Who doesn't love a recommendation?
A few bits and pieces from home and its peripheries.
I’m doing things a little differently today because, unlike every other second Wednesday, I am actually working today! So, writing this in the early hours, I thought I would test out the much-loved recommendations email that I see so often in the newsletter universe, and share some bits and pieces that I have been enjoying at and near home lately.
To start, I’ve been trying to spend less time on my phone — especially in the evenings before bed and when I wake up in the mornings — so this recommendation starts the night before by putting your phone on the charger in the kitchen with Airplane Mode on and wifi off. This has been a really good way of stopping myself from scrolling right before I go to sleep and before I do anything else in the mornings. It also means that when I go into the kitchen and feel compelled to click the home button, there are no notifications to get distracted by and I can put on the kettle, make my breakfast, and eat in peace before the rush of the day begins.
Ah, a nice segue into my second recommendation: breakfast. Not what to eat, but where to eat it. Since May, I’ve been trying to eat my meals in the garden as much as possible. Breakfast is a particularly agreeable one to take outside because it feels quiet and still in a way that lunch and dinnertime just don’t (although I do still eat those outside as well). We also get lots of birds in the garden in the mornings — starlings, swallows, finches, pigeons — and they really put on quite a show. This recommendation sounds like it requires a garden but it doesn’t. If it’s raining, I will just sit on my window sill and it has much the same effect.
For my cups of tea, I’ve been using this tea strainer that I bought at T2 when I was in Australia earlier this year. It’s better than any other tea strainer I’ve ever used because it’s impossible for any of the tea leaves to escape, and when the tea has steeped for long enough, you can use its little lid as a coaster without getting water everywhere.
My Spotify account seems to have over-algorithmed itself recently and the same songs play again and again. So instead, particularly as I sit down to work at about 9:30, I’ll put on NTS Radio. Their breakfast show is always a treat with loads of stuff I’ve never heard before and a smattering of songs I know well enough to hum along to while I check my emails.
Writing in pencil. Inspired by my dad who spends a few hours each week sharpening his pencils in his mechanical sharpener and writing in his notebooks, there’s something about a nice sharp pencil that just flows, you know. And it feels like less of a commitment than the ink from my usual black biro.
There is always a healthy rotation of coriander, parsley, and mint in our fridge, but after a particularly delicious meal at Berenjak in Borough Market with my friend Kiana recently, I’ve been getting very into tarragon. I’ve used it in vegetable stock and freshly chopped on top of things, just like you would use any other soft herb, and it’s been going down very well.
Until recently, we only had medium-sized pots in the kitchen, but when Mum was packing up to move to France she gave us one of her massive stock pots and the space in that thing is unbelievable. No more overflowing pasta water for us!
Arranging your kitchen so that you can see all your oil, sauce, and vinegar bottles at once and from above. Since rearranging my kitchen a couple of weeks ago (which I talked about last time), I have saved probably days of my life being able to open up one drawer and easily see everything in it without having to take it all out to get to the back of the cupboard.
A few recipes I’ve made and loved lately have been this quiche by Alison Roman — I ended up making it with puff pastry because I didn’t have time to make a homemade dough it turned out beautifully. I particularly loved the tiny, crunchy bits of onion throughout the mixture. This tomato and miso-butter pasta — such flavour, such fusion! The River Café’s Lemon Spaghetti, need I say more? And I’ve also been making a lot of Salad Niçoise which I would never order at a restaurant but which made at home is the perfect summer dinner: Ortiz tuna with mustard, greek yog, and spring onions. Salty, vinegary kale. Soft little boiled potatoes. Asparagus or green beans depending on whether it’s May, June, or July. Cherry tomatoes. Lots of salt and pepper. Yum!
Spending time with local friends in local places. I didn’t quite realise how underrated it was to walk three minutes to the pub on a Sunday afternoon to meet friends who also live three minutes away (hi Emma and Flukes!). After a very full weekend of plans in the far ends of London, what a treat it was to step out the door and be where we needed to be. The ease! The chippies!
This recommendation isn’t really restricted to a time of day, it’s more of a seasonal thing, but planting bulbs like tulips, gladioli, and dahlias and seeing them pop their colourful little heads up throughout the year has been, dare I say, life-changing. Also, it doesn’t necessarily require a garden as they can all be planted in pots, you just need a good windowsill or a little terrace and Bob’s your uncle.
And finally, my friend Margaux lent me her copy of Deborah Levy’s new book, August Blue, which I am enjoying reading slowly. I usually gobble up Levy’s books — particularly her Living Autobiography Series which was the topic of this newsletter a little while ago — but it’s been nice just reading a couple of chapters here and there and extending my relationship with the story’s main character a bit.
This was a really fun format for me to write, so if you enjoyed it, please let me know and maybe I’ll start making it a more regular thing. Who doesn’t love a recommendation, after all?
See you in the next one,
Annabel
Loved it ❣️
Gosh your Dad sounds very cool.