We decorated early for the holidays. The day after Thanksgiving, outside lights went up; the day after that, the tree arrived; two days after that, the halls were fully decked with lights, ornaments, and fake pre-lit garland. It’s incredible. The house smells like many pine trees, and the cat has not bothered any of it. A Christmas miracle!
THIS WEEK’S LINKS ARE ALL OVER THE MAP
The origin story of Bailey’s Irish Cream, a delightful read through-and-through
Clusters of candy-colored domes designed for communal living on Iran’s Hormuz Island
Great expectations/consumption as a way of life:
“Much like filters distort posted photos, our runaway-train-style consumption makes it easy for us to believe that the American middle class is still intact, when the unfiltered truth is another reality.”
As a follow-up to the above link (a digestif, if you will), I present a very funny review of an awful Michelin-starred dining experience
“Recommendation: Do not eat here. I cannot express this enough. This was single-handedly one of the worse wastes of money in my entire food and travel writing career bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha oh my god”
HOT TIP: MUSHROOMS NEED TIME & SPACE
As promised, a little hot tip from me in lieu of a recipe. I have a lot of recipes, perhaps too many! Go check them out in the archive.
Putting aside texture issues some people have with mushrooms, there may be no more satisfying flavor than a mushroom that has taken a butter bath. But they are persnickety when it comes to socializing (being cooked!).
I recently made some mushroom bourguignon, which is a dish that requires a bit of patience with the mushrooms. They have to be browned in batches, which is to say they cannot really touch each other.
So if you’re cooking a hearty mushroom stew sometime soon, keep batching in mind: account for an additional 10-15 minutes to the recipe, because your mushrooms have a staunch No New Friends policy when it comes to being in a pot together. They also must be left alone for a solid 4-5 minutes so they can truly become butter-golden -- do not touch!