| Recently, we’ve been spotlighting recommendations from New Yorker contributors. Today, we spoke with the staff writer Rachel Syme, who has covered Hollywood, theatre, fashion, and more for The New Yorker since 2012. She has written about the “Russian Doll” actress Natasha Lyonne, the legacy of Nora Ephron, and our obsession with deadlines. My most rewatched TV show: I have watched “Station Eleven,” on HBO Max, at least three times since it débuted, last December, and it has become my go-to whenever I want to submerge myself in a show full of lush beauty. Created by Patrick Somerville and based on Emily St. John Mandel’s novel of the same name, the ten-episode series is not so much about the tragedy of civilization falling apart—after a deadly flu virus wipes out most of the human population—but about the flowers that bloom in the cracks as people try to put it back together, and about how one obscure work of art can have ripple effects over time. It is the rare contemporary show that holds up to revisiting. Plus, Dan Romer’s score makes for great writing or reading music. 📺 Favorite easy week-night meal: Other than Helen Rosner’s Roberto, my favorite “Ugh, what to make for dinner” solution of late has been . . . a head of green cabbage. Hear me out: I come from a long line of shtetl people, and we have always appreciated a hearty winter vegetable around this time of year. One of the best ways to celebrate the humble cabbage is to chop it into thin slices, and sauté it in a giant pan with a lot of butter, until it begins to turn caramelized and crispy on the edges. Then, salt it, pile it into a bowl, and add in the real stars of the meal: a big scoop of really good sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt, and so much fresh black pepper that you feel you are making cacio e pepe (and you can add chicken or root veggies if you need more bulk). It’s green, earthy, salty, spicy, peppery, cool, tangy, and costs less than five dollars to make. 🍲 Gift I’m most excited to give: When I was a kid, my mother had a glamorous friend who would always send us gold-wrapped Harry & David pears during the holidays, and I thought that this was the height of luxury. I decided that when I grew up I’d become the kind of person who sent fancy, frilly foods as gifts. Have you ever looked at the Zingerman’s catalog? They will send sour-cream coffee cake or chocolate-dipped clementines anywhere in the country. Zabar’s “New York Breakfast” crate comes packed with Almondina biscuits and Silver Palate oatmeal. And then there’s the classic D’Artagnan charcuterie box, perfect for staging a pop-up cocktail party. I love how timeless and kitschy it feels to send a gift basket—it has deranged-party-hostess energy—and nobody is ever unhappy to receive one. 🎁 | 
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