a few good things

My younger daughter asked for overalls for her birthday and then she looked so cute in them that I ordered a pair for myself. I don’t think I’ve ever worn overalls, so I was unsure if I’d like them. Would they be comfortable? Would they look okay? Would they turn bathroom trips into a dreaded ordeal?

Turns out, I love them. The fabric is lightweight, the fit comfortable, and bathroom trips are a cinch (though over-the-top sweaters do have to be removed prior to unbuckling). Bonus: never before have I gotten so many compliments from the hip young servers at the diner! There’s something freeing about a one-piece uniform: it makes me feel both put together and relaxed. I’d wear them every day if I could.

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Ted Lasso’s back!!!

It’s amazing how ridiculously happy I get each time I watch this trailer. I don’t know if we still have Apple TV or not, but we will by the end of July, guaranteed.

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These photos of Julia’s kitchen are wonderfully fun to stare at. I kept enlarging different parts so I could better look at all the tools. I couldn’t even figure out what some of them were for! Ever since reading that article, I’ve been pondering the kitchens I work in and how they could be better. I don’t like clutter, but I do like efficiency. So often it’s the little things — a simple hook or a single magnetic strip or a new vegetable peeler or lamp — that make a world of difference, if I’d only take the time to think it through…

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I lost myself in this photo essay: Keeping Love Close.

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The other day I came home from the bakery with a bunch of rock-hard loaves of sourdough. I’d read somewhere (or maybe I dreamed it?) that stale bread can be rehydrated by dunking it in water, so that’s what I did: thirty seconds on one side and thirty seconds on the other. 

And then I popped it into a 400-degree oven — straight on the rack — for 6 minutes. When it came out, the loaf felt soft and supple and crackly crisp, and it sliced up easily. The bread still tasted a bit stale and dry on the inside — it was the cutability part that I was fixing — but it was perfectly fine for toast and grilled cheese and whatever else. I bagged the sliced pieces and stuck them in the freezer. (And now they’re gone.)

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And now for some movies!

My husband and I watched Whiplash the other week and what a movie! Completely engrossing — after it was over, I realized I’d hardly been breathing — and wondefully layered and nuanced. Days after, I was still thinking about it.

Have you seen Crip Camp? We watched it as a family movie last week, and agree this inside look at the disabilities civil rights movement is a must-see.

I Care A Lot was such a hoot! The first part made my husband so uncomfortable that I had to physically restrain him to keep him on the sofa. And then it got violent and I missed a whole bunch for staring at my hand in front of my face. And then the plot twisted most delightfully and I laughed and laughed. It was the perfect kind of light-hearted (yet dark) fun I’d been craving.

And here’s the list of Oscar nominees, if you need more movie suggestions. I’ve already seen some of them (Sound of Metal is excellent), and I’m looking forward to watching Nomadland, Minari, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

Have a good weekend, y’all!

This same time, years previous: mojo Cuban pork, graduated!, a Monday list, the quotidian (4.30.12), pot of beans, rhubarb jam.