This is not a gift guide! There are plenty of those. This is more a take-care-of-yourself in these busy, sad, scary, weird, bad times! Ho ho ho etc.
I made this Brown Butter Orzo and Squash situation this for dinner last night and it was delicious and very easy and I used an acorn squash instead because that’s what I had and if I’d had feta I probably would have thrown that on top at the end but damn, so easy, so good, 10/10.
And earlier in the day, I made this, just because I wanted pudding. My seven year old only ate the whipped cream I put on top and so I won some extra pudding, more for me! I was out of oat milk and so I used whole milk and guess what, it was great.
It’s my father-in-law’s 70th birthday next month and speaking of chocolate, I’m going to order him a chocolate car. Maybe you also need a very small Lamborghini.
My friend (can I call her my friend? Why not! I) Sarah Ramos is the lead in a Hallmark Christmas romance and I canNOT wait to watch it. This weekend I was having pizza with my family in a pizza place that had the Hallmark channel on it and my 7 year old was like, ooh, this is a ROMANCE! We all love romance.
We spent about a month running around crazily making this calendar for the bookstore and I love it so much and for some reason we didn’t sell all the copies immediately which is very confusing to me. Emily Henry! Oliver Jeffers! Grady Hendrix! Lin-Manuel Miranda! Colson Whitehead! I am so proud of it and I love it and maybe you need one. Look at how cute Lin is. 50% of the proceeds go to BINC, the Book Industry Charity Foundation, which helps booksellers in need.
It is screener season in my house and so we just watched Barbie (again!) and Saltburn and wow I don’t know if I can totally recommend Saltburn but wow, little Barry, I like it. I looked for a picture from his naked dance but couldn’t find one. Am I the only one that finds him so much more attractive than Jacob Elordi, who is just tall and pretty and like, who cares?
Okay back to trying to write a novel, send me all your cozy fall recipes that aren’t hard, please.
Wait a second, Peter from The Chronicles of Narnia is now in Hallmark Christmas rom coms?! Can we talk about this? Love this for him.
Hello Emma! This is a cozy South African favourite. I've come up with a cheat's recipe for it which everybody loves.
Pumpkin fritters
1kg pumpkin (cooked , mashed and drained of any excess moisture) It feels like an obscene amount of pumpkin, but therein lies the secret.
1 box pancake mix of your choice
Cinnamon
Sugar
Mix up the pancake mix according to instructions, and then add the pumpkin and combine. Fry tablespoon-sized amounts in an oiled pan until fritters are browned on the outside. Once cooked, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mix onto the fritters while they are still hot.
They are beyond cozy, and you will feel nostalgic for them even as you eat them.