Now that we’re all simply proceeding as though it’s fall, outside temperature be damned, it seems like a great time to re-up this old recipe, which is so goddamn good. I posted it to my old old blog when I was living in Texas many moons ago, and then to my old blog in 2017…and now I’m posting it here, because it’s that important! (I *believe* I got it from the Libby’s Pumpkin website way back when, but I’m not 100% sure.)

The cookies are a big hit every time I make them, and while I typically bake them in October as a Halloween treat, they’re also great for Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving/whatever (in normal years).

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola or corn oil

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup butterscotch chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric mixer.
Add the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla and mix until blended. It will turn the color of Halloween and smell like cake batter.
Add the flour mixture slowly, until it is thoroughly blended, and the batter is thick.
Stir in the butterscotch morsels.
Line two baking sheets with wax paper and spray with cooking spray (or just use a silicone baking mat).
Using a small spoon, scoop globs (there’s no other word for it — you’ll understand if you make them) of the dough onto the lined sheets. ***Do not make the rounds too big! I did that at first, and ended up with massive pumpkin pillows. It still happens to be occasionally. Try to keep them neat and cute.***
Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, about 16 minutes.
Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for five minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. 🍁

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Just Good Shit: 08.30.20

Hello! Here’s what I had going on this week…

On the blog

Go on, live a little — get yourself the giant pasta-shaped garlic peeler

Writing

How to Talk to a Friend Whose Posts Have You Worried

Reading

This week, I put down the galley of The Lying Life of Adults so I could read Finding Freedom, the new book about Meghan and Harry. The heart wants what the heart wants!! Finding Freedom reads like an Elin Hildebrand novel (in a good way) and while the book, like, absolutely needs to calm down in some places, I really liked it overall.

Also:

What if It All Goes Wrong?, Slate.
Election worst-case scenarios.

We’ve Seen New York’s White Flight Before, The Atlantic.

‘How is this possible? What are the odds?’ The Graveson family, on what the coronavirus has done to them, Washington Post.

Your ‘Surge Capacity’ Is Depleted — It’s Why You Feel Awful, Elemental.

Tune in, drop out, Rest of World.
“What constitutes being ‘alone’ can be fuzzy, but it ultimately comes down to the physical and psychological boundaries one draws around oneself. Honjok might partake in leisure activities alone, maintain a single-person household, avoid a workplace or office setting, limit social circles, abstain from sex or romantic relationships, or reject marriage or children.”

Dear Fuck-Up: I Think I Ruined My Ex's Life, Jezebel.
”There are certain relationships in which one person holds so much sway over the other that the obligation to do the right thing lies solely with that party.”

15 California Getaways, Design Love Fest.
If you want to play make-believe.

A Reminder to Enfold Yourself in Small Comforts, The New York Times.

Also! If you’ve been wanting to learn to knit, you should pre-order my friend Alanna’s new book Knit a Hat: A Beginner's Guide to Knitting, which will be out September 8.

Have a good evening! 🧶

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Go on, live a little — get yourself the giant pasta-shaped garlic peeler

Photo of oversized piece of (fake) penne on wood surface in front of a vintage yellow glass bowl holding heads of garlic

When my girlfriend bought this giant fake piece of penne from GreatBigStuff.com — along with some bowtie pasta pot grippers — I expected it to merely be decorative. That alone would be great! But much to my delight, it’s also a surprisingly effective garlic peeler.

Hand rollng oversized piece of (fake) penne on wood surface next to a vintage yellow glass bowl holding heads of garlic

Gif of peeled clove of garlic being removed from oversized piece of (fake) penne

Peeling garlic by hand is a fairly annoying task, and putting it in a plastic tube — that, it cannot be overstated, looks like a giant piece of penne — and rolling it around is a nice alternative that doesn’t take up a lot of kitchen space.

I highly recommend it! Get it from GreatBigStuff.com for $19. 🍝

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Just Good Shit: 08.23.20

Heyoh! Here’s what I’ve been up to this week…

On the blog

My favorite cloth face masks

Reading

‘I’m sorry, but it’s a fantasy’ — Jeff Gregorich, superintendent, on trying to reopen his schools safely, The Washington Post.

I had COVID-19, and these are the things nobody tells you, LA Times.

This Terrifying Economic Crisis Will Make Cities Better, In These Times.

