Let's talk taco tactics.

Plus frozen wine, pop music, zombie-slaying teens and more good things for your Friday delight.

Hello! It’s Friday. (I swear.) After preaching the value of holding firm to a publishing schedule in my recent Substack Writer Workshop appearance, I went off schedule yesterday because I had something to say. Trust that it was as jarring to my internal clock as it was to yours.

Going forward, I may slip in an extra off-schedule newsletter here or there, but paying subscribers (that’s you!) will always get at least two subscriber-only emails per week.

Now, let’s talk gadgets.

Gadgets?

I love kitchen gadgets. I have a kitchen full of them. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. I have a kitchen full of them, and a hallway coat closet full of the rest of the ones that don’t fit in the kitchen. If there’s a device that makes cooking easier or better, I want it.

Conversely, if I’m in someone else’s kitchen — say, staying at a rented house on vacation (remember vacations?), I’m completely out of sorts not having all my tools at hand. That’s when improvisation comes into play, and that’s a skill t…