NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — Betty Ruth Vaughn was born in Taft, California, in 1927 to Charles and Harriet Vaughn. Soon after her birth her family moved to Ventura County, where she lived for most of her life. After graduating from Fairfax High in Los Angeles, she attended Los Angeles City College and then returned to Ventura to attend Ventura Junior College. She met and married Thomas Rhodes in 1951 and reared four children.
Can ‘eating at restaurants’ be considered a hobby? Or maybe a marketable skillset! Something I score as ‘proficient’ on my resume. Intermediate, at this point. My palate is varied, oscillating between satisfying a weekly addiction for Jamaican oxtail, a consistent craving for Korean fried chicken to appreciating the reliable comfort of a simple carbonara. Despite this diversity, upon moving to America I have noticed that my favourite restaurants – regardless of their international dishes – are nested under the vague genre of ‘New American.
After a peaceful dinner last Friday night, our toddler wanted to go for a walk. He sat through the entire restaurant meal without a fuss, so this seemed like a fair request. The thing about walking with a toddler, however, is that there is very little walking involved. It’s mostly…meandering. You stop to point at a car. You wave to a stranger in the nail salon. You—oh, look! A stick!
Whilst I appreciate that I am nigh-on impossible to buy books for, others are not. There are times when I tempted to buy nothing but books for friends and family. So herewith the first instalment of my Christmas gift guides. I’ve gone slightly mad and this is the first of several parts. Subscribe here, if you’re already, so you don’t miss a single one! F… ncG1vNJzZmimkamutLTAqWWsrZKowaKvymeaqKVfpXyju86kqmasn2K0qrLTZquhoaNisKm%2ByKyrppmjYrOqr9Oipqc%3D
Hello! Welcome back and thank you all for meeting me here in Dinner: A Love Story’s new home on Substack. Look, I made you something! I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to tell you about these beans. Maybe it’s because it’s one of those recipes that’s not really a recipe, which is, of course, the best kind of recipe. Every time I make them, I text someone a photo saying, you have to make these beans.