This hed is not great; the article is actually about how rich people fleeing NYC isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The Look Book Goes to the Jamaica Post Office, The Cut.

I Added One Tiny (Free) Thing to My Closet and Instantly Started Decluttering My Clothes, Apartment Therapy.

This Amazingly Simple Google Docs Hack Is a Game-Changer, Mental Floss.

Have a good Sunday! 🍒

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My favorite cloth face masks

Over the past five months, I, like a lot of people, have tried a bunch of different cloth face masks. Some have turned out to be better than others, so I thought I’d share the ones that I like the best and that are holding up well!

A couple top-level notes, for context:

When I’m venturing out, I’m doing fairly low-risk activities: taking my dog out, going for walks in the park, taking trash to the trash room, and picking up packages from the front desk (which is generally possible to do at a distance). If you’re spending more time in close proximity to and/or indoors with people who aren’t in your household, these might not be the best options.
Not all of my favorites are three-ply or have a hydrophilic outer layer (which I learned about when working on this article), but those are features I’m looking for as I buy new ones.
I generally pair my masks with a filter (more on those later), so that adds another layer/improves the effectiveness.
Since we started buying masks, my girlfriend and I have discovered that I have a BIG FACE (I mean, I sort of already knew that) and she has a ˢᵐᵃˡˡ ᶠᵃᶜᵉ so our mask preferences are fairly different. She prefers masks that have ear loops with adjusters and is not a fan of behind the head elastic, whereas pretty much all masks fit me well. Some of the ones below work for both of us, which is a nice bonus, but others really only work for me.

So! With all that said, here are the cloth face masks that I like a lot:

Stark’s face masks

These are a fairly recent addition that I thiiiink I found via Instagram ad, and they are great! We now have four in rotation and I really like them. These masks have the adjustable ear loops, three layers, and the lilac is so nice. (It also comes in several other colors, and they are now making a slightly smaller option for smaller faces.) Get one from Stark’s for $12.95.

BaubleBar face masks

These are another recentish addition that I immediately ordered more of after a couple wears. They are soft/comfortable, they have the adjustable ear loops, and I like the pattern options. Get a two-pack from BaubleBar for $12.

Amalfii face masks

This was actually the very first mask I bought, and they’ve been great! They are full-coverage with a fairly tight seal, and they’ve held up very well in the wash. Get a three-pack from Amalfii for $30 (multiple colors available).

Gir.co filters

I came across these filters when I bought the masks that require them this spring. While I like the masks quite a bit (they are lightweight and can be sterilized in the stove, microwave, or dishwasher), I like the filters even more. I usually order three packs at a time and they always ship/arrive quickly. Get a ten-pack for $10 from Gir.co.

Wear a mask! Over your nose!! Please!!! 😷

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Just Good Shit: 08.16.20

Hi! Here’s what I have for you this week…

On the blog

Writing

What to Say if a Kid Asks You What 'WAP' Means
The Workplace Behavior on 'Selling Sunset' Is Not OK, Right? (Collab with Alison Green of Ask a Manager!)

Reading

The Scramble to Pluck 24 Billion Cherries in Eight Weeks, The New York Times.

The Plan That Could Give Us Our Lives Back, The Atlantic.

The Afflictions of the Comfortable, The American Prospect.

Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed, The New York Times.

We Asked a Gyno About ‘WAP’, Vulture.

Watching & listening to

My friend Sally recommended Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (on Hulu), which is horrifying but incredibly compelling. I also listened to the “Wayfair and Human Trafficking Statistics” episode of You’re Wrong About, which is a good companion to the NYT cherries story I linked to. And I loved listening to my friends Alisha and Caroline chat in the most recent episode of Gee Thanks, Just Bought It!

Eating

We had Summer Shrimp Scampi With Tomatoes and Corn from NYT Cooking, and really liked it. (We used canned corn, and it was actually great.) I’m also looking forward to turning some summer tomatoes into Nora Ephron’s cold tomato sauce soon. Also, two grocery purchases/treats that I highly recommend: Pillsbury cinnamon rolls (the little five-count is nice) and frozen mozzarella sticks.

Have a good Sunday! 🦞

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My beach birthday in quarantine

For my 35th birthday last week, my girlfriend threw a beach party for the two of us at home. The theme was “cool 90s beach/shells/Enchantment Under the Sea” + my Animal Crossing beach, which has a pastel rainbow ombré theme.

