Ann Mah's newsletter / June 2019
June 2019 newsletter
Hello!
Happy June! Can you believe it's almost summer? I feel like the school year just started but the weather doesn't lie – summer heat and storms are already here. The other day I found myself in a pickle when I decided to barbecue some salmon and asparagus on our roof. I had just put the food on the grill when the skies grew black and it began to rain. I dashed inside and watched from the door as the patter turned to a pour... and then hail – marble-sized balls of hail! – pelted from the skies. It grew so dark, windy, and violent, I actually began to feel frightened, even though I was safely indoors... plus, I was imagining my food burning to a crisp. Finally the storm quieted and I dashed to the grill – which had, thankfully, turned itself off. My food was drenched, but I was able to rescue it and finish cooking it inside... while drinking a glass of wine. What an adventure! I felt like I'd survived a battle.
Here's what else I've been up to...
What I've been eating
–Do you want to have friends over for dinner, but don't feel like cooking? Or maybe you don't have a dining table, or enough forks to go around? Welcome to the apéro dînatoire, a cocktail-dinner party hybrid in which all the food is eaten by hand. I loved writing this Washington Post article (photo above), with tips and recipes: How to host an apéro dînatoire
–I enjoyed dispensing cooking advice, my favorite recipes, and cookbook suggestions via the Washington Post Free Range food chat. You can check out the transcript here.
–Have you heard about the Instant Pot butter chicken that the internet has been raving about? I finally tried it and it was ah-may-zing. So easy, so delicious. The recipe, and a profile of its creator, can be found in the New Yorker.
–As we prepare to go away for the summer, I'm trying to use up stuff in my pantry. I turned a box of stale graham crackers and the last of the desiccated coconut into this old-fashioned key lime pie from King Arthur flour, and it was sublime.
–Continuing my pantry clean-out, a bag of broad egg noodles was the perfect accompaniment to the New York Times' chicken paprikash, which I renamed "royal Hungarian chicken" to encourage my kid to to eat it (it worked!).
–I'm thrilled so many of you are planning trips to Paris this summer. I've been getting so many messages from people who are traveling to France that I compiled a list of my favorite restaurants, hotels, and activities. You can check it out here.
What I've been reading
–Ever since I wrote about it here, I've had Bulgaria on my mind. Last week friends invited me over for a Bulgarian feast (photo above) that included cured meats, feta cheese, and the loveliest preserved baby figs. And, a few weeks ago, the New York Times' 52 Places Traveler visited Plovdiv, Bulgaria and wrote about it here. I am thrilled to shine more light on this country.
–Can you guess where Washington's ambassadors eat when they're homesick? This article from the Washington Post may surprise you. (Yes, Taco Bell is on the list.)
–I can't wait to see Late Night and I learned so much about Emma Thompson in this recent New York Times profile. (PS Wouldn't she be great as Jennifer from The Lost Vintage?!)
–I am fascinated by the recent discovery of the "Clotilda," the last known ship to bring enslaved Africans to America, which landed Mobile, Alabama in 1865 – though importing slaves to the US had been banned since 1808. After the captives were transferred to land, the ship was burned to hide the crime, and the tale remained one of myth and doubt until last month. National Geographic has the story with photos.
–What's the weirdest thing you've seen on public transportation? A couch? A lizard? A steel beam? I am here for this photo essay from the NYT.
–This piece by Amanda Hesser in Food52 describes my worst nightmare.
New books from friends
Welcome to a new section of my newsletter! In this feature, I'll highlight new novels by my author friends to help them spread the word – and help you find a hidden gem! Are you looking for a great summer read? Here's what's in stores this month:
Waisted by Randy Susan Meyers – Seven women enrolled in an extreme weight loss documentary discover self-love and sisterhood as they enact a daring revenge against the exploitative filmmakers. "A compelling tale, raising critical questions about familial, social, and cultural messages about body image," says Kirkus.
Hope and Other Punchlines by Julie Buxbaum (YA) – Abbi Hope Goldman became a symbol of 9/11 when she was featured as "Baby Hope" in an iconic photograph of the terrible day. Now, fifteen years later she's desperate to find anonymity at summer camp. When she meets Noah Stern, whose own life was shattered on that same day, the two team up to ask difficult questions about the history behind the Baby Hope photograph.
I'll Never Tell by Catherine McKenzie – What happened to Amanda Holmes? Twenty years ago she was found bludgeoned in a rowboat at the MacAllister family's Camp Macaw. No one was ever charged with the crime. Now, after their parents' sudden deaths, the siblings return to the camp. Will they work together to solve the crime, or will family secrets tear them apart? "McKenzie once again delivers the thriller goods," says Publishers Weekly.
Murder in Bel-Air by Cara Black – Cara's nineteenth installment in her New York Times' bestselling Aimée Leduc series sees her female detective entangled in a web of international spy-craft, post-colonial Franco-African politics, and the secrets of Paris's 12th arrondissement.
The Summer We Lost Her by Tish Cohen – A husband and wife, a missing child, and the complicated family secrets that can derail even the best marriages in a novel that author Caroline Leavitt calls "astonishingly profound... exquisitely written."
Au revoir
I have been so moved by the coverage of the 75th anniversary of D-Day. If you have a minute, here is Dwight Eisenhower's speech to Allied soldiers as they prepared for the invasion. "You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you." I listened in memory and gratitude. (Photo of Utah Beach from @treuominieunadonna)
See you next month, with a dispatch from Paris –
Amitiés,
Ann