What’d I Miss?: November 4, 2024 | The Strategist

An all-over-the-place assortment of stood-behind products culled from this very website that appears in the most recent November issue of New York Magazine.

Most vacuum sealers take up too much space or have way too many buttons. But a simple sealer can be indispensable for those who want to shop once and then eat for a week (or months on end). Kitchen and dining writer Emma Wartzman frequents the butcher and constantly uses her vacuum sealer to extend the life of the meat she isn’t able to eat that day. To find the best one for a rookie, with a straightforward interface and a workhorse design, Wartzman spoke to professional butchers, homesteaders, and fermenters about their favorites. The Anova Precision Vacuum Sealer Pro turned out to be the most impressive and was simple to use. The device has just six buttons: one for auto sealing and vacuuming, two to do both of those actions manually, one for dry goods, another for wet, and one that controls the port for an external vacuum hose that can reseal wine bottles and canning-jar lids. The suction and seal on each setting are extremely powerful, says Dave Yasuda, director of marketing at Snake River Farms, which produces and packages Wagyu. Wartzman concurs: She once used the Anova to vacuum-seal a bag filled with tomato sauce, then shook it—hard. There were no leaks.

“I have a strip of gray in my beard. When I was doing my podcast, everyone was like, ‘Did Matteo do something to his chin? Did he get a chin implant?’ And I realized the gray hair created an optical illusion that made my chin look thinner. So I dyed it and it went away. I use this every day because I don’t wanna walk out with a witch chin.”

“I’m sure that people who don’t know me think I wear the same clothes all the time, but I love a uniform. Right now, it consists of a clean one of these black tank tops every single day. I don’t wear a bra with them; I think that’s probably what I love the most about them.”

“I don’t own a purse, and I don’t know what kind of bag to carry in a formal setting, but in a casual setting, you can’t beat a backpack. I got mine at Staples, and it is flawless—just a beautifully designed sack. I think if it were socially acceptable for everyone to carry a backpack in all situations, it would help our world.”

There is something quietly seductive and laissez-faire about a tinted lip balm that leaves only a trace of color. I’ve tried tons of tints over the years, searching for a nude that wasn’t pink and a moisturizing-but-matte formula that wouldn’t instantly disappear. I was about to give up when I was gifted a sample of Refy’s Lip Blush from a beauty-editor friend. It’s somewhere between a soft-focus matte lipstick and a hydrating balm, and in the shade Amber, it’s an earthy nude. Applying it creates a blurred, just-been-kissed effect. Mine has stayed on through a five-course dinner and one glass of wine too many, and it never requires a mirror for application. I won’t leave the house without it. —Emma Firth

Some things in life are just as good as you remember. Lands’ End is one. The quality is obviously great, but I actually appreciate the brand’s lack of a tether to trends. It feels cool to have something that’s impossible to identify. Below, a collection of my timeless favorites. —Erika Veurink

Sometimes white towels get boring. This striped set feels like a utilitarian art piece in our tiny bathroom. Plus I’ve washed them every week and they just keep getting softer.

These shirts are an interesting alternative to a hoodie. The stripes keep things from feeling too preppy. If you’re in between sizes, size up.

Other brands are making trendier versions of these boots, but these feel like the kind you could buy today and rewear through whatever -core comes next.

These come in regular, petite, and tall for those looking to try out corduroy for the fall. They have just the right amount of stretch to look vintage but feel comfortable. The zipper, in place of a button fly, makes the pants easy to wear as well.

Namiko Chen, the founder of Japanese-recipe website Just One Cookbook, recently launched JOC Goods, an online shop stocked with tableware and kitchenware from small brands that generally don’t ship outside Japan. Our kitchen and dining writer Emma Wartzman already has her eye on a few items.

“Despite the name, this bowl is an ideal size for not just rice but broth and sides, too. The angular shape takes inspiration from the outline of Mt. Fuji.”

“Elegantly pour soy sauce via a narrow spout that’s the beak of a bird.”

“The chopstick rests on offer are all incredibly cute. They include food-related options like an orange, a baguette, and a few versions of this condiment one.”

“I’m completely obsessed with this miso muddler. One side is designed to hold a measurement of miso for one portion of soup; the other, two. It can also be used as a whisk for dressing or sauce.”

Author Amy Tan got into birding in 2016. She keeps a nature journal about the birds in her backyard, which is filled with feeders, trees, and bushes. “I’m here all day,” she says. Here, everything she uses. —As told to Kiki Aranita

“I had a problem with crows taking over the feeders but knew that they mourn their dead comrades, so I bought a fake crow from Wild Birds Unlimited. I hung it upside down, the crows came and screamed and screamed, and then they stopped coming to the yard.”

“When rain gets into seeds, they mold. And what happens with a lot of birds is that they throw out about five seeds for every one that they eat. That attracts rats. So I found this pan that fits underneath my bird feeder to catch all the seeds they discard.”

“I made a DIY feeder from grid panels to act like an open cage for the birds that feed on the ground. I lashed the top, bottom, and sides together with zip ties. One side is unzipped to serve as a door so I can add food. It comes with a black vinyl top and bottom, which is useful in case of rain.”

“I have a number of standard-size binoculars, but these are a lot smaller and I usually have them around my neck all day. They weigh about 11 ounces, and I can always have them when I’m traveling. Sometimes I’ll wear them out to the store or someone’s house thinking I might see a bird.”

“To prevent window strikes, I found white acrylic pens and drew spiderwebs on my windows. You have to draw on the outside of the window and make radiating lines and loops with no openings greater than two to three inches. The birds see that and put on the brakes.”

“I used this to refine my bird-drawing skills. I would practice drawing birds every day in different configurations, different head angles. Because I’ve drawn a chickadee a thousand times now, I know how to do it without having to go back and forth to look at it.”

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