I'm back, baby!
Two recipes, how to find the perfect book recommendation, and some stories for These Times.
To quote the opening song from Bo Burnham’s Inside… “I'm sorry I was gone, but look, I made you some content”.
Reviving She’ll Be Right has been a long time in the making. Since I last wrote this newsletter, back in October 2019, a lot has changed. I left Man Repeller! I left New York! Literally everything, for everyone, in the entire world, got flipped upside-down and still isn’t the right way up. (Is anyone else feeling queasy? Just me? Cool!)
While the foundation of this newsletter is going to remain the same, SBR 2.0 is going to be a little different. I’ll still be writing about products, life advice, recipes, things to listen to, and things to read, but each newsletter is set to be a little shorter and sweeter, so I can focus on getting good things to you every week.
Now, let’s get to the stuff—AKA the whole reason why you’re here. (Thank you for being here, by the way.)
Two Recipes For Two Very Different Food Moods
When I’m cooking for myself at home, my cravings often fall into two distinct categories: ‘I want pasta and nothing but pasta’ or ‘I guess I’ll have salmon and vegetables’. In the last couple of weeks I’ve tried new recipes to appeal to both of these very specific moods.
The first was Bon Appétit’s Rigatoni with Easy Vodka Sauce, which was good enough to justify saying ha ha ha it feels like I’m at Carbone into the void of my living room at least three times. It was also a good way to use some of the vodka I always seem to have in my home, despite not having bought a bottle of vodka for at least three years.
On the salmon-and-veggies front, I tried this very simple NYT Cooking recipe for Sheet-Pan Salmon and Broccoli With Sesame and Ginger. It wasn’t mind-blowing but was a good way to make a healthy staple a little more fun, using ingredients I already had in my kitchen.
A Website To Help You Find Out What Book You Should Read Next
I first read about this website in the Girls’ Night In newsletter, which I highly recommend subscribing to if you haven’t already. Essentially, What Should I Read Next is a website where you can enter the name of your favourite book, or the last book you read and loved, and be given a list of reading recommendations. I just finished Anthony Doer’s All The Light We Cannot See, and this website reminded me that a couple of friends have suggested I read The Overstory.
A Helpful And Practical Guide To Return To When You’ve Forgotten How To Be Productive (In A Good Way!) In Lockdown
When my friend Rachel wrote ‘58 Things to Do With the Rest of Quarantine That Aren't ‘Get Hot’’ for VICE in March I read it and saved it, but didn’t really relate to it because, well, I was in Sydney and life was so normal. Now, I’m back in lockdown and have found myself returning to this list a lot. There’s a bunch of good suggestions in here, ranging from finally learning to pronounce three words that always trip you up to dedicating time to deleting dumb old photos off your phone.
And An Essay Worth Reading, Whether You’re Single Or Not
This week, The Cut published ‘The Diary of a Teenage Adult’, an essay about being single in a pandemic by Dolly Alderton. If you haven’t already read it, you should. And if you have already read it, I recommend listening to this episode of Off Menu (a very good and funny podcast for people who love food) with Dolly. It will make you want to host a dinner party and drink champagne cocktails.
Whether you’re a new subscriber or one who’s been wondering if I fell off the face of the planet, thank you for being here! If you have any feedback or recommendations of your own to share, I would love to hear from you.
Gyan x