⧉ Standard time
Welcome to the twenty-sixth issue of OVERLAP ⧉
Standard time
It’s been a long week. Mercury is in retrograde. And it’s dark outside. My baking ambition is decently strong during daylight saving time — I’ll happily trek to the farmers market to procure ingredients for strawberry-rhubarb crumble, a plum crisp with pistachios and cardamom, or a classic apple pie. But once the clocks fall back, all bets are off. It’s time for mug cake: a few humble pantry ingredients, whisked together in a cup and microwaved for a minute. It will never pass as a gourmet dessert, but that’s not the point. On a cold night, when you don’t feel like leaving your apartment, simple and good is better than fancy and difficult.
⧉
I’ve had a few conversations about publishing lately, and I keep coming back to the same idea: showing up consistently with something good is more sustainable and effective than appearing sporadically with something spectacular. Better to send the mug cake of email newsletters than nothing at all? I think so.
⧉
Auntie Jess recommends:
Cooking in a small kitchen. You don’t need as much space as you think. Alison Roman shows how it’s done.
The Auction House. My friends Anne and Dave introduced me to this British show that’s available on YouTube. The characters … oh, the characters!
Explaining things to kids. If you want to understand something complicated, like art or impeachment, talk to a kid.
⧉
Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear from you — hit reply or send a message through my website to share your favorite cooking videos, reality shows, cold-weather recipes, or anything else that’s on your mind. You can also forward this to a friend or two and invite them to subscribe. If you missed a previous issue, all the archives are online.
Until next time,
Jessica
⧉