The World in a Pocket's Best of 2019
The new year is here and we are looking back at 2019 in appreciation and exhaustion. Mackenzie and I would like to send a huge thank you to all of you who nominated and voted for us as “Most Groundbreaking Voice” with the Saveur Magazine Food Blog Awards. While we didn’t win, our stay in Cincinnati with The Cincinnati Experience and the other nominees and winners was a delightful and celebratory time to relish in our growth (and bourbon consumption, tbh). We met so many exceptional people working in the food space: from all the nominees, Saveur Magazine, Cincy Experience team, Maker’s Mark, The B Line, and the Kroger Culinary Innovation Kitchen. We even got to spend time with old friends (shout out to our roomie, Susannah from Feast + West! She and I go back many years when we taught at high school journalism camp).
The rest of the year was a whirlwind for Mackenzie and me. From Mackenzie’s first full year of being a mom to the sweetest baby ever, Maya, and my VSCO Voices project, GRITO, we found The World in a Pocket taking a back seat to our home and work life. Our 2019 theme was “balance,” and we both came to realize that we needed to let go of our own expectations to be healthy and productive while we balance work, family, and The World in a Pocket. So we embraced balance in a way that we had not expected. The World in a Pocket is a passion project that we started as a way to better understand the world, to connect with our community, and to get better at photography. Back in April at the Cherry Bombe Jubilee, when we finally realized that it was ok not to treat this like a job, we let go of this a little bit to be more present in other areas of our life.
Despite our slow down, we are proud of the work we produced here in 2019—mainly Mackenzie because I just dove right into GRITO in April and didn’t surface until the end of the year. From our Flushing Dumpling Tour with Eddie Mao to Mackenzie’s ‘Austin in a Pocket’ collaboration with Tribeza Magazine, and a handful of delicious recipes.
The World in a Pocket's Best of 2019
The Best Flushing, Queens Dumpling Tour
Eddie Mao is a true dumpling aficionado, and no stranger to the tastiest dumplings in New York City. He owns Mao’s Bao, the best place in NYC to get sheng jian bao, or pan-fried juicy pork buns, among other colorful and creative fillings. His love for pocket foods is somehow still greater than the copious amount of dumplings we ate with on our dumpling crawl through Flushing, Queens. As Eddie loves to say, he is always “thinking outside the bao”, and committed to regular research and development in the form of exploring the many varieties of the dumplings and baos (and all of their cousins) in both China and in his home neighborhood of Flushing.
On Making Samosa’s with Nitya Jain
I met Nitya Jain, the founder of Beyond Curry, through Leandra Blei, a fellow photographer who does a lot of work to foster connections and share useful information with small-business owners and creatives here in Austin. After mentioning The World in a Pocket, she connected me to Nitya right away. We made plans to cook together, and I was stoked that I would finally learn to make samosas, which has been on my pocket-list for a long time, and gujiya, which I had only tried once during the Indian-(ish) photoshoot in Dallas.
Austin In A Pocket
The World in a Pocket is dedicated to exploring the world through the lens of a dumpling. From mandu to empanadas, spanakopita to gyoza, pierogi to Pop-Tarts, this is our love letter to pockets worldwide and the stories they tell. These beloved staples all share a similar food-inside-of-food structure, while providing a delicious way to understand our world. We are excited to bring TRIBEZA readers Austin in a Pocket, where Regine Malibiran has teamed up with TWIP co-founder and photographer Mackenzie Smith Kelley to shine a light on local pocket makers.
Golden Coconut Soup with Collards, Kale and Frozen Dumplings
In the winter, I aim to make a big pot of soup and then riff on it for a few days with new variations until it’s all gone. The foundation of this weeknight winter staple is made with turmeric, black pepper and coriander toasted in hot oil with a lot of garlic and ginger, then vegetable or chicken broth and coconut milk is added to to simmer with hearty greens. For the first night of this soup nutrient-dense soup, I suggest adding frozen dumplings to the pot with more coconut milk.
All Butter Bourbon Pie Crust
If you have ever asked yourself, “Can I make a vodka pie dough and use bourbon in place of vodka?” The answer is yes. Yes, you can.
Goat Cheese Ravioli with Spring Greens
This recipe is inspired by wanting an extremely easy pasta dish for dinner, ideally doused in spring vegetables (because, you know, balance), but craving more than a bowl of buttered noodles (no hate on buttered noodles, iluhyou). Easy is key here when your face is puffy from pollen and you’ve been working all day.
