Illustration by Wendy MacNaughton, from Christy’s all-time favorite cookbook, Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat.
Well, hello again!
Let’s start with something fun and summery to kick off this second edition of Notes from the Heart…
- This prickly, odd edible flower is one of our summer favs. While the best cooking method for artichokes is still up for debate, our go-to method is steaming. Mostly because it yields a soft, delicious fun-to-eat food with minimal fuss. We recently tried cooking some chokes with our newest kitchen toy, the Sous Vide. Though one of the rebellious blossoms simply refused to be held under water and our pot was a little too small— this cooking method was perfect for a busy summer day when losing track of time is highly probable. (The beauty of Sous Vide cooking is that you can’t overcook your food— just set it and go away for a couple hours.)
- As with artichokes and, well... just being human, everyone knows the heart is the best part.
- Speaking of perfect, delicate hearts, we loved this review of The Day I Became a Bird by Maria Popova. Her account of this sweet, illustrated love story about showing up and being seen is worth a few minutes of your time.
- Most of us grew up believing that once you get the heart part right, the sex part happens naturally. But that’s not always so. Talking with your spouse about sex (ie. what you like, what you don’t like) can be scary territory— and even more so as our bodies and desires change during menopause (and man-opause). We’re thrilled that Darcey Steinke is talking openly about women’s sexuality and menopause. Her book, Flash Count Diary: Menopause and the Vindication of Natural Life sounds like a great starting place for those of us who don’t buy into the myth that intimacy goes away after menopause.
- Our favorite parable about wolves— and 3 tips on how to avoid the trappings of negative momentum.
- Along the lines of not feeding the bad wolves, our creative friend Austin Kleon reminds us that you don’t have to write about the bad stuff.
- The man who wrote the book on love (literally, Real Love), Greg Baer, has generously decided to open up the vaults and share his entire video chat library with the world. (Previously only available to paid subscribers.) We listen to at least one chat per week. There’s no such thing as learning too much about how to be a more loving human.
- And we’ll wrap up this month’s shenanigans with the best sound bite ever. We dare you to not smile at the end. If you're curious, here's the story.
We’d love to hear your thoughts. Join us in our free Facebook group to continue the conversation, or simply reply to this email. We personally read and respond to every email.
Be well. And stop feeding those bad wolves.
Love you.
