Whatcha got cookin'

A quick note: We are so, so close to hitting our first 100 subscribers, and we’re so grateful for all the kind words we’ve received since launching this newsletter. If you like the work we’ve been doing, giving us a little shoutout would make our week. 💕 - Jordan and Daniel

Whenever I spent the night at my nana and tata’s, I’d always wake up to the smell of pancakes. They were thin yet fluffy, sweet but not overbearing, and always topped with fresh bananas and what my tata considered a conservative amount of syrup— nutritionists may disagree. I spent several years combing through recipes online, trying to find the secret to the best pancakes I’ve ever had, but nothing hit the spot quite like my tata’s recipe.

Whenever I’d ask him what the secret was, he’d chuckle and say “You’ll have to ask Krusteaz!” Tatas, much like magicians, never reveal their tricks. After he passed in December, my nana and I were swapping stories about him, and I asked her about the pancakes. She chuckled and said, “mijito I never saw him add anything to that Krusteaz mix.”

Even though it didn’t get me closer to tata’s boxed pancakes, my recipe experiments served as my first real swing at cooking. It started with just making a different batch of pancakes every Saturday morning, and quickly spread into making a killer, top secret jalapeño mac and cheese, and even a tasty 10-hour sous vide pork belly with homemade pickles. With even the most laborious recipes, I’m able to remove myself from all the noise of the day and focus on crafting a delicious meal.

When I first started cooking, I would just grab whatever was on sale at the store, run home, and search for the most enticing recipe that utilized those ingredients. Once I started looking for new ways to waste time on my phone, I decided to sink my teeth into sites like NYT Cooking, Fit Men Cook, and Serious Eats, gathering any recipes that immediately gave me the munchies.

I’ve ended up finding a lot of recipes that I tell myself I’ll get to making eventually. I could just bookmark them, but that’s unorganized and gets stressful whenever I’m looking for that really great soup recipe I made back in October. Thankfully, Paprika, a recipe bookmarking app available on most platforms, gives me a one-stop shop for all the recipes I’m hoping to try out, and makes them dead simple to organize. You can categorize all your recipes, plan out your meals for the week, and even drop all the ingredients for each recipe into a shopping list pre-organized by aisle. Since I always forget at least three things every time I go to the store, this has saved me a lot of yelling at myself.

My tata's one-ingredient pancakes didn’t make the cut for Paprika, but I add at least five new recipes a week, so there’s always something new for me to try. This isn’t anything new, recipe books have been around for ages, but being able to keep it all in my pocket, and aimlessly scroll through all the tasty meals my overly ambitious brain wants to try instead of wasting away on /r/politics, has brought a nice sense of peace to my days. Plus, nothing beats a tasty, home cooked meal after a long day at work.

In the news

Putting Down Your Phone May Help You Live Longer: Being on our phones too much is awful for us, and we all know it. Usually, though, that conversation is focused on smartphone addiction. Here, Catherine Price makes the case that phones present another problem: our phones cause our bodies to release cortisol, a stress hormone, that can lead to stronger feelings of stress and anxiety. To cut down on smartphone induced stress, Price recommends turning off all but the most essential notifications, and being more mindful of how you feel while using certain apps. It might take some time, but your body will thank you in the long-run.

Diagnosing (and Dealing With) Your Low-Battery Anxiety: I didn’t realize how much anxiety having a low battery caused me until I upgraded to the iPhone X and no longer had the option to constantly display my percentage. It was a tough adjustment to make, but once I was able to let go of that stress, I noticed I checked my phone less often. Still, sometimes we need our phones in case of emergency, so it can’t hurt to toss a portable battery in your bag.

Something Nice

This great tip from Nicole Cliffe. The internet can be a nasty, hurtful place. Make it a little kinder and more welcoming by saving the praise and kind messages you get, and peek back at them when you start feeling a bit down on yourself.

As always, if you have any questions, feedback, or just want to say hello, feel free to drop me a line on Twitter.

My thanks to Daniel Varghese for editing this issue.