Having Friends Over? Amanda Hesser Shares Her Latest Dinner Party Menu

Welcome to the latest edition of Food52 Founder Amanda Hesser’s weekly newsletter, Hey there, it’s Amanda, packed with food, travel, and shopping tips, Food52 doings, and other matters that catch her eye. Get inspired—sign up here for her emails.

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You learn a lot about people in moments of adversity. Last week, my mom was home on Siesta Key, just south of the city of Sarasota, facing a direct hit from Hurricane Milton. I encouraged her to get a flight out in advance, but my mom insisted on staying in the area. She packed up and went to my sister’s place, five miles inland.

I asked if she brought our family photos with her, as I’d suggested. “There was no room left in the car,” she said. “What else did you bring?” “My insurance records, some clothes, my good jewelry … and the meats in the freezer.”

Frozen meat, but not the family photos.

She is fine, and so, thankfully, is the beef chuck. The family photos survived, too. She was lucky.

Here’s a great pot roast recipe for all who celebrate Save-The-Beef-Chuck-First Day.

We’re starting to rev the holiday engines—we’ve got a lot going on!

Send Noodz—a noodle show, naturally—launched on the site (and all our socials) this week. Get the Dan Dan Noodles recipe here.

Let Me Show You, a series all about kitchen fundamentals, hit the YouTube last week. In this episode, content creator and cookbook author Stefan Ng walks us through all things knives.

Cocktail A Day continues on Food52 IG, and this Blood Orange French 75 is perfectly-hued for Halloween.

And for you bakers out there, Nea and Sarah Fennel of Broma Bakery made a Cherry Danish Cake.

We found this Texas-sized Double-Walled Cocktail Shaker. At 8 drinks per batch, it solves a common holiday bottleneck.

And advent calendars are officially back in the Shop! Take your pick from artisan tea, chocolate, coffee, and licorice. They start shipping November 4.

We took a new photograph of our Dansk braisers and I’m in love with this one. The new braisers are nice and big – great for short ribs, stews, and chowders. My family likes to make seafood chowder on Christmas Eve.

We had friends over for the weekend. We took them to see Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner’s home, which has been turned into a museum. Worth the detour if you’re ever on the east end of Long Island.

Here was my menu for Saturday night:

• Slow Roasted Chicken with Extra-Crisp Skin
• Tad’s Roasted Potatoes
• Caesar Salad Sally Darr’s Golden Delicious Apple Tart from The Essential New York Times Cookbook (I used Cortlands; and I subbed in fig jam and bourbon for the apricot jam and rum)
• Kally Rosé Sparkler
• Côtes du Rhône

Now it’s back to work and I’m headed to Austin. More on that in the next newsletter!

Amanda

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