A quick catch-up

February of 2024 we found out we were expecting our baby girl, Opal. This you probably know. But, simultaneously we also discovered that my dad was very sick with cancer. Through the long road of pregnancy, birth, and early motherhood we also navigated the world of caring for a terminally ill parent, did what we could to support my family in the process, and inevitably had to grieve the loss of my dad this June.

To summarize my time — life is hard, life is beautiful, to love deeply is to hurt deeply. Time is a thief. I feel completely changed as a person. All the clichés are true. But the fog is clearing, the light is near, and we have a new direction for Ceremonial that I couldn’t be more excited about.

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We’re going paperful! (We’re starting a physical newsletter)

Ceremonial was always bound to be physical in one way or another. As fun as it is to shout into the online void, aren’t we all looking for a way out? Even half of my instagram ads are about ways to stay off my phone. So, if you’re stirring like the rest of us to find ways to fill your offline time with thought and love and beauty and food and community, then welcome to the club. Join and rot-no-more.

WHAT IS CEREMONIAL’S MAIL CLUB?

This is a monthly letter subscription delivered to your mailbox. Each envelope is filled with around 5 pieces of mail. You can expect to see a letter from me, a piece of art by Josiah, a seasonal recipe card, a curated playlist, and a prompt to get you creating something of your own. Our goal is a communal pause: slow down and listen, read, taste, create with the season. Enjoy the mail, absorb it, and let it move you in the way you’re meant to go.

Our first letter is coming in February :) You won’t want to miss it.

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As always, I hope you eat something good today.

Amelia <3

The first sign was feeling carsick for three days straight — but I guess that’s to be expected.

The second was tenderness and extra tears shed — but that’s to be expected.

Next came a faint second line on an early Monday morning — by then it was expected.

After was peace — a feeling unexpected.

Followed by growth of my heart, joy previously unattained, a little ache of disbelief.

Goosebumps at the knowledge of my miracle — I didn’t expect this.

The ocean of love I swim in with those who hold my secret — I never expected this.

The counting of every week, bright with anticipation — to be expected.

The pile of books, the house projects, squeezing into my jeans — to be expected.

A fear of loss bone-deep.

Holding my stomach through the night, praying we wake up still together as one

…was never something I expected.

Time and again she brings my body to its knees, time and again I accept my fragility.

Tears roll biting into watermelon.

Tears roll as her dad cleans the kitchen.

Tears roll when I cancel more plans.

Tears roll singing her songs in the car.

Tears roll as my body aches in its new ways.

Tears roll when I remember her soul lives within me, I am her home.

Tears roll when I gaze into her room, knowing life and sound will replace the silent vacancy.

They speak truth when they say the days aren’t easy, they speak truth when they say the days are beautiful.

But still these are my perfect days, my days expecting you.

I’ve been at a crossroads lately (are we all feeling this way?), very unsure sure of my next steps. Asking questions like : Why do I feel the need to create? What does creating look like to me? Do I actually love to cook? What context does that passion live in? Will I live with regret if I don’t do “x”? Am I a failure if I don’t aim to create something special, if all I do in this life is live?

A little existential, I know. But through mulling, I’ve decided on some answers. The most overarching theme is a mindset of contentment. Believe you can and you will, believe your life is rich and it is, believe you’re loved because you are. Yes maybe this thought is coming from a place of privilege because not everyone can change their reality with a positive thinking. But really this is coming from a previously (and still frequently) insecure, discontented girl who struggles to appreciate what she does have.

We are walking miracles and though everyday life may feel mundane, draining, uninspiring, I encourage you to remember that even the act of putting dinner on the table is creative and important work, edible art if you ask me. Below you’ll find recipes I’ve loved these past couple weeks. Some are very lacking in photos because life but don’t let that deter you from these amazing dishes. Let’s jump in!

The Perfect Filet

Something I’ve been learning is the act of letting my stomach lead the way. This filet is a stunner, and that’s coming from someone who is not well-versed in steak. So if you’re looking for the perfect homemade filet, watch the video below! I served mine over french style (very buttery/milky) mashed potatoes, poached asparagus (from newsletter 10), and some quick-seared garlic butter scallops. My food prep flow: pull steak from fridge, boil potatoes while you prep everything else, drain & mash potatoes, cook steak then rest while you sear scallops, poach asparagus, reheat and add butter/milk to mashed potatoes, serve. You can do it!

Blackened Fish Tacos

Okay!!! This was such a great recipe, horrible photos though. I wasn’t thinking I’d add the recipe until I had a bite and quickly took two of the worst food pics of my life. I’m laughing. Anyways, this was DELICIOUS and it will be making its way into my rotation. My biggest takeaway is that prep work is key and will help you achieve greatness. One of my downfalls is that I go at the “cooking” portion first then slap together the toppings/garnishes when I’m hangry and overstimulated, but this recipe helped change my perspective. I vote it as a great weeknight meal.

Blackened Fish Tacos

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Basque Cheesecake

This recipe had its own debut on instagram last week. I’ve been looking at basque cheesecakes for months but took my time in trying it out. I thought it would be difficult! You’ll be happy to hear that it’s shockingly simple. My advice is to plan a day ahead. Set out your cream cheese before bed so it has time to soften to room temp, then make the cheesecake first thing in the morning. Allow it to cool/chill all day until evening dessert. This one taught me a life lesson : that beauty does not equate to perfection.

Scorched Cheesecake

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Mandarine-Sesame Salmon Salad

We ate this one for five days straight. It was a recipe I slapped together thanks to a big salmon craving. The salmon recipe is one you’ve seen before but this time we finished it with a salad of lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, oranges, nuts, green onions, sweet potatoes, and a sesame gingery citrusy salty sweet dressing. The salad is filling and nourishing, the flavors play well. An overall win for a whim! I hope you try.

Mandarine Sesame Salmon Salad

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I’m cooking my way through this final stretch of winter and can’t wait to get to spring. The sunshine and generous week of nearly 60 degree weather have helped. Let’s all take a walk today!

I hope you eat something good,

Amelia

There are plenty of ways I work to create this essence (like intentionally getting ready or having the house be extra tidy or making sure I have candles on hand) but today we’ll just get into the food aspect. This week I made my current favorite muffins, tried my hand at a true masala chai, and tested a new bagel recipe (filling it with all my fav toppings).

