So the big Covid news is that vaccines are now available for children under 5, like my grandson. It will lessen the fear of flying for sure. I really don’t know how parents have been able to manage this for the past two+ years, it is just mind boggling to me. Especially for those in the sandwich generation, who are dealing with aging parents AND children. I feel my stress level rising just thinking about it!
With the latest strain, people are being reinfected after already having Covid, and/or after being fully vaxxed and boostered. A couple of my colleagues just had their second go round with Covid, and a couple more were hit by this highly contagious strain even though they were fully vaxxed & boostered. That is about half my department! I feel like it’s coming for me, so I’m masking any time I step out of my office or go into a store.
Before Omicron, reinfections were rare. This latest strain is the most contagious yet. The New York Times explains:
Oh no!
Food News
There are tons of newsletters out there, but I have found a few that are a must read for me. and most of them are free. If you are a NYT Cooking subscriber, they offer some terrific newsletters and I get them all.
Cooking: Feast on recipes, food writing and culinary inspiration from Sam Sifton and NYT Cooking.
Five Weeknight Dishes: Fresh, delicious dinner ideas for busy people, from Emily Weinstein and NYT Cooking.
The Veggie: Tejal Rao shares the most delicious vegetarian recipes for weeknight cooking, packed lunches and dinner parties.
The Washington Post has several newsletters, including a few really good limited series like Voraciously: Plant Powered,12 weeks on “cooking more plant-forward meals,” and Baking Basics, an 8-week guide that “will show you that baking really is a piece of cake.” I like looking at them, and I love how you can scale a recipe up or down, but to be honest, I rarely find myself cooking from them. Not sure if you need to be a subscriber to access.
Eater has several newsletters, and I subscribe to their daily newsletter set in the food world; there’s always something interesting there, like the article I pinned below on romance novels set in the food world. You can also get newsletters for your city, if they have one. Miami is the closest city to me and I rarely go there so I didn’t bother.
Ruth Reichl has a newsletter on Substack that is usually pretty interesting. She pulls a lot from her “archives,” and I like the historical aspect. You can read the latest issue and see if you like it without subscribing.
The Smitten Kitchen offers a weekly digest that is always useful, and more importantly, fun to read. I love Perelman’s voice. You can see a sample before you subscribe.
King Arthur Baking offers a baking newsletter. I think it is weekly, or thereabouts. I also like their blog. Plus if you ever have trouble, you can call, chat, or email for help!
Last but not least, another good baking newsletter is put out by Dorie Greenspan. It’s xoxo Dorie, a twice-weekly newsletter.
Book News
A couple of older articles as well.
Romance Novels Are Increasingly Getting Hot and Heavy in the Kitchen
Move over, bodice rippers. It’s all about apron tuggers now. (Eater) https://www.eater.com/23188870/summer-romance-novels-baking-cooking
This was fun, especially if you are a language nerd like me!
Finally, a bookstore obviously designed with people like me in mind: Archestratus Books & Foods, in Brooklyn, NY. (For some reason you have to click on “over 18” to access this adult site??? They sell books, and food. So weird!)
As always, thanks for reading and stay safe.
*Thanks to The New York Times for allowing me to “gift” my readers with free access to these articles, a lovely perk for subscribers.
Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™ 
Thank you – delightful. Keep up the good words and your masks. peace, janz
Thanks! Hope you keep reading.🥰