Waiting to exhale
On seasonings, regency romance and embracing stillness.
Welcome to Small Joys, a bi-monthly(ish) newsletter about finding great joy in the little things. Here are a few recent things that have sparked joy.
Seasoning showdown
Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend is the number one thing everyone tells you to pick up on trips across the border and that’s because it lives up to the hype. I love it so much, I even bought the Everything but the Bagel Greek-style dip that came out last year and made a mental note to buy the potato chips they have in the works. Even though one of my favourite things about going to Trader Joe’s was adding the seasoning blend to my cart, I never had the foresight to buy it in multiples (in my head, it was just an excuse to return sooner). Then, sometime during the pandemic, I ran out. I posted a call-out on Instagram asking for a worthy substitute, received several DMs and set out on a mission. Here are my extremely unscientific findings. A special shoutout to my friend Felisia who sent me an extra bottle of the OG Trader Joe’s blend, which I used to compare to the rest!
St-Viateur All Dressed Bagel Mix
This is the first one I tried as part of a bagel order from Montreal’s St-Viateur. I had high hopes for it but sadly, it doesn’t have that TJ magic. It’s missing the savouriness the blend so known for and the subtle taste means that it doesn’t always stand out when you add it to stuff. But if it’s just crunchiness you’re after, it delivers on texture.
Club House Everything Bagel Seasoning
This was an extremely pleasant surprise. It packs the most flavour out of all the ones I tried, and a nice little peppery kick at the end, which especially comes in handy when you want to amp up the taste on bland food. I worked it into mashed potatoes once and it was delicious.
Olde Thompson Everything Bagel Seasoning
I picked up this one from Homesense, which might sound random, but it is the closest dupe for Trader Joe’s. It’s balanced, flavourful and one time, I covered my avocado toast in half TJ and half Olde Thompson and you could hardly taste the difference. A winner!
Note: I know Loblaws released its PC Everything Bagel seasoning earlier this year, but I spent months scouring stores and came out empty-handed.
Meet the Bridgertons
Photo via Liam Daniel/Netflix
I’ve read a lot of romance novels, including regency-era historical fiction. That means every book by regency romance writers like Sarah MacLean, Suzanne Enoch, Lisa Kleypas and of course, Julia Quinn, author of the Bridgerton series. I’ve read all the books in the series, each one dedicated to one of eight siblings in the Bridgerton family: Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory and Hyacinth. The books are funny and heartfelt with just the right amount of soapiness and scandal. I never imagined a Netflix adaptation of the series and better yet, one produced by Shonda Rhimes, but 2020 is full of surprises. I don’t know what to expect but come December 25th, I’ll have my Netflix all queued up.
If you’re planning on reading the series before the Netflix premiere, I recommend starting in order with The Duke and I. But if you’re tempted to jump around after that, my picks are Romancing Mister Bridgerton and When He Was Wicked.
Embracing stillness
A couple of weeks ago, I listened to Pico Iyer’s Calm masterclass called, ‘Embracing Stillness.’ In it, he argues how stillness has never been so urgent and so difficult as it is right now, during a time where we’re ruled by technology and our phones. He talks about carving out time and space for yourself, away from your phone—like going for a walk or just sitting in your room. My work and how I choose to rest are so tied to my phone that disconnecting has always seemed impossible. But he said something that stuck with me: “It’s never hard to get away from our devices; it’s just that we’ve got it in our heads that we have to be connected all the time and then we feel so deeply disconnected.” Which is why rest, at least for me, never feels like real, true and honest rest.
I’ve started going on walks in the middle of the work day, just to give myself time and space to think or sometimes, not think at all. And when I start making excuses for why I don’t have time to do it, I think about another thing he said: “We tell ourselves that we don’t have any time and yet we spend so much of our day doing things that aren’t sustaining us when this is something that is.” So my parting thoughts are this: let’s try and do more of the things that sustain us.
From my bookmarks:
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Have a great week!
x Mishal