December 2025
No Impressing Required ✨
I've always known this about my cooking style, now I'm owning it louder than ever: I'm not a fancy cook. I like my food Simple, Healthy, and Delicious, all at the same time, and NOT FUSSY.
So when I read two articles this week that started with "Ways to Impress Your Guests," I had to pause. Look, I get it, we want our people to feel cared for and well-fed. But impressed? Really? I did an Instagram post recently about my hosting philosophy, and here it is in a nutshell: My goal is never to impress, but to please. There's a big difference. When we aim to impress, we pile pressure on ourselves (and honestly, on our guests too—they feel obligated to ooh and ahh over every little thing). No wonder so many people feel exhausted at the very thought of having people over!
Every newsletter needs a recipe, and this one comes with a story. Named after our dear friend Mike Malloy, who made it often for the surfers in our neighborhood. There wasn’t a fussy bone in Mike’s body—and there isn’t one in this dish either.
