Finer Things
Including very fine holiday gifts.
Pete and Anchovy, my own personal Jorts and Jean.
Welcome to Finer Things, a weekly run-down of recommended things to read, make, and try out.
Fine Reads
I can’t imagine you’ve missed out on the Jorts and Jean saga, but if somehow you have, please do read the best thing on the internet today, and then read the update.
From the New Yorker: The Remarkable Life of Virgil Abloh.
From the extraordinary Michele Goodwin in the New York Times: I was raped by my father. An abortion saved my life.
From Everywhereist: The worst meal of all time.
Fine Tuning
When I’m not writing for work, I am teaching writing (and yoga). If you’re interested in a writing + yoga retreat this spring, I’m co-hosting one in Greece in May and one in Tuscany (details TBD) in September.
Fine Goods
It’s almost Christmas, and I hope you are buying all of your loved ones gifts from small creators rather than on Amazon. My family isn’t big on gifting items (which is great imo) but I am picking up a few things from Caputo’s, and I always gift my friend Priscilla’s hand-made candles, which smell amazing and have extremely cute branding for animal lovers (especially dog parents). Tula Plant & Design is truly great for the green thumbs in your life, and for a very special gift for a very special someone, Selin Kent makes gorgeous jewelry. Or, do what I usually do and buy a book for those you love, ideally from your favorite local shop that you’d like to see stay in business (if you don’t have one of those, I love Books Are Magic and Elliott Bay Book Company). Or, support a dying but invaluable industry and give a subscription to your favorite media outlet (a few ideas:: The New Yorker, the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Washington Post, Monocle, Granta, or your hometown newspaper). You can also give a gift subscription to a newsletter to support independent journalists and writers, including this very newsletter if you like!
Fine Foods
Gabrielle Hamilton is ending her food column for the New York Times, after closing down her restaurant, my beloved Prune. I like a lot of her recipes, but these celery toasts are extremely simple and also my favorite — particularly great to set out for small and all-vaxxed holiday get-togethers.
I am also an extremely lazy winter cook and basically survive on soup all season long, but wind up making the same soups over and over and over again until I am sick of them, which means I am currently in a soup rut. But last week, I made this pork noodle soup from Alison Roman’s newsletter last week and it was truly great!
…and that’s it! Hope you enjoy, and see you back here soon.
xx Jill