How is everyone doing? It’s boiling in the UK and as you read this I’ll be hosting a morning event with Choose Love (they have a brilliant pop-up in Borough Yards, right by Borough Market - stop by if you’re near!). A friend bought me a handheld fan for my birthday and it’s such a handy item to have in my bag (no charging necessary) and thinking of it as a workout for my arms, too!
Obviously mine’s leopard print.
Chris and I have just finished Dirty Business on Channel 4 on the water business and sewage pollution scandal. We almost didn’t reach the end, not because it wasn’t excellent but because it made us both SO angry. How has no one gone to prison for this? I loved the naturalistic dialogue and the wry humour, too, it didn’t feel righteous. Characters discussed their cheese sandwiches amongst the backdrop of the overwhelmingly enormous failings of huge corporations and the clever use of real footage filmed by campaigners was genius in highlighting the very real problems, interspersed with dramatised dialogue - it was powerful. People died and they just kept/keep making eyewatering profits. Change often feels so draining when you’re in the thick of it, Jason Watkins’ character says at one point ‘it’s exhuasting, we’ll never win’ and although some gains have been made, it leaves you wondering, in the big scheme of things, if we ever will. See also: the uptick of padel courts on land that has previously been used for people to excercise for free, now being used for profit.
This month’s favourite purchase was my If Only If nightie that I feel amazing in (it is, however, an expensive habit). It’s less sheer than previous ones and I have been known to wear mine on holiday, too. As discussed in my post partum slump article, I have begun to spend more money on natural fabrics and focused on areas I previously haven’t felt great in (this has made me feel chic at my most non chic of times, esp in the heat). But I think there is such a gap in the market for a High Street brand to bring out a collection of cool cotton nighties (I’m looking at you M&S!). I don’t want an oversized jersey tee with a Club de Martini logo on it, I want this:
A life hack I discovered this month: if you buy school uniform now, most supermarkets have plenty of sizes in stock and often with discounts. I bought my daughter’s entire uniform from TU at Sainsbury’s with 20% off last week and feeling disproportionately smug about it.
And on the topic of back to school, this pen from Choosing Keeping has made writing cards to friends and family so pleasurable! The way the ink drips from the nib is how I imagine writing with a quill in 17th Century England feels and I need that sort of whimsy in my life right now (minus the plague, of course). It reminds me of my favourite Parker pen nib at school and I think I’d forgotten how joyful writing by hand can be. Even Chris borrows it. £8 truly well spent.
I was so excited to be invited to the Press Preview of Frida Kahlo: The Making of an Icon at Tate Modern, I have never seen her work up close (and most of what I know is from the Little People, Big Dreams book I read to my kids). Sadly, I was a little underwhelmed, although the exhibition was large there were only 30 pieces by Kahlo, the rest were stories interwoven from Mexican artists, both modern day and her contemporaries, as well as homage and works inspired by her legacy. These voices were fascinating and really highlighted Frida as an icon of resistance (and merch) but I couldn’t help feeling it has been slightly missold? I left not knowing much more about her life but more other people’s impression of it. I’m intrigued to hear what you think if you go see it, I was still thrilled to see pieces by husband Diego Rivera and Mary McCartney’s famous photograph of Tracey Emin, on her bed, as Frida. I would have just liked a bit more Kahlo.
Recipe: Cold Soba Noodle Chicken Salad with Maple Tamari Dressing (by Nina Parker)
Note from Nina: I am obsessed with noodle salads. They are so delicious and such a good way to get loads of veg in while still making everything super tasty. Thinly sliced carrot, baby corn and edamame would also work really well here.
Ingredients (serves 1):
1 chicken breast, at room temperature
2 tbsp sunflower oil
Salt + pepper
Flour mix: 1 tsp spelt flour + 1 tsp cornflour
OR 1 tbsp plain flour
For the salad:
100g buckwheat soba noodles
1 pak choi, sliced into 4 lengthways
Handful coriander leaves
1 tbsp crispy onions
1/2 lime
80g mangetout
1/2 spring onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp sesame seeds + cashews, optional
For the dressing:
3 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 tbsp apple cider or rice wine vinegar
Optional additives:
1/2 tsp white miso paste
2 tbsp lime juice
Set a large saucepan of water to boil + add the mangetout once boiling. Blanch for 2 mins + remove with a slotted spoon. Leave the water in the pan.
Using the same water, bring back to the boil + add the noodles. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer + cook for 4.5–5 mins. Check the noodles are cooked, then drain under cold water + leave to one side in the sieve.
While that cooks, mix everything for the dressing together.
Pat the chicken breast dry with paper towel. Place between sheets of baking paper + use a rolling pin or the flat side of a jar to flatten it to an even thickness, around 2cm thick. Pat dry once more. Season with salt + pepper + place onto a plate, dusting with the flour mix. Shake off any excess flour.
Set a frying pan over a medium-high heat + add 2 tbsp sunflower oil. Allow the oil to heat up slightly + carefully add the chicken. Fry for about 5.5 mins before turning over + frying for another 5 mins. It should be golden + crispy on both sides. Place onto a plate to rest for 5 mins before slicing.
You can either use the same frying pan to fry the pak choi for 2 mins or boil it with the mangetout.
To plate up, refresh the noodles under cold water. Allow any excess water to drain + place into a bowl. Add a few spoons of the dressing to the noodles, then add the pak choi, mangetout, coriander, crispy onions, spring onion + optional seeds + nuts. Place the chicken on top, spoon over more dressing + serve with a wedge of lime.
Here’s a list of items Nina’s swear-by extras for a tasty lunch (that last for ages)
• Good condiments — chilli oils (obviously mine feature heavily), tahini, miso paste and I have either a gochujang or chipotle paste
• Texture boosters — crispy onions, toasted sesame seeds, nuts, capers, finely chopped pickled jalapeños
• Acidity — lemons, limes, rice wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar
• Fresh herbs — mainly coriander because I’m mildly obsessed
• Cupboard staples — pulses, tinned cannellini beans are actually quite good, soba or rice noodles, good olive oil, Maldon sea salt
• Freezer essentials — peas + edamame are always useful
• Big flavour ingredients — anchovies + toasted sesame oil
I do this thing where I really want to watch a film, I know it’ll be good, but then watch anything but as I’m not quite in the right frame of mind (it’s why I was a fan of LoveFilm by post, it made me watch the films I’d chosen). I watched an entire mind numbing series before settling to watch this Ken Loach gem, assuming it’d be heavy viewing. But this was a beautifully gentle watch, there were some difficult racist views but under the surface it was about shared humanity and the bringing together two very different communities, finding common ground in a time of polemic divide. It’s rare to see a film highlighting the realities facing working class people and their fear of immigrants (in this case, Syrian families fleeing war in 2016), delving into their deeper fear of being left behind and lost in the system. There was no huge crescendo or build up (I was expecting a This is England type ending) but it was powerful in its slow burn, a little twee at times in dialogue, but left me feeling a shred of hope by the end.
Next months’s film will be Rye Lane, 2021 on iPlayer (available for 3 months). I’ve seen it and eager to enjoy again - and felt we needed a romantic feelgood film in the mix.
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