Issue 71: Your new secret ingredient
A new spice shop in Catskill, an egg hunt roundup, and swimsuits for summer dreaming
Recently, we spoke with our dear friend and not-so-secret crush Mckenzie Raley, founder of the new “secret ingredient shop” Grains of Paradise opening today(!) in Catskill. Mckenzie Raley lives in Hudson with her wife and two children.
The Soft Spot (TSS): Mckenzie! We are so excited for the grand opening of Grains of Paradise. What drew you to spices specifically – was there a moment or dish that started it all?
Mckenzie Raley (MR): It’s a combination of spices and unique flavors as a whole. When you come into the shop it’s very much not how you’d envision a typical spice shop. I’ve encountered these special flavors throughout my life that I just can’t forget about. Usually in markets or tiny restaurants. When I lived in Thailand, I’d go to the market at 5am with my host mom (I was 16) and we’d immediately go to the fish vendor. We’d get a fried sea bass with chilies, lime and rice that was so spicy it would literally make your eyes water. That heat, the tang of lime, the softness of coconut – I wanted to have access to that here.
TSS: What’s a spice or blend you’re especially excited to share?
MR: I have a little shelf in the store with a sign above it that says “Spices that will change your life.” I plan on rotating it monthly but right now there’s amchur powder, which is ground dried green mango. It’s super tangy, like a dried version of squeezed lemon. Powdered smoke’s there too – that’s a hickory powder that adds that smokey meatiness to vegetarian dishes. Another favorite is tomato powder for instant umami. It’s delicious dusted on veggies, soups, and meaty dishes; Lastly, you’ll find plum-soaked sesame seeds I sourced from SOS Chefs. They’re so addictive – I put them on ice cream, salads, fish. Everyone needs these.
TSS: Our mouths are watering! Grains of Paradise is opening inside the lovely Foreland space in Catskill. What role would you like your shop to play in the Catskill community?
MR: I want people to feel inspired here. It’s this grocery/provision/spice/food-world hybrid that invites curiosity. It’s so easy to get stuck in the same food rut, and adding ingredients you’ve never heard of to your weekly meal rotation can feel exciting! I have two little kids and nothing makes them happier than ice cream. The other day I used our strawberry powder from the store on their scoops of vanilla and they just lit up. Food doesn’t have to feel so serious all the time, you know?
TSS: Yes! Speaking of — how has being a parent influenced the way you think about food and cooking?
MR: I’m constantly thinking outside the box. My kids are three and six and only want butter noodles. I can make a NYT Cooking-worthy feast and it wouldn’t matter to them, but every once in a while, I’ll get a win. Occasionally I’ll do “table pasta” where I cover the table with a giant placemat and just dump spaghetti bolognese right in front of them. They love it. Our motto in our house is to try everything because you get new tastebuds everyday. Just try it. If it’s not for you, that’s ok, but at least you give it a go.
TSS: Immediately adding “table pasta” to next week’s meal plan. What local businesses are you inspired by?
MR: So many. I’m going to just focus on my immediate neighbors to keep the list a more reasonable length. I’m inspired by anyone who works with their hands. Via Ravioli in Coxsackie, Left Bank Ciders and Toko Provisions both here in Catskill, Padrona in Hudson – the list goes on. I have a lot of respect for chefs and farmers. I’m constantly inspired by their resourcefulness and creativity.
Join Mckenzie today for the grand opening of Grains of Paradise. The shop is open until 3pm, with cocktails and snacks from 3-5pm. Grains of Paradise is currently open Wednesday to Sunday from 10am to 3pm.
One For Us
In this section, we’ll share what we’re enjoying for ourselves these days.
[McKenzie] - Right now, I’m super into reading old food magazines. I got a lot of old Gourmet magazines off eBay and just paging through them at night is so relaxing. The photography, the recipes – it’s so nostalgic. I miss magazines. (Ed. note: we’re also loving the new revival of Gourmet from a very savvy crew of editors and writers unaffiliated with the original magazine)
[Ashley] - Still on my turning-40 health kick listening to Dr. Mary Claire Haver discuss perimenopause on her podcast unPAUSED. It is wild how little the medical world understands women’s health – especially in perimenopause and menopause. Estrogen affects truly everything. Most notably it has metabolic consequences in perimenopausal women in fat cells, the brain, liver and muscle.