She went all out with lots of inflatables and several outfit changes (including an outfit for Chuck), all of which she managed to keep under wraps until my birthday.

The morning of, I was sequestered in the bedroom for an hour or so while she set up. At one point, she cracked the door open and handed me breakfast and a bikini T-shirt, and told me to “dress for a day at the beach.”

When she told me I could come out a little while later, she had transformed the apartment with two giant pink shells floats, palm trees, flamingos, beach balls, and rainbow ombré streamers. . There was a beach scene on the TV, “Girl from Ipanema” was playing, and there were bubbles wafting out from a bubble machine (!!!) in the kitchen.

Julia Turshen’s “Happy Wife, Happy Life” cake + “tan lines” Fancy Sprinkles.

I think my favorite detail was the airbrushed T-shirts my gf ordered from Etsy for us to wear in the evening “on the boardwalk.” The T-shirts had a beach scene + both of our names (essentially this one, but heart-shaped). We wore them for a Google Hangout with some friends (where everyone came dressed to theme, another very good surprise).

Overall, it was a lovely and fun day/weekend, despite everything going on in the world right now.

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I've finally achieved my lifelong dream of owning a postal scale

blue USPS postal scale sitting on light wood desk, in front of color chart and ambrosia boysmells candle

Since everyone is—reasonably, correctly!—talking about the post office right now (and buying lots of stamps), it seems like a good time to mention a recentish purchase of mine that has been very wonderful: my USPS postal scale.

I have wanted a postal scale basically since I’ve known what they are, but have never had a super compelling reason to get one. But a couple months ago — wanting/needing to send small packages but not willing to go inside a closet-sized UPS store to do so — I decided to buy one. And let me tell you, it’s been worth its weight in gold.

Basically, a postal scale allows you to precisely calculate the weight of a package, so you can then create a shipping label from home. (This postal scale can connect to your computer/the USPS website via USB, but that feature only works with PCs. Fortunately, that’s not actually necessary — you can simply type the weight in on the USPS website when you’re preparing the label.)

It’s been really helpful to have the scale in a few instances where I’ve needed to make a return and the company doesn’t cover return shipping/provide a label; without it, I would be sort of screwed. It also allows the possibility of sending out care packages and gifts!

To make the postal scale work, you’ll also need access to a printer for the labels you’re creating, which I feel like might actually be the higher barrier to entry…but I got a printer this summer too, and can say that having both in my home has made me feel very powerful! Not having a working printer is a hassle fairly regularly, so having one has been a true relief, and made it easier to stay at home/inside.

Buy it from USPS for $35.99. 📫

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Just Good Shit: 08.09.20

On Friday, I celebrated my 35th birthday with a beach-themed quarantine “party” my gf planned (and that is still ongoing)! Here’s what else I was up to this week…

Writing

An Actually Useful Guide to Not Being On Your Phone All the Time

My shit, elsewhere

Here’s an interview I did with TODAY.com: How to master 'The Art of Showing Up' during a pandemic.

Reading

The Soft Butch That Couldn’t (Or: I Got COVID-19 in March and Never Got Better), Autostraddle.
If you read one thing this week, make it this.

Covid Is Horrible — So Is Worrying You’ve Infected Someone, NY Mag.

Scrapbooking As an Act of “Radical Self-Care”, The New York Times.
I used to be an avid scrapbooker, so I extra loved this.

I Scream. You Scream. The Meltdown At The Museum Of Ice Cream, Forbes.

I Toured A $43 Million Home With The Guy Who Made “Selling Sunset”, BuzzFeed News.

#1281: “Every conversation with my mom is an interrogation of my life choices.”, Captain Awkward.

Pattern for a homemade mask with a clear panel (to make lip reading possible).

This Is the Romantic Gesture of Quarantine, The Cut.

Eating

I recently bought a HUGE bag of lavender and have been making some old faves: lavender tahini toast and homemade cold brew with lavender simple syrup + sweet cream creamer.

Wearing

For the past couple of weeks, I have been living in my new tie-dye sweatpants ($28, runs big — I got a large) and matching sweatshirt ($28, runs true to size). I also bought bike shorts ($13 from Amazon) after seeing them in Hitha’s newsletter, and they are really soft and summer cozy.

Have a good night! 🧁

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