Blue skies and burgers

We had a full weekend of clear, clean air last week, the first in a month or so. It was more than a relief to see the sky again - it was exciting! We rejoiced at the sight of clouds, the sound and feel of the wind that you completely miss when your shut up indoors. Even hearing birds and passing cars was a novelty. And then we tried to pack all of the things we wanted to do over our Christmas break into two days. We went for walks, ate burgers outside at the brewery, made plans to ride to the movies. We finally watched Little Women, which I adored and might rewatch at the cinema. We fell asleep with the windows wide open (a little nervously at first).

The smoke hasn't returned but it has been a very eventful week of damaging hail storms and fires burning in Canberra. We've been lucky and safe but are feeling exhausted from all of the activity and updates. We have a couple of plans for the long weekend - a family lunch, a picnic brekkie with visiting friends and a birthday lunch for my sister and brother-in-law. It's also Chinese New Year's Eve on Friday night, so I'll be stocking up on red packets and filling them with money for our nieces and nephews. It's a favourite tradition from my childhood that is so exciting to share.

For your long weekend:

Podcast eps to enjoy

The Motherhood Sessions is back.

Behind the scenes with Little Women food stylist Christine Tobin.

I've been listening to so many Greta Gerwig interviews lately and while this one is from 2016, it has so plenty of gems from the writer, actor and director, like the idea of taking an unsteady step in the right direction.

Things to make and eat

How to make Nutella whipped cream. YUM.

Going to try sourdough hot cross buns this year - maybe even this weekend.

Hetty McKinnon's ultimate veggie burger is based on the Shake Shack 'Shroom burger and may be better than a cheeseburger. A roasted portobello mushroom is stuffed with cheese, then crumbed and fried. I also love the loaded mayo and smashed potatoes with seaweed salt in this recipe.

I made Smitten Kitchen's Everyday Chocolate Cake for a work gathering and it was as good as the picture suggests and made our apartment smell amazing.

From Heidi's book, the recipe for Joan's chocolate clair bars, which remind me of a caramel slice only they're much nuttier and better for you. I love them as a pre-yoga snack.

This roast chicken and mango salad looks delish.

And for anyone wanting to eat less meat this year, here's my wrap of ABC Life's best vegetarian dinners. I make the tomato linguini, the baked risotto and potato frittata often.

And a couple of long reads

I've written a little about my efforts to work out whether having kids are for me or not, and have edited a couple of stories about the topic in recent weeks. And so when I stumbled across a reference to Rebecca Solnit's essay The Mother of All Questions (what a great title) in Jia Tolentino's book Trick Mirror, I was super keen to read it. Leaving it here in case you'd like to read it too.

If you're a fan of The Daily, this piece about its rise and its host Michael Barbaro is fascinating.