January's Table

Captured thoughts + what I'm cooking, buying, & reading this month.

Captured Thoughts

Today is January 18th, so we can officially say we are all up in January’s guts. Darkness is plentiful, and January smells of woodsmoke, citrus, rain, and damp earth. I’ve been craving warming foods, like ginger, chilis, and gently cooked vegetables.

Despite the washed-out landscape, I’m trying to create midwinter magic where I can, like leaving the Christmas twinkle lights up, tapered candles flickering at all times, and eating colorful winter produce. I have absolutely zero qualms about super slow mornings, and even slower nights spent snug inside with no plans. The cat is extra cuddly this time of year, which I realize is only because he is using me for warmth, but it’s still nice.

I’m committing to goals rather than resolutions, but doing so lightly and from a place of rest. After all, it’s midwinter now, and in nature, this is a time of deep rest and pause. The bursting forth that comes in spring is only possible because of the respite that preceded it. Resist the urge to race ahead, and instead focus on hunkering down, dreaming big, enjoying midwinter’s magic, and planning for the real new year.

January in the Bay Area is mild, albeit colorless and wet. I try to fill my plate with colorful things to buoy me through ‘till spring. Rich purple cabbages, golden peach preserves, fiery orange citrus, saffron-tinted hot sauce, and hot pink chicories create a tapestry of color. I want seasonally appropriate, delicious food made at home with real ingredients.

Reading/Self-Development

Leyla Kazim

inspired me to make a WOTY (word of the year). I chose “compassion.” Compassion for myself as I continue to heal and navigate the ebbs and flows of a new decade of life (my 30’s). Compassion for others since most of us are just doing our best. My husband and I made a WOTY for our relationship, and it’s been fun to brainstorm ways to embody the WOTY as a couple.

Small Fires: An Epic in the Kitchen by

Rebecca May Johnson

is a refreshing take on food writing. I’m very much looking forward to the online book club discussion that

Alicia Kennedy

is hosting for it on Jan 19th. I met a new, local friend on Alicia’s thread for the book club, and we are meeting for coffee soon to chat about the book IRL. Super cool.

Annie Ridout

is a talented writer whose personal essays and self-development posts I’ve been quite inspired by. Speaking of self development,

Claire Venus

is fantastically talented and her work has been a massive help in helping me learn how to navigate Substack. I’ll probably go paid for Claire’s Substack soon.

The Good Enough Weekly

by

Devin Kate Pope

is awesome, and I particularly liked Devin’s recent piece on imbuing the daily act of feeding ourselves with more meaning. In it she talks about how meal kit companies are basically profiting from our exhaustion and how food is so often minimized. It got me fired up and then I wrote a note about it.

And

Summer Brennan

is doing an Essay Series that I’ve absolutely adored and am learning a lot from, and she’s also inspired me to incorporate a “five things draft” into my daily writing practice.

Eating/Cooking

Citrus

I love January because when the earth stands hard as iron, Mother Nature gifts us one of her most profound pleasures - citrus. I lean on citrus to illuminate these bleak midwinter days.

Citrus and chèvre tart with almonds and pomegranate. Chilean sea bass roasted on a bed of cara cara oranges. Whole rotisserie chicken with a spicy dry rub made from cara cara zest, fennel seed, coriander, chili, and smoked paprika.

Citrus salsa verde with tarragon, Meyer lemon zest, parsley, EVOO, and roughly chopped cara cara orange segments, spooned over fish, chicken, or anything. Winter spritzes with freshly squeezed ruby grapefruit juice and rosemary sprigs. Citrus and fennel salad with red onions, black olives, and lots and lots of fresh herbs. Citrus salad with olives, pistachios, and yogurt.

Don’t overlook the peels, either. Before cutting into any citrus for any reason, first zest it, then freeze the zest for acidifying dressings, salsas, pasta, or stewed meats. And let’s not forget, entire winters could be spent thinking of various ways to combine citrus and beetroot.

Simmering pots of beans

I’m leaning into foods that want to simmer cozily for long periods of time, like my favorite white runner beans from Bean Story (a small, women-owned company that you should definitely check out), prepared using the holy trinity of Spanish cuisine - olive oil, garlic, and parsley. I toss two heads of garlic, glugs of extra virgin olive oil, and leftover parsley stems tied in a bouquet garni into the bean pot.

