101 things

and a recipe for raw cauliflower salad with dried cherries, almonds and sumac

To everyone new here, welcome. I’m Elizabeth, the writer of Delicious Bits. It’s a weekly dispatch of my musings for curious readers drawn to discovery, reflection, and the shared joy of food—plus a recipe grounded in seasonal ingredients. A new issue comes out every Sunday. Subscribe and join the fun!

I love lists.

I come from a long line of list-makers, most notably my mother, whose tiny bits of paper could be found in random places around the house: drawers, coat pockets, her nightstand.

I took that impulse and turned it outward: jotting down not just what I needed to do, but what I might want to remember. What I might return to someday.

clip·ping

/ˈklipiNG/

noun

plural noun: clippings

a small piece trimmed from something

an article cut from a newspaper or magazine

And thus began my clipping obsession. I clipped things from magazines, newspapers, travel brochures, SkyMall magazine: random ideas that amused or intrigued me, articles to read later, businesses with clever concepts, a gadget I might never buy but wanted to remember.

SkyMall magazine—clippings to look forward to every time I flew (covers designed by graphic designer Kevin Moore

And then I’d file them in clear plastic sleeves, neatly labelled: Business Ideas. Kitchen Appliances & Gadgets. Paris. Gardening. Home Décor. Music. Books.

I think what I loved about those clippings wasn’t just the material itself—it was the sense of collecting little fragments of possibility. Ideas to ponder. Recipes to try. Places to visit. Beautifully unnecessary things. Those scraps of paper were lists in disguise. Not always numbered, but organized in my mind by themes, categories, moods. Each sleeve alive with future maybes.

Every so often I’d go through them and thin the contents, but of course a new clipping would be added, another article saved for later. And while they took up space, I held on all the same, loath to let something rare slip past me, hidden among the ephemera.

Making a clean sweep

But with a lifetime of accumulation, moving house two years ago meant that I had to be firm with my possessions—which to keep, which to toss.

Thus it was with my clippings collection. For perhaps the first time ever I had to really think about whether or not these pieces of paper would ever be acted upon. And so boxes of treasures were painfully discarded—not in their entirety, mind, but whittled down to a curated collection of future maybes worth keeping.

Every now and again, one of those random collections crops up in an unexpected place. This week, while looking for something else entirely, I came across a clipping I saved eight years ago—from Off Duty, The Wall Street Journal’s weekend lifestyle section and my all-time favorite source of clippings.

My dog eared copy of the original Lists Issue, first published by the Wall Street Journal in 2017

It was, of course, the perfect keeper. Not only was the cover story eye catching (what did I have to do before I was 101?), but it was an entire Lists Issue!

As expected, it was full of oddities and delights: 5 spooky plant species for creeping out your friends at Halloween; 20 boats with names inspired by financial regret; 6 unlikely things that overachieving climbers have carried up a mountain.

But the one that caught my eye those many years ago—and still continues to resonate—is: What 101 things will I do with this one precious life, even if I don’t make it to 101?

As you can guess, the wheels have been turning, as I think of things both simple and grand. Some from that original list are keepers:

1. Drive cross-country—any country.

2. Appreciate the gift of “never having done hot yoga.” Some things cannot be unsmelled.

3. Learn how to knit your own sweater. Okay… scarf. Okay… mittens.

And some I’m proud to say I’ve ticked off the list:

1. Do something you’re petrified of doing (proud of that scuba diving certification).

2. When you replace your kitchen appliances, resist the intense peer pressure to buy stainless steel ones. Something has to take the lead. (too much cleaning!)

3. Reintroduce yourself to the comfort of corduroy. (I never gave it up)

4. Ride a horse around the Egyptian pyramids (I’m saying a camel counts)

That leaves a whole lot of list to fill in—and with eight more years under my belt, less time to do it all.

So I’m back to making lists. Less clipping, more planning. Less daydreaming, more doing. It doesn’t mean I’ll get it right, or do it all. But to have those aspirations ahead of me is something I’ll never regret.

Did you know that clicking the ❤️ here or below helps more readers discover Delicious Bits? It’s like seasoning — a small thing that makes a big difference.

Raw “couscous” cauliflower with almonds, dried cherries, and sumac

Six Seasons, Joshua McFadden

Serves 4 to 6

Photo credit to Richard, who also made the salad: doing double duty!

Flashy tomatoes, corn, and peaches take center stage at the farmers’ markets these days. But there are other seasonal goodies that are at their absolute best at this time of year. Cauliflower falls into that camp. Firm, gleaming white, and blessed with greens you can sauté and eat, this unsexy vegetable deserves the respect that Joshua McFadden pays it in Six Seasons.

Ingredients:

3 ounces dried tart cherries, roughly chopped (about ½ cup)

¼ cup red wine vinegar

¾ pound cauliflower

3 green onions, trimmed (including ½ inch off the green tops), sliced on a sharp angle, soaked in ice water for 20 minutes, and drained well

2 teaspoons ground sumac

½ teaspoon dried chile flakes

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup almonds, toasted, half very roughly chopped and half more finely chopped

½ cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

½ cup mint leaves

1. Put the dried cherries and vinegar in a small bowl and leave to plump for 10 minutes. Drain, reserving the vinegar.

2. If the cauliflower still has outer leaves and they look fresh, chop them. Cut the stem from the cauliflower and cut the head into small florets. Chop the stem into small chunks.

3. Add some of the stem chunks to a food processor; don’t fill beyond halfway. Pulse to chop the stems finely, scraping down the sides a couple of times, and then place into a large bowl. Finish processing the stems this way, and then do the same with the florets. The goal is to create dry, crumbly cauliflower bits that resemble couscous.

4. Add the green onions to the bowl with the cauliflower. Add the cherries and soaking vinegar and toss to mix well. Season with the sumac, chile flakes, 2 teaspoons salt, and generous twists of black pepper. Taste and adjust the salt, chile flakes, and vinegar until the cauliflower is highly seasoned and well balanced.

5. Now add ¼ cup olive oil, all the almonds, the parsley, and mint and toss well. Taste again and add more seasonings and oil if you like. Serve cool or at room temperature.