This Needs Hot Sauce

One programming note: Next week’s newsletter will land on Tuesday instead of Monday due to Yom Kippur. Wishing you an easy fast or observance. I’m planning to do tasclich with Jared and finish my 10Q before going to a breakfast with my family friends, who make the best homemade bagels. August was never mine and it was fleeting.

Hi friends, Since we last spoke, some things have changed. The biggest one is that my refrigerator and freezer ended their era of functioning and cooling. I’ve been living without either for over a week and a half and it’s been incredibly disruptive (and expensive). So many of my daily pleasures, like an iced americano with coconut water or frozen berries in my yogurt or a nice hunk of cheese as a post work snack, are out of reach.

Hi friends, I’m back after a beautiful journey through the Midwest and one last Rockaway day, though I could totally see myself going back another time if weather permits. I celebrated my birthday surrounded by friends and family and am writing this is in the new robe Jared got me for my birthday (it has pockets), with Este on my lap. Our fridge/freezer completely died over the long weekend so hopefully by next week, I’ll have a brand new one. I miss making iced americocos.

Hi friends, Thank you for sending in your questions here and on Instagram. I really appreciate them as well as the birthday wishes! I’ve kept this issue available to all as a birthday treat and will be taking next week off for a little summer relaxation. I’ll see you after Labor Day and I hope you eat plenty of ice cream and get your toes in a body of water. 33! With sungold tomato pasta at Rolo’s This Needs Hot Sauce is a reader-supported publication.

On Wednesday, I turn 33 years old. This birthday, more than any one in recent memory, has snuck up on me. I’ve spent the summer bopping around from Philly to Maine to New Jersey to Alabama. I’m heading to the Midwest the day after my birthday to attend the Minnesota State Fair and see Jared’s hometown (and make 1,000 references to the bachelor hometown episodes). On my birthday itself, I’ll go to work and then we’re having a family dinner to celebrate the three Virgos, myself, my dad, and Erika.

For the second year in a row, we have a guest post from queen of my heart, Este Koffler. In the year+ since I adopted her, Este has changed my life and given me so much love. Jared and I were talking about how play is recommended for their mental health, but the benefits are really reciprocal. I love watching them chase each other around the apartment while she tries to “hunt” a bird on a stick or a lobster catnip toy.

I’m writing to you after a very successful celebration for my parents’ combined 60th birthday. They’re big hosts and Leah and I spent months planning a celebration where they could enjoy the party as much as possible. That meant hiring help and getting creative and I’m so happy with how it all turned out. They hosted a party for their 50th back in 2016 and I was not very involved as I had just returned from a year living in Guatemala.

Hi friends, While this summer has been full of highs (Knicks in 5, Leah’s bach, lots of ice cream runs and beach days), there’s been a very annoying thing taking up my time and energy: the foot injury I’ve had since in April. To recap, I fractured my fifth metatarsal on the last night of our Italy trip, tripped on a staircase at a park in Florence. After a painful trip home, I got x-rays and a boot, which I wore for five weeks, through a work trip and a bachelorette party.

There’s no place like home. I spent this week mostly laying low and it felt so good. Doing little things like picking up our CSA, cooking dinner, making granola, and going to physical therapy. It’s not groundbreaking but it feels good. I also shared the best of July (recipes & more) with a subject line that I hope makes you giggle. This weekend, we’re hosting a major family event: a joint birthday party for my parents. We’ve been doing months of prep and I’m so excited for it.

We’re in August, my birthday month and a month that defies time. People are talking about fall (not me, but it’s happening) and there’s this sense that the rest of the year is going to fly by. But, not yet. We still have beach days and late sunsets and glorious summer produce to enjoy before the hustle and bustle comes for us. And I want to enjoy it. July was a fantastic month on the food front, especially my time in Maine.