Food
Bon Appetit
This Online Group Taught Me the Joy and Solidarity of Buying Nothing
When was the last time you borrowed a cup of sugar or a stick of butter from a neighbor? The gesture sounds so nostalgic yet feels so foreign to many of us, especially amid the isolation of the pandemic. But in my Los Angeles neighborhood, these things flow from household to household with ease. Many items I own, including my favorite cast-iron skillet, were gifted by my neighbors through a local Buy Nothing group, a movement built on the idea that abundance comes when we freely let go of what we no longer need.
Food52
Hong Shao Rou (Pork Belly Braised in Soy Sauce)
I can’t remember the first time I had braised pork belly (or Hong Shao Rou), but it must have been some time in my early childhood—and since then I’ve eaten it hundreds of times. It’s a dish that’s not only ingrained in my own family’s culinary repertoire, but in the culinary collection of most Chinese families throughout China. Still, the beauty of braised pork belly is that while the flavors are similar, everyone has a different way of cooking it, and every recipe you see will be a little different.
TripSavvy
My Intentional Meal: Discovering Ancient Seeds with Indigenous Chef Elena Terry
When I first stepped foot onto the grounds of The Barn at Mirror Lake, a rustic ranch in the grassy farmlands of Wisconsin, I joked about the cows we spotted grazing on the pasture. “Is this lunch?” The question might seem off-putting to some. But a part of that discomfort stems from our lack of connection to our food sources and an understanding of healthy food webs.