Entertainment
This Cookbook Is Bananas, and I Love It
“Why am I like this?” writes Ella Quittner on the cover of her own cookbook. She is delightfully obsessive — always striving to figure out the fluffiest pancakes, the crispiest potatoes, the juiciest chicken. Her new cookbook, Obsessed With the Best, is packed with recipes, but also such fun photos and voicey essays that it doubles as a coffee-table book. Here’s a funny Q&A with Ella…
What surprised you about writing a cookbook?
It completely takes a village. If I had done this by myself, it would have been a black-and-white printout with my serial killer handwriting.
And here you brought in brilliant photographers and stylists and designers.
Usually I write alone, but this project felt like putting on a circus or a debutante ball.
How long did the whole thing take?
Three years. It’s such a dense book. I spent a year and a half traveling everywhere from an Iowa bacon fest to Rome to rural Japan. Between those trips, I was doing the head-to-head testing at home.
The process sounds like so much fun.
I realized on set that everything that looks beautiful and easy is actually hard to make. That’s true of weddings and babies and family photos – and a cookbook. Just off frame is chaos, distress, emotion, tension, and three fried eggs that didn’t look right.
What made the shoots so intense?
We had to get head-to-head shots of, say, 20 to 30 scrambled eggs or pancakes that had to look ready at the same time — so the food stylists’ assistants were totally grinding, cooking six things at once with arms you didn’t know they had — and we did this all in my apartment’s 85-square-foot kitchen.
I’m curious, what were you like as a kid?
Very obsessive. I would go through phases where I’d learn everything about a certain subject matter in a way that was prohibitive to having a normal social life. Like, I memorized the 100 most dangerous sharks. My older sister got me into mummies and King Tut. I had a Lisa Frank phase; I put her stickers all over my closet and felt it was a deeply magical zone.
Do you have favorite recipes from the book?
Please edit this to sound less megalomaniacal, but I only really cook from my own book. I mean, obviously I love my friends’ books and read recipes, but every time I want to make something, I know the version I tweaked exactly to my flavor and texture profile: braised tomato-butter cabbage, comté caramelized shallot eggs, my overachiever chocolate chunk cookies, and the vodka sauce I make at least every two weeks.
The book’s typography is also gorgeous.
We worked with Renata De Oliveira at HarperCollins and Chris Cristiano, an amazing creative director. I wrote an essay for each chapter, so we were like, how would The New Yorker format these giant walls of text so you’ll know it will be entertaining and not feel like homework and put you to sleep? We hired Olivia de Recat, who illustrates ‘Shouts and Murmurs,’ and her illustrations kept me from taking myself too seriously.
Tell us about the giant bow ties!
There are two fun shots of pasta: one is a weird pasta tower with a meatball on top and one is these bowties. We had so much fun on set because we thought we were channeling high fashion. It could be a Celine ad! Not that it really could, but we felt like that!
The whipped cream photo was also a showstopper.
One day, our set designer Kalen Kaminski, who’s such a breath of fresh air, was like, ‘Would it be crazy if I rented a bust from a bust warehouse in New Jersey?’ And we were like, DO IT. We named the bust Deb and gave her the personality of a sort of prim disapproving Victorian lady that was mad that we were doing silly stuff with her.
That’s hilarious.
After we covered her in whipped cream and took a photo, you then see her on one of the nightstands angrily turned away from me. We were really sad when Deb had to go home.
Now that your cookbook’s finished, do you have the book blues?
I was just talking about this last night with another cookbook writer! I heard it can happen after book tour. But as a massive introvert, sometimes I’m relieved for the big stuff to be over, so I can put my sweatpants back on and watch Grey’s Anatomy.
Thank you so much, Ella! Congrats on your incredible book.
P.S. Nine cookbooks that earn their keep, and behind-the-scenes of magazine covers.
Entertainment
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Bluetooth speaker is at the lowest price weve seen all year
SAVE $75: The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Bluetooth speaker is on sale for $224 at Amazon, down from the standard price of $299. That’s a 25% discount.
