Movies, musicals and crispy tofu.<\/b>
\nWelcome. The movies are back. Broadway is back. Public displays of affection are back. Travel is back (and it smells like weed). \u201c Ted Lasso, \u201d co-working spaces and even the goat landscapers of Manhattan\u2019s Riverside Park are back. But what does it mean to be back, really? Indoor masking is back in Los Angeles. Rising case numbers are back, too, across the U.S. Over the past year and a half, I\u2019ve learned to take the good news with gratitude and with caution. When things come back, many of us are inclined to hold them carefully, knowing that \u201cback\u201d means different things depending on the moment or the day, on the state or country in which we\u2019re living. Each time I find myself doing something that I couldn\u2019t or wouldn\u2019t have done a year ago, I try to note it, to welcome it back. In the past couple weeks, I\u2019ve welcomed dinner with friends, a theater performance, a taxi ride, a trip to the beach. What have you welcomed back? Perhaps you\u2019ll welcome this weekend with a good dinner: Follow Yotam Ottolenghi\u2019s formula (inspired by Samin Nosrat) of something fresh + something flavorful + something you need to use up to make a delicious meal. Or you could try Eric Kim\u2019s vegetarian take on McDonald\u2019s Chicken McNuggets with sweet-and-sour sauce. If you\u2019re mulling a trip to the movies, Jeannette Catsoulis thinks you should see Nicolas Cage play a truffle hunter in Michael Sarnoski\u2019s \u201cPig,\u201d a \u201cmournful fable of loss and withdrawal, art and ambition.\u201d She\u2019s also bullish on \u201c Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain.\u201d Christina Morales spoke with Morgan Neville, the director of \u201cRoadrunner,\u201d who told her that \u201che wanted viewers to see the threads that could have contributed to Mr. Bourdain\u2019s death, including how his virtues were also his vulnerabilities.\u201d Be sure to watch James Robinson\u2019s video essay on what it\u2019s like to live with disabling eye conditions, \u201c How Life Looks Through My \u2018Whale Eyes.\u2019 \u201d And Margaret Lyons recommends the series \u201c Schmigadoon!,\u201d which parodies classic musicals and stars Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key. It\u2019s available on Apple TV+. Of all the things that are back, at least for now, what have you been most grateful for? What\u2019s back that you wish would stay gone? Write to us: athome@nytimes.com. Include your full name and location and we might feature your story in a future newsletter. We\u2019re At Home and Away. We\u2019ll read every letter sent. More ideas for how to pass the time this weekend appear below. See you next week. There\u2019s more to read, do and watch in our archive. Let us know what you think.<\/p>\n