Issue #291 - November 11, 2022

view email in browser
refer a friend / subscribe

A cozy dose of comfort for your inbox. A weekly newsletter with musings on and recommendations for downtime.

We’re so excited to have Ruby Tandoh, author of the cookbook Cook As You Are (and one of our all-time favorite Great British Bake-Off contestants) here for 3 Good Things today. She’s a smart cookie (oof, bad baking pun, sorry-ish) and we love hearing what she has to say. Plus, lots of recs and reads as always! Eat something great this weekend. —Team GNI

"Uggs are back, baby!" -Quarantine Kermi

This Week's Picks

Such cool stamps: RBG, women’s soccer, and Toni Morrison are going to be featured on stamps in 2023. Props to the Postal Service for… being really cool?!
One more crafting rec: A lot of you were very into last week’s issue on various crafting recs. For the less artistically inclined, we wanted to shout-out Target’s Mondo Llama line. While a paint-your-own kit might *technically* be aimed at kids, we say, embrace that inner child.
A bendable, low-profile vibe that literally moves with you in the palm of your hand: Pom is the multi-pattern and intensity step-up you’ve been looking for. Try it 15% off with code GNI. *Sponsor
Can’t wait to read: And Yet, the second book of feminist poetry from Kate Baer.
Love this family gathering tip: What’s your secret crucible moment?
Brunch, in competition form: Are you gonna watch The Big Brunch?
Lol to the Pitch Perfect offshoot review: “The show will premiere on November 23, angling for the coveted ‘cousins need to agree on something to watch after Thanksgiving’ slot.”
Whoa: These pies understood the assignment. (*NYT gift link)
Brilliant: Transparent Post-Its as a way to annotate books and cookbooks.
If you’re into (or even sort of into) sports: The GIST is a must-subscribe newsletter that provides a refreshing female voice and perspective on sports 4x a week. If ‘do the thing and score the points’ is your baseline understanding of sports, you might enjoy this to uplevel your knowledge!

This week's Sponsor:

If you’ve ever wished for your vibe to move with you, Pom might just be the upgrade you’ve been wanting.

Sure, you might love your standard, bullet-shaped vibrator, but if something’s missing—and that something is the ability to move with you, not against you—Pom could be the key. Pom was made specifically by Dame to be playfully pliable, so instead of remaining rigid (like lots of vibes on the market), it snuggles close, bends, and moves with you for ultimate control.

The ergonomic design nestles perfectly in the palm of your hand, and since it’s pretty small, is discreet enough to leave out on a nightstand or pack with you for travel. It ships to your door in ambiguous packaging, so there’s no fending off questions from your front desk or roommate.

Pom has five different intensities and five vibration patterns, so you can find what combo works for you. Like all of Dame’s toys, it’s made with medical-grade silicone, so you’re left with no questions as to what you’re putting on or in your body. It’s also water-proof, so bringing it in—or forgetting to take it out of—the shower is totally in play.

Into it? Take 15% off Dame’s vibes with code GNI.

3 Good Things with Ruby Tandoh

Ruby Tandoh is one of our absolute favorite food writers. Forgive the pun, but her work is delicious, every sentence a yummy morsel of sharp and witty observation. Such writing can only come from someone who is madly in love with food and writing about food. Ruby has been a pastry chef, recipe columnist for The New Yorker and The Guardian, food writer, and cookbook author. She was also a finalist on The Great British Bake Off in 2013, nbd. :) Ruby has written two refreshing books on eating and cooking called EAT UP!: Food, Appetite, and Eating What You Want and COOK AS YOU ARE: Recipes for Real Life, Hungry Cooks, and Messy Kitchens. Below are some 3 good recommendations she swears by. Enjoy!

A recipe to revive your spirits in less than 15 minutes
Trust me: Boil a pound of gnocchi for the bare minimum time, then drain it. Melt a generous tablespoon of butter in a skillet then add a couple of tablespoons of capers and a tablespoon of Lao Gan Ma chili crisp sauce. Once it’s all sizzling, add the drained gnocchi and fry for a couple of minutes, mixing everything together. Divide between two plates and serve with a ton of grated Parmesan. It is the quickest and most unlikely and most beloved of the recipes in COOK AS YOU ARE and I have no shame about evangelizing about it.
A reminder to be a clown
Animal Joy by Nuar Alsadir is one of the most beautiful and revelatory books I’ve read in a long time. As someone who almost pathologically shapeshifts to appease people in whatever situation I’m in, it was a reminder of the value of congruence – of expressing something true, something that faithfully reflects your internal weirdness and contradictions and joys. What would it mean to really inhabit yourself, rather than just live on the surface of things? It starts with giving yourself the freedom to play, to emote and to be a clown
Changing the soundtrack
I recently moved (back) to London after a very long and very difficult year and the first thing I did was to create some new playlists to change the soundtrack to my life. I’m prone to wallowing in my feelings so I knew I needed to effect change by simply insisting upon it, so I upped the tempo, cut myself loose from my worst auditory triggers and decided to tune into a different emotional register. And let me tell you: it is extremely difficult to take yourself too seriously, to be earnest and morose and self-flagellating, while listening to Boney M.

You can Ruby on Twitter @rubytandoh or Instagram @ruby.tandoh.

Comfort food via @gabbois

This Week's Reads

A beautiful essay on what happens when your adult best friend moves away, and how to keep friendships and foster new ones (Harper’s Bazaar)
Why we love apple cider donuts (Thrillist)
"I just wanted to sit under those cheap, low-hanging pendant lights, eating my bowl of peanuts with a friend who knew exactly how to feed me." (Simply Recipes)
Striking images and excerpts from the new photo book Queer Americana (The Cut)
How is it that so many children across time and space come to know the exact same minutiae like how to make that “cool S” you used to doodle in spiral-bound notebooks? (The Atlantic)

Win a copy of COOK AS YOU ARE!

Surprise – we’re so excited to be partnering with Knopf and giving away 10 copies of Ruby’s book, COOK AS YOU ARE! Yes – TEN! You can enter the giveaway right over here.

This newsletter contains affiliate links, which means when you buy through the link, we might get a cut. We only recommend products we believe in or are thinking about a lot. Sponsored content is clearly marked as "Sponsor." Thank you so much for your support!

INSTAGRAM | ADVERTISE | ARCHIVES | SUBSCRIBE

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list (this will unsubscribe you from ALL GNI emails).

1875 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, D.C. © 2022 Girls' Night In.

issue #291: delicious morsels for your weekend

This Week's Picks

If you’ve ever wished for your vibe to move with you, Pom might just be the upgrade you’ve been wanting.

3 Good Things with Ruby Tandoh

This Week's Reads

Win a copy of COOK AS YOU ARE!

Older messages

issue #290: low-stakes arts and crafts for slowing down ✂️

issue #289: all the best fall cookbooks 🍁

issue #288: books perfect for fall, midnights, and writing 🌜

issue #287: really fancy candles for really cozy times 🕯

issue #286: making friends, getting cozy 🫶

You Might Also Like

And The #1 Hair Color Trend Of 2025 Will Be...

5 Ways You Can Lose Your Social Security Benefits

The Weekly Wrap #192

New subscriber discount ends tonight!

Weekend: Fashion-Forward…Puffer Boots? 👀

Your Week Ahead Reading 12/23 to 12/30 2024

RI#255 - Visualize your goals/ Privacy respecting tools/ 6 myths about hangovers

Chicken Shed Chronicles.

“THE JESUS LOOK” (SHORT STORY)

"Christmas on the Border, 1929" by Alberto Ríos