[Maddie] - I’ve recommended this Left on Friday top and bottom to everyone in the group text asking for swimsuit recs, but as I’m daydreaming about summer lake time, I have my eye on the playful, yet glam one-pieces from Ancora and this cheery collaboration between La Maregold and Follow Suit.
One For Them
In this section, we’ll share what’s making parenting small children more enjoyable these days.
[McKenzie] - People may have feelings about this but it’s so fun: when my kids are in the bath we’ll do “super stories” where they tell me a story (usually hilarious, long-winded and poop-related), I’ll type the rough summary into ChatGPT and tell it to “make a children’s story out of this” and it does! The kids get so excited to see their own ideas play out in a more traditional book format. Our last one was “Tom the Spoon and the Big Cheese.”
[Ashley] - After the big clean out of my daughter’s bedroom, my husband helped her choose a new storage basket for all of her stuffed animals. I came home to this addition from Expedition Subsahara, a woman-owned company employing Senegalese and African weavers and resourcing sub-Saharan girls’ education. Lots of fun colors and weirdly smells incredible? She’s also into dumping all of the stuffed animals out so we can put her into the basket to “hide.”
[Genevieve] - Similar to M’s above, people may have feelings about this. My 3 y/o daughter and I recently started having “wine chats” (she named it, I love it) wherein I entrust her with a real wine glass filled with bubbly water and the juice of macerated blackberries, and I have my matching glass of red wine. We cheers and then engage in genuine conversation. Like, she actually tells me about her day beyond the usual “good” and I tell her about mine. We ask each other follow-up questions. She sips her juice and nods in active listening. It’s a fun game to her, but to me it is currently the best thing in my life.
[Maddie] - My almost-four-year-old and I like to do little baking projects on the weekend while his sister naps, and our latest success was these vegan sprinkle cookies. We used handfuls of these artificial dye-free rainbow and chocolate sprinkles and then dropped off the least misshapen ones for our neighbors. Days later, I’m still finding sprinkles on the floor, but the cookies were so good that I don’t even mind.
Supporting Our Work
Thank you to all you sweet souls who chose to support our newsletter after the introduction of a paid subscription tier. We truly are part of a community of incredible people and we are so grateful to you. For those of you who threw in, keep an eye out in the coming months for premium offerings, like extra content and fun events. xoxo
In the Neighborhood
We live in the Mid-Hudson Valley and we’re keeping tabs on these (mostly family-friendly) events near us. If there’s another event you’d like us to share, please send it our way!
Egg Hunt Roundup 🐰
Friday, April 3 - Annual Baby Bunny Hop Egg Hunt, Kinderhook 🐰
Friday, April 3 - Easter Egg Hunt at the Zoo, Catskill 🐰*
Saturday, April 4 - Egg Hunt at Greig Farm, Red Hook 🐰
Saturday, April 4 - Hop ‘Til We Drop Egg Hunt, Great Barrington 🐰
Saturday, April 4 - Easter Egg Hunt at Crellin Park, Chatham 🐰
Saturday, April 4 - Lions Club Annual Easter Egg Hunt, Valatie 🐰
Saturday, April 4 - Egg Hunt at Claverack Town Park, Claverack 🐰
Saturday, April 4 - Easter at Arrowood Farms, Accord 🐰
Sunday, April 5 - Egg Hunt at Rose Hill Farm, Red Hook 🐰
Sunday, April 5 - Easter Egg Hunt at Lasting Joy Brewery, Tivoli 🐰
Sunday, April 5 - Egg Hunt at C.Cassis, Rhinebeck 🐰
Spring Events
Thursday, April 2 - Grains of Paradise Grand Opening, Catskill ✨
Thursday, April 2 - Community Soup Night at Left Bank Ciders, Catskill
Saturday, April 4 - The Art of Shopping: A Hudson Valley Sale For the Ages, Hudson