Oh also, all the photos you see this week were shot by me on Josiah’s Poppa’s old film camera. I had so much fun playing around and just am feeling really thankful and proud and refreshed by it. Anyways, let’s jump in :)

Sourdough Choco Chip Muffins

The perfect kickoff to cafe vibes: chocolate chip muffins. These take such little time and effort to come together, it’d be wild NOT to try them. You can decide if you want them full-sized or mini, either way they’ll taste like homemade Little Bites. The only “specialty” item you need for this specific recipe is a sourdough starter. If you don’t have one, let me know! I’m happy to share. Yum, now I want a muffin.

Sourdough Choco Chip Muffins

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FRESH BAGELS

Okay, a fantastic recipe. My recommendation is to prep these the night before and let the shaped dough proof overnight in the fridge. These are a lot more involved than muffins but also very rewarding, I just encourage you to not let the timeline scare you off. The end product? A crisp, chewy, cafe-level bagel that’s just begging to be covered in cream cheese or be turned into a sandwich. I topped mine with cream cheese, smoked salmon, dill, capers, cucumbers (a must), red onions, and black pepper.

Note: The recipe calls for “barley malt syrup” but I couldn’t find any locally. If you want to follow directions perfectly, you’ll have to order some online. I got blackstrap molasses as a replacement. It worked well but made the bagels darker in color.

I usually write out the recipe for you but this one is long and the original has really helpful photos! So I’ll direct you towards that: Bagels by Claire Saffitz (she also has a YT video I encourage you to watch).

Spiced Chai

I’ve been on a Chai kick lately, probably because of the weather. I recently grabbed one at a shop in town and was disappointed to find that it tasted like vanilla flavored milk. Though tasty at times, I’m looking for something with more depth of flavor. I went searching for a recipe that I could call authentic and found what I was looking for in Chetna Makan. She too has a youtube video I suggest watching to nail down the technique (she’s also just very adorable to watch). All in all, it simply takes a high quality tea and some whole spices to achieve a deliciously spicy and sweet chai — perfect for a rainy day walk.

Masala Chai

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All that said, I just encourage you to pause and take a moment for yourself. Whether you’re feeling drained by life or work or just can’t find creative inspiration, trying something new can really change life’s tone! Make your home a cafe and invite friends over, go for a walk somewhere new, do something just for fun. You will be rejuvenated.

I hope you eat something good today,

Amelia

Before we jump in, a quick catch up. December gave me a moment to step back from cooking dinner at home. I was hard at work on other projects, including Ceremonial’s first ticketed supper. It was hectic and beautiful and brought me to a place of confidence and thankfulness I’ve never been before. Who knew that facing your fears would do that? If you haven’t seen photos, here are a few:

Hopefully more dinners like these to come throughout the year amid ice cream drops and (at some point finally) a tote bag release. But for now, let’s talk recipes.

Lemon Posset

This is my new favorite dessert. If you don’t like citrus or don’t think fruit belongs in sweets, I hope for your sake you change your mind. I remembered this recipe when I was looking to whip up a quick treat for guests and didn’t want to run to the store. It’s one of those dishes that reminds you simple is delicious (and that custards are on the comeback). This isn’t a true custard as it doesn’t use any eggs but is all the better for it because how many desserts can you make from scratch with only three ingredients? Try it in a hollowed lemon or served in a coupe glass, either way it’ll be perfect.

Lemon Posset

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Warm Winter Salad

We’ve entered that part of winter where all I want is bread, soup, and cheese but know that greens would do me well. Opting out of the cold salad, I went searching for a warm kale salad. Justine Doiron had what I was looking for. Adding slight adaptations with the addition of grilled halloumi (the warm cheese I was looking for), it’s a recipe that helps you feel healthy and whole. Something I really appreciated about this recipe was the pacing—it was rhythmic, never hectic. Light a candle, pour a glass of kombucha, and put on a podcast. I think you’ll enjoy yourself.

Warm Winter Salad

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Savory Tart (with potatoes, onions, & gruyère)

Okay so obviously the warm salad with grilled halloumi did not in fact cure my cravings for warm, savory, crispy, bready goodness because I followed salad night with a potato pie. It has slow cooked onions, gruyère cheese, heavy cream, pancetta, and golden potatoes. This is another choose-your-own-adventure. It can be more involved with making your own crust or you can just grab one from the store. Either way, make sure to serve it with a crisp side of little gems drizzled in lemon and olive oil.

Savory Tart

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Before I go, I just want to remind you that you’re doing enough. It’s cold, it’s dark, life stays busy. If all you can get on the table this week is spaghetti with a jar of pasta sauce, I’m still proud of you. I hope you’re proud of you. Spring will come, you have not failed your 2024 goals, give yourself grace, go for a walk in the snow tonight. I think I will.

Lastly, this week’s recommended listen (thanks to my friend Leah) is the book “I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was”. It’s been refreshing to spend time actively combatting self-doubt and decision paralysis. Maybe it’ll help you too. Note: I haven’t been listening to it on Spotify, it was just an easy way to share :) try your local library app for audiobooks!

I hope you eat something good today,

Amelia

Back in March:

It’s shocking to me how quickly life changes. I was a very sad girl who didn’t have direction. I felt somewhat purposeless and very lacking in confidence that I could find work or a project that would bring me joy. After much encouragement (from Josiah & friends), cooking and writing about food quickly became my world.

We started strong, I’d say too strong. We were posting everything I cooked. I was writing about seven recipes a week, pouring over Substack for hours hoping for perfection. But I’m not perfect, so of course the burnout came. But before we had that…

We had May:

May might have been my favorite month. Flowers bloomed, my ideas were as fresh as the market salads on our plates. We hosted dinner weekly, feeding family and friends from near and far. May was a gift.

But of course May ends, my birthday passes, my friends leave town, my sister moves away. Seasons, they change.

Midsummer:

It was a build up that had to come and I could see it on the horizon. I had my first week of ice cream churning all while still trying to release the newsletter on pickup day. It was too much. It sent me over the edge of my capacity. I began to thoroughly doubt myself. Honestly, these are a little embarrassing to add but here are the kinds of texts I was sending Josiah on the reg.

A lot of this was valid, a lot was just fear. Either way I was maxed out. So, we made some changes!

Along came lasagna:

This dish was a turning point for Ceremonial as a whole. It’s not about the amount of content. I don’t need to be the most present on instagram or have a longer Substack. I can stay in my lane, care more about quality, precision, beauty, and leave myself room to outpour my creativity in other ways.

