Between traveling for my mom’s birthday and then a friend’s wedding these past two weekends, I’ve been unusually busy. So I’m sorry to the paid girlies who didn’t get an exclusive recipe last month! However, you did recieve my 5 Secrets of Picture Perfect Cookies (scroll down to the bottom of the post) which I hope helped make up for it.
For a while, a wonderful dear friend was helping me with my business partnerships and sadly she recently had to pull back (we love and support her!) which means I’ve been handling all that. It is soo not my strong suit and makes me want to gouge my eyes out and sucks up so much time, but I’m happy to say we’re making moves! While sponsored content isn’t the thing that gets me out of bed in the morning, it’s what keeps this train moving. So I’m proud that I have secured enough business that I actually might earn this year something resembling what I made at a former office job! (Which, considering inflation and the cost of living in New York, still might be a demotion. LOL.)
That has come with it some really scary deadlines and plate-spinning that I’m not looking forward to, but I’m going to try really hard to make sure you all are getting the most out of this newsletter and my recipes, videos, IG Stories, posts, etc. If there’s anything you want more of in these emails, just holler in the comments, chat, email or on IG! I would love to hear from you.
EGO Recommends
🎭 Theater: Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway
Ah, yes. Back to my roots of being a theater kid and working at BROADWAY DOT COM, both of which I’ll have to tell you about another time. A surprising amount of people wanted to know my review of this show when I said I was going to see it last week, and I’ll give you a short one here. (Narrator: It would not, in fact, be short.) Overall, I would say if you’re a musical theater lover, especially a Sondheim fan, definitely try to check it out. If you want to take your in-laws with unclear taste to see something, don’t roll the dice on this one, and look elsewhere. As my friend reminded me when we sat down for the show, the original 1981 run only lasted 16 performances.
The thing about Merrily We Roll Along is it’s told in reverse-chronological order, starting with the decimation of a group of decades-long friendships and going back to their hopeful, starry-eyed start. This is something I imagine people either love or hate, and while I knew this going in, I didn’t know much else about the show save a few songs. One thing this narrative choice does hamper is our ability to empathize with big, 11th-hour moments happening to characters we don’t know anything about and haven’t invested in at all. But it does, of course, underscore the tragedy of it all, finishing the show looking at three young people with rosy dispositions and huge dreams — knowing how it all winds up.
The real reason I shelled out the cash to go was not because Daniel Radcliffe stars. The appeal was his co-stars Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, both of whom I think are freaks of nature and two of the best actor-singers of our time! I’m a simp! Groff’s performance as Frank is giving Tony Award. The man simply can’t hit a wrong note. Mendez has a history of playing the best friend so well that you think she’s your best friend, and that’s truer than ever with her Mary. Her powerhouse voice, however is not utilized very well by this show. Radcliffe tries to keep up with these singers, and manages to with his hilarious, mad-cap performance of “Franklin Shepard, Inc,” but is shaky at other times.
“Franklin Shepard, Inc.” is one of a few places where the direction lets the actors down a bit, as he just sits in the same seat for the whole manic performance, which just isn’t very compelling to watch in a Broadway musical. Otherwise, there’s some odd blocking and stage combat, as well as off lighting placements, that might just be a result of the show being in previews.
The music: beautiful! genius! But in my very basic taste, not really catchy or simple enough that most folks could hum it walking out of the theater, which is my critique of most Sondheim music. He was no Taylor Swift is what I’m saying. The story itself is compelling, but there’s so much fluffy dialogue that doesn’t move the plot forward (backwards?) or even develop characters or relationships, that by the end of it you’re kind of wondering why these people are even in the same room together anyway.
Okay I blacked out and wrote 600 words accidentally. I’m going to stop now.
🎧 Monthly Playlist: October 2023
Just dropping this in here. As long as my playlists get even ONE follow from you all, I will keep sharing them. It only has like 3 pretty disparate songs on it right now but I keep adding more all month long.
Updates
No updates, let’s get to the recipe.
This Week’s Recipe
This recipe would make so much more sense in March with St. Patrick’s day, right? (By the way, I did some very minor research when testing this recipe and found out that Lucky the Leprechaun is also known as Sir Charms, and was originally called L.C. Also, the bird on the Cocoa Puffs box isn’t just any bird, it’s a cuckoo bird, which I didn’t know until now. And his name for whatever reason is Sonny.)
Well, too bad. Because the thing about my process is that it’s almost nonexistent. I obviously consider what’s in season and what’s seasonal, but overall, I try to avoid trends. An idea flutters into my head and, if I like it, it goes on the list. The list is divided into the four seasons, and I try to fit the recipes into the seasons that make sense for them. But sometimes, like for this recipe, I just bypass all sense because I have to make them.
These Lucky Charms sugar cookies are triple-threats. They have crushed up cereal in the dough, marshmallows mixed into the dough, and then the dough balls are rolled in a gravel made of crushed marshmallows, sugar, and a bit of cereal. This is totally optional but I think it enhances their cereal flavor.
Lucky Charms Sugar Cookies
Makes about 16 cookies
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