Modern life is a dopamine minefield. Every scroll, like, and notification triggers a tiny hit of pleasure, keeping us hooked in an endless cycle of instant gratification. Dopamine Detox by Thibaut Meurisse is a sharp, no-nonsense guide to breaking free from this cycle and regaining control over focus, motivation, and long-term satisfaction. While many books…
Art isn’t just something we admire in galleries or hear in concert halls—it’s deeply wired into who we are as humans. Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross isn’t just another book about creativity; it’s a deep dive into what happens to our brains when we engage…
In the beginning, and some weeks through this year I didn’t feel up for the research and effort new styles of pizza required so I went to my standard New York style pizza dough and just played with different toppings. [Shout out to Tony Gemignani’s method for a great dough] This was usually informed by…
If you think pizza means a thin, round, crisp-bottomed crust with neatly arranged toppings, sfincione (pronounced sfeen-cho-nay) is here to shake up your expectations. This is not your typical pizza—it’s thick, spongy, loaded with flavor, and dripping with history. The name itself comes from the Latin spongia, meaning sponge, which is fitting given its airy,…
If there’s one dish that embodies the heart and soul of Filipino cuisine, it’s Chicken Adobo. This iconic dish is a perfect balance of salty, tangy, garlicky, and slightly sweet flavors, slow-braised to perfection in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, and black peppercorns. Adobo is not just food—it’s a cultural symbol. Every Filipino household…
I really enjoyed this one as I love movies and this was an easy one to achieve. I again used ChatGPT to search all the top 50 movie lists out there then curate a list of consensus top 100 sorted by year released. I went through and removed movies that I have watched already (Star…
Creativity has a mythology around it, a belief that great ideas strike like lightning, gifted only to a lucky few. Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon tears that myth apart, replacing it with a much more practical—and liberating—truth: creativity isn’t about originality, it’s about remixing, borrowing, and transforming what already exists. Kleon makes the…
A Classic of Swedish Comfort Food Raggmunk is Sweden’s beloved potato pancake, a dish that combines the crispy goodness of fried potatoes with the heartiness of a traditional Swedish meal. Served with fried pork (fläsk) and lingonberry jam, this dish represents the perfect balance of savory, crispy, and sweet flavors. Often enjoyed during the colder…
Kjøttkaker, Norway’s beloved homemade meatballs, are a hearty, rustic dish that embodies Norwegian home cooking and family traditions. Unlike the smaller, delicate Swedish meatballs (köttbullar), Norwegian kjøttkaker are larger, coarser, and more rustic, served in a rich brown gravy (brun saus) with potatoes, lingonberry jam, and mushy peas. This dish is a symbol of Norwegian…
Karjalanpiirakka (Karelian pasty) is one of Finland’s most iconic and cherished baked goods, originating from the Karelia region, which historically straddled eastern Finland and parts of Russia. These thin, crispy rye crust pastries filled with creamy rice porridge are a staple of Finnish cuisine, often enjoyed warm with butter, egg butter (munavoi), or alongside coffee.…