i got a microwave + recharging uni break + weetbix choc-chip cookies āš»
Hey friends, it's week 4/5 of my mid-year library diploma break and as of this week it's officially school holidays ā meaning I have a two week break from the library job as well (which is incredible ha!). Maybe I just needed three weeks to recover physically and another two that I could actually enjoy... that's crip-time for ya' I guess!
If I may quietly pat myself on the back though, I have done some A-grade resting these past few weeks. I'm talking, naps every day! Only for an hour, but still ā I need a 30 minute wind down (usually spent reading) and a 30 minute wind up (usually spent scrolling) afterwards. So it still feels like a rigmarole to STOP what I'm doing early enough in the day and commit to the Zzz.
Since I last wrote, I've continued to get more comfy and confident in my new library technician job. I've been given more responsibilities (cataloguing, contacting, weeding), helped some students find what they're after and I'm even starting to forget I work in a boys school (say what?). There's so many sweet students, so those "teenage boys are SO gross!!" feelings in my last newsletter have totally been balanced out.
I attended to so much life admin this past month (when do teachers working full time fit that in?). I've started working with a fantastic naturopath who has the best bedside manner and most judgement-free motivating attitude, for whom my complicated health picture is not too complicated (HUGE). And I was a big girl and saw a dermal therapist about some eczema on my face and one kinda shamey appointment, $300 dollars worth of skincare and a few weeks later ā and I'm soooo much happier in my skin lol. Lesson in short-term discomfort for long-term life improvement? I think so.
My big purchase of the month was a microwave! I didn't grow up with one, so I've only used one whilst child-minding and house-sitting. Oh, and in the commercial kitchen while running my microbakery... in which I might have put a metal spoon because I had ZERO MICROWAVE LITERACY SKILLS AT THE TIME! The microwave survived.
But I've known one could be a huge energy-saver for me in the kitchen ā reducing washing up when reheating leftovers and time spent preparing meals when fatigued. Apart from its loud BEEPS, we're getting along like a house on fire!!! Maybe not the best analogy Phoebe?! But it's getting multiple uses every day. I also bought these Souper Cube dupes from Kitchen Warehouse ā they're like portioned silicone food moulds with lids to prevent freezer burn, and I'm having a BLAST filling my freezer with yummy things. To know I'll have these accommodations during my placement in August is awesome.
YOUTUBE.
I posted a long-weekend vlog and a what I ate in a week this month over on my channel.
KITCHEN.
LāR: Cheesy green vegetables, peas, tofu and pesto rice (healthy comfort food). Some seaweed cracker + tofu fritters (the seaweed crackers act as breadcrumbs) and some lovely lemongrass tofu.
LāR: Japchae, a decent greens mix from Coles (so rare!) and my lemongrass, tofu + pumpkin laksa.
LāR: A cosy congee with ginger soy greens and a boiled egg, a ginger soy "mince" cabbage stir-fry (10/10) and my tofu saag (made by my brother).
LāR: A really good breakfast burrito, some decent stuffed jacket potatoes (yet to be cooked) and my spiced tofu & cauliflower dish.
LāR: Made a massive batch of GF wraps (for the freezer), my Greek-style tofu souvlaki wraps and a Moroccan-style red lentil soup (a soup I actually adore!).
LāR: One of many daily GF porridge bowls, my almond and raspberry frangipane slice (from I Want Dopamine for Dinner) and some potato mochi ā made in the waffle maker for maximum crisp (10/10).
WATCHED.
The Sheep Detectives was really sweet! I cried three times and enjoyed being swept up in the (slightly wooly...) murder mystery. The emotional beats felt a bit toooo neatly engineered at times ā like I could hear the writer saying, "so we'll make the viewers cry here, here and here by pressing on pain points of grief, animal-companionship and lost innocence". But that's probably just me being cynical.
Having read the book I was nervous to watch Margo's Got Money Troubles, and frankly the trailers made me nervous (my cynicism... AGAIN). They didn't elicit the same buzzy energy as the book. So I was happy to be proved VERY wrong! Super watchable, amazing performances (I love Elle Fanning <3), and while it is somewhat about Only Fans, it's also incredibly wholesome. I love Margot and I think the book and TV show (consumed in that order) are definitely worth your time!
READ.
A Matter of Taste is about the influence of the Australian Women's Weekly magazine and their famous subsidiary cookbooks (which heavily inspired the vibe of my latest cookbook, I Want Dopamine for Dinner) on Australian food and culture. I talked about it more in this video ā but I found it both fascinating and infuriating in equal measure. It's hard to find consolidated history on those cookbooks ā so I really appreciated the authors' research efforts in that regard.
Maggie Nelson's Bluets was loaned to me by a writer friend after I'd talked about my love of brief, thought-based prose. My non-profound hot take is that chunked prose (even short chapters) are ridiculously ADHD friendly ā making one's reading inertia just fflooooow. I didn't connect with all of Nelson's writing, but then some parts on how to live a life after profound change, I underlined like my life depended on it and I am still thinking about today.
The nauseatingly fleshy cover of Jennette McCurdy's Half His Age asiiiiiide...(just my personal opinion), I don't know how I feel about this book. It's about the narrator's sexual infatuation and eventual relationship with her English teacher in her final year of school ā which is horny, revolting, explicit... all the things. But it's also about emotional neglect and consumer capitalism. I think those parts made the book interesting, but a lot of the student-teacher stuff just made me want to puke.
The Ballad of Ronan McCoy is Colin Morgan's (the Merlin TV series actor) debut novel and GOOD GOD what a book?! It's about a teenage boy in Northern Ireland, in his final year of school, suddenly without his best friend by his side, navigating an incredibly difficult ā but also hopeful ā final year of school. It's heartbreaking, extremely sad, raw and tender, but at the same time gentle, optimistic and stupidly readable. Every character and scene jumps off the page and I didn't want it to end. I was a little worried about the disability storyline (because traumatic-brain injury is a bold undertaking without first-hand experience), but the more interviews I read and the more I think about it ā the more confident I am in Morgan's authorship. Anyway, READ IT!
Susanna Clarke's Piranesi is renowned for a reason!!! This book is SO SPECIAL. It's fantasy ā but the book's world is tethered to the real world, making it really approachable. Read it for the main characters Paddington-like up-beat gentle curiosity, the metaphors of living peacefully with chronic illness, the page-turning unfolding of the truth or just some gentle escapism. I cannot recommend it enough!
RECIPE.
This month's recipe is for vegan & gluten-free Weetbix Chocolate Chip Cookies !! A simple, nostalgic, one-bowl recipe that has the best ā almost malty ā texture from the weetbix. They're also a LOT less-sweet than traditional chocolate chip cookies, giving major oatmeal notes while still being gluten-free ā whoopee!
Thank you for reading & supporting my work,
ā Phoebe
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