almost famous

tortilla gate, facebook marketplace, and tomatoes

Watching one of my recipes get ~900k views is a dream - you can ask Kris, I was refreshing my phone all day watching the stats like a hawk. I love the detailed, quantifiable validation. Maybe it’s because I’m an eldest daughter of an eldest daughter of an eldest daughter… maybe it’s because I’m a capricorn sun, leo rising… maybe this is just who I am.

The inevitable part of having a video get that level of reach is that some people are bound to not like it!! And they will likely tell you just that!! Perhaps they’re having a bad day, perhaps they don’t like to see other people enjoying life, perhaps they’re right about the feedback they’ve so boldly shared from their 3x6 screen. These people who don’t dare put themselves out in the world and risk being perceived.

In the end, their motivations don’t matter. I scroll through videos just like they do, scratching my head with thoughts like “this has to be satire” “that steak is overcooked” “gross” and other mindless observations. I keep them to myself but I’m not above pressing ‘like’ on other peoples’ comments voicing my own thoughts.

My favorite observation was “this is not the time for raw cilantro” which had Kris and I gasping for air between full belly laughs. Tacos aren’t the time for raw cilantro! Who knew!

There’s a type of humor that only exists in instagram comment sections. I’ll see a video and think ‘why am I seeing this?’ until I open the comments and see some of the funniest quips ever quipped. The ‘cook your tortilla’ comments didn’t hit that level of humor but I won’t ever skip that step again (sorry my propane tank DIED and I was HUNGRY).

Moving on to another Meta forum - the wild world of Facebook Marketplace. I don’t like logging on to the facebook app, it’s a barren place full of forgotten relatives, that weird kid from your freshman dorm, and feels like being transported back to a 2012 poke-war. How’s everyone’s Farmville doing?

We have a lot of blank walls in our new home and my goal is to fill them with artwork. Unfortunately (for me), most of the original artwork I like has a starting price of about $20,000. Aspirational! So until we can justify that level of investment (give me 10 years), I need to find other ways to fill our walls.

I turned to facebook marketplace looking for oil paintings with nice frames. I forgot until just now that this isn’t my first time buying art off of FBM - when I first moved to DC five years ago I read an article (tiktok video) about a girl who found a 19th century oil painting by a German artist on FBM. So I went looking and found a beautiful impressionist style oil painting that I still have hanging in our house today!

After spending a week looking and saving things that I liked (I learned this helps curate your searches and recommended listings) - I found two paintings that felt like the perfect fit. One was $300, the other $280, both with large professional frames, and both within a 30 minute drive. What a thrill. Just getting these framed today would cost upwards of $1,000!! And they look fantastic on our walls.

I’ll keep you updated on any other gems I find. I’ll also be painting a few things on canvases that have been sitting in my craft box for far too long.

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And finally - some bites from this week!

Grilled Shrimp Tacos

I marinated easy peel colossal shrimps in what I am calling my “universal taco marinade” because it works for shrimp, chicken, steak, and fish. You don’t even have to use it for just tacos.

If you saw my video then you saw my double skewer trick - this makes it so much easier to flip the shrimps over while you’re grilling them! If they’re on just one skewer, they have a pesky habit of turning every which way when you go to flip them. It also makes cutting them fun and easy!

And yes, this is the perfect time for ‘raw’ cilantro (unless you have the soap gene). I like to toss it with diced vidalia (sweet) onion and fresh corn.

Tomato + Peach Toast

I love summer produce but I’ve always felt a sense of FOMO when it comes to tomatoes because for years (my whole life until this year) I couldn’t stand tomatoes in their original state. Salsa? Pasta sauce? Bruschetta? Absolutely. But a tomato slice on my sandwich? You’re kidding.

Heirloom tomatoes are beautiful and I wanted to have a tomato girl summer so for the past three years (ever since I had a particularly good tomato in a caprese salad at my friend Alex’s wedding) I’ve been determined to teach my tastebuds to love tomatoes.

Mostly this involved dicing small san marzano or cherry tomatoes and drenching them in olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, balsamic, and basil. Basically just bruschetta. Then last summer I fell in LOVE with pan con tomate. This week? Heirloom tomato slices with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic on top of toast. Maybe I just like garlic? Either way, I feel like I can finally fully appreciate the euphoria of tomato season. Even if I still don’t really like unseasoned tomatoes. Who honestly does?

I’ve had tomato + peaches on toast three days in a row for lunch and the only thing standing between me and having it again today is a grocery run.

Now it’s time to decide what I’m going to make this week!

TTYL,

Anna