Welcome to this week’s Dinner at Sera’s, albeit minus Sera. My name is Kelsey, and I’m thrilled to be taking over as your host while Sera is on hiatus! In the spirit of the newsletter, I’ll be talking a little bit about dinner, with a few projects and recommendations sprinkled in. Let’s cook!
Fall Nouveau
When people ask what growing up in Florida was like, I always say it was a little odd because there weren't visible seasons to differentiate time periods, so everything just blurs together in my memory. Now that I live in another place without seasons - Los Angeles - I’ve decided to embrace new traditions to celebrate the passage of time. It turns out it’s kind of depressing putting pumpkins out on the porch in 80 degree weather, so here’s what I’ve been doing to welcome the arrival of fall, even when it doesn’t doesn’t feel like fall.
The pomegranate tree in my backyard is in season from September - December, so we have hundreds of pomegranates this time of year. In lieu of driving an hour out of the city to a dusty apple orchard, I walk outside and just pick fruit in my own backyard. Last year, when I was working from home full time, I set up a station outside and would de-seed them during lunch. I was averaging about 5 minutes per pomegranate, and I’m on a mission to increase efficiency. If you have suggestions, please let me know!
The most ambitious thing I’ve done with pomegranate so far is a dish called Harak Osbao, which I made for a dinner party. It translates to “He burnt his fingers,” as in, the chef started eating it before it cooled because it’s just that good. If you’re feeling adventurous, this video was super helpful and fun. No pomegranate tree required!
I’ve also traded in apple cider for pomegranate juice (I’m now teeming with antioxidants), and apple pie for quince pie. Quince is a fruit that I only discovered when I moved to Los Angeles, but it’s kind of like a sour apple except you have to cook it before using it in any recipe. It also happens to grow in my backyard, making it a very convenient alternative to more traditional staples…Now, you might be reading this and thinking to yourself that I’m on a mission to replace the apple as the classic fall fruit. Not so, dear reader. I adore the humble apple. But I feel really lucky to have access to so much fresh produce, and I’ve been trying to be more mindful of what’s in season when I plan recipes. I would love to hear what seasonal fruits and vegetables you’re cooking with this time of year - conventional or otherwise.
On Rejection
My most pointless hobby is sending illustrations to The New Yorker even though they always get rejected. I used to try to send more cartoons, but lately I’ve been submitting spots, which are the no-context illustrations you see scattered across the magazine. There’s usually around 9 or 10, and they have a theme, so it’s fun to see how all of them are connected to each other as you flip through the pages. Sometimes I’m able to re-work my rejected submissions for other purposes so they don’t go to waste. In that vein, I thought I’d publish a recent spot series here so people can see it - because if you make art, and no one sees it, did you really make art?? I guess I don’t have anything meaningful to say on rejection except that I will never, ever give up! So one day I promise you will see my spots in The New Yorker and not just Dinner at Sera’s, although they are, of course, publications of equal prestige.
30 Reasons Why
I recently turned 30, so I’m not on TikTok (sorry Sera), but I am on Instagram where I get served reels made by TikTok influencers who’ve crossed over to the platform. One of these influencers is this kid named Ari Elkins, who is somehow making a living recommending “Underrated indie songs that you NEED to know to impress your friends” but the song is like, “Electric Feel”. I mean, good for him, I guess! Anyway, I was walking down my street last week enjoying this song that made me feel like I was the main character in a movie, but all I could imagine was Ari Elkins, bopping up and down maniacally on his couch. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, congrats and let’s keep it that way!
Parting Notes
Speaking of The New Yorker, this article in last week’s issue was thought-provoking. Are you a continuer or divider?
I loved Sienna Miller’s Architectural Digest Tour and emailed it to my whole family. I’m currently coveting this tea towel - but what I’d really like is to see it as a beach towel.
Lastly, I was deeply delighted by Diane Lane’s wardrobe in the early 2000s movie Unfaithful, and consequently discovered this blog which recapped all of her outfits. It’s still too hot to wear stuff like this here, but I’ll save it for LA winter, which is more like normal fall. And now I’ve brought it full circle, back to fall! Have a great week and thanks for having me!
Note from Sera: Big thanks to the wonderful Kelsey Davenport for this week’s guest spot - we’ve known each other since we were kids and have a very embarrassing archive of photos and videos together (read: many a Michael Jackson cover). Kelsey is an incredibly talented jack of all trades (master of many), and while The New Yorker might not want her just yet, she’s been featured in the LA Times on multiple occasions.
***
I hope you enjoyed this guest series as much as I did - I’ll be back next Sunday, October 16th and can’t wait to dine with you all again!