Midnight Snack Vol. 27
Sweatpants JEANS, the BEST Mac N' Cheese, Cozy Shopping Finds, & More!!!
Hello Night Crawlers, welcome to Vol. 27 of The Nocturnal: Midnight Snack, a weekly recap of anything I found “shareable” over the last 7 days. SO sorry I’m tardy! We had a very early but very heavy dinner with my parents tonight (we took them to try the EPIC Chicken Parm Pizza at Quality Italian 👅) and now I’m way too cozy as I sit typing. Not to mention that I’m simultaneously trying to watch Longlegs, which is either REALLY confusing or I’m REALLY not paying enough attention. Possibly both.
Now, let’s get into this week’s recs for what to See, Listen, Talk, Taste, & Shop:
See: An Artist I Found While Lady-Lunching
Though I’m a city girl for life, I LOVE venturing out to Connecticut here and there. Particularly Greenwich, CT, and even more particularly to Greenwich Ave., the cute little strip of shops and restaurants right off the train. This weekend my hub had to go to Greenwich for his hair cut (shout out to his cousin Tomas at Maison de Alexandre), so I took it as an opportunity to come along and be a “Connecticut lady who lunches.” And afterwards, on our walk back to the train, I stopped because I spotted the COOLEST art piece on the back wall of a gallery:
As you can hopefully tell from my quick snap, this gorgeous fashion work by Paul Rousso is pretty large (maybe 3’x4’?) and three-dimensional, as if the papers are really crumpled. Which upon further investigation seems to be his THING. So cool! I would LOVE to commission a work from him for my future office.
Listen: Malcolm Gladwell’s New Book
So I failed you again and my last The Nocturnal Book Club selection was wayyyyy creepier than intended. Although I’m a longtime lover of Chuck Palahniuk, it’s truthfully been a decade since I’ve opened one of his books, and Choke just happened to be a little more graphic than I remembered his style. Oops! If you did make it through though, as I finally did this weekend, I hope you at least found it interesting. It left me wondering how many super weirdos are really lurking out there with the normals... ANYWAY, though, MOVING ON.
Excited to finally be using my next Audible credit, I opened the app to scroll today and was beyond delighted to find that the genius Malcolm Gladwell has released a new book! And not any new book, a revised take on his OG best seller, The Tipping Point, aptly titled: Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering. Eek! I’m so excited!!!
Per usual, I’ve enlisted AI ( Google’s this time) to write a brief plot summary for us:
“Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is a book that explores the dark side of social contagion and the forces that drive negative epidemics. Gladwell uses a mix of storytelling and social science to examine how ideas and behaviors spread, and how overstories can shape human behavior.”
Read or listen to it here.
Talk: DIDDY & HOLLYWEIRD
I’m running late and this is the last section I have to write so it’s going to be BRIEF, (sorry). But, overall, I’m fully invested in this conspiracy saga that’s going on out there. What are your thoughts? Who online has the best insider tea??? I will resume this convo at a later date but I’m definitely leaning on the side of “there’s a lot of weird connections with all the pneumonia deaths and celebs ‘going mental’ (Blue Catrell, Britney, Wendy Williams) that something fishy is going on”. It now also makes a LOT more sense why so many celebs are adamant about their offspring NOT working or being involved in the industry… Share your take in the comments, please!
Taste: The Best Mac N’ Cheese You’ll Ever Eat
It’s recipe time, dear Vampires! As I’ve mentioned, my hub and I love to cook and he particularly LOVES making up new recipes. Well, last week we took his recipe for an already delectable baked mac n’ cheese to the next level by adding in beyond juicy pulled pork. I’ll spare the novel and just get right to the point with the critical details, though I’m super inspired to make a whole Nara Smith-style video of me making this greasy goodness while wearing couture. For now, though, all you get is this iphone photo I snapped before DEVOURING my entire plate:
*Mannino* Santora Pulled Pork Mac N’ Cheese
Ingredients
1 block Gruyere
1 block Dill Havarti
1 block Cheddar (I love Seaside Cheddar from Whole Foods)
Grated Parm or Romano
1 box pasta (1 lb) (Elbows are my fav here! My hub loves Cavatelli)
Peeled Garlic
1 Yellow Onion, chopped
Olive Oil
1 stick Butter
1/2 cup Flour
2 cups heavy cream
1.5 lbs Pulled Pork from your favorite restaurant (In NYC we usually use Mighty Quinn’s or Fette Sau)
Spices (Rosemary, Salt, Pepper, Oregano, Cayenne Pepper)
Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs
Instructions
Chop 1 block each of Gruyere, Dill Havarti, and Cheddar into small cubes
Boil the Pasta, al dente (Save 1/4 cup of the pasta water for later)
In a large sauce pot, sautee garlic and onion in olive oil
Lower heat and melt in 1 stick of butter
Sift in ½ cup of flour and consistently whisk
Once a roux is formed, add 2 cups of heavy cream, keep whisking
Season with ground rosemary, salt, pepper, oregano, and cayenne pepper, keep whisking
Add in cheese and raise the heat. Keep whisking
When the pasta is done add ¼ cup of pasta water to the cheese. Drain the rest of the pasta
Add pasta and pulled pork to the cheese and mix well
Move into a 9 X 13 glass baking tray and level
Sprinkle with bread crumbs, grated parm or romano, and drizzle with olive oil
Bake at 400 for 30 min
Let sit for 5 min before serving
Enjoy!!!
My hub wrote these instructions, so they’re a little more thorough than my usual ones. YOU’RE WELCOME.
Shop: Cozy Chic Finds
I was FLOORED when my co-worker showed up at the office in these adorable slouchy Rag & Bone jeans that are in fact NOT JEANS, but rather french terry sweatpants printed to look like jeans. The belt loops aren’t even real! Or the buttons…or the pockets…or the rivets!
Shoutout to Julia for the heads up about these cozy-chic pants that have been bumped up to #1 on my shopping wish list. They’re a little pricier at $175, but price per wear has to be LOW for these babies that I feel I’ll want to rock everyday??? Shop them here. Also love this color way, too.
And since it’s now officially “sweater weather”, I’ve been super prowling for a couple additions of some *basics* in the sweater/sweater dress department. Loving these three right now, especially the purple which is from a new brand I’m not familiar with:
J.Crew Brushed Cashmere Sweater
American Vintage Sweater Dress
And, lastly, though most of us wouldn’t reallyyyy categorize these Calzedonia hot pants as cozy, I swear they are! I bought these last year in the sequin fabrication and even THOSE are such an easy to throw on “bottom” to go with a sweater or oversized top, bodysuit, etc. I was super excited when I was shopping this week and saw not only that the matte version was back in stock but also that they have a new LEATHER VERSION out.
Bonus: NYC Tonight & My New Hat
I love when they light up the buildings all pretty!
The Artache Hotel hat I was stoked about in last week’s newsletter arrived this week! It’s a trucker hat so I felt v. cool like 2000s Britney & Paris while wearing it, though this look was probably not super appropriate for my lady-lunch day in Greenwich. Love to spice up a town vibe though.
Issa vibe
Alright beautiful vampires, I must leave you now. Thanks for coming back for another midnight snack.
Stay hungry and restless!
See you next Sunday ;)
xoxo
Christina