a little of this, a little of that...

birthday cake, Thai Diner, the best cookies I've ever had + more

Jun 28, 2024

Hiiiiiiii friends,

How is it Friday evening?!?? I’ve been keeping notes for y’all on some fun things I’ve cooked and eaten over the last few weeks and am excited to share a little of everything with you, but first….CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!

My last class before my summer teaching break will be this SUNDAY!!!

»»»»»»»»» JUNE 30: An Early Summer Picnic «««««««««

Instead of telling you the menu, I’ll show you thanks to my sweet mom who already made her illustrated notes!

You can sign up for class right here (and answerers to FAQs are here!).

→ Remember that even if you can’t attend live, if you sign up for class you’ll automatically receive the class recipe document and the class recording the same day class happens.
→ As always, if money is a barrier and you want to come to a class, just let me know and we’ll work it out!
→ Also remember that I have a large online archive of all of my previously-recorded classes: there are A HUNDRED AVAILABLE! CHECK THEM OUT HERE!

Okay, top of the list of some great things I’ve made/gotten to eat recently is…Grace’s birthday cake! My other half requested “cake and a quiet day” for their birthday. I made this adorable cake:

It consisted of:

The OLIVE OIL + BUTTERMILK CAKE from my upcoming cookbook WHAT GOES WITH WHAT which will be out this fall!! All info is here!! (if you’d like a signed or personalized copy, order your copy from Oblong Books). It’s a loaf cake in the book, but I baked it in a tall 6-inch cake pan so it came out small in diameter but big in height which allowed me to cut it into thirds for lots of layers. It was adorable! Fun fact: I bought the cake pan over a decade ago when I got to make my cousin’s wedding cake — this pan was for the top layer!
A truly delicious concoction of half whipped cream/half whipped cream cheese sweetened with powdered sugar and flavored with a little vanilla. A version of the ‘Honey Cloud Frosting’ I wrote about here, but instead of whipping the cream cheese I just bought whipped cream cheese (so much easier!!!) and I used powdered sugar instead of honey.
Tons of fun fruit (strawberries, pomegranate seeds, sliced kumquats, sliced cherries, blueberries, a few apricots cut into wedges) that I let sit with a little sugar and lemon juice so it got so nice and juicy.

Then a few days after Grace’s actual birthday we joined some of our best pals in NYC for THE MOST FUN DINNER AT THAI DINER! Highly recommend!!!! If you follow anyone in food media who lives in NYC, you probably have heard this restaurant recommended a million times. Grace and I so rarely go out to eat and I’ve never followed restaurant stuff closely so sorry if you’re like “Julia, this is old news”…but it was a new experience for me and whoaaaaaa this place absolutely lives up to its hype.

Here we are with the seafood tower…the most fun seafood tower! Those scallops next to me were heaven. And all the dipping sauces were amazing for the rest of the seafood. Of everything else we ordered, my favorite thing was the fried snapper (INCREDIBLE) but don’t think there’s a dud on the menu. Oh also the Thai coffee monster cake (yes that’s what it’s called) for dessert was sooooooo good — creamy, light, perfect.

Okay next up on my list of things I’m excited to share with you was this easy, abundant spread I made when we had some family over on Father’s Day.

MORE NOTES ON THE MENU!

Grilled chicken (before grilling, I slathered it with mustard, mayo, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper). I sliced chicken breasts into thin pieces before grilling so they cooked nice and fast!
Grilled flank steak (just lots of salt and pepper before grilling and then sliced super thin after it rested a while and served drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice).
Pasta pesto! I made the pesto earlier in the week with arugula, garlic, parm + olive oil. Simple but so good.
A really beautiful but incredibly easy grilled zucchini platter. Consisted of:
- Thick slices of green + yellow zucchini that I just put oil + salt on before grilling then tore the pieces in half before putting on a big platter and drizzling with a garlicky vinaigrette.
- Topped with the cutest, tiniest mozzarella balls I found in a tub at the grocery store, and grilled scallions and garlic scapes (grilled those whole then roughly chopped before scattering on top).
- Drizzled more vinaigrette on top!
And for dessert, the most AMAZING COOKIES MY FRIEND QUAY BAKED. Quay just started a really fun ‘cookie club’ and it’s basically the coolest thing ever. If you’re in the Kingston, NY area LISTEN UP!! Every other week or so Quay posts the cookies they’re going to make that week and you fill out a simple google form and then you go get your cookies. I know I am biased because we’re friends, but Quay truly makes the best cookies I’ve ever had. The cookies we had that week were Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate…I mean…!!!

Here’s a screenshot of Quay’s recent cookie drop!! (did I use “drop” right!??!). Follow them on IG to get all the cookie news….

Okay last on my list of things I want to share with y’all from the last few weeks…I’ve been spending Thursday mornings at Long Season Farm helping my pals on their great crew harvest my favorite vegetables. I’m so grateful to have a way to still have farming in my life. Look how beautiful it was yesterday at 6:15am!

And I’ve also been writing their chalkboards for their markets — my favorite thing to do!

They sell at the Kingston, NY market on Saturdays // Beacon, NY on Sundays // Ellenville, NY on Wednesdays. If you’re in the Hudson Valley, they are the best farm to get your vegetables from. Here’s their IG so you can see what they’re up to.

Thanks for hearing about some of the stuff that’s made me so happy lately. What’s helping you feel good these days? I want to know!!

Keep Calm & Cook On

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