Mess Hall Turns One!!

Roundup bonanza + a giveaway

A year ago today I revived this newsletter after a period of pandemic-related dormancy. I wanted to write about cooking again, a topic that used to be the bread-and-butter of my creative life but had recently turned into, say, its olive garnish: something enjoyable but sparse. I also needed a personal writing project other than this damn book that will probably take me like a decade to write. The last year, then, has been a process of figuring out what I want this space to be. And in the last few months, I feel like I’ve begun to find it. I’m really having fun! And I’m so grateful that you have tuned in and stuck with me. Corny to say, but this newsletter has given me pride in my own writing again.

In the next year I’m excited to lean hard into recipes, both original recipes I’ve written and recipes I’ve come to love from cookbooks both new and old. I love the recipe as a form, something to dive into or spring off of, a meticulously formatted narrative container. Of course you’ll also see me writing long about cookbooks, rambling about my cooking habit, and recommending stuff that has enriched my cooking (and outside) life. But I’m excited to keep my focus on the what of cooking, allowing the hows and whys to follow as they like.

As a giveaway of sorts, I’ll be sending cookbooks (with a cute little note from moi) to the next five people who sign up for paid yearly subscriptions (just $40, or about a dollar per paid issue). Maybe it’s time for you to upgrade? Making money from this newsletter allows me to invest more time and resources into it—developing and testing recipes means buying groceries!—and also gives me a bit of security that can feel rare for a freelancer.

Below you’ll find some of the greatest hits from the first year of Mess Hall, in chronological order. (You can find the entire archive here.) I hope you’ll stick around to see what the next 12 months bring.

The Chef Cookbook That Won Me Over

An Everlasting Short Rib

An Interview with Ali Slagle + One-Pot Chicken and Rice

Attempting an Oral History of Tomato Soup Cake

SANDWICH OF THE SUMMER

My Bean Manifesto

The Alchemy of Tortilla Española

My Dream WFH Salad

Dispatch from the Mountains

Toast Is Valid :)

A quicker congee, for sick days and lazy weekends

Cacio e Pepe Pasta Frittata !!!!!!!

BIG KISS THANKS 4 BEING HERE!!!!!! LEAVE A COMMENT 4 GOOD LUCK

‎‏ً @astralfvck

hi. can someone make a food that has the texture of wet floral foam blocks