I stocked up on Acid League’s saffron gold sauce specifically to drizzle over warm white runner beans, and am excited to play with it and see what other use cases I can find.

Edible sunshine

It was peach season six months ago, and I made Jul’s Kitchen vanilla peach jam. I must be maturing because instead of banqueting on the jam as soon as it was made, I tucked it away in the freezer, promising myself I’d save it for when sunshine and ripe peaches are but a distant memory.

Well, that time has come. I’m plopping spoonfuls of peach jam into wine glasses and topping it with ice-cold San Pellegrino. I’m smearing it on hot buttered sourdough and swirling it through cardamom-spiced coconut yogurt. It’s edible sunshine.

Speaking of edible sunshine, I made the grievous mistake of purchasing strawberries from the supermarket last week. In January! I couldn’t resist, even though I knew they were out of season. My impulsive urge was rewarded with fusty, insipid strawberries. Lesson learned.

Chocolate saffron granola

Homemade granola is the move! Store bought granola is sugary and expensive. I made my former professor

Camila Loew

’s granola recipe with saffron, olive oil, and chocolate chunks (not chips - haphazard chunks, only). I sub the almonds for pecans and hazelnuts, and it’s become a staple - I keep a gallon mason jar full of it on the counter.

Soup (how original)

I am overstimulated by all of the millions of ways to make soup. All anyone ever talks about in January is soup. Sometimes it feels like all the endless options are frying my brain. Nonetheless, I am making lots of soup. I like serving it with crunchy and/or pickled things, plus mountains of fresh herbs.

Lately, I’ve been into homemade bone broth, which, if you’re like me, your freezer is a graveyard of bones in ziplock bags. I’m afraid to admit that I even go around collecting bones from plates when I dine at other people’s homes, provided my hosts don’t want them. Most people don’t save their bones for bone broth, which is odd to me. Why wouldn’t you want a 2-for-1 special, especially when store bought broth is often so astronomically bad?

I recently made soup with chicken bone broth, white onion, beet greens, lion’s mane mushrooms, tomato paste, thyme, chilis, Bean Story crimson lentils, and garlic. It could easily be made vegan with a veg broth.

It was delicious, but unfortunately, the lion’s mane mushrooms somehow transformed into turgid grey lumps, so I shall have to tinker with the recipe before writing about it further.

Oysters

“More oysters for 2024” was my only New Year’s goal. I do not prepare these myself, but rather, we go to a local spot (David Kinch’s Bywater, if anyone is in the South Bay) that does a dozen oysters for $24 during happy hour.

The order there is a dozen oysters per person (I said what I said), creole fries, a martini with olives, and a diet coke with lime.

(Not) Drinking

Mocktails

It seems like fucking everyone has “alcohol” on their out list, and as annoying as those ins/outs lists can be, honestly I’m into this one. I love alcohol - martinis with blue cheese olives, spicy margaritas with tajin rims, and Negronis. When in London, I will always visit Duke’s Bar for the best martinis in the world. I will never not love a masterfully crafted bottle of wine, especially to accompany a masterfully prepared meal.

But…I hate how alcohol makes me feel, which is to say, like hot garbage. I see people in my life throw back 2, 3, 4+ drinks in one evening - every single weekend - and I honestly don’t know how they deal with the hangovers and the general shitty physicality that comes from imbibing that much, that often?

It’s astounding how much more I’m mentally and physically capable of when I don’t partake. There’s nothing like suddenly being in your early 30s to remind you that time is marching on, and creating the life of your dreams lies on the other side of the bad habits you collected in your 20s. To that end, I’ve been making adrenal mocktails every evening after work.

Adrenal Mocktail Recipe

• 1 scoop Jigsaw Adrenal Cocktail

• Splash of juice (tart cherry has been my go-to for the sleepy girl mocktail)

• Ice

• Top with fizzy water of choice (San Pellegrino is a classic but these strawberry hibiscus sparkling waters from Nixie have been fun)

Morning Beverage: Yolky Cacao

Absence is not always a bad thing. For example, the absence of leaves on the trees outside my window means unobstructed views of the sunrise, which I’ve been enjoying while sipping on a yolky hot chocolate with two tablespoons of Embue Cacao, frothed coconut milk, one whipped egg yolk, and homemade marshmallows. One of my outs for 2023 is drinking coffee on an empty stomach. The decade three hormones just can’t deal with that habit anymore.

Anyways, happy midwinter! I hope you are eating well, reading well, and are happy.