a re-introduction
saying heyyyyy, it's jess š„¢
[hi! the following is copied over from my Substack āNotesā (duh, as @scone) ā once I realized how much I could not resist sharing/writing/sharing, as usual. I recognize that most folks do not read those, and this is pertinent, personal info, so, why not. <3]
The short:
Hi folks - Iām jess and Iām obsessed with local produce markets, no matter where Iām livingā¦even when it was the very middle of Alaska and it snowed at least ten months of the year.
The longer:
Once upon a time from New York, Iām a writer & private vegan chef based out of SE Asia since December 2024, where my table displays of fruits, veg & herbs have certainly gotten a bit more ātropicalā flair than my prior year in the mountains of Wyoming and (another) life before in Portland, OR : )
Long personal story briefed - as youāll quickly learn Iām rather open & verbose about this all from the āculinary memoirsā on my subāscrap - I packed up a giant suitcase and flew to Chiang Mai, Thailand after my marriage ended last fall.
Read more about uh, that, on my earlier posts from what seems a dang lifetime ago.
I eat / I read / I coped. Past tense.
I continue to write, cook, hustle and figure out what to do with my life !
Iām writing today from Da Nang, Vietnam, where I currently rent a small studio apartment with not one ! but two !! stovetop burners ! ! !
On this Substack, the Scone Archives & my daily Notes (pssst, anyone can read them), youāll see photos & casual tales of my market hauls, what Iām cooking for dinner, where Iām going out for noodles, and scenes of coffee & life from this ocean-side city.
Consider it akin to āstoriesā and ātoksā, just, with more words. And food. And heart?
And a smidge more āabout jessā since weāre getting all personalā¦.
In my free time, I enjoy playing pickleball, reading fiction, what I fondly refer to as my 1-2x week karaoke ātherapyā, catching up with friends & family both near & far, riding a bicycle, soaking beans, thinking about noodles, trying out neighborhood chay (vegetarian) restaurants, and go figure - perpetually seeing what catches my eye at local produce markets.
Your turn.
{this re-intro encouraged by the trend over at the monthly Mastermind for Food Writers, thanks to Rebecca Blackwell, Betty Williams, etc!}
References + Relevant Links:
first! wanna treat jess to a cup of coffee? Itās easy peasy, low cost & sooo kind! <3
curry stain chronicles, the scone archives January 30, 2025
goooood, goooood eats Da Nang, scone-land July 14, 2025
knock, knock khop khun ka, sconey, December 25, 2024
ready, set, un-winter, ditto, November 22, 2024 aka where it all began, again
ā ā ā Iām now pointedly living with two instas:
ā @scone.archives +
ā ā new! project! @travelforthefood (thanks, sis)
SHOP for: LIVE with Jess in Da Nang, Vietnam! this Friday, July 25th CDT! Sharing Kitchens Live! & Roux & Choux Entertaining w/ Jenn Sharp July 5, 2025 more info
P.S. I post from Indochina time zone which is far ahead of most of yāall, SO, if I seem behind/erratic on my replies, bear with me, darlings.
Aw Jess. This was so great to read. I know you ...but I didn't know all of the above.
Having gone through a divorce myself, I know it's a rough time to navigate. As always, I love how you are so deliberately living your life and are course-correcting in a delicious and adventous way.
(Ironically, I just posted something kinda personal) Hugs xx
Love it!!