Everyone has been doing emails
Two recipes to try before your next picnic and something to listen to if you feel like your unorganised inbox might be slowly ruining your life.
Lately, it feels like whenever someone asks me what I’ve been up to, I can’t for the life of me remember a single thing that’s been keeping me busy, or even discern the prior week to one a month ago. Relatable? Probably. Concerning? Just a touch!
I know I’ve been doing things though. I’m watching the new season of Sex Education, despite having every single plot point spoiled for me while editing various features and newsletters. I finished Beautiful World, Where Are You, which I enjoyed but will not go any deeper on here because, imho, the last thing the world needs is more Sally Rooney takes. And I’ve walked more loops of Sydney Park than I would have ever thought possible. (I still haven’t hung the frames I wrote about three weeks ago though.)
Today, I have two recipes that are meant to be shared and a podcast recommendation that might inspire you to be 75% more organised.
Two Very Good Sausage Roll Recipes To Try Immediately
You probably didn’t hear it here first, but sausage rolls are officially a picnic food.
After coming to this conclusion, I asked some friends to share their best sausage roll recipes. The first recipe came from my friends Tim and Declan, who dropped a batch of fresh sausage rolls to my door on Sunday, after our picnic plans were postponed. I cannot overstate how good these were—perfectly golden and filled with pork, bacon, and fennel. I’m already planning to make them when I have some time off later this week.
The second recipe is from my friend Lou, who used to make Bourke Street Bakery’s lamb, harissa, and almond sausage rolls when we both lived in New York. They’re time intensive, but worth it (I say as someone who has never actually made them, but enjoys eating them when other people have gone to the effort).
A bonus recommendation for any Australian vegetarians reading: Keep an eye out for Linda McCartney's frozen sausage rolls next time you’re in Woolworths. You won’t regret it!
And A Podcast To Listen To If You Want To Get Your Inbox Sorted Once And For All
My friends Sally and Rachel host the very good podcast Oh, I Like That. Personally, I love the pod because I can listen to it while walking or cleaning, and feel like I’m being catapulted into the middle a conversation with two people I miss a lot. However, for anyone who doesn’t know Sally or Rachel—and who hasn’t been lucky enough to have been personally gifted advice from them—Oh, I Like That is the next best thing.
I highly recommend listening to the entire podcast back catalogue (especially the episodes on good apologies and spring cleaning) but this week’s episode was a real doozy. In “How To Be, Like, 75% Organised” Rachel and Sally share little things that help them stay organised at work, at home, and in the grocery store. One highlight of the episode is Rachel sharing the practicalities of the Gmail screenshot below in perfect detail. It’s truly inspiring stuff.
The episode also reminded me of a game-changing email habit I learned from Rachel when we worked together: setting up canned email responses.
If you’re someone who gets a lot of emails that require a similar response (“thanks for this, I’ll reach out if I need any more information”/“invoice received, thank you!”) it’s helpful to create a template for some of your most common replies. You can do this easily in both Gmail or Outlook, and it’s a great example of how something that takes two minutes to set up can end up saving you hours.
Before you go, I have a favour to ask. I’m collating a list of tips on how to throw an intimate/fun/memorable dinner party. If you have advice or tips you swear by, please feel free to send them my way.
And if you’re reading but haven’t yet subscribed, feel free to hit the button below.
My dinner party recommendation is to make it a murder mystery. Buy a kit and send out the roles to your guests, have them dress up for the dinner party, and have fun solving the murder. Very memorable and fun!!