Ft. Pen15 & Brown Butter Apple Blondies w/ Cinnamon Apple Glaze

September 18, 2020 by Sydney Grant

Welcome to mid-September, everybody! It looks like Tik Tok is banned again, so once again, send your condolences to your Gen Z nephew because it looks like there’ll be no Renegade-ing at Thanksgiving dinner after all. In other what-used-to-be-surprising-but-no-longer-is-bc-2020-news, Kanye got grounded from Twitter and Chris Evans wants you to vote after breaking it.

However you’re planning on spending your weekend, enjoy these quarantivities! And as always, please add your own activities to the list!

Quarant-streams

‘Pen15’

Watch this to embrace your inner 7th-grade self:

Ah, middle school. A time plagued by pimples, popularity, and far too much Bath & Body Works scented shimmer mist. As I write this and reflect upon my own middle school experience, I can’t help but cringe as I recall the time I sat on AIM for hours waiting for Hot Jake From Homeroom to ask me to Spring Fling, only to find out the next day that he’d asked Jessica instead. Jake, you taught me how to write the alphabet backwards! Did that mean nothing to you?!

Although many a TV show has attempted to portray the sheer awkwardness that is teendom, Pen15 does it so authentically and so well, that at times I literally had to turn away from secondhand embarrassment. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, it stars comedians Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle as they play semi-autobiographical, 13-year-old versions of themselves (surrounded by actual child actors) as they attempt to navigate the nightmare that can be adolescence. Although those who grew up in the late 90s/early 2000s era will relate to the specific references the most, the uncomfortable fumbles of our teen years are universal, and Pen15 captures them in a way that will have you crying with laughter…while perhaps triggering some PTSD along the way.

Stream Seasons 1-2 via Hulu.

‘The Social Dilemma’

Watch this if you feel personally attacked by iPhone’s screen time feature:

Seconding Dimitry’s rec on this one. In his latest and absolutely horrifying documentary, The Social Dilemma, Jeff Orlowski delves deep into the truth behind social media and how it was manufactured to be both intrusive and addicting. As it turns out, the invention of endless scrolling was no accident, nor was it a mistake that you were haunted by that same targeted ad for a mattress for months. Seriously, can someone please let my FBI agent know that I bought the mattress already??? I’m good – move on!!

According to Orlowski and interviews from his gang of tech renegades, these features are meant to trap users in an endless cycle of consumerism and engagement, ramping up our screen time and Silicon Valley’s net worth. Wait, so you mean it’s not my fault that I literally waste hours a day on Tik Tok and half my paycheck on things I don’t need from Amazon? I knew it! Swap out your small screen for a big screen and give The Social Dilemma a go this weekend, just don’t blame me if it makes you want to toss all your devices in a lake and retreat to a cabin in the woods for the rest of quarantine.

Stream it via Netflix.

Quarant-reads

‘Anxious People’ by Fredrik Backman

Read this to pair with your final days of poolside sun:

What’s worse? Admitting to a crime or having to spend any more time with a house full of insufferable people? In Anxious People, a bank robber is faced with this very question. After a heist-gone-wrong at an open house showing, he finds himself trapped with eight hostages, each more wacky and eclectic than the last. As the situation escalates, the robber begins to realize that these people are not your average group of hostages…if such a thing exists.

Purchase now via Amazon.

Quarant-eats

Tsimmes (Beef, Carrot and Sweet Potato Stew) via NYT Cooking

Make this bc it’s Rosh Hashana!:

Photo: Julia Gartland for The New York Times

INGREDIENTS

3 bone-in flanken, also known as flanken-style ribs, or English-cut short ribs (about 3 pounds)
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 ½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 fresh (or dried) bay leaf
3 pounds sweet potatoes, preferably Japanese white sweet potatoes (3 to 4 large sweet potatoes), peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
2 medium white or yellow onions, halved and sliced
5 to 6 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch segments
8 ounces prunes, pitted and left whole
Chopped fresh parsley, for serving

PREPARATION

A day before serving, heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Season the meat with 1 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper.
Put the meat and the bay leaf in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot, and add enough water to cover (about 8 cups). Bake, covered, for about an hour, then remove from heat, let cool and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, the fat will have congealed on top; using a slotted spoon, remove and discard the layer of fat.
Add the sweet potatoes, onions, carrots and prunes to the meat, and stir to combine. Bake, covered, for another hour, then remove the lid and cook until the potatoes are cooked, the meat is tender and the water is reduced, another 30 minutes to 1 hour. Season to taste. If there is more broth than you’d like, ladle some out and save for another use. Sprinkle with parsley just before serving.

Brown Butter Apple Blondies with Cinnamon Apple Glaze via Half Baked Harvest

Make these if you’ve already bought out the fall seasonal section at Trader Joe’s: