There is a substantial amount of news in today's newsletter and so this introduction will be substantially shorter than last week's and yet I'm desperate for you to read it, I need you to read it, so I wanted to make it really special, to make it really shiny, to nail it like one of those well-timed Live selfies where you're making one face in preview and another by the end of the Live, to make it really sparkle and to that end how much do you actually know about glitter? I mean really. The idea of glitter, making things really sparkle, has been around for at least thirty to forty thousand years, which is a long time, as you know, since crushed mica was used in cave drawings to add some shimmer and glam and the ancient Egyptians used either crushed beetles or malachite to get a similar sparkle. A personal glitter anecdote: people who know me well might imagine me having an aversion to glitter, but I have never once gotten mad at my kids for spilling glitter all over the house, something they have done on more than one occasion, and don't tell them, but I think it's delightful. When I reread the previous sentence it sounds facetious, but I am serious as a cardinal. Onward.
Glitter as we know it was commoditized in 1934, I think in New Jersey, it doesn't matter unless you're from New Jersey, and there are over 20K kinds of glitter made today, most of it in New Jersey, which doesn't matter, including edible glitter, but really all glitter is edible if you believe in yourself, but I'm not a doctor, so talk to your doctor if you think shiny poop might be right for you. It might be. Here's something you can do with glitter, put it on your face. Another thing is you can put a little bit in your clothing and leave a shiny piece of yourself behind for someone to remember you after you've gone. Here is a history of glitter, and another, and another. And this is an amazingly informational NY Times article about glitter which says 10 pounds of glitter is enough glitter for 500K nail polish bottles. And lastly, glitter is bad for the environment, because it's mostly microplastic, so you should 100% stop using, but maybe it's OK to keep using until just after Exxon and the rest of the Fortune 500 companies clean up their act. As always, there's a book recommendation if you make it to the bottom of the newsletter and you can pre-order and pay for Gracie's in Union or Earnest Drinks in Kendall Square. You can order delivery from both locations just by visiting those websites. Dogs in costume. A lot of them.
We are exasperatingly thrilled to play host this winter to a series of pop ups from Chef Amanda Lowry. Every two weeks for the rest of the winter Amanda will be popping up at Earnest Drinks featuring a variety of different menu themes. These run the gamut from casual 3 course casual fare menus to more formal menus like the Fest of Seven Fishes. Check out the full list here. Our first dinner is Pints, Pretzels, and Pork Schnitzels coming up on Nomember 17. $40 for 3 courses and 3 beer pairings. Do you hate the word gamut? I have mixed opinions. So you know, Amanda was chef at Barbara Lynch's Butcher Shop for 3 years before the pandemic during which she opened Dovetail (where you can grab Gracie's pints) before moving on to open Punch Bowl in Brookline (where you can also grab Gracie's pints) with the Ziskin family. Her next adventure is at The Ford in Medford, opening early 2022. They should get Gracie's pints, I'm just saying. Please check out the full list of pop ups and buy your tickets if you're interested because they are limited. Condors can reproduce asexually now, which is cool. Cats where they shouldn't be. Choose Potato.
We've also put up our Thanksgiving specials menu featuring a gamut I mean bevy of tasty options to spruce up your meal. These are the savory options and sweet ones will be added post haste, ipso facto, semper ubi sub ubi. Latin scholars will hate two thirds of the end of that sentence. Click this link and scroll down to see our Thanksgiving at home options can be ordered until the Friday before Thanksgiving and picked up Mon-Weds the following week. Peep the delicious vegetarian gravy and the out of this world herb butter. None of this shit is apples. The show is called Love Trap, watch until the end.
I'm a Pie in the Sky seller for Community Servings again this year, maybe the 11th or 12th year? Community Servings is a wonderful local organization whose mission is to provide healthy and delicious meals to people who are too sick to cook for themselves or family. If you need a pie for Thanksgiving, consider buying one of these tasty pies. More on this next week. Earnest Drinks will also be a Pie in the Sky pick up location this year, but if you want to pick up in Union Square, we can arrange that. This pumpkin shockwave.
Along with a new fall cocktail list, we've also got a trio of new Winter Hill Brewing Company beers at Earnest Drinks for you to drink with your lunch or dinner or ice cream. Really we've got plenty of fine beverages and you should come drink some of them because the winter is long and cold and we are warm and welcoming. As you might remember the fall cocktail list has a theme and last week two people finally figured out the theme and I was so pleased, but two is a small number and the amount of y'all who could figure out the theme if you put your back in to it is far larger than two. Maybe you only guessed one time and then you stopped guessing forever? How could you do that to me? Criminally missed connection.
Yoooooooo, Chris figured out the wines for this month's Earnest Drinks / Gracie's Wine + Ice Cream Club and they are wonderful and I would tell you what they are but I need Chris to tell me what they are but now you're wondering how I know they're wonderful and the reason I know they're wonderful is I fucking trust Chris when it comes to wine and other things as well so I vouch for the wines OK? I think I know two of the ice creams we'll include already and one of them might be lemon verbena which is growing in my garden currently, but recently cold weather has me reading the writing on the wall with the wall being... time? I don't know and the writing being about how the plant is going to slowly freeze to death at which point it's utility as an ice cream flavoring will be diminished. Librarian motorcycle gang. What makes someone do this?
Earnest Drinks is a great option if you're planning a small vaxxed holiday celebration or if you need lunch brought to your office or looking for make your own sundae kits to give as gifts for clients or pre-made sundaes for your team at work. This is an area of the business we really need to improve, please help. Click this link to send an email for more information. Or maybe you need ice cream pie for a celebration? We've got various pies available and always adding more in Union Square. In Kendall, we'll make the pie to order if you give us a few hours notice.
You can see what pints or scoops we have available in Union Square if you want to. It's the time of the year where you should be clicking this link for ice cream pints to see what we've got and keep your freezer full. If you order in advance it's a real quick experience. We've still got some Frank's RedHot ice cream at both shops, order at Kendall Square or Union Square. Here is another song I like to listen to.
Your favorite ice cream store will write you a custom poem or haiku if that's what you want your favorite ice cream store to do.
Our dinner menu is available at Earnest Drinks Thursday-Sunday this week. You can make a dinner or lunch reservation at Earnest Drinks by emailing chris@graciesicecre.am.
I told you I was going to stop putting in pictures of the t-shirts. But I'm still going to flog them so get ready. Flamingo Out of Step T-Shirt: Union Square orKendall Square or Online and the Ice Cream Weather Tank Top: Union Squareor Kendall Square or Online.
And here's a link to a kids book I wrote a couple years ago. Or maybe you want online gift cards? Order here for Earnest Drinks in Kendall Square and Gracie's in Union Square. Did you know Gracie's is the #1 seller of pink plastic flamingos in Somerville (and top 5 in Cambridge)? If you're in a pinch for a flamingo, click one of these links and you can get a flamingo delivered. Union Square or Kendall Square.
Unrelated: Our hours
Gracie's in Union 2-9pm every day.
Earnest Drinks in Kendall 11-9 Monday-Friday, 12-8 on Saturday, 12-7 on Sunday.
Freezer update section: The new freezer is in and wonderful and Freezer Mike came by this week to give the ice cream machine some love. You can see what ice cream we have in Union by clicking here.
Here is a list of stores you can get Gracie's Ice Cream pints besides either of our locations. Here's a helpful map if you're a visual person. Call ahead to the store to make sure the store isn't between deliveries.
Pemberton Market, Cambridge
Dave's Fresh Pasta, Davis Square
Formaggio, Huron Village AND Kendall Square
Broadway Marketplace, Harvard Square
Concord Market, Concord
Punch Bowl / Hilton Garden Inn, Brookline
Dovetail, Charlestown
Buckalew's, Melrose
Vidalia's Market, Beverly
Picnic and Pantry, Somerville, Bow Market
Bacco's Fine Foods, Boston
If you shop at a local specialty grocery store that's not on this list, it's very helpful to us if you mention Gracie's to them the next time you're there.
Thank you for reading, forward this to your friends so they can read it, too, and thank you for all your previous support. There are no exclamation points in the newsletter this week which is what we try to do regularly. Would you like a book recommendation? How about Crying in H-Mart by Michelle Zauner. I am resistant to memoirs generally, but I loved how this book was written and narrated (by the author) and the story it tells about love between parents and kids. It's good, you should read it. Buy it at Porter Square Books or Amazon.
Gracie's + Earnest Drinks team
Visit ordergracies.com or orderearnest.com and select delivery before check out. Getting stuff delivered to your house is fun.