White Asparagus Is in for Spring—and So Is This Kitchen Glow-Up

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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Over the weekend, I tested a recipe for using up leftover spaghetti by frying it in butter. If you are Italian, I imagine your blood pressure may be spiking as you question why you subscribe to this blasphemous newsletter. But lots of cultures do, in fact, repurpose leftover grains, from Chinese congee to Indian fodni bhaat to Moroccan saykouk. So why not pasta? And while I might not make fried spaghetti for friends, I liked it.

I liked it the way that I like eating cake cold from the fridge. Especially chocolate cake. Peeling away at a slice with a fork.

We are officially friends. I’m revealing my food peculiarities.

Spring Optimism

Daylight is longer. And we are happier. So we’re spreading our enthusiasm and offering you 20% off* in our Shop through March 18.

Spring Porridge

There is no such thing as spring porridge, but it is spring and I’ve been on a porridge kick, and have been searching high and low for new spins on the concept:

• An early contest finalist with a hard-to-pin-down flavor: miso.

• A quinoa porridge that’s lightly sweetened with maple.

• A savory rice porridge with ground turkey, soft-boiled eggs, cilantro, and fish sauce.

• A classic, sturdy English porridge that combines rolled oats with steel-cut oats, and a heavy dose of salt.

• This buckwheat porridge is hydrated overnight so there’s no cooking needed.

Spring Leaf-Green Ceramics

For this month’s All Fired Up series, we’re highlighting Maine ceramicist Elizabeth Benotti, who hand-builds and slip casts her pieces, which range from pitchers to footed dishes. For her March collection, she turned to dense green glazes, some with stripes, which she applies by hand.

Homeward Coming Soon

Soon you'll begin receiving my new newsletter, Homeward, where I’ll be building a community focused on all things home. I’ll be sharing design finds, organization tips, interviews with designers and makers, and recipes (of course!)—all the while detailing my own home renovation project for the next phase of my life.

This newsletter—the one you’re reading now—will remain focused on Food52, where I fill you in on what’s happening in our Food52 world. But I’ve longed for a place where we could go deeper on topics about home, a space where we can talk about both the joys (finessing your coffee set-up, building collections, prepping for guests) as well as the bigger realities (money, compromising on style with a partner, repairs, and hard life decisions) that have a big impact on how you live in your home. I hope you’ll join me on Homeward!

And if you’d like to upgrade, paid members can join our community chats and will receive all of my weekly posts—while founding members will get an annual subscription to all the above and a special discount that includes 10% off in the Food52 Shop for the duration of your subscription, as well as a one-time 10% off at Schoolhouse.

Kitchen Styling

A few newsletters ago, I invited readers to send in photos of their kitchens and dining rooms for me to style. I heard from a whole bunch of you! My first styling assignment is for Erin, a Food52 community member. Now, let’s “level set,” as they like to say in the business world, or set expectations. If I was actually styling Erin’s home, I’d go to her house and move things around and bring in new products and make some go away. But I’m just here behind my laptop, assembling thoughts on what I would do. Ok, let’s get to it—here’s Erin’s kitchen and dining area:

Erin, your wood floors are pretty, and the green gingham linoleum is super snazz. Schoolhouse is our sister brand so big props for the Schoolhouse clock above your stove! And the clusters of plants add such good shape and character to the room.

One shift I’d suggest is moving the plants above your stove to the top of your cabinets (as long as you have a ladder you can use for watering them). The heat of your stove will be rough on the plants, and you could use shapes with more height and personality on top of the cabinets. Things like that small green pitcher and the cake pedestals would look good on the shelf above the stove. And if you’re able to find a more discreet place for the coffee machine and other containers to the left of your sink, that would be great. It’s a big focal point of the kitchen and it would be better to move the lamp (or, ideally, a smaller one) and framed tomato soup print there or to display something beautiful, with a lighter color palette, to open up the space visually.

Now for a few things you could add:

• The dining area has good clean lines, and would welcome something with a more organic shape—these wobbly candlesticks are nice and tall. Get an odd number of them.

• You mentioned in your note that you ordered the Sabre flatware (and that you like it so much, you’re ordering more!). This stackable glassware would be a smart companion. If you want to splurge, go nuts with these faceted beauties.

• A large platter or footed bowl for your island—I like this East Fork Pottery platter in Wine Dark Sea, to infuse some color. You can use it for fruit, onions, or potatoes.

• How about a few of these pot holders, to hang on the wall to the right of your stove?

• Lastly, I wish for you to have a beautiful salt cellar. A few options here and here and here (in terracotta).

Ok, that’s my first try on styling—let me know your thoughts. Continue? Never again? I’m all ears. Email me here.

May white asparagus be in your future,

Amanda