The Monday Digest, December 2025
What happened last month on the newsletter, what’s to come, links to articles I enjoyed + choose your downloadable photo
Welcome back to My Cup of Tea! This is the extra newsletter you get every first Monday of the month to sum up what I published the previous month and to tell you what you can expect on this one.
November’s summary
Last month’s recipe newsletter was actually a a compilation of Catalan fall recipes to possibly inspire some of your home gatherings: A Catalan Fall Menu
Next newsletter was also with home gatherings in mind, especially focused on Thanksgiving: How To Set a Harvest Table: 3 Ways - Contrasty, Rustic and Romantic
Next up was an essay I wrote after witnessing the butchering of a hunter deer and confronting what it takes to eat meat: On Facing One’s Omnivorous Choices
On Thanksgiving day I shared images of past Thanksgiving and related articles I wrote like the Cranberry Sauce History, and reflections on why I celebrate this tradition as a non American: Thanksgiving Notes
What’s to come this November
This month will also have my usual recipe-photography-food history-essay rythmn modified. We will keep with the festive theme and I hope you find them inspiring!
On January I like taking a couple of weeks off, as I normally travel for the holidays and then I use a week to plan content for the year. Therefore, the first newsletter of 2026 will be on Thursday the 23rd!
Thursday the 4th: This Thursday I’ll share a guide on how to decorate your home for the season with natural elements like branches, berries and spices!: How to Create Natural Ornaments
Thursday the 11th: Next up will be a holiday food photography guide, to help you take the best shot of your festive treats: Festive Food Photography: A How-To Guide
Monday the 15th: Exclusive Q&A for paid subscribers in the chat. You can also send out a photo you want feedback from! And you’ll receive the chosen downloadable photo (see below).
Thursday the 18th: This will be a list of all the newsletters published this year (one every single week!), sorted by theme: A Recap of the Year
Thursday the 25th: The last newsletter of the year will be on Christmas Day, and so I’ll keep it simple yet beautiful with a set of photographs I’ve taken in past winters: A Winter Postcard
Food News
What is Causing Our Epidemic of Loneliness and How Can We Fix It? — (Elizabeth M. Ross) Harvard
Newsletters I loved
Italy Has A Problem with Women’s Bodies — (Valentina Solfrini )L’Appetito
Lo que importa cuando te sientas a la mesa — (Jorge Guitián) Carreteras secundarias
Bratislava: On cake and authenticity — (Lisa Abend) The Unplugged Traveler
Three Journalism Techniques to Try — (Dianne Jacob) Dianne Jacob’s Newsletter
it’s cultural appropriation GONE MAD — (Rukmini Iyer) AT THE TABLE with RUKMINI IYER
How did Zohran Mamdani win over New York’s small restaurants? — (Apoorva Tadepalli) VITTLES
acid reflux - the customer is not always right — (Thom Eagle) VITTLES
Some Meat I’ve Known — (Lou Tamposi) COW WE DOIN’
An Open Letter to COP 30 Attendees — (Nicholas Gill) NEW WORLDER
‘You want to imagine what this tastes like? Fuck you, says AI’ — (Georgina Voss) VITTLES
It’s Fat Oyster Season — (Island Creek and Michelle Wong) Up the Creek
The Convenient Fallacy of Thanksgiving and the Coddling of White America — (Sean Sherman) The Sioux Chef by Sean Sherman
Personal Notes
Yesterday I said goodbye to the family members that had come spend a week with us in our new house. We got to share Thanksgiving with them and it was trully special.
After weeks rushing to finish off paint jobs, hanging pictures on the wall and decorating for the holidays + prepping for my family visit and Thanksgiving, the next few weeks will feel relaxing! Still, I need to finilize soo many things before Ross and I can leave on vacation. We are going to Ecuador, and we’ll be spending Christmas and New Year’s Eve there!
Here some images of our Thanksgiving feast (taken with my phone):
Choose which photo you want next for downloading
Choose which photo you’d like to download next. These are all shots of wintery scenes, some taken up in Washington State from the Amtrak train, and others in my backyard. You have different options to choose from in case you want to print it or have it as a backdrop!
You’ll receive the most voted image in the chat during Office Hours on Monday the 15th if you are a paid subscriber.












Thank you for the mention! ❤️