A new series for the new year

Plus, I'm launching paid subscriptions so you can support this newsletter.

a christmas day strata with sausage, greens, and a lot of cheese.

It’s 2024 and on hand is turning three! 2023 was my biggest year yet - I spoke to 20 people for issues and published 14 recipes, many of which came from folks I spoke with. I even published a handful of original recipes, including three for Tomato Week 2023. I can’t thank you enough for reading, liking, and sharing each issue.

To start the new year, I am kicking things off with a way to support this newsletter and a new recipe series (more on that below).

I launched this newsletter in 2021 as a creative outlet to explore writing, photography, recipe writing, and anything else of interest. I’ve met a lot of interesting people, gone on a handful of amazing tours, and worked on a lot of recipes. Today, I am launching a paid version so you can support on hand. Your support will help me talk to more folks, visit more interesting places, test new recipes, and more.

Generally, issues will remain free, but subscribers will get additional recipes from chefs and other industry folks. Plus, $1 from each subscription each month will go to World Central Kitchen, an organization that is first to the frontlines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises.

If you decide to go paid, I will send you the biggest virtual high five. Thank you for supporting on hand!

a large collection of old cooking magazines, 1970s-present.

At some point in the recent past, I came across two very full boxes of vintage cooking magazines, a generation’s worth of food writing, tucked neatly into two Xerox boxes on the sidewalk. There were a lot of magazines, but I dragged them home anyway.

The bulk of the collection were Gourmet issues from the 1970s-early 2000s and Cook’s Illustrated from the 2010s. There’s no real reason to keep hundreds of old magazines, but they seemed like too good a time machine to pass up. I kept the issues of Gourmet and put the Cook’s Illustrated back out for some other lucky culinary historian.

I sometimes read through these magazines, each an acute study of what life was like during that time. Advertisements that are elitist and sexist, lifestyle content clearly geared toward a wealthy consumer. Recipes that seem overdone and unusual, leaving you wondering if they’re actually any good.

All of this brings me to the redux, a new column that looks back at these recipes and adapts them for a more modern cook. Less fussy and more doable. And actually good!

Recipes will generally get an update, taking hints and suggestions to make something new. I will sometimes figure things out on my own, but more often, I’ll tap a friend — a (mostly) willing participant who also enjoys playing with food and that I can bounce ideas around with.

To kick things off, I’ll start with an update of a recipe called Spaghetti, Chicken, and Carrot Salad. Which is definitely a totally normal-sounding salad. Recipe drops later this week and I am excited to see what you think.

P.S. Do you have pre-2000s cooking magazines laying around? I’d potentially take some off your hands! Shoot me a note at readonhand@gmail.com.