Egg and Cheese English Muffin with Sautéed Spinach and Pepper Jack at Nice Guy Food Co. (Long Room)

what we mean when we say we don't do that

I ran into a friendquaintance recently (I don’t like cutesy portmanteau words but unfortunately this one describes a certain type of relationship well, if you know a better, less cringe synonym please let me know, friendly acquaintance feels weird) and she mentioned she’d been reading the newsletter.

“Oh god,” I said. “It’s so dumb. Thank you.”

“It IS dumb!” She beamed. “It’s fun. You should try the Impossible sandwich at Starbucks.”

This is pretty much all the motivation I need to keep going, at least until I find something else that levels my brain out. I think it’s more than that, though: when I pivoted to egg sandwiches a few months ago, I hadn’t written for fun in really long time. Like maybe not since I was a kid, when the only reason to write was fun.

There are other things I still don’t do; some of them I feel fine about, some of them I don’t. The second category feels worth considering. I want to probe why I don’t do home repairs* or get up early**; it often reveals a fear of failure, catastrophizing, or sometimes just the realization that something needs to change if something’s going to change. I wish I could recognize the I don’t do thats that feel wrong sooner, but often I need to muddle and be dumb for awhile first.

*my dude does them or we pay someone, often it gets done slowly

**I’m a night owl, having a kid has changed this but not drastically

Egg and Cheese English Muffin with Sautéed Spinach and Pepper Jack at Nice Guy Food Co. (Long Room)

This is a nice, simple egg sandwich, served at a chill bar and coffeehouse with a rotating cast of food providers. There’s nothing fancy going on here, no cheffy twists; that and the ability to customize gives this Nice Guy Food Co. option diner vibes. It knows what it is and it’s okay with that. I got it with spinach and pepper jack because I wanted some vegetables, and also because that combo felt low-key like spinach artichoke dip, a flavor profile I chase like someone who knows her way around the appetizer section of a menu. The house-made English muffin is super fresh, almost too fresh. I feel like it could’ve used another minute on the skillet, which also would’ve given more textural contrast: everything is soft soft soft, the English muffin just chewy enough to save it. The egg is fluffy, the cheese a generous but not overwhelming blanket, the spinach tender but not mushy. It’s just well-prepared. Great with hot sauce or honestly any condiment you might throw its way. Again: it’s not rocket science. But sometimes you don’t need to overthink something; it’s more important to get to the heart of what’s actually going on. I’m trying.