Spring Produce + Non-Bad Things ft. Austa Clausen
A dreamy collab.
Hello and happy St. Patrick’s day from the ladies of Creamline. Aside from our usual musings, we’ve got a special guest this week: multi-talented friend of the letter Austa Clausen. She’s the founder of grotto (the sexiest cocktail pop-up in town; grab a ticket to its Spring equinox party here and subscribe to its equally hot newsletter) and a journalist covering everything we love: drinks, travel, and all things lifestyle. Let’s get into it.
Part I: A Few Non-Bad Things
CC: Being an American in 2025 is stressful, as is looking for a full-time job. The days are getting longer and warmer, though, and each new bit of green peeking out from the ground feels like a tiny victory over the forces of evil (or at least a victory over being dark and cold, which I see as the same thing).
I’ve talked about this before, but when life seems to be one constant uphill battle, I find it helpful to keep inventory of the soft and sunny spots along the way. A few of mine are below. Would love to hear yours in the comments or as a reply to this email.
Maizy: I could write for days about her, but we’ll let this picture suffice for now. She’s a little scared of the bathtub and always comes to check on me if I’m taking a bath to make sure the scary waters did not consume me.
Milky Oats Tincture: With the widespread popularity of adaptogens, I’m always surprised milky oats aren’t more popular. I once heard milky oats tinctures described as “a vitamin for your nervous system,” which feels true to my experience. Not the move if you’re having a panic attack, but a little bit every day in a Spindrift or whatever helps ensure continued emotional stability. Mine is from Foster Farms, who’s out of stock at the moment, so I’d imagine the one from Mountain Rose Herbs is a good alternative.
Lots of Kitchen Projects: After moving in November, it took me a few months to feel comfy in my new kitchen. It wasn’t a conscious “I don’t want to cook in this strange place” thing, I just didn’t feel confident in the space yet. I guess I’m there now, though, because I’ve been cooking and baking a ton in the past few weeks. This has included
-Sicilian Ice Cream, sweetened + flavored with an orange oleo-saccharum
-Salsa Macha, the Mexican answer to chili crisp. My typical approach to a new dish is to reference a few recipes, then kind of average them out into something different. I haven’t written up my recipe, but it’s somewhere between that of Pati Jinich and Rick Bayless. I like mine a little chunkier, and eat it on kind of everything these days.
-Honey Lemon Curd, which is so easy and good (per my earlier note about never quite following recipes, I incorporated elements of Claire Saffitz’s recipe too). My only gripe with lemon curd is that it sometimes has a metallic taste which I do not like, but the honey totally smoothed that out.
-Agua de Jamaica, which yeah is basically just a strong sweetened herbal tea, but wow do I love having it around. Followed Rick Bayless’s method (I’m kind of annoyed at how good his recipes are if I’m being honest), but threw some cinnamon in with the hibiscus, and added some maple syrup to the finished product to smooth it out a bit. I think I’ll add some rosehips to the next round for sweetness and body, while keeping things super tart.
Soothing Non-Fiction: I’m blowing through the writings of Barbara Brown Taylor lately, a former pastor who became troubled by the culture wars that modern Christianity perpetuates and became a professor/writer/gardener instead. I’m not Christian, and feel a little allergic to a lot of modern-day Christianity after growing up in such a strict religious household, but I find her writing so refreshing. She’s still religious and quotes Bible verses in her work (as well as Rumi and Rilke, to be clear), but in a way that feels radically loving and accepting (which is what Jesus was all about, if you actually read what he said). Below, an excerpt from her book “An Altar in the World” about digging in the dirt as a spiritual practice.
Making Good Use of My Criterion Channel Subscription: There’s a reason why everyone from Francis Ford Coppola to Greta Gerwig to Wim Wenders to Mr. Bean references Jacques Tati as an inspiration. This week I watched his short film L’école des facteurs and the iconic Mon Oncle for the first time. What fun and silly and wise work. If you need a respite from *gestures at all the stuff happening*, I highly recommend an evening with Tati.
Part II: A Lesson in Produce Preparedness
TG: In this house, what do Spring produce and Halloween have in common? I fucking love them, yet I’m never fully prepared when they finally roll around. This Samhain was kind of a wash, so I’m trying not to repeat the same bi-annual mistake now that we’re on the cusp of Spring. This time of year, I usually just grab up whatever hyper-seasonal faves I see at the store and wing it night-of, but this year, I’m being more strategic about my approach so my Innie can enjoy those flavors equally in the months to come. Here are my plans for the season’s fleeting bounty.
