My favorite things

and an incredible black sesame sauce recipe *for free*

I absolutely devour “favorite things” videos whenever I come across them and yet I’ve never posted one. It seems to me that the concept lends itself perfectly to the newsletter format. So here you have it, a round up of some of my favorite things from 2024. Some are links to purchase items, yes, but some things are free and there’s even some recipe content. Mostly, these are just things I love that I want to share.

Black Sesame Dipping Sauce

I recently put this sauce together as a side dipping sauce to our hot pot night. My husband is so in love with it he wanted me to save the recipe for a future cookbook. I’m so in love with it I felt the need to share it with you now. This sauce works so well as a dipping sauce for anything from hot pot to spring rolls, noodles, roasted veggies, etc. Most recently I tossed some cucumbers in it with a little bit of lemon juice and the result was mind blowing.

Lake PJs

Each year we get family holiday PJs and then we never wear them again. This year I was tired of the wasted money and decided to invest in a higher quality (pima cotton!) and beautiful pajama that we would love year round. I decided to give the beloved Lake Pajamas a try and boy were we wowed. We all have been wearing them nonstop which is a true shocker as Sathya really never likes to wear a pajama.

I have since invested in some more pairs to lounge in year round.

This is the set I’ve been wearing nonstop but we love all the pima cotton products we’ve tried so far.

Big Dawgs Music Video

I can’t seem to get enough of this song by Hanumankind and I love the music video. Sooraj (Hanumankind) is from Kerala, a neighboring state to where Sathya is from and he even spent some time in school in Sathya’s city. The music video was shot in India and is addicting to watch.

Watercolor Crayons

Over the last year I’ve occasionally been going to drop in art classes in my neighborhood and recently I’ve finally invested in some art supplies for home. A friend introduced me to these stunning watercolor crayons that I have fallen deeply in love with. You can use them as a crayon, swatch them as paint for watercolor or do some fun creative combinations of the two. There’s a great priced starter part and you can get additional individual colors if you also fall in love. I’ve been using them alongside their watercolor pens making the entire thing mess free and easy. Bonus! Alden love love loves them and we have fun making art together for both of us.

Caran d’ache watercolor crayons

Caran d’ache watercolor pens

Hinoki Cutting Board

This is hands down the best cutting board I have ever used both commercially and at home. Trust me, I have both purchased and used FAR more expensive boards (that are great) but Hinoki is better. Lightweight, slim (fits tucked in anywhere), durable, anti-microbrial and come on an adorable kick stand! It is the only cutting board we ever use anymore and have used for over a year now. I love it so much I want to buy another one but ours is still in perfect condition so I have no need. Get it and throw out all your others. I promise, you won’t regret it. Plus! It’s sold by a lovely small business, Bernal Cutlery.

Hinoki Cutting Board

Your Friend, Nate Bargatze

We recently watched Nate Bargatze’s new comedy special on Netflix and we were dying laughing the entire time. We both agreed it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a comedy special that good. Give it a watch, I would be shocked if you don’t love it too.

Saffron Cookie

This is a repost of a recipe I’ve uploaded once before but I am just as obsessed with this cookie as I was last time I emailed it out. I have a batch in the freezer currently and we’ve been baking them off fresh weekly. It’s a family favorite. You can find the recipe below the paywall.

If you choose to be a paid subscriber to access, I thank you! Developing recipes (well) takes time and can be quite costly in ingredients. If you upgrade to a paid subscription, you will receive new recipes 2x per month (minimally).

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