A Pinch Of A New Decade

Turning 30 this weekend happened as quickly as the temp seemed to drop lately – FAST. In reality, I don’t feel any older. And if you were to ask me, I’d probably still tell you that I feel like I’m in my early 20s because so many other people seem to have their lives together. That’s mostly me joking. Plus, I wouldn’t go back anyway.

If I went back, I’d miss out on all the good food and people I’ve met this far. (Cue the wholesome content about that’s what makes this A Pinch Of newsletter what it is.) But actually, even just this past year has been full of so many different experience that I never would’ve expected, whether that was my 29th year or 2025 in general. Will save that reminiscing is for another time.

This weekend I got to jump around the city with a big group of friends, using my birthday as a reason to gather. Got to a lot of my favorites spots, some featured on the A Pinch Of Favorites map, like The Goat, Bob & Barbara’s and The Black Sheep. Some staples for a perfect night out of any size, any time.

As for celebrations with food… that actually has to wait a week with some exciting reservations coming up and a dinner planned that I didn’t quite get to yesterday.

Thankfully my family was nice enough to bring in some of my favorite baked goods from The Buttery and sandwiches from Gentili’s (which if you haven’t read about it enough, is easily a Fogel family favorite).

And now, the easy meals that got me through the week and weekend. Shoutout to the soup and pastina. As part of the invite to my crawl celebrations, I made the theme Shrek the 30th. Fittingly, I turned to Wishbone Kitchen’s Swamp Soup to stay healthy. The Green Garlic & Ginger Chicken and Rice Soup recipe helped get me through the weekend. I even went out and bought a blender just for this.

But I couldn’t escape the infamous annual sickness that occurs around my birthday somehow. Very lame. So the soup season carried into Monday’s day off with a bit of a simple fridge soup made up of frozen tortellini, spinach, butter beans, onion and garlic. Plus, lunch was the oldest Italian trick in the book of some Pastina, tiny pasta cooked in broth with butter and parmesan.

The December celebrations carry on this week with the mentioned few meals out with friends and family and also my company’s holiday party. Lots of rest, soup, orange juice and tea to get back to shape ASAP.

Another thing to look forward to: an in-office bake off. The word from others is that I should just be a judge, but I’m toning down my competitive side (mostly) to just enjoy everyone’s goods. Excited to see the array of goods. Not going to spill any secrets here about what I’m making since I know the competition will be lurking.

Next week I’ll have a roundup of all the recipes I’ve saved and have my eyes on for Christmas dinner and baking to share a little inspiration ahead of time. Whether you’re turning to some family favorites or have some new ideas, cooking and baking around the holidays is always worth spending a little extra time to dive into.

Cheers 🤘