The Friday Newsletter | baci di dama + a YouTube video!

It's the last Friday Newsletter of 2024! I hope you're surviving the silly season (more like feral season) okay. It's a funky-thing – going from experiencing this time of year one way as a child, to experiencing it completely differently as an adult.

If I'm honest, I don't feel very warm towards this time of year at this point in my life (thank you dementia, grief, family dynamics etc.). It's a lot of socialising and impatient/stressed people out and about, then there's the loss of routine and a pressure to "feel a certain way". Off-peak times are more my cup of tea!

Anyhoo, I've been doing what I can with my adult agency to bring a little more festive cheer here & there – eg. Christmas crafts, making my own stocking and using the extra time/mouths to feed as an excuse to cook a variety of delicious foods!

This morning I took Merlin to the vet for an ear infection (joy to the world!) and now he has to have ear drops in both ears for the next 10 days. He'll happily let me dab sutures next to his hoo-ha – but he becomes a chompy, terrified dinosaur at the sign of anything going in his ears. I came away from this morning's drop-effort with welts on my arms. Wish me luck for the next 19/20 attempts...

Update: this afternoon's effort went much better – I disguised the medicine syringes in his usual ear cleaning wipes (did a bit of role play so he thought we were doing that, which he reluctantly tolerates) and I administered both at the same time – success! Apologies for being dramatic, I think we'll get through this okay.

COOKING.

I have been having a ridiculously delicious month, mostly thanks to a video series I've been posting on instagram & tiktok (see below). These cheesy miso + vegemite ramen noodle rice paper pockets (middle) were the most delicious savoury handheld morsel I've enjoyed in a long while.

Passionfruit & raspberry friands, nutmeg custard cakes, some three-ingredient strawberry cheesecakes and tempura fried sushi hand rolls – the last being a definite highlight of 2024 !

I'm trying to remember the power of meeting your sensory needs with food during stressful times (which the holidays certainly bring!) – be that through my go-to tofu sushi bowl or getting a cute drink while out running errands (soya brown sugar boba).

Am also enjoying being able to bake with white chocolate again, after finding another brand in Australia that melts smoothly (Plamil's So Free range, at Sunnybrook Health Foods in Ormond). A dream!

WRITING.

I wrote a piece for ABC Lifestyle this month, about the job I interviewed for at the start of this year (you might remember) – which I was offered, but ended up turning down.

The editor of this piece (I think) suggested I write it after reading about it in my newsletter – which speaks to the power of putting things out there!

Hello and welcome to the new subscribers who found this newsletter after reading it! I got such lovely feedback and am really glad/relieved it was received well.

NEW YOUTUBE VIDEO (!)

I might not have been very active on YouTube this year, but I'm making up for it with an end of year weekly vlog. It's got scrapbooking montages, reflections on 2024 , chill crafty time, favourite reads of the year and much more!

My xmas gift to youuu...

VIDEO SERIES

I've been putting out a 12 Days of Joyful Cooking series this month! It follows me trying different bucket-list recipes/food concepts I've wanted to make all year. Think... almond croissant porridge, waffle fries, Logan's cucumber salad and apple 'camembert' salad sandwiches !!! I'm having a delicious ball of a time...

WATCHED.

I watched Brian Jordan Alvarez's new series, English Teacher (like everyone else). It made me realise how socialised I am towards British humour (over American) as I was laughing about some parts *in the next scene* lol (catch-up Phoebe!). In my defence, it's really fast-paced! I don't think I'm chronically online enough to have understood all the humour, but I really enjoyed it for something easy to watch!

READ.

Big Beautiful Female Theory is an experimental graphic novel, unlike anything I've read before. It's not light reading, the text is deeply personal (part memoir, part social commentary) and gets right into the grittiness of beauty standards, misogyny, diet culture amongst other themes. My favourite essay was the last one.

My First Popsicle happened to catch my eye at the library and I thought "that looks like me!" – and I was right! It's a collection of (mostly very short) essays and accompanying recipes from actors, writers, chefs, creatives (some names you'd recognise). The umbrella-theme being food and feelings. I enjoyed it, but was also left unfulfilled. I think by making the theme of the book so broad, it lacked any sort of anchor (which short story collections can struggle with anyway, in my opinion). It was okay, but read like a bunch of blog posts – maybe the author felt hesitant editing her famous friend's work? Idk.

RECIPE.

Baci di dama or Italian chocolate hazelnut biscuits are my favourite festive nibble! I make them every year and I've finally posted a recipe of them to my website. These hazelnut biscuits spiked with a touch of dark chocolate just melt-in-your mouth, you'll love them!

Thank you for reading & supporting my work this year!

You're all darl's,

Phoebe (they/them) x

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