Hello from wherever this weekend finds you. While things are mostly normal in Canberra (this mask pic is from weeks ago), I'm still checking the news non-stop because I think it will somehow help (it really doesn't!). But today I did see that my age group will be eligible for the vaccine soon, which could be as early as next month. As someone who has worried a lot throughout the whole pandemic and felt nervous about things I'm allowed to do (like going into the office every now and then) I am excited about having a date for leaving some of that behind.
In the meantime, I've just pulled a batch of malted brownies out of the oven and we're ordering pizza with gorgonzola and mascarpone on it for dinner :) A couple of nice things to share:
Living on your own in your 20s then 30s.
Ocean Vuong's very moody playlist is perfect for rainy days and winter runs.
An extract from Sally Rooney's new novel. Loved it!
I'm really enjoying and craving exercise atm and always love sampling studios when they go online during lockdowns. I've been working my way through the IGTV classes from Good Vibes in Melbourne and Scout Pilates after hearing about them on Highly Enthused. Their live classes are $12 and they send you the vid after, and it's been a nice way to ease myself into some pilates. It's so much harder than yoga 😜
And a nice idea for anyone sending gifts to Sydney friends and fam - HarvestBites is run by OzHarvest, and they team up with chefs to deliver make-at-home meals, which go on to fund meals for those in need.
I made my own long weekend and took Friday off... originally to visit Sydney people I really miss! Instead I've been planning some lockdown deliveries, especially for the second week because a few Melbourne friends have said it can often be a bit more challenging than the first.
Other than that it's been lots of little good things - baking lots of bread, starting The Bold Type (hooray for a new-to-me show with five seasons), and slowly making a lasagne while bingeing a new Britney podcast.
I've also been getting used to mask-wearing for the first time. As someone who has always been very nervous (and sometimes overly cautious) about the pandemic, it's been super reassuring to see people in the city take it up so quickly.
Big love to anyone still in lockdown. Hope it's a manageable week X
Here are some good things to share:
Starstruck on iView is a fun weekend watch. Jessie, the main character, is like a low-key version of Ilana from Broad City.
Feel Good is a Netflix show I missed last year that popped up in a Dolly Alderton newsletter. Seems like comedies set in London are my vibe atm.
Hetty McKinnon's has a one-pot pasta with red wine, sage and walnuts. I love the combo of a one-pot meal with fancy-ish ingredients (wine, butter, cheese!).
A lovely story about exchanging gifts with a neighbour during the pandemic.
I've been organising some baby presents for workmates lately and one of my new favourite things to gift is this cute and fluffy blanket. They're not too expensive (especially if it's a group pressie), and they get a lot of use as blankets and play mats.
Take care if you're in Sydney, I'm thinking of you!
X
Winter is one of the nicest times to bake bread at home. It's also... one of the hardest seasons for making sourdough. A bit like me, the cold makes my sourdough starter sluggish, and that can drag out the already hours-long process of making bread with no guarantee it'll work out.
So I was very excited to try a recipe for backwards bread, the bread-child of cute Instagram baker Mary Grace and cookbook author and doula Jessica Prescott. It's a recipe where you mix up your sourdough ingredients and essentially go to sleep, skipping 95% of the special folding techniques that goes into making regular sourdough.
I wasn't sure it'd actually work for me (it was a chilly zero degrees in Canberra last night, compared to the 19 degrees of Mary's test loaf in Adelaide) but it really did. And this lazy loaf might be one of my best yet.
A note for fellow sourdough bakers: My starter takes about 18 hours to rise (!), so I followed Mary's tip and put it in the fridge at it's peak (usually at 3pm if I feed it after dinner the night before) and mixed up my dough using the same starter straight from the fridge. And because it's so cold in Canberra, I put my dough in the oven overnight. It wasn't on, but protected the dough from the weather a bit.
When it works, baking bread is very satisfying. And it turns out it's even more so when you've put almost zero effort into it.
I am very excited for the long weekend. Our friends Angie and Dave are visiting, we're going to see an exhibition our friends have on and maybe go to a coffee pop-up on Sunday. Here are four little things that've made the work week nice... including a full biscuit jar for my 3pm snack. I bought some chocolate dipped digestives, inspired by a novel I've been reading where the character regularly enjoys them with a cup of tea.
Gravity is a new podcast hosted by Lucy Kalanithi that feels so perfect for this still uncertain time, more than a year into the pandemic. I initially tuned in because Lucy is the twin sister of Jo, from one of my all-time favourite blogs, A Cup of Jo. I loved her interview with her sister and the episode on loneliness, which explained how you can be rich in intimate relationships (a partner, close friends, family) but still need the incidental contact and community of acquaintances. Lucy is a doctor, so brings a really interesting perspective to topics like loneliness and depression. I also recently finished listening to the audiobook of her late husband Paul's memoir, When Breath Becomes Air.
When I'm in the office, I mostly listen to yoga playlists to... block other people out when they're in calls or video meetings. But when I'm home alone and WFH, I need something more energising. My current fave is this Momofuku one from David Chang's podcast, which includes a version of Madonna's Borderline that I've never heard before. Someone in my team would call this very older millennial but I don't care.
And I made these baked chicken, leek and parmesan meatballs the other night, because I loved the idea of serving them in a baguette with mayo, lettuce and pickled onion. They were really, really good for dinner, late night snacks and a fancy work lunch.
Hope you have a cosy weekend. I hear it's going to be freezing even in Queensland!
