crispy tofu buffalo wraps + library volunteering + preorders opening next month!

May was a whirlwind, experienced with two feet on the ground. A lot happened, but I took it in my stride. I think I'm getting a lot better at not letting external things overwhelm or derail me with anxiety and oh what a feeling that is, honestly. I used to project so much importance onto life events... people... to-do list items... but now I see them through a calmer lens. With even more gratitude, but also more realism. No one's perfect, things will get done eventually.

I'm really enjoying that shift.

This month really felt like Autumn and I can't remember the last year I enjoyed it this much. The Corella's have been by to eat the seed pods on our Maple tree by my window (left image), I've made oodles of delicious dinners, we've had crisp mornings and many show stopping sunrises. I got a new windbreaker at a consignment store and it's helping me feel more like myself on my walks with Merlin.

I made a FANTASTICALLY SMART decision this month, in paying a few editor/writer friends to help with the proofreading of the cookbook. Never have I purchased such a good service hehe. It gave me a mental break from it for a week (while I wrote a piece for frankie magazine, a welcome change) and the text is genuinely sooooo much better for it. I could never have picked up and suggested everything they did, so thank you endlessly Sam, Roumina and Kylie.

I will properly announce the cookbook and open preorders next month !!!

It's all happening, watch this space 👀

The volunteering I alluded to in the last newsletter (at a small toy library) has been going great! The first session was a steep learning curve, but I'm feeling much more in the flow of things now. It's nice to switch into a completely different mode, be around a different demographic (parents and children) and let the time slip by.

I also went to a life drawing class which was amazing! Would recommend and would do again. 2025 bucket list item, ticked.

YOUTUBE.

I posted two videos this month! A vlog from a few days in May, when I started library volunteering and went to life drawing. And a realistic what i cooked in a week full of delicious new eats as well as low-energy meals. Thank you everyone who's been supporting my videos over there!

KITCHEN.

I really excelled (lol) in the kitchen this month !

Left-Right: my go-to lemongrass laksa, the tofu sushi bowl I have at least one a week and cosy bowls of tantanmen ramen which is in my new cookbook!

Left-Right: Tried a dump + bake oven dumpling curry, turned my current obsession – buffalo tofu with green goddess slaw (see recipe at the end of this post) – into a rice bowl and had one of many bowls of leftovers in my cheery pink bowl!

Left-Right: My favourite comfort noodle soup, these carrot kimchi rice paper dumplings and some comforting pesto tofu, zucchini and potatoes.

Left-Right: A plate of leftovers after shooting my cookbooks front cover (reveal and pre-orders coming next month!), some eggplant parma and a bowl of comforting yet bright tofu vegetable curry.

Left-Right: Used up a bunch of nut butter odds + ends in the pantry with this brownie recipe by Vegan Richa. Getting a Bananas For Choc Boost after volunteering has become my little ritual. And on Mother's day my brother and I took my grandmother out for hot chippies overlooking the bay, and these ones were 9/10!

Left-Right: Been on a chia pudding kick! Mainly because it's a neat little dessert that also helps you stay regular – and since getting sick a year ago it's something I now have to pay attention to (boo!). Anyhoo, I'm making my own by mixing 1 full of plants chocolate pudding with ¾ cup dairy-free milk and stirring through 2 tbsp chia seeds. That lasts me 4 desserts.

READ.

A friend was telling me she gave Misunderstanding in Moscow to her parents, before they embarked on some serious overseas travel in their 60s (which the book is about). It peaked my interest and being so short, I gave it a go. It gives a real insight into that age and long-term relationships. I'm not the target audience, but I'm glad I read it.

Ok Sayaka Murata's Life Ceremony is bonkers good. Like very bonkers, and still very good. It's a collection of short stories, each one set in the future where different social norms and attitudes prevail. One being where human remains are recycled and furniture made from skin, light fittings made from nails and jewellery fitted with teeth are commonplace. In the story Life Ceremony, funerals have been replaced with a ceremony where everyone comes together to eat a hot pot featuring the person's flesh and then pair off and procreate. I was laughing in shock at half the stories and a bit bored in others. It's weird fun, but not my favourite Murata read.

Writing my upcoming cookbook has led me to scout out lots of cooking resources for ADHD, Autistic and disabled folks. So I was excited to get my hands on How To Eat Well: for Adults with ADHD when it came out recently, as it's the most 'to the point' resource on the topic I think there currently is. It sort of reads like The Year I Met My Brain, but is about making feeding yourself with ADHD easier. While much of it I knew already, the recipes did nothing for me and I skipped past the eating disorder chapter – I still learnt a butt-load about myself and think many ADHDers would too.

WATCHED.

Thank you to the person who told me Claire Keegan's novella, Foster (about a nine year old girl who goes to stay with relatives for the summer and gets her needs met for the first time) had been made into a film. The Quiet Girl (available on Kanopy, Australian-based readers) is such a perfect, dear, deeply touching film. I don't know what I was expecting, but at the same time I don't think there could be a more perfect adaptation. I also loved that half of it was in Irish.

RECIPE.

This month's recipe is for Crispy Buffalo Tofu & Green Goddess Slaw Wraps !!! I've eaten this so many times in the last two weeks – often with jasmine rice instead of a wrap. PSA to anyone in the southern hemisphere who hasn't had Frank's RedHot Sauce before – it's not spicy, I promise. 1/2 as spicy as kimchi, if that. So go forth and enjoy!

Until next time,

Phoebe x

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