january review 👒 what i ate + watched + read, 2025 goals, social media changes

Happy New Year, dear readers!

I don't know about you, but January has felt like a whole year (not quite... but a lot happened!). There's been health appointments, writing opportunities and interpersonal-action galore! While there were lots of lovely moments (a new haircut, evening beach swims, delicious food, 5 favourite reads, beautiful films and time spent with friends) I'm happy to be turning over a new calendar month.

I spent the Christmas period scrapbooking, doing home improvements (deep cleaning our kitchen & painting our fence), cooking and going to the vet too many times for merlin's ear infection (he's better now, hooray!).

In January I shot the remaining 15 cookbook recipes (BTS of the chocolate hazelnut cake & microbakery bun recipes above), wrote a piece for ABC Lifestyle, attended 13 health appointments (too many), started working with an integrative physio for my post-viral symptoms (that's been great!), enjoyed having the house to myself for a week and soaked up summer where I could.

Between everything happening in the world and the many things my attention has been split between recently, I've felt completely exhausted & overwhelmed some days. That state hasn't lasted thankfully and once I've done the juggle of my to-do list and realised what can wait, I soon feel a lot better. I think being a freelancer does add to the stress of all that though, the constant juggling of your diary never ends. I'm bloody grateful and proud of myself for having more work lined up than ever before though.

I am totally demoralised about the direction of the internet at the moment and wondering what to do/how that will play out. For the time being I'll be in the same places. I'm really glad to have this newsletter & my website on an open-sourced platform (called Ghost), that can't be bought out or sold. At least that part's not changing!

Aesthetically-speaking this month has been 100% cutie-patootie. I found these bowls at an op shop (until I can afford legit ceramic ones by a small maker, these will do), decorated a new scrapbook, got a more mullety haircut at a Korean hair salon and have felt hot as heck in these boat-neck tees from Uniqlo.

Next month I'm hoping for less health/tech/general-life admin, less overwhelm, more evening trips to the beach and long chats with friends.

FOOD.

I made love-heart cashew mac & cheese with broccoli baked in one chilly summer evening, home-fried crispy calamari salad (was trying to emulate a menu item from a beach-side restaurant I was obsessed with growing up) and loaded nachos with leftover cashew nacho cheese sauce for the family, hmmm!

Cosy tofu katsu japanese curry (from my 3rd cookbook), eggplant parmigiana with jasmine rice & parmesan beans and miso brussel sprouts & tofu over soba noodles (a low fodmap friendly recipe from my cookbook Big Mouth).

Tried putting non-dairy whipped cream on a strawberry smoothie after seeing someone recommend it (it was just ok), made ginger molasses chocolate chip cookies (similar recipe here) and plenty of rice paper ramen dumplings for the freezer.

Made a (non-tradish) Japanese set meal to brighten my evenings, have been making lots of rice/tofu/veg bowls and got some of the best hot chips of ma' life (well close) – the place found via the wonderful Melbourne chip-review instagram account @mips_chips).

Bolognese drowned in vegan parmesan, eating up the candied pecans I made over Christmas and a simple asian salmon/slaw/rice bowl made from this recipe tin eats recipe.

FREELANCE.

I've been writing lots, but nothing's out just yet. A piece for ABC Lifestyle about my bedroom will be out in February and I have a road test review in frankie magazine coming out this Monday – where I rip to shreds your fave (or dreaded) household chores.

I had a flurry of pitches accepted last week, so February will be writing-heavy... wish me luck : )

YOUTUBE.

Here's a newsletter-only link to watch my new YouTube video (!!) which I'll be posting Sunday evening. I'm so pleased with how it turned out & hope you like it.

WATCHED.

Memoir of a Snail is a deeply affecting Australian stop-motion animation film, produced and voiced by Sarah Snook (now nominated for an Oscar). It's the deeply tragic yet hopeful story of a woman's life – featuring disability, parent-loss, adoption, twin-separation, fat-fetishes, tragedy and found family. The film is a sucker-punch in the gut. The animation style is kind of grotty but beautiful? I found it interesting to read about how they made it on such a shoe-string budget, answer: not a lot of live-talking hehe.

A Real Pain is about two cousins who go on a guided tour through Poland to pay homage to their recently deceased grandmother who survived the holocaust. The trip magnifies their own pains and leaves you wondering about what effect the trip had on them and where they go from there. It also leaves you happy your loved ones are alive.

Bad Sisters, ok holy shit what a series (there's two seasons, they're on Apple) ! This Irish murder mystery/thriller told between real time & flash backs is one of the greatest things I've ever watched. Definitely recommend watching with someone so you can talk about it after (and bounce off what you think's going to happen). While I didn't find the second season's ending entirely convincing I still loved it. IT'S SO ENGROSSING.

READING.

Things I don't want to know by Deborah Levy (left) and Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux (right) are both reads a lot of creative people have been talking about. Short memoir classics that I'm glad to have been introduced to. They leave you thinking about womanhood, seeing & feeling things others don't, personal & political injustice and constantly growing into new versions of ourselves. Highly recommend both.

By the river: essays from the water's edge is a collection of essays by the UK publisher Daunt Books. I've loved every other essay collection of theirs I've read – In the Kitchen and At the Pond. What a beautiful way to learn more about the ecological complexities & cultural significance of the UK and African river systems. Every essay was completely different, yet equally affecting.

Almond by Won-Pyung Sohn is a Korean book I've been seeing all over TikTok for a while now. Others compare it to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (autistic-adjacent young boy who experiences the world in a different way suffers a major trauma & embarks on a journey to make sense of the world). The writing style is detached yet warm, the chapters are wonderfully short and by the end you won't want it to finish. An instant favourite, I gently/firmly nudge you to read it too.

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto is a DELIGHT of a Japanese novella about individualism/community, the power of cooking, societal conventions, grief and love. It's told in two chapters, has the most endearing (direct yet warm & playful) narration and makes you wish you could read it as part of a book club, because of how much is in it !!

RECIPE.

The recipe for these Teriyaki Tempura Sushi Handrolls is now on my website! I first made them as part of my 12 Days of Joyful Cooking Series last month. They're savoury, crunchy, fresh, familiar and easier than you'd think. They'll be a gastronomical highlight of your year, promise : )

Looking forward to connecting with you in 2025,

Phoebe (they/them) x

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