Like by making ice cream. A lot of ice cream, like 45 pints of it. Too many pints, in fact, we had to buy a second freezer. So no, I didn’t make a profit. But then I did more ice cream, 45 pints again. It sold out just like the first one. Just a couple more drops and I’ll make back the freezer money :)

But that doesn’t matter. The only thing that has mattered in all of this is what I’ve learned along the way: cheesy but true.

What I’ve learned:

1. You can do anything, you can even do it scared. It’s actually really cool to do it scared.

2. Inspiration comes in waves, don’t force it. Rest, look for beauty, be quiet. Come back when you’re ready.

3. You’ll only find your true audience when you’re being authentic. One viral reel creates traffic. One year of honest work creates community.

4. There is nothing new under the sun, don’t get stuck trying to reinvent pancakes.

5. Believe in your friends, support them. Let them do the same for you.

What I see ahead:

I see less time online and more time in person. I want this space to still exist but with the focus on creating work to hold and food to taste. Person to person. Beauty to bask, inspiration to share. Before I go, I want to reiterate how thankful I am for the weekly readers, the recipe eaters, the paid subscribers, the ice cream regulars. You mean so much to me. You keep this chef cooking.

I hope you ate something good this year,

Amelia

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Today’s headline is a phrase that sat in my head all week: “If you give a girl a chicken”. If you give me a whole market chicken, I’ll started by marinating it in buttermilk & salt for 24hrs, roasting it over boiled potatoes come dinner. I’ll pull off the rest of the meat for later use & plop all the bones in a crockpot with water and aromatics to cook on low overnight, making a rich stock. I’ll use the leftover chicken the next evening for pot pie. I’ll use the leftover broth for tomato soup, to cook rice or pasta or potatoes, even as a base to braise a nice roast. A whole chicken gives me the tools and inspiration for a week’s worth of recipes, one of which is listed below.

I’ll note: I know people are scared to work with whole chickens or even just meat on the bone (or even meat in general). It can absolutely be intimidating. But, I am my MOST thankful in the kitchen when I work with a whole chicken. I am thankful for the chicken’s life. I am thankful for the farmer who carefully raised it, who has the guts to raise farm animals when I do not. I am thankful for the nourishment I receive when I use it to its fullest extent — food and broth for days, full bellies for days, a warm kitchen for days. Let’s get into it.

Slow Cooked Apple Butter

Okay so obviously this has nothing to do with chicken. I’ve been eyeing Valley Spirit Farms little apples for weeks! They’re fully organic (you can tell by all the little bug bites) and cute as can be. The perfect apple for dicing up and cooking something cozy. Little did I know when I bought them, I had the perfect recipe sitting on my cookbook shelf (specifically, from Ronni Lundy’s Victuals). I love her recipes because she always includes stories of history and culture. This one mentions that apple butter used to be a community effort, slowly cooking in a big pot over a fire in the center of town and stirred by passers by. She tells us that the modern crock pot is the ideal way to mimic this method. Perfect, that’s exactly the hands off approach I was looking for. So, I urge you to grab a variety of apples, peal them up while watching a cozy Saturday night movie, and wake up to the smell of apple butter ready just in time for Sunday brunch.

Slow Cooked Apple Butter

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Roasted Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese

This recipe came about when I realized that Pavel’s Garden still had some of this year’s tomatoes at the market on Saturday. I didn’t know what I’d make, but I knew I needed to grab some while I still could. The thought fully formed only once I got home and realized I’d have broth from my chicken, bacon leftover from breakfast, and rogue sliced cheese from sandwiches last week. Bacon grilled cheese with creamy roasted tomato soup. Wow, you’ll beat the blues with this one. I mostly just threw this recipe together and will say, the biggest time suck is roasting the tomatoes. If you’re wanting to make it a quick meal, just use a can of fire roasted tomatoes instead of fresh <3 do what you can!

Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup

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That’s all from me this week. I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the opportunity to slow down and feast with family and friends. Oh and one more thing:

If you just got home from work and it’s dark and it’s cold and you’re making tomato soup, do it over candlelight and listen to this album.

Eat something good!!

Amelia

Ice Cream Week Thoughts:

I always get a certain itch to do a fun food project (like my Ice Cream Drops) but halfway through the week you’ll find me in the kitchen at 1:00am swearing “I’ll absolutely never do this again” only to crave it a couple weeks later. It must be the adrenaline rush. You start confident “I’ve done this before”, then the chaos hits and you fear the worst, that you’ll have invested all this time & money and “what if it doesn’t even turn out, the flavors go wrong, it crystalizes in the freezer, or melts on the drive over”. Only that doesn’t happen, you prove yourself wrong. You finish off your ice cream week sitting back, drinking a coffee, basking in the beautiful little army of pints you worked so hard to create. The little pieces of your heart to pass out to friends & strangers on a Friday afternoon. Perfection.

Something about the art of cooking feels very specific. We (chefs, home cooks) take the pieces of a puzzle and in a mess of speed, rhythm, precision, care, and the ability to intentionally follow directions all while listening to our instincts, create a meal of harmony. Overheated, overstimulated, and proud we set down our creations to be devoured by hungry guests. Our art gone, once again, in only a moment. Satisfaction and emptiness hold hands.

But we all have our art forms. They’re all very specific — wild but intentional. And in our respective crafts I think we all hit a wall, asking ourselves “why do I do this”? I’ve discussed this topic plenty in the past but this week opened a new door in my mind.

It’s all about Personal Conviction. I’ll elaborate.

It doesn’t matter what your medium is, but to stay committed to that medium, you must have personal conviction. This is what creates your artistic identity. We see it all the time in brands, big and small. Personal conviction is why people make sourdough bread or grow their own food. It’s why Josiah shoots film instead of digital or why we buy locally instead of off Amazon. It’s why my friends make their own clothes and jewelry. It’s why we pay our friends what they’re worth for their skills and hire the right designer over the cheap one. Do you see where I’m going?

When we allow our personal conviction into our art, we become one with our art. We aren’t creating what we think others want, we create what we believe NEEDS to exist in this world.

So in those moments when I want to quit, I remind myself that (and it may sound silly but) I make this ice cream because I believe in it. I believe we all deserve to eat ice cream made in small batches at home, with happy eggs laid nearby, churned with milk from happy cows that graze grass freely, with flavors that come from Indiana grown pumpkins roasted in my oven with pie spices and carefully browned butter, all mixed together and put in a satisfying, hand-stamped package to take home. I simply cannot physically make anything less glorious. It goes against my conviction.

