“Food Stories: Writing That Stirs the Pot,” which is The Bitter Southerner’s anthology from the magazine’s first decade. I’m about halfway through, and the incredibly moving essay about Ernie Mickler, author of “White Trash Cooking” and “Sinking Spells,” is available to read online. East of the Missippi, Delaware is the farthest south I’ve traveled but I’m enjoying reading the anthology as a study of how people write about places and food. Also, I picked up “A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance” by Hanif Abdurraqib and don’t know why I ever put it down.

In newsletterland, I really enjoyed: Meal repeating by Tove Danovich, which reminded me of Subrina Heyink’s A case for repeating outfits. Adore both writers and their work. Also, Momfluenza by Phoebe Maltz Bovy—the first two lines GOT me, “The momfluencer trend is one I am expected to care about, as a mother and an internet user. But I can’t seem to care?”

I’m wrapping up an interview with Jillian Luft about her debut novel “Scumbag Summer” which will be published in Write or Die Magazine sometime in the near future. We laughed a lot during the interview, mainly when the content was getting dark—sign of a good conversation, IMHO. I closed pre-orders on my zine and am busy busy working on the last bits of the project. On Sunday I’m letter pressing the covers with Angie of Shut Eye Press — fun!

Late in July I took a friend out for a birthday dinner at And Juliet Neapolitana, a pizza pop-up inside Arizona Distilling Co. We got drinks—I had the Floradora (gin, raspberry, ginger, and lime) and she got the Bee’s Knees (gin, lemon, honey)—and took our time deciding. To eat, we got the whipped ricotta with a Calabrian chili honey, and the day’s pizza special which also had a drizzle of hot honey. The pizza was cooked to my liking (crisp but not tearing my mouth up), and the flavors were classic no-misses with thoughtful updates and high quality, local ingredients. I don’t understand the sliced raw tomatoes served with the ricotta and honey appetizer—I love tomatoes but I ended up eating them separately, not incorporated in with the bread and ricotta. I’ll definitely be going back.

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