feeling flat + star patch pants + rice flour crispy wedges !
Hey-ho 👋🏻 in full transparency I'm feeling a lil' flat this afternoon – which might influence the tone of this newsletter. I had an interview at a public library this morning to secure my library diploma placement in August. It went well (they'll have me, yay!), but suddenly I'm drained of motivation. It was a high(er) stakes social moment on a Friday afternoon (which was always going to be exhausting), but I think it's more the realisation that over the course of the conversation it became clear I'm doing a diploma which will over qualify me for a job that probably won't utilise all the skills I'm learning. Well the first library job I get anyway, if I can get one...
One step at a time Phoebe!
Anyway, I hope the past month was kind to you. April was a bit of a blur for me – as I keep saying... every newsletter. Maybe that's just the reality of studying and trying to fit in pleasant things around it to help you stay sane. Eat, study, sew, sleep, repeat.
I spent a lot of time fixated on my health this month, trying to figure out new symptoms and not let myself become afraid of food (which so often becomes a slippery slope with gut-health issues). I think I've succeeded in that regard. I'm just so tired of having niche health issues that no one knows how to help you with. At the GP on Tuesday I used the line "it's affecting my quality of life" and suddenly my GP was offering to ring up a specialist I've been trying to get into for over a year (unsuccessfully) and advocate on my behalf. Like yah-huh if that's an option!
Despite the food/new-symptom stress, I did eat well in April. I tracked down those gluten-free gyozas pictured above (which were very good) and had some of the best Mexican food of my life at Mission District in Ripponlea. They have a fully gluten-free menu – including the churros! Lots of lovely vegan options and just a fabulous, at ease vibe. Highly recommend.
I did manage to still do hard things. I've made so much progress in coaching myself through discomfort these past years – although if the offer to stop learning that lesson was there, I'd happily take it! But I really felt it being put into practice these last weeks. I applied for a library job (which I just learnt I have an interview for next week, now my chest won't stop racing – great), went to open for inspections (in what will probably be a year long quest to move out) and supervised a 5 hour exam with 20 special provision private school students staring back at me like I was a bit of an idiot lol (no they were genuinely lovely). Typed out like that, you're doing great pheebi <3
On a lighter note – Autumn has finally hit and I'm loving being able to layer my vests again, catch the dreamiest sunrises on chilly morning walks with Merlin, sleep better and make hearty dinners on chilly evenings. Here's to more softness in the month ahead.
YOUTUBE.
Just one video this month, a days in my life vlog – chronicling my clunky mid-semester uni break.
KITCHEN.
L–R: garlic chive dumplings, pesto tofu & veggie bowl, spinach & feta rolls (similar to the I Want Dopamine for Dinner spinach & feta triangles – but with boiled potato mixed in, then wrapped in puff pastry).
L–R: maybe my favourite veggie curry I've ever made, cheesy tofu kimchi rice and spinach green beans over polenta with vegan feta (I Want Dopamine for Dinner recipe).
L–R: tofu karaage (meaning Japanese fried tofu – I Want Dopamine for Dinner recipe), a veggie sausage pasta and quick miso soup.
L–R: Japanese korokke (potato & veggie mince croquettes), a Vietnamese carrot & daikon pickle and some tuna onigiri to share.
L–R: Asian-style mince over gluten-free udon with soya cream, artichoke fish cakes (in this cookbook) and carrot & parsley scones.
L–R: more cookie trials (I've successfully removed the commercially available egg-substitute that I used in my microbakery recipe – now I need to test it thoroughly), orange and chocolate hot cross buns (from I Want Dopamine for Dinner) and a white chocolate mud cake (recipe test)!
SEWING.
I did so much sewing this month, go me. I turned a granny jumper into an albeit unruly vest (that curls up at the bottom...shhhh!), gave some kathmandu hiking pants a makeover in the style of the Sønderhaus Daphne pants, put some star patches on my very ripped wide leg jeans and hemmed a stripped top to be more my shape. Not too shabby!
WATCHED.
Finished watching The Other Bennet Sister and I adored it! Cleverly dodges repeating tired cliches, is visually delicious, endearingly awkward and full of special, moving, healing relationships (Mary & her Aunt, being my fave!).
READ.
I wandered into the library wanting a brief read to save me from my reading slump, came away with Julian Barnes' teeny-tiny book of essays, Changing My Mind. Not knowing anything about the author beforehand, I enjoyed slowing down with each wee page and seeing if I agreed. Enjoyable reading.
I'm probably one of the last people to read Grief is the thing with feathers by Max Porter (recently made into a film starring Benedict Cumberbatch), judging by how long it took to get in at the library. It's about a father who's recently lost his wife, who conjures up an imaginary-friend human-sized crow to shepherd his small family through unimaginable grief. Told between three perspectives, in sometimes minimal poetic prose, it's humorous, moving and a really beautiful, hopeful read.
Tanya Bush's Will This Make You Happy, made me SO happy! The story of how the author went from depressed in 2020 NYC lockdowns to talented baker is punctuated by 40 or so luscious recipes – and although I suppose it's technically a cookbook, the writing was absolutely strong enough that I think it will go down as one of my favourite pieces of food writing to date. Bush's writing reminded me of Laurie Colwin and Nora Ephron's work. So comforting!
By chance, a friend put Sydney social worker, counsellor and writer Erin Riley's collection of personal essay's A Real Piece of Work in my hands (or rather I eagerly took it from them, as they were describing it) at a second hand bookshop on the weekend. It's quickly become a firm favourite. Riley writes about heavy and big topics with a presence and hopefulness that's nourishing and gentle. I loved it, I loved it, I loved it!
RECIPE.
In this month's recipe, I tell you to put rice flour on your sweet potato fries with these Crispy Cajun Sweet Potato Fries that are so bloomin' delicious!!! Apologies for the fluro food photography (the Autumn afternoon sun is intense), I did my best. But please do make these, you won't regret it.
Thank you for reading & supporting my work,
– Phoebe
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