Love Is Love, Beer Is Beer

Let’s start with Almanac Love Hazy IPA, a beer that says LOVE IS LOVE right on the can, because sometimes the beverage aisle has better messaging discipline than half the internet.

Almanac is a Bay Area brewery out of Alameda, which means this beer has somehow survived 880 traffic and arrived unharmed at Ava’s.

Hazy IPAs are cloudy because tiny particles from grain, yeast, and hops stay suspended in the beer. That haze helps carry soft tropical aroma, citrus, and a rounder texture. In other words, it’s not confused… it’s expressing itself.

Love is love. Beer is beer. A cold can after walking down Castro in June is just good urban planning.

Go Fish for Some Rainbows

Next up: Goldfish Colors Cheddar, because Pride snacks should look like they were designed by a kindergarten class with full municipal authority.

Goldfish crackers have a charmingly odd origin story: they started in Switzerland, then Pepperidge Farm founder Margaret Rudkin brought them to the U.S. in the 1960s after trying them abroad. The smile came later, which means for a while Goldfish were just tiny neutral fish-shaped crackers quietly judging us.

Do they belong in a Pride snack bowl? Obviously. Do they belong beside a cold beer? Also yes. Do they belong poured into someone’s open mouth while they wildly declare their identity during a parade? We can imagine no better way to enjoy them.

Biscuits With Benefits

Now, about Effie’s Biscuits.

They look polite. They look tidy. They look like something you would serve at a book club where everyone claims they read the book and then spends 42 minutes discussing one character’s divorce.

Do not be fooled. Like your friend Maurice, these biscuits are buttery, lightly sweet, and very ready to be topped. Preferably with something creamy… like cheese, jam, or honey. Why, what were you thinking?

Pair the cocoa biscuits with berries and mascarpone. Put goat cheese and honey on oatcake. Give walnut something blue-cheesy and confident. Let corn meet pepper jelly and see what happens behind the cheese board.

We are not saying biscuits are flirtatious.

We are saying these biscuits have range, chemistry, and absolutely no intention of going home early.

Grab Some Melons

The only thing better than a pair of melons… is TWO pairs of melons! Look at that photo. Two cantaloupes. Two watermelons. That is not a produce display. That is a double date with rind.

Summer melons are here, and Pride Month is a perfect time to grab a pair, and celebrate the full spectrum: pale, green, striped, netted, sweet, juicy, and even ones you mis-identify. It’s ok… we’re all trying.

Melons love salt. That is the practical fact. A tiny pinch makes their sweetness pop because salt suppresses bitterness and sharpens flavor, which is why melon with lime, chili, or Tajin tastes like summer finally messaged you back on Hinge.
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1. Melon, Feta, Lime, and Mint​
   Cube cantaloupe or watermelon. Add crumbled feta, chopped mint, lime juice, olive oil, and black pepper.
   This is the fastest route from “I bought fruit” to “I am a person who hosts.” Serve cold. Accept compliments with suspicious humility.
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2. Melon With Chili-Lime Salt​
   Slice melon into wedges. Hit it with lime, flaky salt, and chili powder or Tajin.
   This is beach food, sidewalk food, Pride picnic food, and “I stood in front of the fridge and made one correct decision” food.
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3. Melon and Cucumber Salad​
   Combine melon cubes, sliced cucumber, basil, lemon juice, olive oil, and a little salt.
   Crisp, cool, and refreshing, like the feel of an ice cube in someone else’s mouth.

Two Eggplants, One Very Mature Newsletter

Two eggplants. Together. Upright. Glossy. Proud. Not ashamed of their shape, their shine, their proximity, or the fact that one is slightly taller and clearly has main-character energy.

Eggplant is technically a fruit, botanically speaking, because it develops from a flower and contains seeds. This is the kind of fact that makes produce departments dangerous. Because when someone says “technically a fruit”, there’s usually an argument to be had. And that argument is only acceptable in a grocery produce section.

Remember: eggplant needs oil, salt, high heat, and acid because it too can go silky or spongy, depending on treatment. 🍆🍆

1. Quick Miso-Glazed Eggplant
   ​Slice eggplant into thick planks. Brush with oil and roast or grill until soft. Mix miso, a little honey or maple syrup, rice vinegar, and water. Brush on near the end and cook until glossy.
   Serve with rice, scallions, and the confidence of someone who knows glaze is just sauce wearing eveningwear.
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2. Eggplant Caprese-ish Toast​
   Roast eggplant rounds with olive oil and salt until browned. Pile onto toast with mozzarella, tomato, basil, and balsamic.
   It is not traditional Caprese. It is Caprese after a very persuasive summer fling.
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3. Fast Eggplant Pasta​
   Cube eggplant, salt it lightly, then saute in olive oil until browned and soft. Add garlic, cherry tomatoes or tomato sauce, chili flakes, and cooked pasta. Finish with basil and Parmesan.
   This is weeknight food with drama. Like Pride, but with even more grated cheese.

Pride Month is about love, visibility, chosen family, actual family, and above all, snacks.

Stop by Ava's on Castro, grab something colorful, something juicy, and maybe two eggplants if you are brave enough to make eye contact with the cashier.