Baking Cookies & Eating Them Too (February 2025 Roundup)

Please bear with me—February is a short month.

Welcome to Online, In the Flesh. I've been itching to create more outside of my job, and I felt inspired by Substack as a platform. Here’s my February round-up of things I love, music I’m listening to, and more.

Baking cookies

For the Galentine’s night I hosted, I made Hailee Catalano’s recipe for strawberry chocolate chunk cookies with the help of my roommate. It was my first time baking in a long while, and I realized I had been unnecessarily intimidated by it. I already find joy in cooking—now, baking too. I’ll keep a batch of dough in the freezer so I can make fresh cookies whenever I want.

With each passing year, I become more and more homely. Next—I’ll buy a new vacuum.

Collaging

I hit the jackpot on Facebook marketplace. I found a listing for miscellaneous magazines for free. When I picked them up, the boxes were so heavy, I employed Sergio to help me take them into my apartment. At my Galentine’s gathering, I asked everyone to bring their own scissors for a parallel-play collaging session. The magazines were mostly Bon Appetit, Better Homes, and some parenting magazines. I found inspiration in the macro textures of the food printed on the pages. I sat on the floor and made a kind of mosaic collage, irregular shapes and different images that eventually made up flowers with long stems. Another night, with the hefty amount of Bon Appetit magazines, I made a collage of food for a cookbook I gave Sergio for Valentine’s Day. I still have 2 heavy boxes of magazines left. I will need to keep loving to collage to make use of them – or maybe I could be the next one to pass them along for free on Marketplace.

Cutiepie Carrots

One of my favorite creators at the moment is Allison / @ally_wong on TikTok. She makes videos putting together very balanced, delicious meals, in gorgeous pottery she makes herself. An ingredient she often includes in her plates are what she calls “cutiepie carrots”. This inspired me to get my own multi-colored carrots from Trader Joe’s. They’re crunchy, sweet, cold, and nostalgic of baby carrots from my childhood. I’d rather dip them in hummus or eat plain than eat with ranch as I did when I was young.

Pottery Class

For Valentine’s Day, Sergio planned for us to go to a pottery class. It was my first time trying it, but he’s done it a few times. He has a natural knack for it and was clearly the most talented in our class. He helped me shape my pieces, but I wasn’t too bad myself for my first time (this is what I’m telling myself). We both made 3 pieces, we’ll get them in 4-6 weeks. Creating something with your hands is a fulfilling activity in many contexts. My love for cooking, now collaging, Sergio’s pottery knack.

The Marie Antoinette (2006 film) Soundtrack

I’m very late to watch this movie but in my defense I was 6 years old when it came out, AND I don’t watch TV or movies on a regular basis.. I think I would watch more movies if their soundtracks were anywhere close to the Marie Antoinette soundtrack. I already knew going into the film that the music was loved by many, then Pulling Our Weight by The Radio Dept. played and indoctrinated me as one of those many that love the soundtrack.

Love

As a water sign, I think the month of February gets me into a more loving mood (if even possible). To spend time with my loved ones is one of the purest joys of life. Going on a walk, cooking together, having sleepovers with my girlfriends. I am reminded everyday by my mother, Sergio, and my best friends that I am loved. I love LOVE.

See my full February playlist on my Spotify.

Lemony Garlicky Miso Gochujang Brown Butter Pasta

NYT Cooking actually made lemony garlicky miso gochujang brown butter pasta. For those not on Twitter, this meme started from a tweet mocking the buzzword-y nature of NYT recipes. I cannot read a menu in San Francisco without being confronted by these dishes. Some food should always be simple, classic even. But I also fall victim of this, because if I saw Lemony Garlicky Miso Gochujang Brown Butter Pasta on the menu at Foreign Cinema… I would probably order it.

To close out my first edition of Online, In the Flesh, my March vision-mood-board.

Talk soon,

Lindsay

xx