Tuesday tidbits #002

A podcast, a paring knife, a poem and more.

Hello, hello. I have been trying to take a break from the news cycle, so I almost missed the update that a thick duvet of snow fell on the Northeastern United States yesterday. Thanks to readers for sending in photographs of your streets and backyards. My goodness, what a blizzard!

Though I find the stillness of the snow beautiful, I’m worried for those without stable housing. I hope everyone is somewhere safe and warm. And, ideally, stocked up.

If you’re snowed in and looking for something to make, I highly recommend this chocolate chip cookie recipe, pictured above, from my former editor Joe Yonan’s newsletter, Eat at Joe’s. If what you’re looking for is something more savory, maybe like a stew? Well, I’ve got one of those for you (gift link).

Today’s tidbits:

• “The motto of the Aryan Brotherhood is ‘blood in, blood out.’ During his 45 years in prison, Michael Thompson became one of the few people to leave the white supremacist gang alive — and to testify against it. But is Thompson a gentle soul trapped by a broken system, or a master manipulator who can’t be trusted?” One of my best friends, Robin, is the editor on a podcast you must check out: Blood Memory. If you’re into true crime, it will satisfy that itch. If you’re not, the podcast’s gently piercing interview format suspends the listener in a way that I find totally transfixing. Even the backstory is fascinating. Find it on all the major podcast platforms.

• One of my favorite restaurants in New York City used Opinel steak knives in neon colors. It was a fun element among an otherwise plain table setting. Maybe I’ll have a set of the brand’s steak knives one day. Until then, I’m more than satisfied with their paring knives. I find myself reaching for one so often that I’ve been washing and drying it after each task. I use it to peel and slice apples, hull and quarter strawberries, mince garlic and segment plump citrus supremes for a salad. I used to use a chef’s knife for almost everything, but these slick paring knives have elbowed their way into my workspace.

• Ada Limón, former Poet Laureate of the United States, has a new book coming out in April called “Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry.” Reading about it reminded me to revisit “The End of Poetry,” from her 2022 collection, “The Hurting Kind.” Here is an excerpt:

Enough of osseous and chickadee and sunflower
and snowshoes, maple and seeds, samara and shoot,
enough chiaroscuro, enough of thus and prophecy
and the stoic farmer and faith and our father and ‘tis
of thee, enough of bosom and bud, skin and god
not forgetting and star bodies and frozen birds,
enough of the will to go on and not go on or how
a certain light does a certain thing
…
I am human, enough I am alone and I am desperate,
enough of the animal saving me, enough of the high
water, enough sorrow, enough of the air and its ease,
I am asking you to touch me.

• In case you haven’t seen it:

• Someone put this chocolate bar in my Christmas stocking — who, though!? Sadly, I don’t know — and I have to recommend it because the moment I finished it, I wanted another bite. The combination of slightly bitter chocolate and deep, salty, crunchy caramel is ideal.

Dessert:

🎧 “25 or 6 to 4” by Chicago
📺 “Twitter” on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
📚 “Clarity & Connection” by yung pueblo
🥬 Winter cabbage salad with mandarins and cashews
👀 Painted rocks
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