I really wanted to avoid writing a New Year type newsletter for my first of 2021. And, you’re welcome, I did delete several drafts of indulgent reflections and overenthusiastic ramblings on my newly revamped personal goals. However, I did want to include a quick note to say THANK YOU so much for subscribing to this newsletter and for giving a shit about what I have to say about food. I honestly can’t believe that strangers have somehow found this newsletter and are curious enough to subscribe. It has given me a space to try to find my voice and I’m really grateful.

Here are some of my favorite food-related things of 2020:

buttermilk, Greek yogurt, eating meat again, broccoli, my Kitchenaid, making homemade pasta, steel-cut oats, bacon, cast-iron pizza, salmon cooked in parchment, hazelnuts, dinner rolls, stewed berries, butter, lime Topo Chicos, cinnamon tea, chai drinking chocolate from Cru Chocolate, tiny whisks, vinegar, poached halibut, every kind of cookie, morning coffee with Matt’s candles, tempeh, peaches (in the summer), Peppermint ice cream, tacos, spicy beans, ginger ale, soft boiled eggs, fried chicken, kalamata olives, Hawaiian rolls, couscous

I’m surely missing some crucial inclusions to this list. I could probably go on and on. I ate really good food this year with people I love.

An update: I slept on the recording for the podcast I mentioned back in a November note. To be honest, I took on wayyyy too much during the second part of last year and was overly ambitious in what I could feasible give my energy to. But, that iteration of Food Notes will be coming to full fruition this month.

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January Menu:

Side note: Nick and I have been binging Hitchcock movies for his J-term class and there’s an amazing secondary plot in Frenzy, in which you watch the police inspector’s wife test out the recipes that she’s making for her French cooking class. He can’t quite break it to her that her food is shit and slimy and generally unappetizing, so you watch him struggle with eating it, going as far as to dump his Soupe de Poisson back into the serving bowl. I have a deep worry that I have been that woman (having stressful flashbacks to a really bad pasta I made a few years ago, if you know you know) . . .

And with that . . . hopefully you like the soups I have lined up to make you this month:

➺ caldo verde

a Portuguese soup made with sausage, greens, & potatoes

⚘ mulligatawny soup

a smooth Indian curry soup with vegetables & coconut milk ~ I use chicken broth in this soup, but I can make it vegan upon request!

❁ cabbage & tomato soup

over Christmas my mom challenged me to make a soup with the insane amount of leftover cabbage we had (it ended up being a collab between me and her, thanks mom). I’ve been thinking about it ever since ~ another vegan upon request option!

❧ vegan chili

I’ve been working on this chili recipe since I started to cook. It is based on my mom’s recipe and one of my favorite things to eat in the cold weather.

+ you can still add a Food Notes exclusive thin candle object made by Matt to any order!

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I’ve decided to forego baked goods on this menu as I’m working on recipe developing this month for future menus. But, I’m more than happy to do custom baked good add-ons to any order. I’m also excited to be able to feed my Charlottesville friends this month — I’ll be making one trip to deliver soups on the morning of January 22!

Visit my website for more information and instructions on how to order.

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I’d love to hear what kinds of food content you’re interested in in the new year. Do you like recipes? Cookbooks reviews? Stories? Interviews? Research? Do you like the discussion posts? Would you rather not see the monthly menus in your inbox? What type of food podcast content are you missing? Do you even like podcasts? Anything else? You can use the comment feature below or email me. Thank you! It is helpful!

Lastly, my sister is starting her own newsletter, How To Never Be Lonely that you should subscribe to! I already know it’s going to be a highlight of 2021.

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Liza