And that’s why I hope you eat something good today,

Amelia

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It’s always so weird to skip a newsletter and take a week away. It leaves me feeling excited to cook again but rusty at writing about it. Thankfully, we have the coziest recipe to dive into and of course I’ll always have words to say about cozy. But first, I thought it might be fun to give a quick update on what life’s been like lately.

Let’s Catch up

• Fall Ice Cream Drop dates have been set! Ordering day is Wednesday November 8th, pickup day is Friday November 10th. Mark your calendars :)

• Our friends from Minnesota came to hang and help while Alexander (from Harvest Film Co.) worked on a little personal project of interviewing Josiah and filming clips of our life together. We are so excited to see the finished product, I’ll be sure to share it here once it’s ready.

• Josiah turned 27! Happy Birthday, Josiah.

• We visited New York for some time away as a birthday treat.

• We have solidified tote bags. The colors are looking so cute, all we’re waiting on now is the design prototype and then we’ll be ready for launch!

Golden Get Well Soup

Well, we have already been sick twice this fall. Fabulously enough, I recently found fresh baby turmeric at the farmers market which could only mean one thing: Molly Baz’s golden get well soup. Her recipe uses dried turmeric but obviously I used fresh. That mixed with fresh chunks of ginger, herbs, chicken thighs, rice, etc. leaves you with a bowl of pure comfort. Stay in your jammies for this one, cook over candlelight, put on Gilmore Girls in the background, it’s healing. Everything goes in one pot, just don’t turmeric stain your cutting board like I did.

Golden Get Well Soup

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Bonus Recipe: Quick Crusted Tilapia

This is a quick recipe for parmesan crusted tilapia ready to throw in with anything else you’re wanting to serve for dinner. I made this dish for our friends as they visited and paired it with the white wine bucatini from a past newsletter. It was perfect, a crowd favorite. My guess is that you should be able to whip it up in 15 minutes or less.

Quick Crusted Tilapia

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That’s all for this week! I hope you eat something good today :)

Amelia

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Today I thought I’d share my methods for meal planning: a topic fully divided. You either have the personality type that loves to meal plan or you don’t. I love it, are you shocked? All I have to do is call it “menu curating” and suddenly it goes from a housekeeping task to a creative endeavor. But we’ll talk all about it below.

First, a quick recipe for Homemade Coffee Liqueur.

Homemade Coffee Liqueur

You know the drill, I love homemade. I found out while chatting with a Whole Foods employee last year that any type of coffee liqueur you buy off the shelf uses ingredients that don’t pass their standards (usually meaning dyes, high fructose corn syrup etc.). They don’t carry it. And seeing that my standards are even higher than Jeff Bezos’s, I decided to try making my own. Using just three pantry staples, about half a bottle of rum, and the simple technique of pouring, shaking, and waiting, this liqueur comes together effortlessly — perfect for another fall/winter full of espresso martinis.

Homemade Coffee Liqueur

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How to curate your weekly menu:

Okay, I too went through the phase of showing up to the grocery store with no list and coming home from work without a clue of what’s happening for dinner, but that time was short lived. It led to a lot of wasted food, nights of takeout, even spats at home over the impossible question of “what do you want for dinner?”. I’ve decided, instead, to loosely live by a schedule that suits my needs and I’m here to share it with you.

I’ll start by giving this rough guideline of how I view days and meals, how to cover lunches, things like that. I usually go really simple for weekday breakfasts (yogurt, granola, toast) so I don’t include that below. This is a plan for two people who prefer to spend money on good-for-you foods instead of going out. So it IS a lot of eating at home.

I *try* to sit down on Sundays to go through my plans for the week. Once I know what nights we’ll be out, how many lunches/dinners we need, what fresh herbs/veggies I have to use up first, what I grabbed from the farmers market, then I’ll go hard on planning how to use it all for the week to come.

So, of course you can swap the days around or do your own thing. I just find it so much easier to filter recipes through this lens. Just make sure you’re

1. checking your calendar to see what flows for you — what days are your busiest?

2. being reasonable with how much time you have and how many nights you can actually commit to cooking — you don’t want to end up wasting food

3. taking note of what’s in season — but you can just follow along with me for that one

4. having fun — don’t take things too seriously and enjoy time in the kitchen

A mock-schedule using Ceremonial recipes:

Saturday

• Brunch: Kitchen Sink Frittata (from newsletter 02)

• Dinner: Date Night Out

Sunday

• Brunch: Cheddar Chive Biscuit Breaky Sandwiches (from newsletter 04)

• Diner: Beef & Veggie Soup (from newsletter 02)

Monday

• Lunch: (Leftovers) Beef & Veggie Soup

• Dinner: Quick-Roasted Salmon & Sautéed Cabbage (from newsletter 016)

Tuesday

• Lunch: (Leftovers) Quick-Roasted Salmon & Sautéed Cabbage

• Dinner: Stuffed Honeynut Squash (from newsletter 023)

Wednesday

• Lunch: (Leftovers) Beef & Veggie Soup

• Dinner: (Leftovers) Stuffed Honeynut Squash

Thursday

• Lunch: Snacks! Apple, Peanut Butter, Toast, A Beef Stick

• Dinner: White Wine Bucatini & A Crispy Chicken Cutlet (from newsletter 03)

Friday

• Lunch: (Leftovers) White Wine Bucatini & A Crispy Chicken Cutlet

• Dinner: A Frozen Pizza

As always my friends, I hope you eat something good today :)

Amelia

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What a theme lately. It seems like almost every conversation I’ve had or Substack I’ve read lately touches on the business of artistry. We have seemed to reach a moment in time, a great divide. Do you make your hobby your job, monetizing your skills, taking a chance on the capitalist dream of artist turned entrepreneur? Or, do the complete opposite of finding peace in a hobby being for fun, investing in a day job you can tolerate or even thrive in, truly enjoying that your art is for you and not branded or well-known by all.

Unfortunately for the non-decision maker, the options are endless. We do in fact live in a land of opportunity. And until I feel my heart properly tugged on, I’ll be listening. I’ll be home and cooking. So with that, jump in.

Raw Root Salad

First up, we have this week’s seasonal recipe. The raw root salad is quick to come together and uses three root vegetables you can pick up at the local farmers market this weekend. My favorite part of this dish is, of course, the array of colors! I fell into such awe while shaving the beet and radishes, picking up the pieces and shouting from the kitchen “Look! Can you believe this? Gorgeous!”. This dish gives us space to breathe, admire, enjoy. It’s perfectly finished with sweet and creamy goat cheese and served on a bed of baby arugula (or other leafy green of choice). Really, just snag whatever Pavel’s Garden has at market on Saturday.

