Albondigas

super simple and delicious, albondigas is the best chilly weather food. you can google it for a billion recipes, but i’m sure none will be as good and as seriously easy as my friend nancy’s. after all, while once eating some of hers, her young son miguel proclaimed “mom, THIS IS THE LIFE!”

-sauté a bit of onion and tomato in a soup pot until the onion is clear and the tomato is broken down

-nancy does beef albondigas, so she would next add water and beef consume (or stock). i like turkey, so i add chicken stock and water

-add in whatever vegetables you want- zucchini, potatoes, carrots…

-mix the meat with a pinch of white rice, shape into small-ish meatballs and set in to the soup

-simmer until all is cooked through

-top your bowl with shredded raw cabbage, lime and tapatio and eat it with warm tortillas.

They Invented Pesto

,
every american traveling in italy is doing so with the help of the book. you think he is totally lame. he is. but every person- EVERY PERSON is hiding the book in their backpack. and he tells us all to go to cinque terre. he writes over and over how amazing it is. everyone goes. everyone. it is crowded with people hiding the book in their backpacks. but it is so worth it. go. so worth it. it looks like this photograph with your own eyes. and stay at the hostel. they are very kind and will break the rules and let you sleep all day in your bunk on your too-much-pesto-and-limoncello deathbed and watch out your window as little grandmoms pick basil and lemons from their tiny terrace gardens carved into the sides of the mountain.

Khao Pun

some of my favorite family gatherings have not been my own but my friend sarah’s. and, honestly, that is pretty much because they feature gigantic pots of
khao pun. as demonstrated by lorena above, khao pun is basically a bundle of noodles with a brothy sauce ladled on top and then covered with tons and tons of herbs (mint, cilantro, basil…), lettuces and lime. it’s so fresh and addictive. and goes really well with shots of hennessy taken out of risqué shot glasses wielded by sarah's grandparents.

Coatsey's Corner

hockey time means coatsey’s corner time and that is a good time.

Art Hearts

so cute and happy, chris uphues’ work is awesome. he painted the exterior of the fred flare office with his sweet rainbow hearts. i saw them in person over the summer and they are so fun and random- smiling heart faces in the middle of a block of warehouses.