On Turning 40

Gratitude and milestones

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I've been a fan of food and rigorous scientific research since day one: seen here in my groundbreaking study which asked the question, “which grocery store cat food does my cat like?”

Tomorrow is my 40th birthday! Today, I am driving back from a restorative weekend with friends in a cabin in the mountains of North Carolina, enjoying one of my favorite places on earth with some of my favorite people on earth.

Thanks to the magic of scheduled posts, though, I'm still able to send out a post to all of you while I'm far, far away from my laptop.

For past birthdays, I've had big sales on my online classes (which I'm doing again, and the details are at the bottom of this email if that resonates with you).

But this year, I want to do something a bit different. I'd like to share with you a short list of things I'm grateful for about turning 40, and, I'd love to hear what food you'd make (or have made!) to celebrate a milestone birthday.

Gratitude

To share what I'm grateful for, I committed to sitting at my desk and just drafting a stream of consciousness list over the course of several minutes. It's interesting what comes up when you do exercises like this: I love stream of consciousness gratitude lists because my subconscious often regurgitates wonderful moments of gratitude that my conscious mind had forgotten. Here's the list:

Best friends, cabins, willow trees, my books, the two books I'm writing, my family, my partner, a life in Ireland, a life in Atlanta, feeling joy wherever I go in the world, good meals, my microbial partners in culinary crime, sketchbooks, embroidery, cheesy tv, gardening, comfortable shoes, hiking to waterfalls, the ocean, the first bite of chickweed each spring, clearing out my closet, feeling at home on a friend's porch with cocktail in hand, cats, chickens, meditation, nervous system work, book tours, patient friends, Scotland, the chance to practice regular curiosity, buckeye trees and redbuds, physical therapy, yoga, jars, mimosa flower tincture.

The list is obviously incomplete, as any such list would be, but as I go into my 40th year I appreciate that what this stream of consciousness list has produced is a pretty accurate snapshot of me: community, food, the natural world, pets, creative energy and a bit of magic.

As a gift to me for my 40th, I'd love to hear something you're especially grateful for right now, too (whether in your kitchen or beyond!)

Milestone Meals

At the cabin this weekend, we had our own milestone meal in the form of a collectively prepared dinner. It was a friendly competition of sorts: everyone made small bites or drinks, and we picked a few crowd favorites to crown as winners (the prize? Some of my favorite thrifted goodies from over the years).

I love marking milestones with meals because it feels like I'm physically integrating the celebration of that moment: Drinking champagne and eating oysters to celebrate a book deal, for example, asks me to slow down and celebrate myself. Or having birthday cake with a friend is a chance for each bite to remind me of the joy of our friendship and of celebrating them.

I'm curious, what are your favorite milestone meals? What's one that sticks out to you the most?

Classes

• As promised, I've put all of the classes on my website on sale for 50% off.

Just use the code 4040 at checkout.

• I've also put my Hidden Cosmos oracle decks on sale for 20% off on my website.

I'm starting to run low on these, and they won't be reprinted, so if you've been wanting one, now is the time.

To get the discount, use the code BDAY at checkout on my website

and the code BDAY40 on Etsy

• If you have questions/run into technical issues please email hello@root-kitchens.com

BUT please note it is my birthday week, so I won't respond to you immediately. I appreciate your patience!

I’ll be celebrating the new decade this week, and can’t wait to return and see some of your favorite meals and moments too. Happy (almost) birthday to me!

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