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The week ender

THE WEEKENDER is a special collaboration between OZY Tribe members near and far to provide delicious recommendations for your valuable weekend time. Next week, we'd love to feature yours too. Are you watching, listening to or reading something amazing? Share your suggestions with us here at OZY!

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weekender@ozy.com

WHAT TO EAT

Buche de Noel — Christmas Tree.

You may say that a holiday dessert that takes two-plus hours to assemble — and that’s without making decorative meringue mushrooms by hand — isn’t worth the effort. But this flourless chocolate cake log so, so is. Plus, it gives you and your relatives a common goal to focus on for an afternoon. You may be able to find a local bakery that makes one, but be sure everyone gets at least one meringue mushroom.

SUGGESTED BY:

Michelle Bruton
Chocoholic

Soup Dumplings — Little Surprises.

Just so you don’t get caught out, this is the proper way to eat a soup dumpling. Put it on your spoon and poke it with your chopstick to release the liquid. These little guys are the perfect winter food, combining the two most comforting types of food (soup and dumplings), and are great for huge gatherings. If you’re in Chicago, try the dumplings at Imperial Lamian. Bonus: If anyone in your group has never eaten one before, you get to watch them try to science it.

SUGGESTED BY:

Todd Richards
Snack Expert

Oliver’s Candies — New York Institution.

Oh, you thought the city was the only place to get the good stuff? Absolutely not: Upstate New York is home to this incredible cult candy shop, which is well worth the pilgrimage for its chocolate honeycomb candy that comes in multiple varieties and will knock the socks off anyone.

SUGGESTED BY:

Leslie dela Vega
Sweet Tooth

WHAT TO LISTEN TO

Song Exploder — Music Lovers Only.

If you’re the type who doesn’t just want to listen to a song but would rather find out exactly what went into making it, this will delight you. Podcast host Hrishikesh Hirway talks to musicians and producers about the artistic decisions they made in creating their songs. Each week, a musician — a variety of genres are covered — "explodes" a specific track, taking us behind the scenes to understand the technical aspects of production and offering a glimpse at the emotions or incidents that inspired the lyrics. Episodes we love: Fleetwood Mac, Arcade Fire and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

SUGGESTED BY:

Alex Furuya
Music Man

Jeremy Irons Reads TS Eliot — Right Voice, Right Time.

The end of the year is a time to reflect on all the things we did and all the things we haven’t gotten around to. That includes all those classics you still haven’t cracked open … but if you’ve never managed to get through T.S. Eliot, now is the time, and you should do it via the BBC’s broadcast, voiced by Jeremy Irons. Having poetry read to you is an entirely different experience, and it’ll leave you with some insights that’ll carry you into 2019. Pro-tip: The Waste Land is the famous one, but Four Quartets is really the best of the bunch.

SUGGESTED BY:

Sean Braswell
Poet at Heart

WHAT TO READ

A Christmas Memory — Holiday Spirit.

Those largely familiar with Truman Capote from In Cold Blood, Breakfast at Tiffany’s or the various movies detailing his flamboyant, weird life might not associate him with Christmas. But his short story, originally published in 1956, is a classic holiday tale that should be to the 20th century what A Christmas Carol was to the 19th. The story of small boy Buddy is hardly happy-go-lucky, but it does offer a handful of transcendently joyful moments — exactly what you need at the end of what for many was a hard, dark year.

If 2018 has ground you down and made it difficult to take a break from the endless flood of information, this is a perfect story to breathe in the holidays with — wholesome, but also not shallow.

SUGGESTED BY:

Michelle Seulki Lee
OZY Addict

AND WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T DO THIS:

Back down on dragons. Louisiana novelist Diana Rowland went viral this week after she tweeted her neighbor’s nasty note calling Rowland’s unconventional Christmas decorations “totally inappropriate.” The decorations — giant inflatable dragons — are definitely staying up.

SOURCE:
 Vice

SLIDE INTO OUR DMS

Do you have an amazing new TV obsession that you’d like to share? Think you discovered the next great jam band? Share your suggestions with us here at OZY!

EMAIL US: WEEKENDER@OZY.COM

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