Afternoon team,

Here's something I've been getting into lately, it's lunchtime food properly from my childhood. Quavers and Pom Bear crisps and ravioli from a can. Italians, please avert your eyes at that last bit. At least I am not having them on toast.

Going even further back in the past (and, to be honest, far more authentically Italian food) I will never not be utterly rapt at stories on the excavation of Pompeii. They're still digging it up! They keep finding new awesome stuff! In this case restaurants, which were all over the place:

According to Dr. Anna Maria Sodo, director and archaeology officer of the Antiquarium of Boscoreale […] only 40 percent of the urban dwellings of the working poor and 66 percent of the middle-class homes had fixed hearths for cooking. To meet this high demand, there were at least 80 food and beverage outlets at Pompeii.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/recreate-the-menu-of-pompeii-ancient-pub

Of course, it was great for the ancient Pompeiians that they could go to a restaurant whenever they wanted – this is all relative of course – I'm not saying they didn't have their own problems – anyway, here's an excellent and detailed guide to making an American breakfast sandwich. The article doesn't explicitly say this but you could also wrap it in tinfoil for your trip from the kitchen to the office, then unwrap it and try not to get the bits in your keyboard:

I have not been doing anything impressive or productive; most of my days are spent listening to the soft fizz, like a Coke being opened slowly, of my brain disintegrating; I’ve started several craft-based hobbies that have not progressed since May of 2020 and my inbox is like a war zone. The one thing I have managed to focus on and find any fulfillment in is perfecting the breakfast sandwich. I have so much admiration for y’all who really discovered the meditative joy of making risottos and three-day sourdough breads, but that is not my ministry. I, like many people, have found eating regularly to be very challenging of late; I have accepted that the best way to get myself to eat meals is to make sure they’re something I really like and also something easy and fast to put together.

https://www.autostraddle.com/a-definitive-guide-to-the-best-at-home-breakfast-sandwich/

Northern hemisphere friends, isn't it nice that it's no longer dark at 4pm? Southern hemisphere friends, I hope you're loving that it's still the summer. Equatorial friends, I don't have weather based relatable content for you but I hope things are going fantastically.

Mega love,

Alex.