Pop-Up Glut, Turning 25 & So Much Good Food !

I write to you with a dirty hankie beside me (too much info), feeling a bit run down with a cold, but eager to see the shelf my dad & uncle are putting up above my door  as I type - which will act as an extra book shelf.

I turned 25 this week, have eaten a sushi burrito (tempura coated nori "taco shell" filled with delectable sushi goodness), chickpea tofu (always a good idea), my favourite chinese dumplings, the most spectacular v/gf swedish pancakes rolled up with chocolate hazelnut spread, silverbeet & feta pockets (for the next pop-up) and lots of moreish vegan christmas choccy which has now popped up in supermarkets.

My Dad & Uncle are staying here this week & while this cold-business (both illness & weather relating) is a bummer, the motivation/obligation (fine line really) to make extra delicious, crowd-pleasing favourites is making for a very tasty time.

My birthday was very low-key, I went out for meals, op-shop and book shop browsed & watched my absolute favourite new show Extraordinary Attorney Woo. Bloody frustrated by how picked over op shops are these days, maybe I had a bit of birthday luck, because I found a couple of tops that make me feel cute & confident (which is saying something, as I've been in a style-rut).

BISCUIT TIN BAKERY.

Next date | 26th November @ The Recycled Sewing Studio in Hampton

My last pop up was back in Hampton and it went super smoothly kitchen-wise! I made a hUge amount of food and it's a personal fist-pump moment, thinking how quickly I've been able to achieve that (relatively, for me). However,  it was a trickle rather than a flood of people (lots of factors why) - so I had many leftovers. I still made a record for me, but it was  disheartening not finding a home as easily for it. I gave some to friends, did some deliveries, froze a bit and enjoyed a few myself, only having to compost the scrolls - but the way I'm seeing it is, this was bound to happen and I've learnt buckets from it.

I'll be making lots of savoury bakes & different sweet options next time. Advertising the crap out of it as well is a must.

KITCHEN.

I tested my silverbeet potato cheese parcels for next weekend - and figured out how I'm going to roll them up (final design not pictured). The filling is so morish, cheesy green herby potatoes where the lines between potato & cheese blur into each other. (Please forgive the awful pic)!

These pancakes are adapted from the cookbook, The Vegan Baking Bible - and holy shit, they're spectacular! They remind me of ones we used to buy and pull out of the freezer on weekends to have as a treat. They're not as thin as crepes but close enough. You can't tell they're vegan & gluten-free. I'm feeling like a kid this week working through them with chocolate hazelnut spread, lemon & sugar, vegan ham & cheese - bliss.

I nailed my buckwheat chocolate chip cookie recipe in time for my last pop up - and whoosh I'm so pleased my endless trials were worth it. They're look as good as they taste.

WATCH.

The British Film Festival has been on & I got to see two films - the first being The Lost King. It has all the ingredients for a riveting watch - Sally Hawkins (big crush), an almost unbelievable true story, Alexandre Displat score, charmingly handsome imaginary friend & all the pace of a thriller. However! There really are too many details for this to be condensed into a 90 minute film. Maybe it would have been better as a limited series? You cry, laugh & are happily invested, but you don't come to understanding how she did it. They skip over so many historical/archeological details and instead focus entirely on the main character's strong *feelings* about knowing where Richard III's remains were. Give the audience a little credit. I sat down, ready to keep up!

Brian and Charles was the other film I saw and omg, a total gem. It's about a lonely, eccentric man named Brian who builds inventions in an old cow shed in the middle of Wales to keep his hands & brain busy since his life has gone a bit "topsy turvy." It's a mockumentary which you forget 5 mins in. Brian embarks on making an artificial intelligence robot named Charles (you don't find how how Brian's mediocre handy-man skills produced Charles, but that's not the point). Charles is a cabbage loving, cheeky, dancing, travel-keen ever-evolving robot who's eager to learn about the world around him. He goes through an adolescence and most of the film is the two bickering about going to Honolulu. It's about loneliness, standing up to bullies, letting go and using your imagination. So beautiful! It won't displace my favourite happy-sad-quirky film, but it's definitely on the shortlist.

The finished shelf - yay! I love a room rearranging moment, going to have fun setting this one up (I'm thinking a plant cascading down on the right).

Wishing you a wonderfully restful weekend lovelies,

Phoebe & Merlin

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