Raw Root Salad

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Steak Au Poivre

I had a craving! It seems like everyone has been eating steak and fries lately. Thanks to the art of being influenced and the generous gift of my mom filling my freezer with different cuts of locally raised beef, I made some myself. The fries are cooked through the classic method of giving your potatoes an ice bath, followed by a first round of frying, a rest, and a second round of frying. You’re left with a perfectly cooked, browned but soft french fry. Paired with a saucy New York Strip, you have date night at home. Just don’t make the mistake of overcooking your steak like I did…

Steak Au Poivre

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Mountain Cornbread

I’ve been slowly taking in the pages of Ronni Lundy’s cookbook, Victuals. Ronni takes her readers on a journey through the Southern Mountains. She tells stories, shares family recipes, and brings awareness to the rich history of Appalachian culture. It’s a beautiful book and anyone who lives near the area should read it.

Ronni mentions in her book that cornbread can be made a variety of ways as long as you have cornmeal, a liquid to hold it together, & fat to fry it in. It’s a bread that home-cooks native to America have been feeding their families since the beginnings of harvesting corn. It has since been a method taught to settlers and become a dinner table staple to the mountain south. Ronni shares her own recipe which includes stone ground cornmeal, buttermilk, and bacon grease. What a joy to eat slices of history.

Mountain Cornbread

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Another good listen…

This is your reminder that you only have a couple more weeks until Spotify calculates your wrapped playlist for 2023. This means that you only have so many hours of listening left to sway its calculations of who you are and what music you’ve cared about this year. An artist that I’m shocked hasn’t gotten more attention is C.S. Fulp. His album Greenbrier will be all over my wrapped.

AND IT SHOULD BE ON YOURS TOO:

I hope you eat something good today :)

Amelia

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My favorite type of breakfast is one that takes very little effort in the morning. These two recipes satisfy the need all while still bringing you a very homemade breakfast. All it takes is some evening preparation. Put in the work the night before & you’ll sit down to a cafe-level breakfast at little cost to your time in the AM.

Let’s jump in.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

A very special treat at my house. It’s what I like to make for birthdays, holidays, or when friends are visiting. It’s interesting when writing out recipes like this one. It reminds me that so many recipes are almost identical. The biggest differences seem to come down to preference: cream cheese frosting or icy glaze, cane sugar or brown sugar filling, yeast or sourdough for rising, milk or buttermilk to bring the dough together.

If you already have a recipe you love, I’m not here to convince you mine is better. I’m here to empower the home cook who doesn’t know they can make a boss cinny roll at home. And of course, here to explain when to put your buns in the fridge for their overnight rest to have them ready in perfect time for breakfast.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

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Mel’s Breaky Bowl

I’ll call this an elevated, deconstructed breakfast hash. It’s made up of ingredients we’ve all seen before but when you pause, prepare each ingredient specifically, and pile everything in order, you end with a breakfast masterpiece. This recipe, of course stays on theme with evening prep and morning assembly. My favorite part? The home fries. Every time I make them, I get closer to crispy perfection. It’s all thanks to my favorite method: par boiling potatoes, letting them cool in the fridge overnight, then dicing and frying in a mixture of avo oil & bacon grease come morning. A delight!

Mel’s Breaky Bowl

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Setting yourself up for a better morning…

This is just as much for me as it is for you:

1. If you’re prepping food for the next morning, make sure you clean up your dirty dishes. Run the dishwater. There is something so cozy about falling asleep to the sound of the diswasher.

2. Do a quick tidy around the house. Pick up your shoes, take out the trash, fold the blanket on the couch, etc.

3. Prep your coffee for the morning. Fill the kettle, measure your beans out (but don’t grind them, at least that’s Josiah’s rule).

4. Take a moment to be thankful for your day and write down any to-do’s on your mind for tomorrow.

5. Sleep good! Put the phone down, make the room dark, get those hours in.

6. Wake up to your first alarm. FIRST ALARM. Snoozing isn’t cute anymore, get up.

7. I don’t know do your morning routine, but then MAKE YOUR BREAKFAST

8. & make it to this album:

That’s all for this week. I hope you eat something good today.

Amelia

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One of my favorite parts of cooking is curating the menu. Even if the menu is simply my meal plan for the week, I find great satisfaction in it. The whole idea of “what’s in season right now?” mixed with “what do we have?” and “what are our needs for the week?” is what keeps my wheels turning. As each dish falls into place, my puzzle completes itself. I observe my masterpiece with gratitude.

But what I love even more is the opportunity to curate big menus for special dinners. This week it was Dim Sum. Dim Sum is a meal made up of small dishes, traditionally served at lunch and enjoyed with tea. My love for Dim Sum sprouted in 2019 when visiting the beloved Kings Co. Imperial in NY when I ate my first soup dumpling. Since then I’ve tried my hand at making Dim Sum dishes of my own, this time combining them into one lovely, large, snacky family dinner.

I preface with saying, I’ve done my best to celebrate and enjoy a culture (through food) that is not my own. I’m thankful to be able to taste the history of different parts of the world through my own kitchen. I hope you do too.

Pork Dumplings

We know them, we love them: pan fried pork dumplings. This is the moment I’ll tell you this dish is best made with loved ones. It’s a team effort, the perfect opportunity to play music and enjoy a communal kitchen. We aren’t rushing here, we are enjoying time well spent with the delicious outcome of toasty steamed pockets of joy paired with the perfect dumpling dipping sauce. Slow down and have fun.

Pork Dumplings

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Chicken Bao Buns

Inspired by our local Chick’n & Mi restaurant, we have the chicken bao bun. If you aren’t familiar with making your own doughs, I can see how this would look intimidating. But you CAN do it, just watch this video on how (starting at 1:40 & watching until he finishes explaining the buns). If you follow the directions, I believe this to be a foolproof recipe. Stuff the buns with last newsletter’s sesame chicken recipe and top with a quick pickled onion, just thank me later.

Chicken Bao Buns

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Cheese & Chive Wontons

Much requested by Josiah, the ultimate snack: cream cheese and chive stuffed fried wontons with sweet & sour dipping sauce. They’re pretty straight forward and closely mimic the method of the pork dumplings but are deep fried in oil — YUM. I honestly would double the filling next time because it simply did not make enough, they went so fast.

