle journey,” and I concur.

• Thinking that I not only want a piece of Phoebe Collings-James pottery but also surely need a piece of Phoebe Collings-James pottery.

• Throwing this together with frozen shrimp when everything else feels like too much. Great use for that bottle o’ hot honey.

• Watching design icons get made—Noguchi Akari lamps! Murano glass!

claire’s things

• Stumbling upon a maternity line that would have been way more exciting for me had I discovered it a few years ago. You’re cute, you’re chic, I’da worn the crap out of you.

• Bookmarking a truly ambitious number of recipes in this cookbook, which is, crucially, full of warm, stew-y dishes made up largely of pantry ingredients.

• Wondering if businesses like Sharks represent the future of Covid-era entertainment: unstaffed, private rooms you check into and out of on your own, in this case to play pool.

• Feeling surprisingly moved listening to the collective playlist that is 2020 Is a Song.

• Running out of excuses to let my kid draw with boring, normal crayons when these, these, and these exist.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Longing To Be Gallery Girls

You know what today is? It’s Cyber...the day our first gift guide podcast episode goes live. We know what to give your stepmom who’s always cold, your new significant other, your sister-in-law in Paris (how fashionable of you to have a sister-in-law in Paris!). And if you just can’t wait for next week’s follow-up, last year’s installments are waiting for you here and here—just, uh, ignore the experience ideas, ok?

erica’s things

• Knocking out headaches—from PMS, from clenching my jaw all night—with this stuff. Listen, I’m also surprised an herb-and-mineral combo platter works as well as it does.

• Nurturing a cactus crush: Cereus forbesii 'spiralis', I hereby crown you the Michael B. Jordan of plants.

• Offering up validation for anyone whose hobbies include “searching Zillow in nine different zip codes” and/or “googling every article about the TV show I’m watching.”

• Grooving to Whitney’s mom.

• Purchasing this for a five-year-old niece; contemplating pairing it with a sub to Elle Decor (kidding, kidding).

claire’s things

• Taking in a doc about the indie record store Other Music that is bound to resonate with anyone who loves small businesses and the deeply human aspects of them. I mean: They determined which sections were most popular based on how worn the floors were. 😭

• Whipping out my credit card real fast to subscribe to the new pub by one of my favorite—and objectively one of the funniest—pop-culture writers. (It’s been a strong week for Substacks.)

• Longing especially hard for IRL galleries and museums after viewing images of Tau Lewis’s latest show.

• Feeling totally charmed by Psychic Outlaw’s take on the quilted-clothing trend: Give them your old blanket, and they’ll turn it into a coat—for you or your pet.

• Using this recipe as a starting point for an addictive (vegan!) soup I’ve made twice in the last two weeks. I subbed fresh garlic, ginger, and onion for the spices and broth for the water, and I suspect it’s malleable in many more ways besides.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Readying The Jell-O Shots

Artichokes and record labels: a classic podcast combination, at least around these parts. This week, we’re chatting with Sam Valenti IV, who has run the beloved Ghostly International for two whole decades, about the music biz in 2020—and, don’t worry, he brings good playlists for show and tell. P.S. If you have something you want to share, classified ads for the rest of the year are going fast, so it’s worth jumping on that soon.

erica’s things

• Putting in enough research to say with confidence that this place has the best bang-for-your-buck rugs.

• Adding these books by native and indigenous authors to my shiny new spreadsheet of reads I 1) have bought or 2) wanna buy for the kids in my life. Can you tell gift-giving is my love language??

• Learning a Mac keyboard shortcut that has saved me a remarkable amount of time: Command+Shift+V for pasting without formatting to eliminate the wonkiness that comes with moving things from Word docs to Gmail to Notes to Slack and back again.

• Counting on Baggu to answer a pressing seasonal Q: “How do I make a present look cute in the flashiest of flashes?”

• Eating up a whole Sanrio-adjacent character universe: May I introduce you to Wonton in a Million and the rest of the dimsum steam team?

claire’s things

• Marveling at how far Jell-O shots have come since my college days.

• Wondering if I can convince Cam to start incorporating tights into his look.

• Scouring my gifting list to see who needs a caviar blini ornament or really any of the quirky goodness from Chefanie. (I mean: farfalle barrettes?!)

• Living for this real-life sequel to Fiona Apple’s “Shameika.”

• Making it all the way to November 2020 before buying a ring light—this one clips right onto your computer or phone and is generally unobtrusive.