A kitchen staple does not get more basic — or, in my household, more essential — than this sriracha mayo. I say this with complete sincerity because there is never a moment in time when a jar of this deliciousness is not lurking somewhere in my fridge. Culinary infrastructure, that’s what it is. Yes, you can buy sriracha mayo at the store, but why would you when homemade tastes infinitely better and takes mere minutes? This mayo improves absolutely everything it touches. Dunk fries into it. Smear it onto sandwiches. Dollop it over rice bowls, roasted vegetables, tacos, eggs, or…
Pudding&Mess Posts
The Time Machine H.G.Wells It feels only right to begin a time travel book list with this granddaddy of time travel novels, published in 1895 – the book that was ahead of its time and was subsequently used as inspiration for many that followed. The Time Traveller (he is never named) recounts his astonishing story of the machine he has built and his journey to the future to a roomful of curious listeners over dinner. The book’s narrator is one of those people present. The Traveller has journeyed to the year 802,701 where he discovers that the human race has…
I adore ugly green. A gorgeously colourful Welsh home. Iceland has their Christmas book flood, apparently Norway has an Easter version specifically with crime novels. Wild. The fifty most underappreciated movies of the 21st Century. The story behind needlepoint’s modern day renaissance. Just (re)watched: The English Patient. This 1997 Best Picture winner remains an utterly breathtaking piece of cinema, less watched than drifted through like a dream. It begins in the vast emptiness of the Sahara Desert with a plane gliding silently over the dunes before being shot down by German forces. And this too, is where it ends. In…
Miss Fishers Modern Murder Mysteries This is a spin-off of the beloved Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, which reinvents the formula with a bright, playful 1960s twist. Peregrine Fisher, the previously unknown niece of the glamorous and legendary Phryne Fisher, unexpectedly finds herself stepping into her aunt’s world of mystery, murder, and high society — and, much to her own surprise, discovers that she has quite the knack for detective work herself. Most of what made the original series so charming remains intact: feisty independent heroine, slow-burn detective romance, the gentle tackling of social issues beneath the glamour, but perhaps most…
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Mark Haddon Fifteen year old Christopher Boone, who hates to be touched and despises the color yellow, is a self- proclaimed mathematician with a prosaic take on the world. When he wakes one morning to find his neighbor’s dog, Wellington, dead on the lawn, impaled with a pitch fork, he is initially blamed and arrested. A teacher encourages him to write about the incident which inspires him to solve the mystery by emulating one of his favorite people, Sherlock Holmes. But in the process of doing so, he stumbles upon another…
British flapjacks are nothing like American flapjacks. Think granola bar, not pancake. They’re a little bit chewy, a little bit crunchy and nerdily uncool in their humble, oaty goodness. Unlike, say, the macaron, there’s no delicate piping, no pastel boxes, no Parisian drama. The flapjack is the sturdy raincoat of the baking world: humble, dependable, and shyly excellent. The macaron might pose elegantly in the window of a chic pâtisserie, but the flapjack’s in the kitchen making a proper cup of tea and getting on with things. Flapjacks are rich in buttery, caramel-ly goodness and have a surprising depth of…
Lovely wedding dresses that are not white. Infertility and a psychic. A food writers idyllic English cottage. St. Rita’s traveling bookstore. 19 things you didn’t know your iPhone could do. Just Watched:The Thursday Murder Club Helen Mirren, Celia Imrie, Pierce Brosnan and Ben Kingsley is the dream cast for the film rendition of the popular book series (although I must confess that I thought Fiona Shaw would have been an excellent Elizabeth). If, like me, you have enjoyed reading the books about a group of old age pensioners who solve cold cases for fun and then become embroiled in a…
A Long Way Down On New Year’s Eve four people from very different walks of life find themselves together on the roof of Toppers Building, a notorious suicide spot. There’s; Martin (Pierce Brosnan), famous but toppled by a sex scandal; Maureen (Toni Colette), a mother with a severely disabled son; Jess (Imogen Poots), heartbroken after a breakup; and JJ (Aaron Paul), an American musician with brain cancer. After much humorous discussion, they come to the decision that they will delay their impending deaths until Valentine’s Day, offering each other emotional support in an attempt to make suicide unnecessary. When the…
Run For The Hills Kevin Wilson On an ordinary Saturday morning, Mad Hill is working on her organic farm when a PT Cruiser pulls up and out steps Reuben Hill. He introduces himself as her half-brother, believing that they share a father that neither of them has seen in decades. He asks Mad to join him on a pilgrimage west to locate two more half-siblings, college basketball star, Pep and eleven year old aspiring filmmaker, Tom, with the intent of proceeding on to meet their father. As they travel, they trade stories of the man who was radically different for each…
A lovely and hearty Nigella recipe perfect for counteracting holiday indulgence. Embracing hygge for the colder months. Ten things to give up in exchange for happiness. Small, cosy cottage bedrooms. Arranging charcuterie. A perfect skill for the holidays. The perfect Christmas present to oneself! For some delightfully fizzy, holiday TV watching try: The Pursuit Of Love This TV show takes the frothy, flippant tone of the book and ramps it up about 358 notches. It follows the story line of the book remarkably closely but in a highly- stylized, over-the-top way (my favorite style of all). It does stretch credulity to…