It had been one of those weeks, which is to say that by the end of it, I had no energy left for anything else. It had been meetings with unhappy coworkers and overhauled lesson plans and bad writing to grade all week long, and the exhausting saga of each day concluded with an epilogue of all the mundane domestic tasks that must be done whether I wanted to do them or not.
At the end of such a week, it sounds best to put on some pajamas and an episode of the Great British Baking Show and do absolutely nothing. But on that particularly Friday, none of these activities was an option: we were having company. Admittedly, it was my best friend, and there is no need to try to impress a woman who has literally seen me crying on the floor next to a trash can, but I still feel that she deserves, at minimum, a clean bathroom and a decent meal.
So I made gnocchi. As I wanted for the knock on my door, I fell into the rhythm of my kitchen: mashing the sweet potatoes, tearing kale into pieces for a salad, caramelizing shallots, grating nutmeg, shredding parmesan, whisking sauce on the stove, and throwing together a quick spice cake in between all the other tasks. Unlike the oppressive to-do list on my desk upstairs, my mental inventory of dinner prep steps shrank quickly and painlessly, and by the time our guests arrived, all that was left to do was crumble feta, chop apples, and boil gnocchi. The dinner was delightful. The evening was lovely.
As beautiful things always do, that meal reminded me that beauty never seems necessary, but it is always essential. It invites us to slow down, pull off the exit, and stop to enjoy whatever arresting splendor is unfolding before us. Sometimes life gives us these moments, but often they are some assembly required. Though it costs us to create them, they more than pay for themselves in the sustenance they bring.
Here's what I read, cooked, and created in the month of October.
What I Read
Live Your Truth and Other Lies: Exposing Popular Deceptions that Make Us Anxious, Insecure, and Self-Obsessed, Alisa Childers (★★★★★)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling (★★★★★)––reread
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling (★★★★★)––reread
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones, James Clear (★★★★)
The Jane Austen Book Club, Karen Joy Fowler (★★★)
If you want to hear the rationale behind my rating, head to my Goodreads for full reviews.
What I Cooked
I have never made gnocchi before, much less sweet potato gnocchi, but this recipe had been languishing on my Pinterest for literal years, so it was high time to try it. I think I could have cooked my sweet potatoes a little longer, and I definitely could have cut my gnocchi a little smaller, but this meal turned out fabulously (and yes, these are the gnocchi I mentioned earlier). Even my sweet potato-hating husband was forced to admit he would eat it again. When I do make it again, I will definitely double the cream sauce.
You can't have a brunch without an egg bake, but you also can't just wake up the morning of the brunch and make an entire egg bake start to finish unless you wake up at 5. Therein lies the beauty of the overnight egg bake.
On the whole, there was a lot to like about this egg bake. Hearty, easy, holds up well in the fridge for microwaveable lunches. But my goodness, it is all potato. You could easily halve the amount of potatoes it calls for. Additionally, I would have liked a little more kick––some cumin, chili powder, and cilantro could have gone a long way. I did add a smattering of scallions, and I would definitely recommend that.
Now that I have my own basil plant, I am constantly looking for recipes that use fresh basil. The concept of a broccoli-based pesto intrigued me, so I decided to try this one after seeing it recommended on Instagram. It truly could not have been easier, and I liked the flavor. The broccoli pesto felt fresh and light, and it was basically impossible to tell that it was broccoli-based. Will do again.
I feel like I need to make these again, because I left them in the oven a little long, and they were a touch . . . dark. Even so, the flavor was good, and they were stupidly easy. When making garlic butter is the most labor-intensive part of the prep work, you know you have a winner. I can definitely see these being a good fit for a big group.
What I Created
Blackout poem "All the Way Down"
Unpublished, untitled original poem about my inordinate love for my three-seasons porch
May your days be filled with beauty, and may your heart be filled with the willingness to see and give thanks for it.