Friday Faves 5/1: Tutoring, Outer Banks, Sugar Calling, PB&J, and Trillium

Best Activity

Online Tutoring: I’m back on the horse! I started tutoring a former student this week. We’ve been working on math, which has been fun because, well, I haven’t taught math in a few years. The fun has been in introducing a new person into my days while also stretching out my teaching muscles again. They had atrophied a bit, but I’ve enjoyed the challenge of using zoom and figuring out how to make something interesting via online learning (shoutout to all those teachers out there right now). It’s also been a nice change to the weekly routine.

Best Watch

Outer Banks: This has become a guilty pleasure over the last week. I loved The O.C. in college, it was appointment viewing among my friends, and the theme song, California by Phantom Planet, was popular at parties and even karaoke bars. The Outer Banks has beach fights, vacation homes, tension between the rich kids and the locals, and awesome landscape shots (about as close as any of us are getting to vacation right now). The added bonus to this show is the treasure hunt angle. John B, Pope, JJ, and Kiara are trying to find a sunken ship in the outer banks, following clues left by John B’s dad, who disappeared at sea., while trying to stay one step ahead of the bad guys in pursuit of the same treasure. It’s a Goonies vibe, without the 80s campy vibes. I’m only four episodes in, but it’s a fun watch.

Best Read

In 1950, Americans Had Aspic. Now We Have Dalgona Coffee: This is an interesting look at how people’s relationships with food have changed during the pandemic while connecting it to past experiences. I’ve seen more pictures of bread on Instagram in the last six weeks than in the previous 6 years. And if you haven’t tried Dalgona coffee, I recommend it. The Atlantic.

Best Listen

Sugar Calling: Some podcasts make me feel like I’m sitting at a coffee shop with smart people sitting down next to me catching up. Sugar Calling is one of those podcasts. Host Cheryl Strayed invites a writer who is over the age of 70. The podcast was launched during the pandemic, so they discuss the topic and how they’re handling the distancing and loneliness, but each episode offers a little nugget of wisdom. George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo, is the first guest. If you do anything this weekend, listen to him read his letter to his masters students at Syracuse when school was closed for the year.

Best Eat

Peanut Butter and Jelly: In any letter to my former self, mainly my teenage self, I’d recommend putting down the cold cut sandwich and eating more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. As a kid I didn’t like them, not sure why, but as I’ve grown older they have become a staple. During this quarantine, I have been eating them for lunch nearly everyday. If there are bananas in the house, I’ll add some of it to the sandwich, too.

Revco: Revco is a Boston based catering service. They have shifted to making heat and eat dinners. They send a box of three dinners, you just pop them in the oven. Tiff knew about them through work functions, they ran a raffle for $100 and Tiff won! So she ordered a box of food, it came with three dinners and a lunch salad. They are also offering cocktail mixing kits (which we didn’t order). If you live in the Boston area, Revco is a good, option for dinner for you’re looking for a break from cooking at home every night.

Best Drink

PM Dawn: I like stouts and porters. PM Dark by Trillium is a superb one. It tastes like an iced coffee, and they use Barrington Coffee, a fancy-pants coffee roaster. Trillium is delivering right now, too. Hop on their site in the morning and they’ll bring their delicious beer to your door!