February Mishmash

a normal newsletter for the weirdest month

February is the weirdest month. First of all, pronouncing it. Do you pronounce that first R (Feb-ru-ary) or is it more silent (Feb-you-ary)? Also, why is the month shorter than all the rest, and what is up with leap days? Why is the shortest month of the year also reserved for Black history month? February makes no sense. There are also so many birthdays of people in my life packed into the first couple of weeks of February (husband, father-in-law, brother-in-law, two nephews, uncle, etc.) that I sometimes assume people’s birthdays are in February when I can’t remember when their birthday actually is. In any case, hi, happy February! Thanks for being here, and please enjoy this random collection of stuff I liked this month.

Food!

• For Valentine’s Day I treated us to one of my favorite recipes: Veggie Bolognese with Rigatoni from Giada DeLaurentis. I have made this recipe countless times, but this was the first time I made it using a food processor, and believe me when I say that before the food processor came into my life, making this dish was a true labor of love, as it took me at least an hour of chopping the veggies into tiny bits. With the magical food processor all the chopping took about 15 minutes, and the sauce simmers itself into magic. Plucking the herbs (thyme and oregano) is now the worst part, and I have made this before using dried herbs successfully, so fear not. One note, I always use at least double the amount of fresh mushrooms, and you do not have to use a mix—plain cremini work wonderfully. Definitely don’t skip the dried mushrooms, though. Oh I also made brownies from a boxed mix, and they were perfect.

• We’ve been trying out a meal kit service called HomeChef over the past few weeks. I get a bit burnt out sometimes on meal planning and try out a new service like this every few months for inspiration. This one has been pretty good as far as the food goes, and the portion sizes are good, but the recipes feel a bit clunky and overcomplicated to me. I also wish they had more vegetarian options, and it’s kind of pricey. I have been way more disappointed by other services though, so I would recommend HomeChef if you are looking for something like this to try. I also liked HungryRoot because the recipes were extremely simple and fast and they have lots of veg options.

• Speaking of the food processor, I made these amazing broiled falafel burgers along with pita bread, tzatziki, and zhug (this might just become an alexandracooks fan page) and though the mixture was quite wet, once they baked they were perfect! Crisp on the outside, nice and soft on the inside with lots of herbs. I only cooked two of them and froze the rest, and they reheat beautifully also, so does the pita! We somehow never know what to eat for lunch, even though we’ve both been working at home for about two years, so I am trying to have things that we can heat up easily without a lot of thought. If you have any suggestions, I am here for them!

Books!

• https://bookshop.org/shop/michelleflook Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

  • The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan is the best book I read in February. This book is heartbreakingly sad, but also I could not stop reading it. This story could ALMOST fit into the Handmaid’s Tale world. If you are a mother, it may be even more difficult to read.

  • I finally read Pachinko by Min Jin Lee! This book is a bit long, but I really enjoyed following this family through the decades. Very much looking forward to the Apple TV show version that starts March 25!

  • If you use Goodreads to track your reading, I’d like to suggest you switch over to The Storygraph because it’s better at recommending things, makes very neat graphs, and I just want more friends over there! I am still using Goodreads too though.

Projects!

• Over the long weekend, we did some organizing in our garage and also painted the inside of our front door! it was a very blah brown before, so now it makes me smile.

  

• I’ve been slowly working on the puff quilt, and it is going great so far. Definitely a process but these little pockets are so cute.

  

Miscellaneous!

• The Afterparty on Apple TV is such a clever show. I never knew that funny murder shows were a genre I was missing in my life, but I love them so much. See also Only Murders in The Building on Hulu, and Trial & Error on Amazon Prime.

• Oh you like Wordle, but have you tried Quordle? It’s the same game play, but you have 4 puzzles to solve within 9 guesses. It’s addictive torture. It has ‘practice’ rounds which is nice!

• I recently bought some new shoes/boots from Dr. Scholls, and they are so comfortable but also so cute! I am just as surprised as you are that I am typing that sentence. They have a ton of really cute styles at good prices!

Remi!

Cutie patootie, waiting for squirrels.

Goodbye, until next month!

xoM