Cheese And Chive Wontons

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Scallion Pancakes

This dish ended up being the crowd favorite. I have written out the recipe with minor adaptations from the original author but I highly recommend watching her youtube video explaining how to make it. The visuals greatly help with comprehension. My two mistakes (kind of) were that I wish I had rolled the dough thinner before cooking & that I forgot to do her little fluffing motion while cooking to maximize flakiness. Next time.

Scallion Pancake

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Honorable Mentions:

Unfortunately, we didn’t get any photos of the last two dishes. Everyone arrived for dinner, things started making their way to the table, and we were HUNGRY. So, let me just say, the duck wings were a gift from Slaughter Family Farms and a direct quote from my mom states that “this is the best duck I’ve ever had”. The ginger salad makes its reappearance from newsletter 03. I’ll link the recipes below.

- Twice Cooked Five Spice Marinated Duck Wings

- Ginger Salad Of Newsletter Past

In Other News…

Here pretty soon I’ll be announcing the date for our Fall Ice Cream Drop. So be watching out for that and let me know if there are any seasonally-inspired flavors you’re hoping to see!

Lastly, after mentioning my love for weekly menus, I thought I’d throw in one of my old segments showing how I mapped out our week of food.

I hope you eat something good today.

Amelia

This week we are showcasing two recipes. One utilizes sweet summer produce while the other tastes properly like fall. I’m thankful the two can coexist, giving us our last moments with one season as we step out into the next. It feels very much like life, paralleled.

My favorite part of these two dishes is that I’d call both of them simple, coming together with minimal time investment. If you’re looking for a fun weeknight meal, these are for you. Let’s jump in.

Stuffed Honeynut Squash

Okaaaaay, cute. When I grabbed these teeny squashes I believed them to be baby butternuts. It was so fun to be wrong! I found a new favorite squash. You can, of course use Butternut Squash if you prefer, but I recommend searching your local markets for the Honeynut. It was very rich (much like a sweet potato) but with an earthy/nuttiness I couldn’t get enough of. Perfect for stuffing with crunchy apples, spicy chorizo, & leafy kale. I’ll have to repeat this as it gets colder.

Stuffed Honeynut Squash

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Sesame Chicken

In my head, all that’s needed from the market to make this dish is chicken breast, sweet peppers, and a little knob of ginger. Everything else on the ingredients list I tend to have stocked in the pantry. It’s a house favorite and is on the menu every couple of weeks. A bonus here is that if you ever made the orange chicken back in newsletter 02, you’ll get to reuse your skills here. Embrace summer’s fleeting days & cook this one up with me.

Sesame Chicken

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In Other News

I made a brisket throughout the night last night. I’ve had it sitting in my freezer for a while because I don’t have a smoker and thought I couldn’t do it justice in my oven. BUT, if you do your research, you can find plenty of methods online for making a very decent oven brisket. I know I didn’t follow my recipe very well (I slept through my alarm) & being my first try it definitely was not perfect but WOW, delicious. Tasting it was overwhelming, as you can see pictured below.

Anyways, I hope you eat something good today.

Amelia

About a year ago I vocalized to a friend that I do not see myself as a creative person. Maybe that’s surprising to you that I’d believe such a thing, but admitting it released me from this place of desperately needing to prove my artistic ability. I struggle to create something beautiful from nothing, but I thrive in being given something ordinary & making beautiful.

Abundance is my inspiration. Limitations are my teacher. It’s why I love seasonal eating so much. It makes the world feel smaller, where options aren’t endless and being an innovator isn’t a necessity. I get to show up, see what the land has given us this week, & make something beautiful with it. What a treasure.

Anyways, we have a full lineup this week so let’s jump in!

Classic Negroni

So, this recipe has nothing to do with the words above. It has basically no fresh or in-season ingredients and is so simple that it’s hardly a recipe at all. But, it is our favorite cocktail to pair with any end-of-summer dish. It’s bitter, hardly sweet, & can be made in about 60 seconds. Just remember, this cocktail is only as good as the gin that you choose to pour in it.

Negroni

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Roasted Pepper Panzanella

This is a toasty crouton salad tossed with charred bell peppers, soppressata, mozzarella, fresh herbs, etc. It’s perfect served as the starter to an even feast with friends or as a full meal piled high in your bowl. It’s half cooked, half fresh & hits all the notes for crunch, tang, salt, cream. I used true buffalo mozzarella for the first time in this dish and I don’t think I can ever go back — SO good.

Roasted Pepper Panzanella

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Busy Day Cobbler

For whatever reason, this dish felt really special. It’s straight out of the book Victuals by Ronni Lundy and is a recipe that has you lean into the moment, using what fruits (& time) you have to spare. In doing so, you learn a treat worthy of any season & is ready in time to throw on the table after a weeknight dinner. It’s rustic, buttery, & best served with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream if you have it.

Busy Day Cobbler

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Bonus Recipe: Vodka Sauce From Fresh Tomatoes

Yes, I have shared a vodka sauce recipe before & this one is almost identical to the last except that it teaches you how to use fresh tomatoes instead of canned. Just check the recipe notes for instructions on how to prep them. If you have a lot of tomatoes, I suggest making a couple batches & throwing extra servings of sauce in the freezer like I did! It’ll be so good to whip out on a cold fall evening when you don’t want to cook.

Fresh Tomato Vodka Sauce

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That’s all from me this week. I’d love to hear if you have any thoughts or stories on creativity/artistry and what it means to you. What defines it? How do you view it?

As always, I hope you eat something good today.

Amelia

This week is inspired entirely by homemade mayo. It’s easy, it’s delicious, it’s the base for a million sauces, it’s the glue that brings a sandwich together. A miracle food.

We start off with a recipe new to the newsletter but an old friend to my kitchen — weeknight chicken shawarma covered in lemon garlic sauce. Following that is a collection of recipes from past newsletters. What do they have in common? They ALL use mayonnaise. Is this my way of forcing you to homemake mayo? I wouldn’t put it past me. Let’s jump in.

Weeknight “Shawarma”

This is one of my most repeated dinners. It’s quick enough for a weekday, is made exclusively out of real foods, is cost effective, and is shockingly filling all while being a meal approved by Whole30 goers. A crowd pleaser, the perfect recipe to kick off a very full newsletter. My notes? Don’t skimp on the lemon garlic sauce, always pair it with oven wedges, and serve it all with something cold and crunchy. This time I did a quick cabbage slaw drenched in extra lemon garlic sauce. Perfection!

