The Monday Digest, April 2025
What happened last month on the newsletter, what’s to come, links to articles I enjoyed + choose your downloadable photo
This is the extra newsletter you get every first Monday of the month to sum up what I published the previous month and to tell you what you can expect on this one.
As a reminder, here’s what you will find on My Cup of Tea:
The Monday Digest: The first Monday of every month you’ll get a summary of what I sent out the previous month, a sneak peak of what you’ll get the current month and a curated list of latest food articles as well as personal notes.
Every Thursday: a new newsletter on the following topics (a different one each week): 1 seasonal recipe inspired by my Catalan heritage, 1 educational piece on food photography, 1 in-depth article about the history and uses of a dish or ingredient (mostly focused on New England), 1 personal essay/travel guide/chronicle.
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Exclusive Q&A, Photo Feedback + Downloadable Photo: Every 3rd Monday of the month an exclusive chat will be available for paid subscribers dedicated to answer any questions and to send a photo for me to critique so you know how to improve your skills! Paid subscribers will also get a high resolution downloadable photo to be used as a screensaver or as a print + extra perks!
March’s summary
Last month’s recipe was a twist on the classic rice pudding that connects with Medieval Catalan gastronomy, and it’s vegan: Arròs amb Llet d’Ametlla: A -vegan- Catalan rice pudding with almond milk
After making this from scratch, I shared an extra newsletter, just in time for Saint Patrick’s Day: On Corning Beef
The piece on photography was a fun new one that could become a series if you are interested!: Roasting my Old Photos so You can Learn from my Mistakes
Last month’s food history piece was on another New England favorite that unites cornmeal and pancakes: Jonnycake
The last newsletter shared before this Monday Digest was an essay, reflecting on the meaning of “seasonal” and “local”: On Seasonal Recipes
What’s to come this April
Thursday the 10th: This month’s recipe is another Catalan classic of this time of the year: Bunyols de Vent: Catalan Lent “wind donuts”
Thursday the 17th: This month’s piece on photography is the second edition of a quarterly series; we will talk about how to make the best of the blooming season: Capture the Seasons: Food Photography for Spring
Monday the 21st: Exclusive Q&A for paid subscribers in the chat. You can also send out a photo you want feedback from! And you’ll receive the chosen downloadable photo (see below).
Thursday the 24th: This month we will leave New England for a while and talk about the food history of a beloved Catalan celebration, as I’ll be spending some time in Barcelona: Sant Jordi, an Old Catalan Tradition with New Emblematic Food
Thursday the 1st: This last newsletter is on a personal topic that is both exciting, and also somewhat conflicting: On Buying a —First-Time— House in Haywire America
Food News
Life, Death, and Sourdough - (Alice Feiring) Taste
Ultra-Processed Foods Are Ultra-Complicated - (Sumera Subzwari) Taste
How Trump’s Proposed Tariffs Could Raise Food Costs - (Amy McCarthy) Eater
Nobody knows what to do’: New England fishermen in limbo amid sweeping federal layoffs - (Sabrina Shankman) The Boston Globe
Grillos y larvas en el plato: ¿estamos preparados para comer insectos? - (Ramiro Varea) El País Gastro
Newsletters I loved
) Stories from Catbird CottageRhubarb; From Ancient Medicine to a Delicious Culinary Ingredient - (
) The Folklore of FoodMilking Bodies to Make a Nation - (Apoorva Sripathi) Feminist Food Journal
Consider the Paid Newsletter Writer - (
) The Good Enough Weekly by Davin K PopeMaking our supply chains delicious and ethical - (
) Latina Cooking) AnthroDish) AnthroDish) L’AppetitoLadies & Gents, meet the 'Slu*tty Spaghetti': Pasta alla Puttanesca - (
) L’Appetito15 Cookbooks That Changed Everything - (Ruby Tandoh) Vittles
Battling the Bloat: my Gut Health journey so far - (
) The Venetian Pantry) well read & well fedWriting About Tamales in the Time of Detainment - (
) New Worlder) Fritto MistoPersonal Notes
The next few weeks will be busy ones for me, as my husband and I are moving out of our rented Bostonian apartment to a new home. We have moved many times before, and actually this may be the fastest one as normally when we move, we move country and even continent!
But even if this time it’s only 12 miles, there’s more work involved as prices in the US are much higher than in other places, so we have hired a company to move the big pieces for us, but we are doing all the packing ourselves.
After watching multiple how-to videos on Youtube, we are ready to tackle the packing of all the ceramics and glassware we own, hopefully without any casualties!
I am working on finishing the newsletters for April, and even the first one or two of May, and have them scheduled so I can focus on the move. I’ll keep an eye on all the comments to make sure I answer each of them, but I may not be so active otherwise.
Wish us luck!
Choose which photo you want next for downloading
Choose which photo you’d like to download next. They have all been taken during springtime, though in different locations. The tea image was taken in Budapest, in 2022; the rice pudding was taken in Brookline, where I live now, and it’s the most recent—March 2025—; and the other two were taken in the English countryside in 2021.
You’ll receive the most voted image in the chat during Office Hours on Monday the 21st if you are a paid subscriber.
Thank you for mentioning my writing, and I really appreciate your interesting and engaging newsletter. This last one is full of suggestions and tips, and I want to read everything you linked! Grazie, and good moving!!! xx
Thank you so much for sharing my post about rhubarb, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!