Ann Mah's newsletter / November 2019
November 2019 newsletter
Hello!
Hi, November, you gorgeous month, I have been loving your sunshine, mild temperatures, and fall foliage! Last weekend we went for a hike in Rock Creek Park (photo above) and I'm not sure why it took me so long to discover this network of trails, only a stone's throw from our house?
Further afield, I recently visited Munich and far eastern Germany, near the Czech border, where I sampled some of the wurst food (ha ha, get it?) – weisswurst, liverwurst, and teewurst. I also fell in love with quark with herbs. All eaten before 10am. The hearty German breakfast lives up to its reputation!
Here's what else I've been up to...
What I've been eating
–It's pie season! Thanksgiving is only three weeks away and I have started planning my upcoming baking and reflecting upon lessons learned from last year. I've found the best tips at the Pie Academy, which helped me solve my cracking dough problem. Next up is tackling my tough dough woes (I have a tendency to overwork it). What pies are you making this year? Send me an email and let me know!
–If you're craving cake instead of pie, this I want chocolate cake cake from Smitten Kitchen is sweetly attractive, easy to bake, and satisfyingly chocolatey. I made it for a recent tea party to rave reviews.
–After reading Ruth Reichl's new book Save Me the Plums, a memoir of her tenure as editor-in-chief at Gourmet magazine (RIP), I had to make some cheddar chive drop biscuits.
–I'm always looking for a new way to quickly transform a can of beans into a healthy dinner. These chili lime black bean tacos from the Washington Post sound ace.
–A recipe for crispy, light buttermilk waffles at Food 52 led me to this one for crispy, light bacon, cheese, and scallion waffles at Serious Eats (I leave out the bacon). I've already made them twice!
–If you're looking for a super-fast, seasonal, one-bowl baking project, look no further than this easy pumpkin bread from King Arthur's flour.
What I've been reading
–The Crown is coming back! The Crown is coming back! (November 17 is the date.) In the meantime, I enjoyed this profile of Helena Bonham Carter at New York magazine.
–And in case you missed it, here's The Crown's trailer for season 3.
–The logo for the Paris 2024 Olympic games is iffy at best (a meld of Olympic flames and a chic French chick?). The commentary, on the other hand, deserves a gold medal.
–The New York Times has "discovered Washington DC" and Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post has something to say about it in her column: The New York Times is right. DC is a terrible place.
–I've been reading a lot of books about Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, but a cookbook by Marta Sgubin – the family's nanny turned housekeeper and cook – offered some of the most revealing glimpses of Jackie's private life. Check out Cooking for Madam.
–Finally, I have been enjoying a new novel, Invisible as Air by Zoe Fishman, about a woman's slide into opioid addiction, a difficult topic that Zoe handles with compassion and honesty – this would be a perfect book club selection. Zoe is an old friend and she will be speaking *tonight* at East City Bookshop in Washington DC. Hope to see you there! Details here.
A bientôt
This month I am focused on pies (as you know) and writing. Writing and baking. Baking and writing. And if baking is procrastinating from writing, I refuse to admit I have a problem :) If you're curious about my Thanksgiving pies, I'll be posting them on Instagram, so please stop by and say hello.
Thanks, as ever, for your support. As turkey day approaches, I hope you know that you readers are at the top of my things to be thankful for.
See you in December!
Ann