Baguette Gazette: Things I'm loving + need your Southwest recs!
A binge-able podcast, my drink of summer + a new TJ's discovery 🗞️
Hi friends! Welcome to the latest “Baguette Gazette”. (If you’re new here, this is a monthly catchup where I share recommendations, personal updates, and what’s going on behind the recipes at TNB HQ.)
Warning: this podcast is highly binge-able. It tells the story of when a group of teenage girls at an upstate New York high school became ill with Tourette’s-like symptoms seemingly overnight. The podcast takes you through how the town, the media, the parents, and the teens themselves dealt with the mystery, and what it all means in a greater sociological context. (I’m a sucker for these types of stories - see also Scamanda).
I’ve long loved matcha, but the drinks I made at home always turned out clumpy/chalky because I don’t own a matcha whisk. This summer, though, I realized I could just use my basic milk frother for a similar result and have been drinking iced matcha almost daily. (Even filmed a tutorial for Instagram.)
P.S. I get my matcha in bulk from Atlantic Spice Co. during my annual spice stock-up on Cape Cod, but they also have an excellent online store! I highly recommend them for all your spice/tea needs.
These new (-ish?) Savory Squares crackers from Trader Joe’s taste a whole lot like Cheez-Its but are vegan, gluten-free, and made with nut and seed flours. Great for midday snacking, with hummus, etc.
Happy September 1st, friends! Here we are on the other side. Even though I don’t have kids, and am not returning to school myself, I still feel those back-to-school vibes. The go-go-go energy of summer is winding down, the days are gradually getting cooler, and I’m looking forward to a calmer routine again. (Do you also feel that pressure to go out a ton and turn every free moment into an adventure because “summer won’t last forever”? It’s exhausting!)
Before I fully embrace couch potato mode, we’re going on one more trip! My husband and I, and two of our friends, are heading to the Southwest next week for a 10-day roadtrip. Rene and I used to go on roadtrips regularly, but this will be our first in years. I’m really looking forward to experiencing otherworldly places like White Sands and Monument Valley for the first time.
We’ll be going through El Paso, central New Mexico, southern Colorado and Utah, and Vegas. If you’ve traveled this route and have any fun recommendations for restaurants, parks, landmarks, etc., please share them in the comments! I’d love to hear about your experience.
Last but not least, September will be Meal Prep Month on TNB, and I can’t wait to share all my new favorite make ahead-able recipes with you. Kicking things off this Tuesday, so stay tuned!
P.S. In case you missed any of August’s new recipes…
Very readable and inventive!
Would love to see your tutorial, but I don’t have insta or fb only youtube and substack x