Go for the gold: How Are You Doing?

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Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.

Monday, August 10, 2020

How Are You Doing?

Sam Sifton

Good morning. How are you doing? It’s been five months now, for some of us, living and working at home, or living at home and doing essential work out in the world, or living at home and not working anywhere. We’re stuck with the kids, the parents, the pod or ourselves alone, together apart, apart together. Grocery runs, a wait at the post office, protests, gas for the truck. Sometimes it feels as if the only pleasure available in the day comes when we can step away, finally, to cook, to make something delicious, something to take our minds off the state of the world.

For me, right now, that means this broccoli salad with peanuts and tahini-lime dressing, which I love unreservedly. That also means this classic carrot salad. That means this juicy BLT.

You might take a look at this fettuccine with asparagus yourself, at this vegan onion dip, at this lemon sheet cake with raspberry whipped cream (above).

I’d like to make this heirloom tomato tart. Maybe you, too? And these chicken-zucchini meatballs with feta. And I’d like to throw some pizzas real soon, even if it leaves me drenched with sweat in the kitchen: margherita; pan; barbecue chicken; clam. (Be honest. You want any of those with ranch on the side?)

Most of all I’d like to lose myself in a project, see if I can’t get this kombucha mother I’ve been neglecting in the back of the fridge up and running again, spend the rest of the summer experimenting with flavorings and fermentation. That, I think, could take up some bandwidth, put me on a road to happiness, keep me in health. Let’s go!

There are thousands and thousands more recipes waiting for you on NYT Cooking. Go browse through them, a gallery of deliciousness. Yes, it’s true, you do need a subscription to access them all, and to use all of the features on our site and apps. But in return, we get to keep doing this work, bringing you joy. I hope, if you haven’t already, that you’ll consider subscribing today. Thank you.

In the meantime and always, we’ll be standing by to help, should something go sideways in your cooking or in our code. Reach out to us: cookingcare@nytimes.com. And someone will get back to you, I promise.

Now, it’s nothing to do with raisins or scones, but I love Michael Kimmelman’s virtual walking tours in The Times and his latest, in the Bronx, is no exception.

I happened upon a good short story in The New England Review, “Baikal,” by Lindsay Starck. (The story is based on a real marathon that takes place on a frozen lake in Siberia, the Baikal Ice Marathon.)

Sarah Paulson sure looks she had fun making “Ratched” for Netflix. Here’s the trailer.

Did you know about eBird, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology? I did not but now I do, and it’s cool.

Finally, the Pogues released “Rum Sodomy & the Lash” 35 years ago last week. Here’s “Sally MacLennane,” from that album, live in Japan, 1988. See you on Wednesday.