Samphire: Last year, I engaged in a two-week-long turf war with a faceless, nameless stranger over Eataly Flatiron’s limited supply of sea beans. They shows up in New York around early April and don’t hang around for long. They’ve got a nice natural crunch, so I think they’d be perfect for beer-battering and dipping in buttermilk ranch with extra chives. On a night frying isn’t in the cards, I can also just parboil and sauté them with good butter and lemon. If I want to go extra hearty, I’ll go for lamb fillets with samphire and cockles, a recipe out of chef Jp McMahon’s incredible The Irish Cookbook. (He also launched a wonderful newsletter about Irish food and its history semi-recently you should check out.) I’m going to try pickling them, too, but since they’re so salty on their own, I’ll play with a couple different brines to strike the right balance.
Fiddleheads: Equal parts dippable and whimsical, nothing screams “petite aioli” to me quite like a fiddlehead. Flank a pile of them with some boiled potatoes, asparagus, and hard-boiled eggs and you’ve got my ideal seasonal party platter. For something lighter, I’ll sauté a couple handfuls and arrange them with little gem, crumbly feta, and a sunflower seed-y topping, then I’ll pickle a bunch to reserve for some swirly Martini garnishes and quick salads.
Ramps: The first real dish I ever made for Stephen was ricotta ravioli with ramp pesto, and four years later, he maintains that it’s his favorite thing I’ve ever cooked. (That either says a lot about my ravioli or very little about everything meal that followed, but I’m choosing to believe the former because that early-days lavender haze just makes everything taste sweeter.) Pesto is obviously on the list again this year, as are pickled ramps with lots of mustard seeds and juniper berries in the brine, ramp gin, and ramp butter that’s going straight in the freezer.
Artichokes: Not as fleeting as the rest of this list, but no less fun. They’re another solid vehicle for aioli, but there’s nothing like going full Italian-American and steaming them with bread crumbs, anchovies, garlic, and parsley. The hearts are perfect on their own and don’t need overcomplicating, but that won’t stop me from whipping them into a pâté with mushrooms.
Part III: Frivolities with Austa Clausen
Austa is the founder of sapphic cocktail bar concept grotto and a hospitality and lifestyle journalist with bylines in publications such as National Geographic, Travel + Leisure, Men’s Journal, and more. She’s short, feisty, brown, and bougie, and loves a dirty Martini. She writes a bi-weekly newsletter for Grotto called Sapphic & the City, and just started posting on TikTok. Follow her there and don’t be afraid to roast her in the comments (just kidding, she’s weirdly sensitive despite her seven placements in Sagittarius).
The Sapphic: For those unfamiliar with the term, sapphic is basically WLW. It’s based on the greek poet Sappho, who called the isle of Lesbos her home (cough, GAY). Grotto is all about creating beautiful and inclusive events for queer women in NYC, and our next soirée is a celebration of the Spring Equinox at Libera, a new wine and vinyl bar at the Ace Hotel in Manhattan. Find out more and grab tickets here.
The Sensual: I’ve been loving the boom that’s happening in the women’s healthcare space lately, especially with all the craziness happening with the current administration and the uncertainty there. Momotaro Apotheca is a friend of grotto that makes gorgeous creams and oils for your vaginal health, Noén is a frivolously luxe afterplay oil, and dame is a women-owned sex toy company. I’ve personally been loving The Dip for partner play.
The Serotonin-Boosting: The amount of excitement I’m feeling for the beginning of spring knows no bounds. I recently passed by a bodega in the East Village selling flowering branches and knew they were an immediate add-to-cart. I love having fresh flowers at home but they perish so quickly, and whenever I purchase branches they last for weeks and weeks. Right now, I have them in a huge glass demijohn, and I recently posted a video about how they hilariously and perfectly frame my partner’s PS5.
The Self Care: Self care tends to be framed loosely as skincare, which I’m also obsessed with. But honestly, I feel like I’m practicing the most self care when I clean my apartment up, light a bougie candle, and spray all my fabric surfaces. Basically, it makes me feel like I’m taking care of myself and my energy when my space is tidy and smells amazing. I’ve been mixing Snif Old Money Detergent + Scent Booster with water in a fine spray bottle and misting my bed and sofa with it, and highly recommend.
The Suite Life: Part of my job requires me to travel and stay in nice hotels—perhaps one of (if not the best) perk of being a hospitality writer. Especially since we’re paid terribly! There’s nothing that feels more gloriously frivolous to cosplay as wealthy and spend the night in a suite, donning a hotel robe and a face mask. I’m also a big fan of a staycation, and recently had one at the Plaza (Eloise style), and filmed an AD Open Door style vid exploring the suite.
Fiddleheads, severely underrated!!