How I cook at home + pop-up market this week!
Cookies? Cake? A fall festival? And domestic culinary bliss? All in one newsletter.
Rad Joy Headlines
In-person pop-up: Harvest Witch Farmers Market with my friends Vargo Brother Ferments (they make dank preserves and memes)
Catch me at Sideshow Gallery this Saturday, September 23rd, starting at 1 PM. The occults and oddities shop will be featuring an autumn equinox market with food vendors, art vendors, and tarot readings too. I will be making a surprise cookie (or two…?) featuring VBF’s chili crisp. It’s so inspiring and exciting to work on something with my friends.
New stuff: Snacking cakes
ICYMI: I added snacking cakes to the list of available offerings! It’s a cake that has all the elements of its larger, more structurally complex counterpart, but is single-layered, decorated more simply, and still feeds you and a few of your hunnies too.
You can order cake here.
Cake order availability
There are a few last minute slots left for September 21-23. The last day to book a cake for pick up this weekend is today (9/19), so if you’re on the fence use discount code: BAKEMECAKE for 10% off. It expires at midnight!
I am all booked for the weekend September 28-30.
I still have 3 slots left for October 5-7.
I hope to see you for treats soon! In whatever fashion.
How do I eat (and cook) so well?
This summer has been about growing and preparing fresh herbs and vegetables, frying and grilling fish, and eating what makes me feel good.
Santiago has been putting in the work (both physically and spiritually) to prep whole fish for us to eat lately. Growing up Vietnamese in a very Vietnamese city, and being born into a former fishmonger family meant that this (and shrimp and tofu) were my main sources of protein growing up. For some reason, after a long day of baking and interfacing with people and numbers in every which way, I find it hard to muster up the mental energy to tackle a whole fish. That’s why…
I don’t do it alone
Many, many of my friends have asked how we are able to put together such elaborate meals on a consistent basis, so I wanted to share how the magic happens. This summer, we have organically begun to split up the labor like this:
My partner (S) and I will grocery shop for protein and produce either at Asian supermarkets, the farmer’s market, or occasionally Costco. An aside: since I grew up Buddhist, I don’t believe that you need to have meat at every meal. That helps me hone in on the grocery list a bit.
S will usually prepare any protein that needs to be cleaned, deboned, or butchered (I don’t eat red meat so it’s mainly fish or poultry), EXCEPT shrimp because my hands are much more familiar with peeling shells.
We will have casual discussion about what’s for dinner, keeping in mind what sauces are on hand, what’s growing in the garden, or what each of us is craving (a lot of Southeast Asian, Northern Californian, or Mediterranean-style food comes up in the queue). The most important thing is: how much energy do I have left in the tank that day? For those of you who are chronically ill, look up spoons theory – it has helped me gain perspective and communicate needs with my domestic partner in a much clearer way.
When it comes time to execute, Santiago sets up, I will prepare all the accouterments (cook sauces, wash and chop vegetables, etc.), help cook and finish the protein (usually by watching the heat, adjusting seasonings), and then we will hurriedly put things together.
The table set up is almost always split down the middle. I don’t know why!
70% of the time S cleans, and 30% of the time I clean. By this time of the day, I want to help as much as I can, and also, I need to SIT DOWN.
It’s a beautiful orchestra of things that we have developed over years of being together, and until I sat down to write this, I did not fully appreciate how solid our culinary partnership is (hello Taurus x Cancer sun signs). The best hack for cooking and eating well at home? I don’t have one. All I can say is — if you can — orient your domestic life around not doing it alone. Ask for help. Know what brings you joy. And move boldly towards it.
I think you should have a dinner party soon. Maybe you’ll need cake ;)
Xo,
V
