Author: erin

My Favorite Funny TV Show

Published by erin

Does it feel to anyone else as if you’ve watched every show in streamland? It’s especially hard to find great comedies, which feels like the only counterbalance to doomscrolling. There’s plenty of comedy, but I don’t love awkward, culpable, cringe-at-the-protagonist humor. I have to want to root for at least one of the main players. Schitt’s Creek and The Good Place are my two favorite recent superstar standouts (with Ted Lasso hot on their heels), and I’m holding onto each episode of their respective final seasons like letters from loved ones. But as I fill the gaps, I’ve turned to a lifelong favorite from long before I was born, I Love Lucy.

Thursday Things

Published by erin

“It is a responsive noodle. It is a self-aware noodle.“ Joining Ted Lasso‘s team, as everyone should. Why you should order directly from restaurants. You’ll never stop staring at your feet. Dreaming of visiting this dreamy Connecticut hotel.

My Favorite Books of 2020

Published by erin

Not to toot my own horn, but living a sedentary life this year had a literary payoff: I more than doubled my low-bar goal on GoodReads reading 24 books, rather than my guesstimate of 10. Below are the best* of the bunch**, and holy smokes, were they good. (All book titles are linked to Bookshop.org. I make no money off these links — I simply want you to buy indie or support your local library!) The Vanishing Half  Finishing this book broke my heart. After months idling on the waitlist, I borrowed this as an ebook from my library, and lost myself so thoroughly in the overlapping narratives that I was startled — and deeply chagrined — to flip a page and end up at acknowledgments. Surely I still had 20% to go! It’s the kind of book that deserves intensive reading sessions to appreciate the careful spin of prose, but I devoured a page or two whenever I had a moment — waiting for the coffee to percolate, in the procrastinating moments before hauling out of warm …

American Youth

Thursday Things

Published by erin

The hauntingly beautiful dark side of American youth. (iD – Vice)  What it was like to be Prince’s private chef: “I just want your extra time and your qu-qu-qu-qu-qu- quiche.” (Food & Wine) Unnecessary French and other most-annoying menu phrases, ranked. (LA Magazine) “The cause of death was botulism from a homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam that was prepared by one of her housemates.” I laughed out loud at these faux-bituaries. (The New Yorker) Laser-tongue Lafayette: Daveed Diggs takes his rap game to The Tonight Show. (Billboard) I flipped for this topsy-turvy art. (Honesty WTF)  

Matera, Italy

(Slightly Belated) Thursday Things

Published by erin

Sorry to disappear! Blame LA, Italy and the madness of catching up. Pictured: the reason for the distraction. As a peace offering, here are a few clips that justify staying inside over this glorious weekend. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame indeed. RIP, Prince. Hamilton miscast. That Angelica! (Side note: Who else is excited to get their hands on Hamiltome?) Why I’m on Team Alisan Porter on The Voice. And for your playlist: Some sensational Beatles covers. Hey there, Johnny Cash.    

Tree House

Thursday Things

Published by erin

The ultimate tree house. (Bored Panda) Never enough cherry blossoms. Ever. (National Geographic) Sip your way across the country with 50 States of Cocktails. I’ll start with Montana. (Food Network) I love this bright, airy apartment makeover, especially having just finished When Breath Becomes Air. (Little Green Notebook) Who’s planning to put on an Easter bonnet? I could go for this verdant fascinator. (Proper Topper) And chick-themed deviled eggs for Easter brunch, please. (Alana Jones-Mann) Chicken Shoop for the Soul: Loving Barnes & Noble’s #90sABook (Twitter)

St Pat's Home

Thursday Things

Published by erin

A St. Pats-worthy time-capsule house tour from 1969. (Jezebel) Cannot stop staring at this two-tone ruffled cake. (Style Sweet CA) I’m thinking egg-in-a-hedgehog-basket could shake up breakfast. (Kickstarter) Hamilton free-styles Fallon-style at the White House with Obama. (NPR) Any other Up fans want to hitch a ride in this balloon with me? (Travel + Leisure) I could live in this sunny room full of plants and a cat. (SF Girl by Bay)

Strawberry Cheese Pie

Pi Day Recipe: My Favorite Strawberry Pie

Published by erin

Let them eat cake. Me? I’ll go for the pie. Rhubarb, banana cream, boysenberry, peach … I am a sucker for pie, on Pi Day or any day. I love it hot under a pooling scoop of vanilla or cold straight out of the fridge for breakfast. It had a lead role in “Waitress,” (and left me craving pie for weeks) and cameoed in a pathetic song in the gawdawful movie “Michael.” (Thanks for making us see that one over Christmas break in ninth grade, Dad.) There are some great shops for pie, including Four & Twenty Blackbirds in Brooklyn, Little Pie Co in Midtown and Whisked and Dangerously Delicious Pies in D.C. I love them each for their gooey, flaky, towering slices. But when it comes to baking my own, I’ll take a preview of spring flavors, please. This Strawberry Cheese Pie is one that my grandmother loved to serve at dinner parties.

City of Gold: Thoughts and My Favorite Restaurant Reviews

Published by erin

Call it Gold’s Midas touch. The new documentary City of Gold could be a full-length film packed only with restaurateurs sharing the story of how LA Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold saved their struggling business. Whether the subject is a single mother from Ethiopia at risk of closing who now races to make enough doro watt to feed Gold’s rabid readers or three Oaxaca-born siblings prepping long-uncool cricket tacos for Gold, his dinner companion Ruth Reichl and the 300 seats of diners angling for their taste, the Los Angeles food community clearly appreciates Gold’s dogged determination to find, research and evocatively describe the many cuisines, carts and far-flung restaurants of the sprawling city.

Eclipse

Thursday Things

Published by erin

Total eclipse of the heart: Alaska Airlines delayed a flight this week to give astronomy buffs on board a perfect view of Tuesday’s total solar eclipse. (Slate) Trump tweets the classics. Wuthering Heights made me chortle. Genius! (Buzzfeed) Better than kidnapping the master bakers of Pastéis de Belém: homemade hybrid Portuguese tarts. (Lady and Pups) Poutine and maple-pecan cake, eh? Tom Sietsema reviews tonight’s state dinner menu to honor the Canadian prime minister. (The Washington Post) Speaking of Canada, man are those Toronto Zoo panda twins adorable. (Time) Ever wonder what it’s like to be huge in Taiwan for two months? (Narratively)