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Round-Ups

Friday Eating & Reading

By December 1, 2017December 2nd, 201723 Comments

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What weโ€™re reading and eating (and buying and watching and listening to) this week:

A few weeks ago, we did what weโ€™ve been meaning to do for about five years: We tore down some upper kitchen cabinets (that served mostly to collect mugs and jars we never used), installed open shelving,ย and re-tiled our backsplash. It took about 48 hours and not a whole lot of money, and the space feels completely transformed. Weโ€™ve been on a serious purging binge lately โ€” making daily trips to goodwill bins, cleaning out our horrendous dungeon-basement (complete with tag sale!) โ€” and the goal is to have only what we need on a daily basis on those shelves. Six dinner plates, six salad plates, six bowls, six highballs, and six tumblers. Hereโ€™s to the easy upgrade and hereโ€™s to simplifying.

Have you seen Smitten Kitchenโ€™s new book? Drop Biscuits with โ€œEverything Bagelโ€ spice, Perfect Blueberry Muffins (they are perfect, I made them), Pretzel Linzers with Salted Caramel, and, the best, a mix-and-match party cake builder. Itโ€™s signature Deb from beginning to end.

LOL

On a five-hour drive to Rochester last month, I finally listened to every episode of theย Dirty John podcast. Though it I thought it fell short of S-Town, it was all soap-opery and the narrator had the best noir-ish voice, and it was kind of perfect for a binge-podcast situation.

DIY Advent Calendar.

Or even better: A reverse advent calendar. (Thanks, Julie!)

Raising a Teenager (& annotated by a teenager)

Next time I roast some pork, I am so serving the coconut plantains from this menu alongside it.

Two movie winners last week with Phoebe (15 years old): 1) Say Anything:ย shocked and delighted that it completely holds up almost 30 years later and 2) Greta Gerwigโ€™sย Lady Bird, in theaters now. I might propose to Saiorse Ronan.

If my kids ate polenta and/or mushrooms, Iโ€™d make this Polenta with Mushrooms once a week.

I had no idea that the famous General Tsoโ€™s Tofu Sub from No.7 Sub has been around so long. (Looks like a project, but Iโ€™m still determined to recreate at home.)

Iโ€™m reading Picture of Dorian Gray because itโ€™s one of those books that Phoebe has read seventeen times and, in spite of my English B.A., I have not read once. (Iโ€™ve said this before, but I highly recommend reading what your kids are reading and loving, if for no other reason than itโ€™s something to talk about at the dinner table.)

The only feed that gets me to momentarily forget the head-spinning headlines.

I linked to this kale salad in my Thanksgiving round-up, but itโ€™s so good I wanted to make sure you didnโ€™t think it was only for Thanksgiving. (You can use Parm in place of nutritional yeast if youโ€™re not interested in making it vegan. But please note: Having nutritional yeast on hand ups your game in the popcorn department.)

Dreamy Ramen with Ginger-Scallion Sauce

All the rage: Dark paint!

All I want for Christmas? Doug Jones in the Senate. (Cโ€™mon Alabama!)

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23 Comments

  • Avatar Hillary says:

    WHERE DO YOU EAT IN ROCHESTER?! I really must know.

    • Jenny Jenny says:

      Hillary โ€“ Iโ€™m not the best one to ask. I was there for my daughterโ€™s cross-country meet, and was in and out in under 18 hours (arrived at 6:00 on a Friday, left by noon the next day); On Friday, we met for a team dinner at the Geneseo Breweryโ€™s restaurant โ€” it was exactly what youโ€™d expect, good beer & pub food, and perfect for that kind of an event. The only other place I went was Starbucks. ๐Ÿ™‚

      • Avatar Hillary says:

        I was hoping you had spent days investigating the culinary options of Roc and could tell me all the secrets. If/when that happens, let us know!

  • Ashley Christine Muir says:

    Thank you for the sub recipe!! I got to write a review when they first opened and it was amazing! [Breakfast Sandwiches at No. 7 Sub http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2011/01/the-mad-scientist-is-back-at-work-breakfast-s.html%5D

  • Avatar Sheila says:

    I agree with Phoebe, Say Anything is still awesome. I watch it often. LLOYD FOREVER

  • Avatar Katie says:

    Alabamian here thatโ€™s excited to vote for Doug Jones! I live in one of the city suburbs, and there are a ton of Doug Jones yard signs in my neighborhood. I know itโ€™s a state-wide election, but thatโ€™s giving me cautious optimism!

    • Avatar Laren says:

      Our family lives in central Alabama, and my little boy counts the Doug Jones signs we see on every car trip, shouting out, โ€œDOUG JONES!โ€ each time he spots one. There are so many people here writing postcards to voters, canvassing, and phone banking to make this happen. We are hopeful!

    • Avatar Carrie says:

      Me too, Katie! Mobile resident here, and very hopeful for this election!

  • Julie says:

    Also got my BA in English, also never read Dorian Gray until recently. Pretty good, right? Albeit so dreary. I enjoyed it.

  • Avatar Tera says:

    Curious. If you now only have 6 sets of dishes, what do you do when you entertain?

    • Jenny Jenny says:

      I have a set of 10, but I keep the extras stored away so we only use the ones displayed.

      • Avatar Shannon says:

        Wish Iโ€™d read the comments (first time I might have said that in a whileโ€ฆ..)

        Do you find 10 is enough or do you have to supplement with disposables? We host our families a couple times a year โ€“ feels silly to keep enough dishes for it but tacky to use paperโ€ฆ..might need to get over that though.

  • Kelsey says:

    Seriously. What would I do this year without Chill Wildlife?

  • Avatar Shannon says:

    I love the idea of having just your daily use dishes but what do you do for dinner parties? Store away another full set, use disposable, ??? Doing a huge purge on our kitchen too and curious about this area.

  • Avatar Carmen says:

    Julie Van Rosendaal is the best, so excited to see her recognized here!

  • Avatar Kelly says:

    Jenny! Love your round ups. The URL for the shelving doesnโ€™t work โ€“ could you repost it? I love that shelving!

  • Theresa says:

    Those shelves look gorgeous! I love a good purge; itโ€™s life changing.

    I hope you enjoy โ€œThe Picture of Dorian Gray.โ€ I find Wilde to be a bit challenging at first (and Iโ€™m a nerdy English type, too) but heโ€™s such a good read. (I luckily got to go hang out at his gravesite a few weeks ago โ€” a must-see if you ever find yourself in Paris!)

  • Avatar Sarahd says:

    Another Alabamaian here! And weโ€™re trying!!!

  • Avatar Mary says:

    I am late reading your post. Thank you for sharing the article about raising a teenager. I am and I so needed it this morning. I felt such relief in reading it.

  • Avatar Mimi Mahoney says:

    I love your kitchen shelving! It looks fantastic! Do you like your marble countertops? Have they wear worn well?

  • Avatar Meg says:

    We just had the exact same tiling put in our kitchen. I love it!

  • Ellen Scott says:

    The end of every year is the good time to purge my kitchen- decided throw something I keep for a long time but never use it. Kinda difficult to give up habbit keep something just because maybe I will need it in the future but finally never use it.
    All I want for Christmas? of Doug Jones in the Senate is good choice for my weekend, I am impressed with this name (actually everything related Christmas ๐Ÿ™‚ )

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