Friday Flames | 3.1.24

A weekly synopsis of what we figured out about bread, bombogenesis, Bluebeard, ballots, and bloody murder.

Let’s just admit that the weather—along with just about everything else right now—is freaking disorienting. In Michigan, for example, the temperature went from 40° to 73° to 23° within 36 hours, thanks to the wobbly Polar Vortex. And forecasts say El Niño’s effects will break last year’s heat record.

With all this weirdly warm and windy weather all across the country, is anyone else concerned that fruit trees are going to blossom early, then endure another frost and end up not producing anything this summer? Do fruit trees adjust to new weather patterns? Or will scarcity drive apple cider prices through the roof this fall?  

It's kind of terrifying to live on a different planet than the one we grew up on, and to think our kids have no memory of a news cycle that isn’t jammed with wildfires and flooding and bomb cyclones. It feels like we’re in a horror movie and we're the only generation that knows the call is coming from the basement, because our parents ignore change and our kids know nothing but.

Anyway, happy March! Break out the flip-flops.

Embers in the News

Here are some of the links that peeked through the noisy news cycle this week:

• Born to cruise Alan Cumming writes how middle age has helped him fall in love with transatlantic cruises on the Queen Mary.

• Weed vs. heart The American Heart Association reports daily cannabis users have greater risk of heart attack and stroke. (We have methodological questions.)

• Selfies as self care Erika Thorkleson wonders if taking ten years’ worth of selfies has helped her accept the changing landscape of her face.

• Happiness = fewer fucks Of all the articles about how to age gracefully into midlife, this piece sums up a lot of helpful, easy goals to aim for.

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This week on the podcast

After seven elections as a Detroit poll worker, Magda talks about her rise to precinct chairperson and why assisting voters is a satisfyingly tangible way to amplify your political voice.

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Currently reading

Magda just finished Anna Biller's delightful and horrible Bluebeard's Castle, a send-up mishmash of Gothic romances and current women's empowerment messaging. It's overblown, overwrought, deliberately overwritten, and grisly, but she laughed out loud all the way through. Now she's starting Necessary Trouble: Growing Up At Midcentury by Drew Gilpin Faust for the next meeting of her alum book club.

Our older son loved Siddhartha, so he’s very glad the Neugroschel translation Doug was waiting for finally arrived at the library. We’re not sure why there was a four-month wait; there must be a lot of southeastern Michiganders seeking inner peace through introspection and denial of needless trappings.

Currently watching

Doug isn’t sure he’ll watch the new season of True Detective, because some of the tepid reviews pointed to Deadloch as the better option. Once you adjust to the Aussie accents and lingo (consider subtitles), it’s far more funny, suspenseful, and mindful of our basest human qualities than the overly-beloved OMITB. (He will die on this hill.)

Magda watched ballots go through the tabulator on Tuesday and hasn't had time to watch much TV since then.

Currently cooking

Magda is back on the sourdough bread train and, in true Magdanian fashion, has gone slightly off-recipe with ingredients and very much off-recipe with timing. It will turn out great or horrible. As she plans next week’s meals, she welcomes any recipe suggestions that don’t include mammals, corn, or paprika. (Mike eats everything.)

After our son requested “something African,” Doug made this Nigerian jollof rice recipe with curry-marinated chicken and a little extra habanero. It’s kind of like arroz con pollo with a sweeter, spicier kick. And it’s even better on the second day.

Next on the podcast

Laurie Smithwick talks about caring for local parents and far-flung in-laws, and how she prepared for her nest to empty abruptly when her twins left for college.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to dress in layers.

Magda and Doug