Fran Magazine: Sunday Dispatch, Sept. 3-9

Yellow bell pepper ice cream and My Big Fat Greek franchise

This is the Fran Magazine Sunday Dispatch, a weekly culture diary by Fran Hoepfner, who is me. The Sunday Dispatch details what I’m watching, reading, playing, and listening to — topics that may otherwise go undiscussed in the Wednesday posts. The Sunday Dispatch is currently only for paid subscribers. Consider an upgrade, or just hang tight til Wednesday. Thank you for reading!

Status report

I’m craving a big thunderstorm and so are my tomato plants. We keep harvesting batches of 9-12 tomatoes. This is good, but I know those guys are thirsty. Last night I chucked what we had in with our produce box’s Roma tomatoes and a beautiful grocery store eggplant for a pasta alla norma (in my head, this has always translated to “pasta a la normal”). Finishing the second week of teaching means that my students and I realize at the same time that summer is over, this is what we have to do now, and we have to get in done to get through it. Sounds heady, but feels good to resign yourself to the routine of things. Once the heat breaks, it’ll be easier. That’s what we’re all telling ourselves. Still: I’m trying to summon a cool breeze with all the cooking: hot soup, bone broth, big pasta, hot tea. Maybe it’ll work.

For a few years now, I’ve been made aware of Albero dei Gelato’s yellow bell pepper gelato. I discovered them last summer as one of the best and strangest ice cream shops in Brooklyn. It’s nowhere near me, but sometimes a schlep out of the way can be good for character. Yesterday, I was feeling up and antsy enough to run a bunch of unrelated errands, so I also walked a mile out of the way to get the bell pepper gelato ahead of what was supposed to be a big storm and never amounted to more than a steady, light rain.

I mixed the yellow bell pepper gelato with their strawberry sorbet — the former buttery and smooth, the latter tart and sharp. A gorgeous combo. A hot September just means a few more weeks of produce that tastes like more than potatoes.