5SR - February 14, 2024

Today’s #5SmartReads contributor is Madison T. Clark, a full-time freelance writer, part-time college counselor, and the founder of Grief Cards, a company that makes sympathy cards that don't suck.

Cecile Richards Is Working Through It (The Cut)

Cecile Richards’ years of leading Planned Parenthood were certainly not perfect. Still. The massive effects of that organization, from its founding to today, cannot be ignored. For many, Cecile’s name is synonymous with abortion rights and reproductive freedom; this profile takes us deep into those topics, while also exploring what she’s doing now. Which, to put it quite simply, is living with terminal brain cancer, continuing her fight for reproductive access - even in a post-Roe U.S. - and spending time with her family.

Too often, I think history remembers only the Champion side of leaders; their humanity, their invulnerability, gets overlooked. I’m grateful for this opportunity to peek into those aspects of this particular public figure.

Throw A Delightful Dumpling Party With These Cake Mix-Style Kits (Eater Chicago)

When I lived in Jakarta, I worked full time as a teacher and, on the side, also worked as a part-time private home teacher/nanny for a local family. Some of my favorite memories from our hundreds of evenings together are the ones spent in their kitchen, helping the elementary school girl ice cupcakes for her school, the middle school boy learn to cook for himself because a U.S. boarding school was on his horizon. This is where I first made dumplings by hand, too.

It’s such a labor of love, to make these one by one, especially when they end up being devoured so quickly. So these kits from Thirsty Dumpling, helping to bring this slow and steady, beautiful creation, delicious outcome to more households who might not otherwise access that experience? Whew. Tasty and goosebump-inducing.

Missouri Landlords Took COVID Relief Funds But Left Tenants High And Dry: ‘Where’d the money go?’ (KCUR via NPR)

This is infuriating and parts of it are somehow legal, though entirely deplorable. There’s a lack of accountability, a lack of follow up and follow through, and generally awful behavior that ultimately ruins the homes and safety of everyday tenants. This definitely isn’t a light read, yet it is a critically important one.

Chef Charlie Mitchell’s Eats a Tasting Menu Every Day (Grub Street)

Chef Charlie Mitchell is incredible. He’s the first Black chef in New York to earn a Michelin star, and he spends every day touching every single part of the food that’s produced at his Clover Hill restaurant.

I do love a good Day in the Life type of read, but especially when it’s featuring a chef of this level of acclaim, and this level of attention to detail. If you don’t already want to eat at Clover Hill, this will definitely change your mind.

I Opened A Grocery Store (A Newsletter)

Owning a small grocery store or a corner coffee shop or a sweet gathering place is one of those dreams that I’m confident most people have. (Capacity, time, or funding to bring these to fruition? Much more rare, and I’m including myself in that understanding.)

Alison Roman is a cook, writer, and author -- and also the owner of First Bloom, “a tiny grocery store in upstate New York.” This piece from her publication A Newsletter is a beautiful bit of insight into the experiences of stocking a tiny grocery store, choosing what ‘expansion’ and ‘growth’ look like, and reconnecting with labels and skill sets that we drifted away from for one reason or another.

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