What we're reading, cooking, thinking about and loving this month. Enjoy!
Bath-time reading... |
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I've cheated again - or is it cheating? - and downloaded the audio version of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. It is set in America and so I feel the accent of the narrator really adds to the book. It's an interesting story about a girl who finds herself alone and having to bring herself up in coastal/ marshland area of North Carolina in the 1950s/60s. It's set in a totally unfamiliar natural landscape and, although the premise sounds harsh and unforgiving, the language is very calming and poetic. I'm only half way through so don't know how it ends ... It has sold millions of copies and has a Wikipedia entry! |
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Thinking... |
| Is the beginning of the end of lockdown, the beginning of the end of the commuter towns as we knew them? Having grown up in Sevenoaks, Kent (a true local and not a DFL (down from London) being able to trace my family back to the early 1800s), the commuter town is something very familiar to me. I studied history of art and architecture. I remember looking at how commuter towns came to be and how at the end of the 19th century onwards, women were, effectively banished to the suburbs and commuter towns, families spending hours apart each day in very different environments. As we mark International Women's Day and Mother's Day in March, I've been thinking about how things may change. If lockdown has done one thing, it has brought families very much into the same environment and enabled commuter parents to see their children at breakfast and bedtime. The interesting thing will be whether the virus has caused a modal change and whether people will change commuting habits going forward. |
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Loving ...I am just loving the lighter evenings and the opportunity to go for a walk towards the end of the day (and listen to my book!). It seems strange to have pretty much walked the same walk for a whole year. The other night was the most extraordinary sunset which I captured on a reel on Instagram. Do go over to IG to take a look, the colours were simply amazing! |
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Cooking ...What cafes or restaurants are you missing? I was longing for a dish I ate in Wagamama last January that was so good. Well I've found the recipe and made it (with a help I have to admit from Amazon who had all the ingredients and our local shops would not carry those). It's Bang Bang Cauliflower and this is the link. It's a Vegan dish, or could be used as a side. We haven't felt the need to use the whole quantity of Firecracker sauce (love that name) over one cauliflower, but have used some and reserved the rest in a jam jar (in the fridge) for another time. Warning: it is Spicy!! |
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