“Strategist Brain” is a series where staffers share the stores they’ve stopped into, stuff they’ve spotted, and extra tidbits from stories they’ve worked on. You’ll hear from a different writer every week.
I moved to Washington, D.C., two months ago but kept my house in Philadelphia, so I’m in a constant state of trying to figure out where my stuff is and looking for things to make my D.C. apartment — and kitchen in particular — more comfortable and functional. I have an electric stove for the first time in my life, which has become the bane of my existence. My husband and I are both professional chefs, and for some reason, the electric stove renders all our years of culinary experience and training irrelevant. We burn everything we try to cook, including chicken nuggets. We’ve been relying on appliances more than the stove as a result, so thankfully my job here as a kitchen and dining editor has provided me with more opportunities to test them out.
This also means I’ve been using my microwave more often than at any other point in my life. Anyday sent me this set of microwave cookware, which I didn’t know existed, and I really like it — not just for cooking but for storage. It has a wonderful seal that feels pretty airtight, and they’re my current favorite food-storage containers. These are the absolute perfect vessels for reheating days-old rice and gently cooking fresh broccoli, as they create a really nice steam effect in your microwave.
Here’s everything else I’ve seen recently …
In a recent meeting, the Strategist staff hotly debated using tallow on one’s skin. I’m Team Tallow (and I was like, “You guys put snail mucin on your skin; this is definitely less weird”). When I was making the case for Vellum Street’s amazing Fat Marshmallow tallow moisturizer, I came across its tallow bath salts, which you can use as a scrub and a soak.
I just got back from a week in Poland, and on the nine-hour flight, I realized that I need a smaller bag for my airplane crochet projects to keep them and my balls of yarn organized and not rolling down the aisles. My husband got me the colossal version of this bag for my birthday two years ago, which is perfect if I’m working on a sweater but way too big for smaller items like the sweaters I make for my Chihuahua, Coconut. I’m eyeing the shrunken version of my bag in the same print.
I am fascinated by barrels. They pass from cooperage to distillery after distillery, exchanging flavors of their wood with the liquids that are aged in them, so that when a bourbon barrel goes to a rum distillery, for instance, it imparts the caramelization developed from aging whiskey to rum, along with the inherent vanillin in its wood, while taking on qualities of both whiskey and rum. A barrel can have a life span of up to 200 years, and I’ve personally seen barrels that originated in Kentucky (I can identify them through their markings) in distilleries from Banff, Canada, to Jalisco, Mexico. But eventually, a barrel gets used up or split open to age non-liquids like chocolate or coffee beans. This is not the end of the barrel’s life. They then end up on Wine Enthusiast’s website as furniture or one of these lazy Susans that I want to get for my dining room table.
I used to use this all the time, and then I got lazy and stopped applying serums. I need to start again and restock my Asian Powerhouse Serum supply, because it is packed with so many amazing food-grade ingredients (ginseng, sake, turmeric) that give my skin a poreless, plump glow.
How did traditional Chinese medicine somehow suddenly become cool and also delicious? I’m half Chinese, and I grew up loathing the concoctions my mom would brew at home that she got from the Chinese doctor. They were always so bitter. I’ve started to see Chinese medicinal herbs (ginseng, codonopsis root, schisandra berries, and dwarf lilyturf root) pop up in ice cream, fancy gelatin, and these powdered tea elixirs from Parch. I don’t know which one is my favorite because they’re all so good. I mix them in hot water, but you can also mix them in cold water.
I had asked our Strategist Slack a few months ago about mini-fridges that don’t break after three months and I got crickets. Apparently, mini-fridges aren’t built to last. But I think I found the solution to my fridge problem with this Wine Enthusiast one, which I plan on putting in my bedroom to use as a skin-care fridge (though I’ll likely store some Champagne in it, too).
I saw a similar Stetson hat on Kylie Flett at an event, snatched it off her head to try on, and, well, I’m going to need one of these. It’s made from shantung straw, which is not actual straw but an ancient Japanese method of rolling paper into a fine yarn, then weaving it.
I just finished writing a guide to sustainable clothing and accessories that took a fair amount of research, and I came across a lot of items that I fell in love with but didn’t fit into the guide.
The Marine Stewardship Council sent me a thank-you gift for cooking at one their events, and it included this bag made from ocean plastic. The brand makes a bunch of other bags from recycled ocean plastic, and I also really like its extra-large totes, which click close and are perfect for keeping in the trunk of my car.
I’ve been following this brand for years now and I own one of its first kimono prototypes. When I was searching for sustainable-clothing companies, I was delighted to find how much Rafikimono has grown. While the article I wrote ended up focusing on companies using unexpected technologies to turn industrial food waste into clothing and accessories, I haven’t been able to get this robe out of my mind. Rafikimono sources its textiles from small producers around the world, and the patterns are so beautiful.
I got my first pair of Margaux shoes about seven years ago; they’re so comfortable and easy to walk in because of their non-slip soles, and I just bought the Cluny slingbacks. I’m eyeing this pair for my next purchase. I love the idea of wearing baskets on my feet — they’ll match my future Stetson shantung straw hat.
The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
