Letter 13: Music lately, a rice recipe, and a new podcast I'm liking

June 2023

Notes from Me

Reading: The many kind notes from my family and friends as I celebrated my 38th birthday last month. My friends and husband threw me a surprise birthday party, the memory of which I will savor all year.

Listening: My friend, Rachael, introduced me to the book Year of Wonder, which is full of witty musical criticism and a heartfelt zeal for music. I sometimes pause the audiobook and listen to the song just described. Other times, I just enjoy hearing the commentary by author/narrator, Clemency Burton-Hill. An excellent book to listen to in snippets while clearing the breakfast dishes.

With the Boys

Listening: The boys have been singing this song all month, layering on their own percussion throughout. We’ve also been listening folk singer, Ella Jenkins’ album “You’ll Sing a Song,” around the house lately.

Reading: We read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland last month. It was my first time reading it. I was only vaguely familiar with Alice and the cheshire cat from seeing the Disney version when I was a child. The book was a hit! The boys did not seem put-off by the desultory plot, the long lines of poetry, or the strange antics of the various characters. We’ll read this zany story again, I’m sure.

In the Kitchen

Eating: This “Perfectly Steamed Rice” recipe from chef Kwame Onwuachi is very good. It’s fragrant, fatty, and flavorful and plays well with various mains (meat, beans, etc). Highly recommend!

Tool: This is my kitchen cleaning hero. The bench scraper is more versatile than you might think. Yes, it does make neat portions and clean brownie cuts, but I use it almost daily to scrape up pesky, sticky bits (dried smoothie, marinara, etc) off of my kitchen counters.

Small Joy

My children beaming to announce they can now snap or whistle.

P.S.

I’m really glad to hear from the women in this new podcast. This was a thought-provoking discussion about hospitality (especially the “why” behind it and the misconception of hospitality as merely entertaining).