So many things

It's my last full week of work for the year and I'm going into it with Tony's leftover birthday cake in the fridge (a cheesecake with jelly on top!), which seems very right for this point of the year. We spent last week at the beach - our first time in Jervis Bay - and had the nicest time going for daily swims, and eating every single meal out. I've lots of things to share, which I've been amassing over the last few weeks. Hope you enjoy: 

Writer Bryan Washington was so good on The Sporkful, where he talked about food and read excerpts from essays and his new book Memorial. 

I've been wrapping Christmas presents while watching the Hillary documentary series on SBS OnDemand. I like comparing notes with the fictional novel Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld and found the series via Lisa Marie Corso's newsletter.

I've had You Were Meant For Me stuck in my head ever since I listened to this extremely nostalgic episode of Song Exploder with Jewel. 

Heidi's cauliflower pasta bake with shells is so comforting and easy - and heavy on the veg! 

David Chang's new podcast Recipe Club is really fun. Each episode is based on a food item, with three food guests choosing a recipe to match the theme. They make all three and dissect the process, outcome and rank them. It's kind of about learning to cook more intuitively but it's also really silly. The brownies episode is my fave so far.

If you're a Smitten Kitchen fan, you might enjoy this New Yorker interview with Deb Perelman. I've never cooked a Smitten Kitchen recipe that didn't work or that I didn't like!

Also on the topic of food, a recent episode of The Daily documents a day at a New York food bank. Over the weekend I read about Heart of Dinner, a New York food pantry that specifically caters to older Asian Americans who are isolated and have limited access to food. I love the hand decorated bags and their culturally thoughtful contents - with things like tofu, soy milk, rice. Closer to home, I've been donating to St John's Care, who run a food pantry for the local community and will be hosting their annual Christmas lunch as a takeaway affair this year. 

I've just started listening to Days Like These, tuning into an episode about one family's experience of the summer bushfires in Mallacoota. It was recommended by Julia Busuttil Nishimura in Sophie Hansen's newsletter. 

I finished Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half while on holidays. I really enjoyed her first book The Mothers but was totally captivated by this epic family story. In a way it reminded me of If You Leave Me by Crystal Hana Kim, maybe because of the intergenerational plot and detail.

Finally, Michaela Coel's interview with Louis Theroux on his podcast Grounded is excellent.