Restaurant-quality home cooking + a nourishing newsletter

Hello, friends!

Did you travel anywhere for spring break or do you have any trips planned for the summer? We went to Arizona, where we ate yuca fries, fried cactus, and rattlesnake sausage. My stomach is still recovering. We also met a cowboy named Jimmy who never steps foot in restaurants ‘cause his wife’s cooking is so good, it puts ‘em all to shame. “She makes a chicken fried steak that’s thicker than his leg,” he said, pointing to our 8-year-old. Which got me to thinking…what home-cooked meal would you say is better than a restaurant’s? I’m a pretty basic home cook. But, according to the kids, my tacos are “much better than the ones they make at camp.” That’s a compliment around here! 

Below are some gems the Internet served up in March and have a lovely Sunday!

Xo,

Toby

• I deleted all my apps and ignored email for a week, which I recommend doing whenever you can find the time. It gives you an appreciation for what the Internet is truly meant for: animal videos. (BBC)

• Have you ever given more than two seconds thought to the stickers they slap on produce? Behold the delightful history of fruit stickers, the world’s tiniest canvases for graphic design. (Fast Company)

• I subscribe to every newsletter under the sun but rarely am I so moved as when I finish an issue of An Irritable Métis. Chris La Tray stops me in my tracks. I recently saw his writing described as ‘nourishing’ and it’s the perfect word for his work. (Substack)

• After having a surprising amount of fun putting together a family photo wall—and not letting myself get too obsessive over it—this piece on making time for weird, small projects resonated with me. (Courtney Martin)

• I’ll watch Michelle Yeoh in anything so I’m looking forward to her new film, which looks especially chaotic. (AV Club)

• This article on when you really become an adult is from 2016, but it’s *aged* well. (Sorry.) Even though I just turned 40 + have three kids, I still don’t feel like an adult! (The Atlantic)

• The Oscars are my Super Bowl and the ceremony is going to be such a mess this year. I can’t wait. (Twitter)

• This signal of distress made me snort. (Twitter)

• I needed something inspiring to help me power through my deadlines this week and this album by Nubya Garcia hit the spot. (Spotify)

• Here’s a two-word mantra that’s extremely helpful for when life is…life-y. (What’s Up Moms)

• Joy’s Asparagus Quiche is deliciously full of spring flavors. I skipped the crust, ‘cause as I mentioned above, I’m a Basic Cook. Wait, is it still considered a quiche if it’s crustless? Let’s not dwell on such details. (Joy the Baker)

• Loved this touching essay on a Holocaust-survivor’s ability to find happiness everywhere and the legacy she passed onto her family. (Kveller)

• If there’s an opposite of doom scrolling, it’d be this interactive poetry series, which continues to hit it out of the park. (New York Times)

• Is It Cake? That’s the name of the game my family’s currently binge watching. A group of talented bakers present a series of objects (handbags, for example) and judges decide which one is actually a cake. It’s ridiculously entertaining. (Netflix)

• Yevgenia Belorusets’ war diary is necessary reading, and her pictures will become the most achingly human part of your day. “In the daily life of war, only something like photography—unfamiliar, auxiliary, almost mechanical—is capable of holding together sequences and memories.” (Isolarii)

• This lucky lady inherited her grandmother’s gowns and the unboxing is a joy to watch. Her grandmother was the co-founder of Afro Sheen, and clearly a queen. (TikTok)