illustration: tram nguyen
It’s been a long time since I was any kind of student, but I still can’t let go of the thrill of that age-old autumnal back-to-school feeling. I will forever associate the fall with a trip to J.C. Penney’s for a nice new turtleneck set and a lavish first-day-of-school brown bag lunch, complete with homemade chocolate chip cookies baked fresh that morning. I am not really a lunch person, generally, but there is little I love more than the occasional decadent midday meal.
No one does a decadent midday meal better than (sweeping generalization alert:) the Spanish. I went to Spain for the first time a couple summers ago, and it took me awhile to wrap my head around the sight of so many people hanging out at cafes in the middle of the day, sharing a bottle of wine, and eating an enormous, carb-soaked meal. Despite my initial alarm, I adjusted quite nicely to this custom; after only a few days, I was a champion long luncher-and-subsequent-afternoon napper.