Y’all, what a week. Zach and I have both been down with whatever crud is going around. Mine started last Friday with a sore throat that sent me home early from work, and the next five days disappeared into a haze of DayQuil, NyQuil, hot toddies, chicken soup, and sleep. A full week later I’m finally feeling human again — and now Zach is in the thick of it. Send vibes. We’re a sad little household.
- Tonight’s the first night I’ve felt like cooking. I’m making a modified version of my original Posole recipe, dialed up spicy enough to cure what ails you. Honestly, that recipe is due for an update. The version I make now is meaner and better than the one on the blog, so consider this me putting it in writing: posole 2.0 is coming.
- The cape jasmine gardenias are in full bloom. I planted them around the slab for the trash and recycling cans (not glamorous, but they earn their keep), and they smell ah-mazing. Here’s a little secret: they may not look as pretty as the flowers age and turn creamy brown, but that’s when the fragrance gets the most intoxicating. You can smell them from the end of the driveway, all the way to the front door, and into the garage. I wish gardenias bloomed year-round, but since they don’t, I’ll take what I can get.
- Garden update: I did zero work in the garden last weekend, for reasons documented above. Everything seems to be holding its own, but I really need to get out there and sort the irrigation. It’s functional but not optimal. Maybe next weekend. In the meantime I’ve been supplementing with the hose and a sprayer head, and nothing seems to be suffering for it.
- What I’m reading: There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America by Brian Goldstone (Amazon | Bookshop.org* | Penguin). Y’all, this one is hard. It hits harder for me because it’s set right here in Atlanta, where I live, and Goldstone is an Atlanta native who won a Pulitzer for this work. The book documents how homelessness in this country isn’t limited to the jobless, the mentally ill, or people struggling with addiction; it’s increasingly working people in low-wage jobs who find themselves in untenable housing situations and suddenly, brutally, have nowhere to live. More on Goldstone and the Pulitzer on our local NPR station: WABE.
- What I’m watching: YouTube and TikTok on the tablet in bed, basically. Stuff where if I fall asleep mid-video it doesn’t matter because it’ll just keep cycling. Old episodes of Binging With Babish and Sorted Food have been carrying me.
- What I’m eating: Food tastes like cardboard right now, so we’ve been living on canned chicken soup (yes, even food bloggers reach for the Campbell’s when sick), saltines, hot tea, and homemade hot toddies. And NyQuil. So much NyQuil. Send positive vibes that we recover quickly and can start eating real food again.
What are y’all reading/watching/cooking/dealing with this week? Let me know in the comments.
P.S. The hot toddy is genuinely medicinal and I will not be taking questions at this time.
P.P.S. If you’ve never let cape jasmine gardenias get past their prime before cutting them, you’re missing the whole point of growing them. The creamy browning blooms are the most fragrant ones.
P.P.P.S. The Bookshop.org link is marked with an asterisk because it’s an affiliate link. If you click through to buy a copy of the book, I get a small commission (at no additional cost to you). We call those out on KaraCooks because I’m completely transparent and that’s the deal around here.