When I was in Ethiopia for two months, I re-read the Harry Potter books to get that warm, cosy feeling of being somewhere familiar. Everything around me was completely different to anything I was used to. The language was different, mini buses that fit more people than they should were different and the delicious injera … More Simple sushi makes anywhere feel like home
There’s a pile of clothes and shoes in the corner of my bedroom, the result of the latest cleansing cull of my wardrobe that serves a bigger purpose than just making more space. Before I moved hundreds of kilometres away from home, I was a massive hoarder. Old Metro tickets (God, I’m showing my age) … More Why everyone should just throw some stuff out
Airy cafes with greenery cascading down the walls and naked lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling weren’t the first to discover that brownies could be the perfect vessel for hiding nutritious veggies. Sweet potato brownies may be having a moment right now but many years ago my family found out the shocking way that the rich, … More Hiding veggies in baking is an age-old tradition, just ask Mum
Sometimes you just need to make bread to switch off the screen and give your brain a break. To learn the art of something other than how to get the most likes on a post. To relish the satisfaction of something gratifying that can’t be obtained in an instant and keeps giving for much longer. … More Sometimes you just need to make bread
Oh my loyal blog followers, how I’ve neglected you. I really did have the best of intentions to write an update at least fortnightly, but here I am at the end of week 6 of my Ethiopian adventure with only 1 post to my name. Lucky most of you are family and friends so you … More A Long Overdue Ethiopian Update
My first assignment at The Reporter in Addis Ababa was to write a piece about my first impressions of Ethiopia. It wasn’t for publication, just designed to give the editor an idea of my writing style. I hadn’t done too much exploring around the city when I wrote this so it’s a little bit airy … More Getting to Know Addis
“Harry — yeh a wizard” is my most favourite line from any book I’ve read, ever. When Hagrid bashed down the door of that shack in the middle of the ocean, he created gaping holes in the walls of my imagination that I have absolutely no desire to repair. Without Jo Rowling, Hagrid, the shack and … More Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — A Verdict
Gelatine treats me like a lover who’s scorned him. After one big stuff up that left his integrity in ruins, I’ve made a couple of other missteps along the way that have destroyed what was left of his goodwill. The stuff up happened when I was young, naive and just starting to dabble in cookery. … More Berry Cashew Cheesecake
There’s nothing quite as crippling as shoes that don’t quite fit. The kind you can slip your foot into with a grunt of effort, but once in place pinch and squeeze your feet in all the wrong places. Like the rest of our bodies and minds, our feet have their own unique charm. They have … More These Feet Were Made For Walking
Documentarian and pot-stirrer from way back, Michael Moore, brought out a new film this week with the suitably controversial title, Where Shall We Invade Next? Despite the stab in the ribs that the title seems to give American politicians, in reality the idea that ties the whole movie together is as simple and complicated as this: there … More Michael Moore’s New Masterpiece
Pieces of Elyse 