Saturday, April 4 - Church 200 Spring Trivia Night at Olana, Hudson ^
Saturday, April 4 - In Time Exhibition Opening at Basilica, Hudson
Starting April 8 - Music Together classes, various HV locations
Wednesday, April 8 - Bad Moms Club: Karaoke Night, Hudson ^
Saturday, April 11 - Author event with Rebecca Novack at Kinderhook Books, Kinderhook
Saturday, April 11 - Dinner with Colu Henry at The Caboose, Hudson ^
Saturday, April 11 - Community Discussion on The Anxious Generation, Germantown
Sunday, April 12 - Mommy and Me Vintage Pop-Up at At Play, Rhinebeck
Wednesday, April 15 - Blockprinting workshop at Hudson Area Library, Hudson
Friday, April 17 - Spring Book Fair for Grownups at Rose Hill Farm, Red Hook ^
Saturday, April 18 - Hudson Neighborhood 5k, Hudson
Saturday, April 18 - TEND Pop-Up Art Exhibition, Kinderhook ^
Saturday, April 18 - Pony Party at Rose Hill Farm, Red Hook
Saturday, April 18 - Family cooking workshop at Olana, Hudson
Saturday, April 18 - Pottery Wheel Class en Español at Cone Zero, Catskill ^
Saturday, April 18 - Curated Closet Sale to benefit P10, Hudson
Saturday, April 18 - Eating at Home Book Launch w/ Trinity Mouzon Wofford, Chatham ^
Tuesday, April 21 - Storytime with Mr. Purple at Hudson Area Library, Hudson
Starting April 22 - Parent-Child Program at Catskill Montessori, Catskill
Saturday, April 25 - The 2nd Annual Hudson Valley Puppet Slam, Pine Plains
Saturday, April 25 - Earth Day Celebration, Rhinebeck
Saturday, April 25 - Fam Jam at Assembly, Kingston
Sunday, April 26 - Slow Food Hudson Valley Benefit, Ghent
Saturday, May 2 - Pony Party at High & Mighty, Ghent
Saturday, May 2 - A Run to Remember, Red Hook
Saturday, May 2 - Cookbook Social at The Upstate Table, Kingston
Saturday, May 30 - Faerie Festival, Kingston
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Ongoing Events
Mondays - Songs & Stories at Ulster Public Library, Ulster
Mondays - Family Resource Center Playgroup, Valatie
Mondays - Tunes and Tales at the Red Hook Library, Red Hook
4th Mondays - La Leche League meetings, Chatham
Tuesdays - Storytime with Robbie at Starr Library, Rhinebeck
Tuesdays - Family Resource Center Playgroup, Hudson
Tuesdays - Preschool Story Hour at Claverack Free Library, Claverack
Tuesdays - Tiny Tots at Palenville Library, Palenville
Wednesdays - Runs with Return Run Club, Hudson
Wednesdays - Family Resource Center Playgroup, Valatie
Wednesdays - Dancing Connections and Baby Dance Club at Full Circle, Gardiner
Wednesdays - Music & Movement at Starr Library, Rhinebeck
2nd Wednesdays - La Leche League meetings, Hudson
Thursdays - Music & Movement Storytime at the Hudson Area Library, Hudson
Thursdays - Family Storytime at Kinderhook Memorial Library, Kinderhook
Thursdays - Family Resource Center Playgroup, Hudson
Thursdays - Wiggles & Words at the Red Hook Library, Red Hook
Thursdays - Adult Art Club at Super Stories, Kinderhook
Thursdays - Baby & Me at Claverack Free Library, Claverack
Thursdays - Baby and Toddler Playgroup at D.R. Evarts Library, Athens
Fridays - Tunes and Tales at the Red Hook Library, Red Hook
Fridays - Family Play and Hang at Starr Library, Rhinebeck
Fridays - Art Focus Fridays at Kinderhook Memorial Library, Kinderhook
Fridays - Music & Movement at Claverack Free Library, Claverack
Fridays - Story Time at Catskill Public Library, Catskill
Saturdays - Hudson Farmers’ Market (indoor), Hudson
Saturdays - Art Workshop at Art Omi, Ghent
Saturdays - Art Nest at Wassaic Project, Wassaic
Saturdays - Bodie’s Lighthouse Lab at D.R. Evarts Library, Athens
Saturdays through April - The Saturday Morning Family Series, Rhinebeck
Sundays - Tot Time at Skate Time, Accord
Sundays - Community Group Run at Neighbor Running, Hudson
Sundays - Art Projects: Youth Painting & Drawing Classes (ages 4+) at Cone Zero, Catskill
^ = for adults
* = will likely sell out, so book soon
🐰 = Egg Hunt Roundup