Reclaiming the Joy of Cooking for a Crowd | Catch My Job

A version of this post originally appeared on October 22, 2022, in Stephanie Wu’s newsletter, “From the Editor,” a roundup of the most essential news and stories in the world of food. Read the archives a subscribe now.

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I spent last weekend at a friend’s place in New York. Before our visit, she asked a question: “What’s a dish you’ve been wanting to make?” I’m used to city trips planned around new restaurants, and even though I’m someone who rarely cooks, the idea of ​​planning a weekend around home-cooked meals we’d all make with our each other surprisingly appealing to me.

We landed on two recipes I had noted down some time ago – Grossy Pelosi vodka sauce and Tandem Coffee Roasters biscuits. I had tried both before, and was not entirely happy with the results; I was hoping that by cooking alongside my more experienced friend Mary, I would get some pointers and feel more confident next time. For the rest of the menu, we looked at what ingredients we already had on hand – pancakes to use the buttermilk, for example – and chose other dishes that took very little preparation time, as we didn’t want to spend all our time. time in the kitchen. Mary’s husband Dillon took the lead in making sure we had some protein to go with our carbs. And I was mostly excited by the prospect of browsing my way through cozy, comfort food for a full weekend.

This is how our weekend menu came to be:

Saturday breakfast: Pancakes, fruit and bacon

Lunch: Sandwiches from a restaurant in nearby Roxbury

Lunch: vodka pasta, fried chicken cutlets, Caesar salad, and garlic bread

Dessert: S’mores

Sunday breakfast: Biscuits with sausage gravy

We made some changes along the way – we decided to skip our original lunch plan of grilled tomato and cheese soup and grab food while walking around town. And we scrapped our ambition to bake a pie for dessert in favor of the much more low-key s’mores, because it’s not the holidays if you can’t choose to be lazy at the last minute.

The trip was memorable in so many ways; this is the first time I’ve been lucky enough to do an overnight trip when the leaves were in their peak fall colours. But what I will remember for future trips is how much fun it was to plan a menu together, one that includes a recipe wish list with cooking alongside (and learning from) friends, and developing each other’s favorite meals to put a weekend together. meals. We took what can often feel like a group task – feeding a crowd – and turned it into something worth looking forward to.

Below, as always, you’ll find some of my favorite reads from the past two weeks.

On Eater

Felicia Liang/Eater

Alice Wong writes about (rediscovering) the joy of food while on a feeding tube.

I love this Via Carota salad, but I will admit that I would rather pay for it at the restaurant than try it on my own.

Where to find apple cider donuts in the DC area and in Oregon.

How our obsession with ordering and hacking off-menu food apps is affecting restaurant workers.

The Star Trek cookbook was made for the most ardent fans, but it falls short in terms of actual cooking inspiration, according to Rachel P. Kreiter.

Alon Shaya’s next restaurant will be on the Las Vegas Strip.

Jack X. Li/Eater Chicago

In honor of Diwali weekend, Eater Chicago spoke with chefs across the country about the evolution of the South Asian sweet, also known as mithai.

Southern California’s most popular wedding chef is known for his elaborate spreads and Indian specialties.

McDonald’s Boo Bucket isn’t just for kids, says Amy McCarthy. Did you nab yours yet?

It’s never a bad time to be thinking about pie – whether it’s for Thanksgiving or a weekend slice.

Off Eating

Nneka M. Okona writes in the Washington Post about various iterations of spaghetti – and how the dish has become “the essence of Black ingenuity.”

Jennifer Fergesen takes a deep dive into Filipino vinegar as part of the San Francisco Chronicle Field Notes from the Asian American Kitchens project.

Also in the Chroniclecritic Soleil Ho investigates whether the French Laundromat is worth the drive – and the harrowing mad rush to doubts.

Look for the popcorn cocktail at a bar near you, via our sister publication Punch.

Grub Street highlights six ways that COVID permanently changed the restaurant landscape.