What we’re eating
“Too much” is the short answer to this one. But, if we’re going to get specific, we’ve been devouring homemade biscuits like they’re going out of style, namely these brown butter spelt chocolate chip cookies from Cloudy Kitchen. Browning the butter at the start is an absolute game changer and the only way we can imagine making biscuits from now on. We also made the Anzac biscuits (again with the heavenly brown butter) over the Anzac Day long weekend, and also consumed them all over the long weekend and beyond.
We’ve also been embracing the concept of the ‘Sunday roast’, but on varying days of the week, with Neil Perry’s roast chicken from Good Cooking, and the best ever (best. ever) potatoes from Julia Busuttil’s A Year of Simple Family Food (out in August).
What we’re reading
Winter is the perfect time to curl up with a good book, and we’ve certainly found a couple to fill up our time. Know My Name is a memoir, written by Chanel Miller, the sexual assault victim in the ‘Stanford case’; known for so long as only ‘Emily Doe’, her victim impact statement went viral in 2016. Know My Name is a deeply personal, moving, and powerful reflection from an extremely talented and courageous voice, as well as searing indictment of a flawed justice system.
Next up on our reading list is Little Fires Everywhereby Celeste Ng – got to finish it before the TV adaptation hits Australian screens (stay tuned for that one). Our book reviewers Jeff and Michael have also been hard at work selecting some great reads for you – you can find them here.
What we’re watching
Like a lot of the rest of the country, we’re definitely glued to MasterChef most nights, yelling at Poh through the TV for taking it down to the wire every time, and saying things like “I cannot believe he is going to cook THAT on the Hibachi”. Unlike other Australian reality shows, MasterChef is like a big warm hug that radiates pure positive energy.
On a non-reality TV note, we also powered our way through Normal People on Stan, based on Sally Rooney’s novel of the same name. This true-to-book adaptation of an Irish love story is not only as moving as the novel, it’s visually stunning, too, with fantastic performances from the now-beloved cast. (There’s even an Instagram account dedicated to main character Connell’s neck chain – with over 97,000 followers.)
We’ve also been revisiting some older favourites; there’s something comforting in knowing exactly how it’s going to end, and that it all works out okay (sometimes). We’ve been in a bit of a mid-2000s hole recently, steadily working our way through One Tree Hill (7Plus), The OC (Stan)and Gilmore Girls (Netflix). Check out more of the Canberra Daily team’s reviews of TV and movies here.