Weeknight Shawarma

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Crispy Wedges

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Chicken Salad on Focaccia

A recipe from newsletter 04, we have the chicken salad. It’s the CLASSIC mayo-based sandwich. This one is full of apples, grapes, & herbs. It errs on the lighter side & is elevated with fresh, homemade focaccia. Prep everything the night before & you’ll be lunching like a pro! Note: focaccia is a very straight forward bread to make at home, but it does have about a 15hr timeline so plan accordingly.

Focaccia

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Chicken Salad

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Wings w/ Ranch

A recipe from newsletter 03, we have mayo’s best friend: Buttermilk Ranch Dressing. The pride of the south, you love it or you hate it. When Josiah moved down here, he was indeed a ranch hater but this recipe has since changed his mind. Served with oven-crisped Paleo Garlic Honey Wings (because, balance) & the wedges from two recipes up, you now have a totally crushable dinner.

Hot Honey Garlic Wings

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Salmon Patties w/ Quick Aioli

A recipe from newsletter 010, mayo plays a double feature. It acts as a binding agent for the salmon patties and is the main ingredient in the aioli. This is a dish I think about all the time! It gives salmon new form as a crispy patty & helps stretch it to more meals than the average filet. Pair with something light & crisp like a side salad. It won’t disappoint.

Salmon Patties

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Tomato & Peach Salad

A recipe from newsletter 016, mayo shows its face once again. Thankfully, in a way we just learned about: buttermilk ranch dressing. This time, brought to an elegant dinner spread in the form of a peach & tomato salad. It’s fresh, it’s sweet, it’s savory, it’s made of things you wouldn’t expect to pair together. It’s perfect as a side or a main dish.

Tomato Peach Salad

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Something I love about the journey of home-cooking is that it ends up being a personal game of “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie”. If you learn how to make mayo, you can make the quick aioli; if you’re making aioli, you’ll have to make salmon patties to go with it; if you make breadcrumbs for salmon patties, you’ll have some left over to make the tomato peach salad; if you make the salad, you’ll have to whip out some ranch; if you make a full batch, you’ll have some leftover for dipping wings. I could take this trail forever. Homemade is so fun.

I hope you eat something good today,

Amelia

Though I love fall, I refuse to give up on summer early. It’s a season I think we always get wrong. Jumping into sweaters & pumpkin lattes as soon as August hits, completely forgetting it’ll be cold through April and that we only just came to life a couple months ago when the sun got warm. I’ll stay here in my present celebrating summer’s slow transition. The first day of fall is September 23rd.

With that said, I’ll leave you with a list of some foods I grabbed from the market this week: tomatoes, lettuce, ginger, garlic (all from Pavel’s Garden), bell peppers, zucchini, snow leopard melon, pears, onions (all from Valley Spirit Farms), and some farm fresh (never frozen, wow) chicken (from Barr Farms). I have a recipe listed for using the zucchini but leave you with inspo for how to use the rest of these foods in meals throughout the week.

Zucchini Bread

This is a prime example of delicious ways to deal with abundance — cooking with yet another summer squash and giving it new form. It’s the type of recipe that uses summer produce but gifts you a cozy result (all thanks to the rich brown sugar, melted butter, and warming cinnamon). It’s basically banana bread’s summer sister. My only note is that you’ll want to plan to bake this the night before eating, as the instructions say to cool the loaf all night in the pan you baked it in BEFORE turning it out & slicing. The perk here is that it makes the perfect breakfast loaf, ready to eat when you wake up.

Zucchini Bread

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all the other ways I used my market goods:

1. BLTs until tomatoes run out (using the lettuce & tomatoes)

2. Ginger turned simple syrup for sweetening drinks (using the ginger)

3. Sesame Chicken by Primal Gourmet (using the fresh chicken, garlic, ginger, peppers, onion). Note that this photo isn’t mine, it’s from the original recipe — we were too excited to eat it & didn’t catch a pic)

4. Snow Leopard melon by the spoonful with breakfast

5. Stuffed Peppers (using peppers, onion, garlic)

In other news, we’ve started looking more deeply into Ceremonial merch & I’d LOVE to know what you want to see. I think first on my list is getting a tote bag out in the wild (for all the market veg!) but there’s plenty more to come. Catch me sporting some prototypes soon.

I hope you eat something good today,

Amelia

As I mentioned last week, you can expect this space to morph a little bit. What’s usually been a full week’s spread of recipes, is being condensed down to about 1-2 (at least for now). This is in effort to leave space for a larger project — moving Ceremonial to paper. Imagine a quarterly zine focused on what’s in season, filled with words to inspire & a curation of recipes to enjoy. It’s cute enough to leave on your coffee table, practical enough to get messy in the kitchen, small enough to pass on to a friend once you’ve used it.

It’s still in its dream stages but I hope to put prototypes in motion soon. Stay tuned for updates. Let’s jump in!

A Very Homemade Lasagna

Traditional lasagna is a food to express love. It can be timely, laborious even, a gift from cook to guest. With tomato season turning a corner heading towards its end, focus shifts from enjoying raw tomatoes to cooking them down & preserving. I think this recipe flows in with that rhythm perfectly. It isn’t heavy with sauce, ricotta, or mozzarella, it’s lighter than that all while giving the taste of home we crave. This dish takes you through each step needed to home-make bolognese sauce, creamy béchamel, & fresh pasta sheets. Add a ton of fresh grated parm & the dish is complete (& one to repeat). I hope you give it a try.

Lasagna Bolognese

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Ice cream drop thoughts…

Last Friday was Ceremonial’s 2nd ice cream drop & it was so much fun. A week spent churning ice cream into the night and an afternoon handing out pints to all you who ordered — it was a beautiful way to refresh my joy for buying local. To play a part in the ecosystem of tiny businesses in Louisville is an honor. Other people want to enjoy what I’m making? Want to offer up their hard earned dollars for a fresh pint of ethically-sourced small-batch ice cream? Incredibly life-giving.

With Friday’s pickup launching me into a weekend of my own local shopping spree (thanks mostly to Made Market), I thought I’d share a few Louisville brands I’ve enjoyed lately:

April Rugs : Small handmade rugs & textiles @aprilrugs

Misc. Goods : A hodgepodge of items, lots of good smells @misc_goodsco

What Luck : Repurposed vintage fabrics sewn into one-of-a-kind pieces @shopwhatluck

ElBread : Home-milled sourdough bread & treats @el_breadshop

Koester Co. : Small batch & made to order canvas bags @koestercompany

Craft Union Vintage : Perfectly curated vintage garments & goods @craftunionvintage

That’s all from me this week, thanks so much for reading!