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Packing up for an adventure means figuring out how to bring along a soundtrack. A trip to the cabin or a lakeside campground all deserve to be experienced with a great playlist. If you could use an upgrade before summer to get a waterproof Bluetooth speaker, check out this deal at Amazon.
As of April 22, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Bluetooth speaker is on sale for $224 at Amazon, marked down from the normal price of $299. That’s a 25% discount that takes $75 off the price. It’s also the lowest price we’ve seen at Amazon so far this year.
A compact speaker with a scratch-resistant aluminum shell is exactly what we should be packing on adventures. With an attached carabiner, the B&O Explore speaker is designed to clip onto your backpack when you hit the trail. Or you can utilize the rubber base to set it on a rock or even in the sand. It’s both waterproof and dustproof, adding to the durability.
Bang & Olufsen notes this model gets up to 27 hours of playtime before it needs to recharge. It weighs under 1.5 pounds, so it won’t add much bulk to your gear. It takes about two hours to recharge the Beosound Explore.
Mashable Deals
Before summer kicks into high gear, add the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore speaker to your pack. It’s ready for any adventure you have planned.
Entertainment
Get some new wrist candy with the CMF Watch Pro 2 at its lowest price ever
SAVE $39.01: As of April 22, get the CMF By Nothing Watch 2 Pro for $39.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $79. That’s a discount of 49% and the lowest price we’ve seen.
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There are tons of smartwatches on the market if you’re in need of one. But if you’re willing to look beyond the Apple Watches or Samsung devices out there, you’ll find an awesome alternative from the Nothing brand that’ll save you some serious cash. Not only is it more affordable than the competition, but it’s got everything you could want and then some. In fact, one of the models is on sale right now.
As of April 22, get the CMF By Nothing Watch 2 Pro for $39.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $79. That’s $39.01 off and a discount of 49%. It’s also the lowest price we’ve seen.
This affordable smartwatch not only comes in an attractive form factor, but it has just about everything you could ask for. It has your average comms tools like Bluetooth calling and gesture control, a built-in mic and speaker, contacts, message reminders, and music control. But from there, it offers a wide range of sensors and data to help you take control of your health.
It offers a portable blood oxygen saturation monitor, a heart rate monitor, sleep tracking, and so much more. All of this data, including workout information, steps, and much more, can be synced across all your favorite fitness apps, including Apple Health and Google Health Connect. There are 120 sports modes to choose from, GPS positioning, and even a 3D warm-up exercise guide to help get you on your feet each day.
Mashable Deals
With interchangeable watch straps and an attractive face, this extremely reasonable smartwatch is definitely one to rival Apple and Samsung. You’ll want to grab yours while it’s still down to the lowest price we’ve seen.
Entertainment
Get Ankers 14-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Dock for $60 less at Amazon
SAVE 15%: As of April 22, you can get the Anker Prime 14-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Dock for $339.99, down from $399.99, at Amazon. That’s a 15% discount or $60 savings.
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Working off a laptop is great until you realize you only have two ports and need to plug something in. If you’re hooked up to an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse, you’re pretty much out of luck on the rest. Not only that, but your previously uncluttered desk will most likely look like a Best Buy exploded (a rat’s nest of cords isn’t cute or helpful for anyone getting work done).
If you literally hate mess and cords as much as I do, you need a docking station to hide all that chaos and protect your aesthetic. Right now, Anker’s Prime TB5 Docking Station is on sale for $339.99 at Amazon, down from $399.99. (That’s a $60 price cut.)
Mashable Deals
Are you going to use all 14 ports at the exact same time? Probably not, but you’ll never have to dig through your bag for a specific adapter again. You just plug a single cable into your laptop, and the dock handles the rest. It features a Thunderbolt 5 upstream port, two Thunderbolt 5 downstream ports, two USB-C ports, three USB-A ports, SD and TF card readers, a 2.5Gbps Ethernet port, an audio jack, and your choice of HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort 2.1. It’s also fast enough to transfer a 150GB file in 25 seconds.
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The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Bluetooth speaker is at the lowest price weve seen all year
