Breaking down the paywall.. for now.

Steal this recipe is free now. So you can permanently borrow my recipes for the best price, free!

Hi friends,

As you’ve probably noticed, I took a break from Steal this Recipe. It’s not because I don’t love you, but because the busy season has started for me and I’m not at home as often as I would like.
Less time at home means less time to play with ingredients—and less time with my balcony garden.

So as I’m trying to navigate all of the content, recipes, and this lovely Substack community with almost 700 of you—I wanted to open up the content I’ve previously put behind a paywall, and bring it to you all for free. (I stopped payments for anyone who had a paid subscription, just FYI.)

So what’s next?

Well, recipes of course, and life updates.

Eventually if I think theres a case to put stuff behind a paywall, I will. But for now—after tariffs, a looming recession and the financial burden of being an adult—I think it’s OK to start giving the internet a bit of free.99, like i used to when Instagram was a fun place.

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Life Updates:

Providencia was just named one of 9 Best New Bars in AMERICA by Bon Appetit Magazine. Yeee-to-the-HAWWWW! Or ¡WEPA! as I like to say lol.
If you’re in D.C snag a reservation HERE.

I’m on a really fun campaign with Home Goods and Food & Wine:

Wanna know how I sealed the deal with Home Goods? I told them I would love to work with them because I would really like a reimbursement for all I’ve spent at HG over the years. LOL the brand took it well.

Wanna see that campaign? haha here’s the link:

homegoods

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My friend Ilana Kohn (yes the esteemed fashion designer) stopped by Providencia the other day.
I’ve been rocking her fits non-stop since I’ve seen her because she’s the best.

smallorchids

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This week I made quite possibly the cutest Baked Alaska Shaved Ice at Provi’ and also went back deep into my archives to make this Flan de Arroz with a Golden Rhubarb syrup. (Recipe for the rhubarb syrup coming your way haha! It’ll be just after these short announcements.)

And as I finish up this post, I just found out that I made the Cherry Bombe’s POWER LIST. I’m 1 out of 100 of Cherry Bombes’ most influential women in America, which is just... WOW.

As well as this year’s Power Honoree for their Humanitarian Award. (Which is mind blowing and humbling beyond belief.)

In a year that feels like it’s needed now more than ever, I hope that we can use the power of the collective to face evil with resilience and love. Never forgetting that we are in community with each other.

To learn more about the Power Awards, the Bombe Squad or just

Cherry Bombe

in general:

—> Click here for the full lineup.

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Thanks for reading, and as a reward, heres that free recipe I was chit-chatting about earlier:

Golden Rhubarb Syrup:

• 4 quarts of water

• 4-5 healthy stalks of rhubarb (properly cleaned, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces—the leafy green parts of rhubarb aren’t tummy friendly. Only consume the red/pink parts.)

• 1.5 cups granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

• pinch of citric acid

• pinch of salt

To make your golden rhubarb syrup you’re going to want to add your water and rhubarb to a non-reactive/stainless steel pot and bring that to a boil. You want to let the water break down the rhubarb until the color turns a vibrant pink shade. About 5-10 min on medium heat.

Once your rhubarb has broken down and the water has turned a lovely shade of pink, strain the liquid and set to the side. (I like straining it into a large pyrex measuring cup but strain it into a bowl for your convenience.)

In another pot, caramelize your sugar until amber color (about 320ºF—but you will know by sight).

Once it’s that color, remove from your heat source and CAREFULLY deglaze the caramel with the rhubarb water.
Treat it as if it were cream only adding a little bit at a time and stirring vigorously. Keep deglazing completely until your caramel dissolves into the rhubarb and they become one.
Finally, add your salt, vanilla bean paste and your citric and stir until combined.

And there you have it folks, Golden Rhubarb Syrup. :)

Thanks for reading Steal this Recipe! I hope you take this recipe and make it your own, you cheeky burglar, you.

xoxo,
Love y’all and thanks for being in community with me.
Paola

smallorchids

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