I hope you eat something good today,

Amelia

There’s something so special about this time of year—walking up to the market you can find just about everything you need for a full week of eating. It’s a peak moment in farming where so much is simultaneously ripe that, honestly, it’s a little overwhelming. You want to grab it all while you can but don’t know what to make with it & don’t want things to go to waste. I get it. That’s what Ceremonial is here for, to be your road map of how to utilize the abundance. This week we are showcasing tomatoes, corn, carrots, cucumber, cabbage, lettuce, basil, garlic, cilantro & plenty more. Let’s jump in.

Seared Scallops with Curry Butter, Corn & Sungolds

Ha! Wow. Molly Baz does it again. When I saw the ingredients for her recipe I knew this would be a good one. The only part having me hesitant was that I really wanted to properly cook the scallops (they get tough & chewy when overcooked). That, plus Josiah not being a fan of scallops had me feeling the pressure. Could I convince him that they are absolutely delicious?? Answer: yes, all thanks to Molly. We both loved them. Sitting atop sweet corn & sungolds, drenched in butter & lime juice, sopped up with bread. Divine! Enjoy outside with an ice cold martini.

Seared Scallops In Curry Butter

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Crispy Tofu Spring Rolls

I’ve waited years to make these. I think I assumed that using the rice paper wrap would be difficult/timely but it wasn’t! I took some time at the beginning of the week to crisp up the tofu, cook the rice noodles, chop up the fresh veg, & mix the sauce. Then, each morning I wet the rice paper, arranged the filling, & wrapped it all up into a roll to enjoy that afternoon for lunch. Crunchy, fresh, herbaceous, portable—will make again with plenty of variations.

Crispy Tofu Spring Rolls

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A Thrown-Together But Romantic Summer Pasta

This recipe makes me really thankful for the way Ceremonial works. Everything is made in real time to feed us. Sometimes we get really beautiful pictures, sometimes all I can catch is a quick pic on my phone. Sometimes (like this time) the intended recipe goes out the window because my broccoli is rotten & I have to adapt halfway through. At first there was panic but then instinct & creativity followed, creating a fresh, easy, summery, made-of-things-you-have-on-hand pasta dish that left me smiling. Because delicious food doesn’t have to be complicated. I hope you try it.

Romantic Summer Pasta

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B. E. L. T. (BLT + an egg)

Okay yeah, more fresh tomatoes! But what else did you expect. This is another great non-recipe that you can adapt to your needs. As you all now know I kind of hate eggs... So, if we are being really honest, I decided on this recipe so that I could eat BLT’s for breakfast. Josiah, of course, enjoyed the full-on egg version & it was great. I say all of this as a reminder that it’s not embarrassing to have food preferences, just edit & enjoy what you enjoy!

B E L T

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News worth noting…

1. We have an ice cream drop happening next week. If you want in on it, be checking the stories on my instagram starting Monday. We should have quite a few more pints than last time so you’ve got better chance of catching one this time! Flavors are set to include Peach Cream, Dark Cherry Buttermilk, Coffee, & Dark Chocolate.

2. As we begin to work on a special new project for Ceremonial, things might slim down over here on the substack page. Don’t worry, we expect to continue releasing every week but you’ll likely see 1-2 recipes as opposed to 5-7 recipes.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you eat something good today,

Amelia

This week’s (almost) entire lineup is right out of Andy Baraghani’s award-winning book “The Cook You Want To Be”. I’ve had his book for a while but in taking extra time to read through it, I was inspired by his recipes. Suddenly, being struck with a craving for soft breads, tangy dips, acidic salads, herby meats, & stone fruit desserts, I knew I needed to try them for myself. The good news is that now I’m here to share them with you. Let’s jump in.

Flatbread & Sizzled Mint Feta

This flatbread was first on my list. Though any type of homemade bread takes time, I can confidently call this recipe a simple one. Soft, pillowy, salty, tangy goodness that doesn’t take more than 2hr notice & is relatively difficult to screw up. Ideal! Bonus points if you make it by candlelight as a summer storm rolls in while listening to the song “Little Green Apples”. Pair it with this quick garnished feta & you’ll be snacking on the porch watching the rain pour in bliss.

Sizzled Mint Feta

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Fluffy Flatbread

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Spiced Lamb Skewers with Mint Raita

This is the only recipe this week NOT by Andy Baraghani. It sounded too good & fit in too well with the other recipes to push back to another week. Inspired by a recent trip to Minneapolis where we enjoyed a dish like this at dinner with a friend, it has stuck in my mind since: a savory, charred lamb skewer paired with a light, gently spicy, mint yogurt sauce. It’s perfect for grilling season or (if you’re like me & don’t have one) skillet season.

Lamb Skewers With Mint Raita

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Pistachio Plum Cake

I’ve been dreaming of a fruity cake & this recipe fit the bill. I’m not here to bait you into making anything you don’t want to, but I just want to say this was so easy & SO tasty. The entire base comes together in a food processor, is later topped with sliced plums, & baked until golden & fluffy. What I like most about this is once it’s baked it’s already beautiful from the fruit, no need for any decorating (very reminiscent of a pie). The bonus here is that it can be enjoyed for dessert or as a giant muffin for breakfast.

Pistachio Plum Cake

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Pork Chops with Nori Speckled Rice & Cucumber Salad

A trio of Andy’s recipes unite for dinner. I was a little scared of this one as I’ve never cooked a pork chop. Everyone always warns you of overcooking them, dramatizing the stories of the dry, tough pork chops always coincidentally served at grandma’s house. Fear behind me, I decided to trust Andy on this one & thankfully I wasn’t disappointed. Yes, I burned them a little (!!!) but the inside was perfectly tender. Sliced up & paired with the crunchy cucumber salad & savory nori rice, I’d say it was a well-rounded success. Thanks of course to Slaughter Family Farms for the challenge of the chops, I’m sure the quality of the meat helped with the positive outcome!

Nori Speckled Rice

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Pork Chops With Toasty Garlic & Capers

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Cucumber Salad

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I’ll let you in on a little secret…

When creating Ceremonial, all I wanted was to make something that felt different. I want this to be a space for creativity, inspiration, learning! I don’t want it to get entangled in the world of marketing and self promotion that social media demands in exchange for “success”.

With that said I’m hoping to lean into the shift I’m feeling in the air—the dream of truly creating something different, meaningful, & (most importantly) tactile. More coming soon but for now…

I hope you eat something good today,

Amelia