OUR END OF YEAR RECAP

The BP team’s favorites from 2022, plus what we’re looking forward to in 2023.

It was another long, strange year on Planet Earth, but luckily, amidst the madness of the human race, it was full of fine food, drink, books, music, and much more. We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite as a parting gift to all of you. Happy cooking, and happy New Year, y’all.

WHAT WE’VE LISTENED TO
West Virginia singer-songwriter Sierra Ferrell. Fresh Air with Terry Gross on your local NPR radio station. All the podcasts, including The Daily, to pair with your morning coffee, Radiolab, to release your inner nerd, Rumble Strip, for a wonderful window into everyday life in rural Vermont, and The Friendship Onion, from Billy Boy and Dom Monaghan of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

WHAT WE’VE READ
Coming to My Senses by Alice Waters. How to Cook a Wolf by M.F.K Fisher. Songs of Unreason by Jim Harrison. “Are You the Same Person You Used to Be?” by Joshua Rothman in The New Yorker, which you’ll be thinking about long after. “Lester Young’s Christmas Comeback” by music critic Ted Gioia on Substack—a fascinating story about the last recordings of a great saxophone player, recorded at The Patio in Washington D.C.

WHAT WE’VE WATCHED
The World Cup (duh). Plus binging The Bear on Hulu, continuing the fourth season of Danish political drama Borgen on Netflix, and on a flight to and from Paris, falling for Hacks on HBO Max.

WHERE WE’VE EATEN
Clare de Boer’s perfect Stissing House in upstate New York. Greg Collier’s Leah & Louise for Southern comfort in Charlotte. Jeremiah Langhorne’s The Dabney and Opie Crooks’ No Goodbyes in Washington, D.C., for elevated Mid-Atlantic cuisine. Sally’s Apizza in New Haven, Connecticut (if you know, you know). Tacos Apson in Tucson—perhaps the best al pastor in the United States of America. And as often as we can, at Sean Brock’s Audrey, in Nashville.  

WHAT WE’VE DRANK
Oyster River Winegrowers from Maine. A final pint from Bertha’s Mussels in Baltimore. Ghia, a non-alcoholic aperitif. Too many canned Le Colombes.

WHAT WE’VE COOKED FROM
Tartine All Day. Matty Matheson: A Cookbook. Nik Sharma’s The Flavor Equation. New Orleans’ Mosquito Supper Club and Turkey and the Wolf. Ronni Lundy’s Victuals. The New York Times cooking section.

WHAT WE’VE COOKED (A LOT OF)
Banana bread in the Heather! Pizza in the Lili! Alison Roman’s “brothy beans.” Hank Shaw’s game terrine. All the croutons. And one customer’s grandmother’s recipe for Lima bean soup (thanks, Alex). 

WHAT WE’VE KEPT IN OUR KITCHENS
Duke’s Mayonnaise, Soom tahini, Snake Oil hot sauce from chef Spike Gjerde, Marsh Hen Mill grits, small-batch Carolina Ground flour (on the advice of our friend Keia Mastrianni of Milk Glass Pie in the Old North State), Rancho Gordo royal corona beans.

WHAT TOOLS WE’VE USED
A E. Dehillerin carbon steel chef’s knife, a Robot Coupe food processor, Yeti coolers, pizza peels.  

WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR AT BP
We released the Joe! We moved our shop! We bought a house, we lost a father, we gardened, we traveled (again (finally)), and we spent time fundraising for family members in Ukraine.

WHAT’S COMING NEXT
Cypress wood drop lids. To be used like a French parchment cartouche. It will change how you sauté.