Lemon Strawberry Snacking Cake
+ I did get a flip phone, and what it means for my time on social media
Heyyo my sweet friends!
My approach to recipe development is fixating on one recipe until it’s done. And sometimes, I fixate and fixate, and in the end it’s not a recipe worth sharing. I’m in the midst of fixating, and am not sure if the recipe will end up being worth sharing. If it pans out, you’ll see it hopefully in next week’s newsletter!
In the meantime, I’m sharing a recipe from the 2023 archives that I’ve seen some of you making as we enjoy spring. More details on it below!
I bought a flip phone
I bought this flip phone a few weeks ago, but am still figuring out a sim card to get it up and running. I was inpired to try this out by
’s essay “Do you remember how life used to feel” and the works of artist and anti-tech activist (this is her very helpful guide to downgrading).Why? I’ve been wanting to be more present instead of constantly filling my mind with information. I want to be bored and then suddenly entertained by my own thoughts. I want the peace you feel on vacation, when you never reach for your phone, but within my daily hectic life in NYC.
SO my plan is A. Get this flip phone working. B. Do 30 days of a split-phone approach. I’ll keep my iPhone as a “home phone” so I can respond to iMessage and group chats and post the occasional Instagram. I’ll bring my flip phone out and about with me, and folks can call or text me there if they need me. After 30 days, I’ll adjust as needed for an approach that works for me.
You might be thinking, how will I follow what recipes you’re developing? I’ve been deeply enjoying substack and am going to continue posting all recipes here. So if you are subscribed, you won’t miss a beat! I’m going to share more in-feed photos on Instagram (even though the algorithm hates it), and I’m sure I’ll still do the occasional reel for a recipe that I think could truly benefit from it.
Things I did offline this week:
I really enjoy
’s weekly list of things she did offline. As I’m focusing on being online less, and not sharing to Instagram stories, I thought I’d take it for a whirl for us, too.Played a game of softball with my brother and his friends. This is my second season on their Volo league. I love playing a game and cherish having an activity with my brother.
Sang karaoke at my friend’s birthday party. My personal setlist included duets for “Goodbye Earl” (The Chicks) and “Life is a Highway” (Rascal Flatts), and a solo for “Wannabe” (Spice Girls).
Picked out some flowers for my fiancee Michaela from the Brownstone Botanical pick-up truck at the Fort Greene farmer’s market. You can buy a bouquet or make one. I did the latter! One peony, 10 daffodils, and a bunch of lilac and you’ve got romance.
An LIC brewery bop to Focal Point and Fifth Hammer. Focal Point had my favorite atmosphere of any brewery I’ve been to in NYC. Excellent beer, too.
Finished a book (Wool - the first installment of the dystopian Silo series, unfortunately the show was better than the book) and started a book (Such A Fun Age - reading it for my work book club and I’m BEHIND).
Bought RAMPS at the farmer’s market. The people at the market were LOSING IT for the ramps - one guy told his partner they should just buy the whole bin. IK there are people who have a “ramps guy” in the city - someone who keeps them stocked the way a drug dealer would. I feel I’ve squandered ramps in past years. So this week I’m going to try to make ramps the focal point of a meal by whipping up the ever-popular ramps pesto. I’ll keep you posted!
Made Ina Garten’s panko-crusted salmon with roasted lemon broccoli and rosemary roasted sweet potatoes. This is my go-to salmon - it’s super moist, with a smear of mustard and a lemon-parsley panko crust. If you don’t have panko, pretzels or saltines are a good sub. I’ve used both :)
Played basketball at the court near me. It was just me, and it was just 15 minutes, but it was a blast.
Lemon Strawberry Snacking Cake
I developed this recipe in 2023 when I couldn’t get the idea of a strawberry lemonade cake out of my mind. It’s still one of my favorite all-time recipes. While I didn’t feel like many people made the recipe at the time (granted, I didn’t have many followers, and granted, not everyone comments when they make something), I’ve seen more folks posting that they made this recipe the past few months.
This is really a summer cake, taking advantage of perfect, in-season strawberries. But it also scratches a certain “it’s almost summer” itch. The lemon is bright and fresh, the strawberries sweet and juicy. It’s perfect for one of those first windows-open days. If you have good-looking strawberries at the grocery store, go make this. But either way, I’d bookmark this for summer, too :)
You can find the recipe on my blog, here.
Thanks for being here and for making the internet feel like home,
Maddie