Famous bread, Jeremy Allen White’s flowers, and why we love rainy days
This week’s digest is guest edited by Joanna Goddard, the founder and editor of the influential lifestyle website Cup of Jo and writer of Big Salad on Substack. Joanna’s recap of her first date after divorce was one of Big Salad’s most popular posts. If you enjoy Joanna’s selection today, head over to Big Salad and subscribe for great finds, life advice, and dating gossip.
I work from home—in a blue rocking chair in my bedroom, to be exact—and sometimes, especially during a busy day, I’ll crave that kind of watercooler conversation you have with colleagues when you work in an office.
One thing that scratches that itch? Substack newsletters. The voice-y ones I subscribe to feel like chatting with old friends, and it’s really fun to hear what everyone’s up to and into these days. Recently I discovered an expensive-looking open-stitch sweater, bookmarked a chickpea recipe to make for dinner this week, and got a recommendation of a pulpy page-turner.
My own newsletter—Big Salad—covers life advice, fun finds, and dating gossip, and I gravitate toward newsletters with similar themes. Here are a few I loved this week.
FOOD
Have I got a focaccia for you
“Adam Roberts, the warm and funny cookbook writer, shares two April Bloomfield recipes inspired by a recent visit to Sailor, the Fort Greene restaurant he calls the “hottest reservation in town” (editor’s note: strongly agree!)”
—Adam Roberts in The Amateur Gourmet Newsletter
What did I serve with said focaccia? Another April Bloomfield recipe, this one for a spring vegetable soup. Honestly, this recipe is a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of thing.... I used Jerusalem artichokes that I found at the farmers’ market Sunday morning. I also used green garlic, ramps (yes, ramps are here!), Swiss chard, and asparagus.
DESIGN
Notes of: a garden party
“I spend my entire life online, so sometimes I feel like I’ve seen everything. But when I open Ali LaBelle’s newsletter À La Carte, her curation always feels fresh and new. Such a rare pleasure!”
The newest trend in celebrity relatability photography is the flower haul. Just this month we’ve seen both Jeremy Allen White and Rihanna with armfuls of bouquets (à la that iconic Meryl Streep photo), and I don’t think it’ll be the last of it; I’d bet money that shots of Ben Affleck emerging from the Brentwood farmers’ market will crop up any day now.
BUSINESS
I figured out the future of food media
“Emily Sundberg just gets it. In her daily newsletter (every damn day!), she reports on business trends and what they mean for our lives, and I love how she puts a usually-stoic selfie at the top of each issue. In this deep dive, below, she chats with food writers like Mina Park and Clare de Boer about the state of food media”
If the best food editors were found in the offices of Conde Nast (4 Times Square, not 1 WTC, you know better), the best food TikTokers were found at 2am in someone’s walk-up apartment kitchen, and the best food writers on Substack are coming from everywhere.
COMICS
I remember you
“Cartoonist Brooke Barker first won my heart with her Instagram account Sad Animal Facts, so I was thrilled to discover her newsletter with cartoons and musings about daily life. I always laugh and come away a little gentler”
—Brooke Barker in Never Not Nervous
Is there anything people think you’re good at that you’re actually faking? In high school, before I developed this system [for remembering names], everyone I met just had personal nicknames in my mind that I never said out loud. “Girl who burns a lot of CDs” and “kid who works at Gap,” people who could have been potential friends if I’d remembered their names.
BOOKS
Things I read and watched
“I always devour Tembe Denton-Hurst’s monthly recaps, which are chock-full of personal anecdotes, shopping finds, and book recs. Also, how cute is this detail from her highlight reel? ‘My grandma became a paid subscriber of Extracurricular and then called to tell me she wanted book recommendations. For obvious reasons, this made my whole week’”
—Tembe Denton-Hurst in Extracurricular
I love a rainy day, and March gave us a lot of them. For me a rainy day is explicit communication from the universe that I don’t need to be productive in the way a sunny day demands. A sunny day asks me to go for a walk outdoors or to get out of bed, lest I waste good weather.
STYLE
Add to cart: “Rare beauty lip liners … no, you paved the way”
“No writer makes me laugh like Hunter Harris. With an encyclopedic knowledge of movies and TV, she never hesitates to dispatch her strongest opinions on everything from Love Is Blind to Leonardo DiCaprio’s dating life. Bonus: She also has great travel and style recs”
—Hunter Harris in Hung Up
What do you watch movies in? Sweatpants? Jeans? God forbid leggings? 99% of the movies I watch I’m wearing Jambys. This color is so good I could not wait for Andrew to remember that I wanted a pair. I ordered them on the website myself. Men have no sense of urgency, and I urgently needed this color.
PARENTING
My new mantra: W.A.I.T.
“Jenny, Jenny, Jenny. I’ve read her work for decades and I hope to read it for many more. With a warm, reassuring voice, she writes about family life, entertaining friends, and everyday pleasures. Plus, her parenting advice is always spot-on”
—Jenny Rosenstrach in Dinner: A Love Story
As my kids begin to sketch out road maps for their futures, it’s so tempting to say at every juncture: This is how I did it or This is how it was done back then or You have to learn to do it this way. I’m their mother, so it’s impossible to shut off the advice valve completely, but I’m doing my best to actually exercise restraint, to not add to the stress and frustration. Why Am I Talking. WAIT. Try it out with a young adult near you.
Recently launched
Notes from this week’s guest editor:
Noteworthy
Inspired by the writers featured in Substack Reads? Writing on your own Substack is just a few clicks away:
Substack Reads is a weekly roundup of writing, ideas, art, and audio from the world of Substack. Posts are recommended by staff and readers, and this week’s edition was curated by Joanna Goddard and edited by Substack’s Hannah Ray. Subscribe to Joanna’s Substack Big Salad, and follow @cupofjo on Instagram.
Got a Substack post to recommend? Tell us about it in the comments.
 | A guest post by
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Recommendation: Schmatta by me, Leonora Epstein. We explore design and interiors in a curious and chaotic manner
Sorry for shameless plug but I have a newsletter that explores love, heartbreak and faith in personal essays from me, a Bangladeshi-Muslim journalist based in London. Would love some new eyes on my newsletter!