The Monday Digest, May 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!
April’s summary
Last month’s recipe was a Catalan and Spanish Lent classic, delicious any time: Bunyols de Vent: Catalan Lent “wind donuts”
Last month’s piece on photography was the second edition of a quarterly series; a guide to best capture the blooming season: Capture the Seasons: Food Photography for Spring
The food history piece was on a beloved Catalan celebration that not too long ago incorporated new dishes: Sant Jordi, an Old Catalan Tradition with New Emblematic Food
The last newsletter shared before this Monday Digest was an essay/chronicle, on an exciting yet conflicting personal topic: On Buying a —First-Time— House in Haywire America
What’s to come this May
Thursday the 8th: This month’s recipe is a fantastic dish that shows the complexity of Catalan stews: Mandonguilles amd sèpia: Catalan meatball and cuttlefish stew
Thursday the 15th: In this month’s piece on photography we will go back to the basics and explore the incredible world of color theory: Tips for Taking Better Photos: Master the Color Wheel
Monday the 19th: 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 22nd: This month’s food history piece will be focused on a New England food that you’ll have to wait to see what is it (not trying to be mysterious, just waiting on confirmation for a field trip!).
Thursday the 29th: The last newsletter of May will be a travel and food chronicle depicting my experience dining in Noma, the many times named “best restaurant in the world” that is closing up this season forever: A weekend in Copenhaguen and an evening in Noma
Food News
How England’s Cadbury Creme Egg Became an American Easter Icon - (Amy McCarthy) Eater
Huitlacoche Is a Celebration - (Rosa María Zamarrón) Eater
“Not Too Sweet” or Too Sweet to Fail? - (Mahira Rivers) Taste
Newsletters I loved
On Italian food and identity. Who gets to tell the story? - (
) Letters from TuscanyBe the Boar: Sex, sows, and countrship on a Danish pig farm - (
) Feminist Food JournalAn Autochtonous Rice for Portugal: Between Gastronationalism and Slow Food - (
) The Other GourmandTHE NEW RULES OF EATING TOGETHER - (
) Edible living by Sarah CopelandThe Basil Trick: Everything You Need to Know (
)The Good Bones Life
) From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy) From the Desk of Alicia KennedyWhy Food Stories Are Powerful and Why We Need to Tell More of Them - (
) La BriffeWhy Egg Prices Are Dropping For Most Restaurants But Not Consumers - (
) Tap Is Fine! and ) VittlesHaving a quickie or the quiche? - (
)Tabled
Personal Notes
It has been a busy April, very busy indeed! Last Monday my husband Ross and I were driving to our new house (we bought a house in Massachusetts!) at around 6.30am when a friend from Barcelona texted me to ask if I had power. I thought she was referring to the new house, but she asked if I had power in my parents’ house in Barcelona. After clarifying I was not in Barcelona anymore, and I had come back to the United States, I searched online what was going on. There had been a general black-out in all Spain, Portugal and the south of France.
Throughout the day, I kept texting my friends, as they had no means of getting information, try to reach out for my family, and move boxes to the new house. The actual moving day was the following day, last Tuesday, and the power had already come back in Spain and everyone was ok — even my parents’ ice-cream stock!—.
That was just the cherry on the top of a month that had us pack —and live around— many boxes, go to Europe for a week right before the move — I to Spain and then Denmark, and Ross to Serbia and then he met me in Copenhaguen—, live with jet-lag for a week-straight, and do mad dashes to Ikea to get extra storage once we got into the new house!
Oh, and yesterday we drove back to our past local cinema for a 12h Lord of the Rings’ Marathon! The movie theatre director introduced the event saying: “this is a story of people uniting to fight tyrany”. Very appropriate for both May the 4th and an independent cinema in Massachusetts, USA.
Choose which photo you want next for downloading
Choose which photo you’d like to download next. They are shots I’ve taken throughout the years that represent the vibrancy of the season. You have different options to choose from in case you want to print it or have it as a backdrop!
You’ll receive the most voted image in the chat during Office Hours on Monday the 19th if you are a paid subscriber.
Oooh thanks! And congratulations for the home!
Congrats on your new home! I love photo number 1. Beautiful contrast.