Throughout the academic year, Melinda Giampietro, Options Founder/President, will share some of her favourite things in her monthly Founder’s Feature. Melinda loves reading, data, research, and following academic and adolescent news around the world.
February Preface of the Month
January, for me, is a nesting month. I really snuggle in and try to start the year at a measured pace. This means lots of reading, cooking, and baking. It means diving deeply into these areas that I love. So, this Founder’s Feature lacks some of the variety of other months, but I’m hoping to introduce you to some of my favourite cozy things to help you ride out winter.
This picture is me reading in my very favourite place in our home (almost always with a library book or a cookbook).
Let me introduce you to ChappyWrap. This is THE BEST winter blanket that exists in mankind. Made in Maine and women-founded, ChappyWraps are hefty, huge, and homey. We constantly fight over them in our home. This is mine, seen in the photo.
February Chef Feature of the Month
Ever since hearing about The Lost Kitchen lottery a few summers ago, I’ve been obsessed with visiting Freedom, Maine. In order to get a reservation at Erin French’s restaurant, you must mail a physical postcard to arrive in early April, and she draws them randomly to fill her 48-seat restaurant. She gets over 20,000 postcards a year, and she calls each lucky guest who gets a space and offers them a specific day to come to Freedom and the restaurant for dinner. With a little extra time on my hands at the end of the holiday season, I read Ms. French’s biography, Finding Freedom. It’s a comeback story full of grit, mistakes, determination, self-teaching, respect for surroundings, and pure will to succeed. I also really enjoyed this episode from Magnolia Network. I think it is amazing that a woman from rural Maine has created a food empire, which is respected by the likes of Martha Stewart and Joanna Gaines, by being authentic and open. I cooked my way through her two cookbooks: The Lost Kitchen and Big Heart Little Stove, but my favourite recipe, and now a family classic, came through her December newsletter. It’s these Old-Fashioned Pancakes. I highly recommend them with a dusting of cinnamon sugar, maple syrup, and blueberries. For a highlighted version of her story, listen to this clip on NPR.
February Cookbook of the Month
Last Christmas, someone very special to me gifted me Pasta Grannies: The Secrets of Italy’s Best Home Cooks. I love the premise of the book. Author Vicky Bennison seeks out Italian grannies, or nonnas, to learn their traditional techniques and recipes to preserve them for future generations. Each recipe highlights one nonna’s story and background. It is just simply endearing, and the book is warm with Italian traditions and Italian values (a perfect gift for those who love Italy). I read it cover to cover last December, but I hadn’t touched it since. And then, spending January “back east” with my family, we needed a weekend activity after almost two-feet of snow, preceded by a thin layer of ice, made it unsafe to walk or drive to any of our normal weekend diversions and entertainment choices. We dug into Pasta Grannies. We decided to make: Alba’s Tagliatelle with Ragu. It was an afternoon-long project made more exciting by a new holiday-gifted KitchenAid mixer and the bonus pasta attachment. Those of you who read December’s Founder’s know I love nothing more than a good kitchen appliance. As you can see from the photos, it was a success. I’ve always been fascinated with Italian grocery stores and the number of different flours available. I am hopeful that Pasta Grannies is my introduction to making these mystery ingredients something I become proficient at and a reality for our everyday kitchen. Momentum breeds momentum; our next two attempts are going to be: Silvana’s Potato Ravioli from Mugello and Lucia’s Sagne with Breadcrumb Dumpling, helping me master OO, semolina and buckwheat flours.
February Featured Recipe of the Month
Sometimes a recipe is just too good not to share. Most Sunday mornings, I bake a breakfast treat, quick bread, or cake. As a family, we love strong coffee and a slow Sunday morning. We have some family Sunday classics, but it is also a time I like to try new recipes (that then go in the rotation for treats I bring to the Options team). In November 2023, I featured Sarah Kieffer’s 100 Morning Treats. I am a big fan of her Vanilla Bean Blog, and her Coffee Blondie Bars are my most requested treat and recipe. They are so easy and foolproof. Three Sundays ago, I wanted to try something new and a bit more elevated for our Sunday tradition. I hit the jackpot with her Creamy Jammy Coffee Cakes recipe. There were a few steps to follow, but the results were well worth it. I used Bonne Maman strawberry jam. Their site also has some fun recipes. Please excuse our messy Sunday morning kitchen in the photo!
February Books of the Month
I read two very good books in January. This first one, I feel like I’m very late to the party on. Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid, is one of those rare books that makes you just feel like a better human being when you finish. I learned so much about women in NASA and becoming early astronauts, and I gained so much respect for people in careers that are driven by passion, exploration, the unknown, and risk. And it made me feel incredible compassion for the people who support them. This book was a different take on historical fiction (in some ways, it reminded me of The Women, by Kristin Hannah).
The second book, A Family Matter, is also a work of historical fiction, examining the rights of gay women in 1980’s England. It is a heartbreaker of a book, and I really appreciated Claire Lynch’s straightforward, accessible prose. It is such a quick read; I finished it in four days. It is a small but mighty book to think about how generational perspectives influence, change, and mold families, and how family secrets and choices look so different from the perspective of the individual.
To read more Founder’s Features, check them out under the Options News category.
Please note, Options Solutions may collect compensation from the links.
