A viral dumpling bake, a great sweater, and the joy of The Magic Flute

Plus, my three favorite cookie recipes

We’re piled into the car, following Route 22 toward home. Outside, the sky has settled into soft bands of pale blue, pink, and grey. My mind is still back at the Metropolitan Opera’s performance of the Magic Flute, which I had never seen. The whole production (especially the set design) is exquisite and full of sophisticated details. The dancing bears, dragons, and all kinds of birds made of translucent silk created a pageantry I’m still thinking about. I felt echoes of Bread and Puppet (tell me I grew up in Vermont in the 80s!) and also Cirque du Soleil, all layered with Mozart’s music. A feast!

One of my favorite parts of going to Lincoln Center is how steadfast it is, the velvet seats, the gold ceiling, and those iconic atomic starburst chandeliers are reassuring and elegant. While live music never fails to move me, today’s true pleasure was the audience—the sudden ripples of laughter, the unprompted applause, and the collective hum of a room full of happy people.