Today’s post is a mixtape of topics ranging from a salad dressing recipe that I’ll be making on repeat (video below), a request for your input on stoves (the chat is already lighting up with recommendations—I’d love to hear yours), a deep dive on mailboxes, and a follow-up on that tomato syrup.
But first, a huge thank you to Libby, Emma, and Michellene, who shared excellent tips for handling rattlesnakes on your property (check out the comments section of my last post). I hope I never have to use any of their advice, but I’m very glad to have it. And I am currently regretting not putting “low snake population” on our house-priorities list.
The stove has become the status symbol of a home. We’ve all spied the gleaming brass knobs of a La Cornue range on an AD home tour, or the pillow-like doors of an Aga in a House & Garden feature. The range is usually the focal point of a kitchen, the showpiece. It also happens to be the most expensive appliance. The La Cornue Grand Palais starts at $80k; a LaCanche comes in at around $15k; a starter Viking model will run you a mere $6k; and an entry-level Bertazzoni can be under $5k. So people talk about their stoves and ranges like people talk about their cars. When I socialize, if someone finds out we’re renovating a house, the over/under on when they ask me what kind of stove we’re getting is max 2 minutes.
Maddeningly, however, people are mostly in the dark when making this status-y purchase. There is no great single source that rates the quality, design, and function of all the stoves on the market. As a buyer, you’re left adrift, which causes most people to default, understandably, to making a decision based on looks, price, and perhaps a YouTube review rabbit hole that never feels completely vetted.
This week I’d love to hear all your thoughts on stoves—so the community can benefit from Homewardians’ collective knowledge. I’m curious to know your opinions about:
brands/models you like—or don’t!—and why
features you value
induction vs. gas
thoughts on convection and warmers
BTUs and how much they matter
best components for different types of cooking (large groups, bread baking, searing)
Comment below, in the chat, or dm me on Substack. Then I’ll come back to you with a distilled version of your feedback, plus my own research, so we can all have a guide. I had to select my stove very early in the process, so I’ll also let you know what we’re getting and if I’m feeling buyer’s remorse—because, I have to confess, I also made my decision based on looks and price.
You may judge a pizzeria by its pizza, I judge it by its vegetable dishes. One of the reasons Franny’s, the sorely-missed pizza place in Park Slope, was so wildly popular was because it made magic with salads and vegetable sides.
Jules, a pizzeria that recently opened in our neighborhood in Brooklyn, wins high marks from me for its Jules salad, a ring of little gem lettuce that’s draped in a tonnato dressing. I love tonnato sauce (a mayo-forward tuna sauce with briny bits of capers and anchovy) and am annoyed with myself for not thinking to turn it into a salad dressing. If you loosen it up with mayonnaise and plenty of lemon juice, as Jules does, it’s like a Caesar, but with oil-packed tuna.
Jules goes the extra mile by sprinkling the lettuce with toasted pine nuts and crisp, fried quinoa. I made the salad with both—if you’re crunched for time, you can skip this step or toss in some coarse toasted breadcrumbs. Just don’t skip the chives.
I’m going to be making this dressing forever. Here’s the vid, followed by the recipe...
