I’ve been stretching my creative muscle a little more lately and it feels good. Really good. Like, yoga class+green juice and fuck it, wanna get a prosecco and fries after this good.
Read
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal
It’s always surprising to see your hometown in fiction. Especially when your hometown is an Indian enclave in West London. It features one of my favorite elements in fiction - women rebelling against cultural norms - and even dives a little into mystery/thriller territory.
Throw it into your beach bag and head to the water.
Watch
Like Water for Chocolate (HBO Max)
Magical realism and food? Oh, I am so in. I loved the book by Elizabeth Esquivel and I love the series, produced by Salma Hayek. It’s gorgeously sensuous, I love the inclusion of the politics of the Mexican Revolution and can’t wait for season two.
Listen
HAIM.
Literally had to rewrite that about six times because I kept adding an e at the end (“Haime/Jaime”) but HAIM is very much my shit.
Los-Angeles based rock band comprised of three sisters who used to get paid in matzah ball soup for gigs? Amazing…although, I’m less soup and more an egg salad sandwich on toasted rye with a half-sour on the side.
It’s 70s rock meets 90s R&B with lyrics like, “I think I’m in love but can’t stand fuckin’ relationships” which is everything your godmothers Stevie Nicks and Miss Dawn Robinson have been telling us for years.
Taylor Swift.
I have this theory about Taylor Swift songs chronicling the evolution of modern women.
You’re a teenage girl, you’re super cute, completely disenfranchised as teenage girls often are and to make matters worse, you’re yearning for an idiot boy with his head lodged firmly up his ass.
You get over it, grow, you learn, you change, you fall in love again, realizing nothing lasts forever but this is gonna take me down.
And it does. Hard.
Usually by a boy who was so casually cruel in the name of being honest.
And at that point, you realize that these boys - these sweet Labrador-eyed boys have turned into men.
Useless, incompetence-weaponizing men with their goddamn opinions-vomited directly-from-the-podcasts-of-other-useless-incompetence-weaponizing-didn’t-do-the-fucking-reading men and that’s when you hit your Vigilante Shit era, drawing the cat eyes sharp enough to kill a man, not dressing for women or men but rather revenge (ALL black everything and a red lip) and not starting shit but telling you how it ends.
It ends with no body, no crime where they think she did it but they just can’t prove it.
What? Women have been cleaning blood out of their clothes since they were eleven years old. It’s a life skill.
Ring The Damn Bell
Look, there is no universe in which I’m not self-serving enough not to plug my own podcast. I started a podcast with my best friend and we talk about pro-wrestling. It’s a fun throwback to the conversations we’ve been having for over twenty years now and I highly recommend starting a podcast with your best friend.
Eat/Drink
I’ve been cooking a lot more lately. Nothing intense - just knocking things up using ingredients which sound good together.
My favorite meal right now is also one of the most affordable recipes I’ve ever come across and I am genuinely irritated I didn’t know about this in college because it’s cheaper and tastes way better than the dollar jars of sugary spaghetti sauce I used to stock up on.
Aromatics make this recipe - onions, garlic and spices, so use liberally because as always - people didn’t die in the spice trade for you to underseason your food.
You will need:
An onion, chopped.
Three cloves of garlic, chopped.
A solid glug of olive oil; enough to coat the bottom of the pan and cook the onions and garlic.
Fennel seeds, salt, pepper, red chili flakes to taste.
Tomato paste - you can get a little can of it at Aldi for $0.79. You’re gonna need about half a can.
Spaghetti - enough for two people. I don’t know what that serving looks like in your house.
Fresh basil - buy a pot at Home Depot and keep it in a sunny-ish spot in your house or in your yard. It’s a tenacious little guy.
Grated parmesan if that’s your bag.
Boil a pot of salted water to cook your spaghetti. Some people will tell you that the water needs to taste like the ocean and I am here to remind you there is a wide gulf between the ocean and the Dead fucking Sea. Throw in a tablespoon of salt or so. You don’t need more than that.
While the water is boiling, heat oil in a large saucepan at medium-low heat. Throw in the fennel seeds. Add the chopped onions and let cook for like, ten minutes or so until the onions become translucent.
Add the chopped garlic, salt, pepper and chili flake.
How’s the water looking? Bubbling and boiling like a witch’s cauldron? Cool. Throw in the spaghetti. Don’t break it in half…or do - I don’t care. I’m not a nonna or a cop.
Back to your pan with the aromatics. How is everything looking? More importantly, how does it smell? Amazing? Excellent - add your tomato paste and stir.
Now, this is the important part - you paying attention? The pasta should be almost cooked at this point and it’s merrily bubbling away in a cauldron of starchy, salty water. Grab a ladle and carefully pour a ladleful of the pasta water into the pan with your aromatics. Stir like crazy to incorporate the tomato paste into the water. Within a few minutes, alchemy will happen and you will have a sauce. A silky, spicy, delicious sauce.
Grab your tongs and place your spaghetti directly into the sauce and stir again so everything gets coated.
Garnish with fresh basil, parmesan and serve.
Serve as is with a big glass of red wine or if you’re a heretic like I am, you can fire up the head in the pan and cook until the spaghetti chars and gets all crispy Spaghetti All’Assassina style.
The cool thing about this recipe is how easily mutable it is. Got some cherry tomatoes getting wrinkly? Throw them in at the same time you toss in the garlic. Ditto zucchini, mushrooms, spinach or chopped black olives if you’re doing a Puttanesca kinda thing.
Next time I make it, I’m gonna try and make it Pasta alla Norma style with roasted eggplant and blobs of ricotta. I can’t wait.
My other recipe is a little lot more laborious but totally worth it. These veggie enchiladas are a crowd-pleaser and also reheat really well - the secret is to microwave them and then, toast in a hot skillet so the edges get all bubbly and crispy.
Misc.
This guy.
He’s my favorite person to watch wrestling with, to cook with and to hang out with. Willow remains the coolest.