in good taste, vol. 100: the 100th
"question ... ?", plane (trains), carpets, and smoky miso sweet potatoes
I started this newsletter 4 years ago, give or take a month. I won’t pretend that getting it out the door these days is any easier than it was in March 2020. In fact, with the uptick in life engagements (being out in the world) and commitments (working in the world), it’s never been easier to find an excuse to prioritize something else 😎. A few ruminations:
On content:
I’d thought perhaps #100 would present a turning point for In Good Taste, that maybe I’d refine its focus to a more specific area of interest. “Big numbers” (i.e. 100) are very persuasive to me (a Capricorn to the core), and with the eclipse and retrograde of it all, I think I was expecting a lightning bolt of clarity to strike on this front. After all, in all 4 years of its glorious existence, this newsletter has been a real lifestyle grab bag of food-design-culture-trivia, which I think is interesting to some of you and perhaps the reason you continue to subscribe (hopefully it is something like that, and less like, hate-reading). If you wouldn’t mind quickly answering a couple of questions, it would be VERY helpful to me!
On readers:
There are hundreds of you, a small stat to Substack MVPs but massive to me, considering this is an erratic pet project and I am, regrettably, not Ina Garten. Most of you read this via email rather than on Substack. You’re spread across 24 US states and 15 countries. A good number of you are real-life strangers to me, which honestly has only fed my ego. And now that Substack has amped up its network recommendations, quite a few of you have ambled here of your own volition or on recommendation from more focused/prolific Substack writers (happy for you or sorry that happened!).
As a general rule, you all seem to really like links to listicles, celebrity home tours, and pie-in-the-sky architecture. You contain multitudes!
OK, that wraps up our brief analytics report. At the end of the day, I’m glad to put this together when I’m able to. And I’m glad to have built a robust little living cookbook in the archives over the past 4+ years (because I forget how to make my own things all the time). And I’m glad for those of you who read this as it comes, who let me know that you enjoy it, who reply with corrections or continued thoughts, and generally let me cosplay as an email newsletter influencer. Thank you for all of it 🌞
A SCATTERING OF GOOD TASTES
What I’ve been up to, mostly offline:
A whirlwind work trip to Seattle, where I cut some terrific pizza with scissors at Willmott’s Ghost (inside the Amazon Spheres) and had an absolutely astonishing plate of tajarin pasta at Spinasse. I will be back in Seattle in a couple of weeks, with Adrian in tow for part of it, and I’m really excited to chomp some more. (Any and all Seattle recommendations are gladly received!)
Learned to replace the light meter battery in my old Canon Ftb 35mm. I just discovered this local film lab that develops and scans weekly, so my interest in using my camera has been renewed! (I am persuaded not just by big numbers, but convenience.)
Library hauls:
Come and Get It (Kiley Reid), probably the most recent of new fiction I’ve checked out lately. A lot of book reviewers are falling out of their chairs to praise this one, but I found it to be kind of messy and inconsistent. Just fine as a vacation book, though.
North Woods (Daniel Mason) - a really wonderful novel that tells the story of a single plot of land in Massachusetts over the course of several generations. It’s lyrical and gets a little creepy but hey, it’s western Massachusetts so that kind of comes with the territory.
Hello Beautiful (Ann Napolitano) - did I check this “modern spin on Little Women” book out in a spell of burnout? Yes. Did the Oprah’s Book Club badge seal the deal for this decision? Also yes. This is a silly book, but one that is engrossing enough to distract from the outside world, which was the entire point.
Admiring:
This charming update of a 16th century English farmhouse
Alessandro Michele’s apartment in Rome, perfectly appointed
I’m in a perpetual state of redesigning my home office, and I really enjoy this series on different setups (and my current Pinterest board that’s a bit of inspiration chaos)
Other items of note:
Absolutely thrilled to share this deep dive into the unsung hero of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (unofficially known as, the Intergalactic Spaceport and Hot Wing Express): the Plane Train
You didn’t know you needed a long, info-rich piece about industrial carpeting, and why carpet looks like it does in hotels and casinos, but you do! (It is genuinely fascinating.)
“How you define the problem determines whether you solve it”
Listening to:
“I Feel You,” NoSo (2022)
“Wanton Way of Loving,” Esther Rose (2017), when you’re in a Hank Williams mood
Come Home, Hana Stretton (2023) - pairs well with quietly sprawling in the sunshine
Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé, because who wasn’t
“Swimming,” Flawed Mangoes - I had a very main character moment listening to this with noise cancellation while walking through the airport, highly recommend this liminal vibe
SMOKY MISO SWEET POTATOES
While sweet potato season is past us (or yet ahead of us, depending on your perspective), we had some little fingerling guys and decided to give them a whirl in some miso. White miso paste provides distinct and comforting savoriness, a really nice contrast to sweet potatoes that always seem to be too sweet for my liking. To kick this up a notch you might swap harissa powder for the paprika.
INGREDIENTS
1 lb. fingerling sweet potatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
4 tbsp. butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ tbsp., honey
2 tsp., white miso paste
½ tsp., smoked paprika
½ tsp., ground ginger
WHAT TO DO
Preheat your oven to 375. Melt the butter in a microwaveable bowl, then add the rest of the ingredients, mixing to combine and to keep liquid. Toss sweet potatoes in the mixture, then roast for about 30 minutes or until cooked through. Top with a sprinkle of sea salt.
Hello Emily!
Congratulations on making it to four years! My little newsletter was three years old this week, but I didn’t have the genius idea of surveying readers to see what they actually want. Perhaps I am too self-absorbed for that, or maybe I don’t want to change? Hmmmm…
Anyway, I wanted to say that in your survey you forgot to include “I love it just the way it is”.
I love the eclectic nature of your newsletter and a little bit of everything suits me fine, but what I REALLY like is you, so basically you can write about anything you like and I will read it!