#OneCoolThing is the Manhattan cocktail. This is our recipe:
2 jiggers whiskey [*]
½ jigger red vermouth
3 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes orange bitters
½ tsp syrup from cherries (see next)
2 Toschi Amarena black cherries [**]
Combine everything except cherries over ice. Stir and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with cherries on a small skewer.
Cheers!
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[*] Our house whiskey is Maker's Mark.
[**] These Italian cherries really make the drink IMHO with a nice almond note.
Woo! Season 3 of Stuff the British Stole! And it opens with tea. Bring on the history of how the tea trade was "disrupted' by the East India Company (yes those quotation marks are there to associate the East India Company's unethical choices with those of the today's Venture Capital companies). I did a semester on this period of Chinese history and its after effects, really interesting and still has ramifications today.
Love all of Marc Fennel's work, but this concept has a place in my post-colonial historian's soul, and my decolonisation mission. Helps that it's interesting and delivered with warm curiosity.
Things to do on your public transport commute that isn't doomscrolling: play guess the country/animal/plant.
One of my team members put me into the super cute animal taxonomy guessing game Metazooa (yes, the extra o is correct in this name). Heaps of fun. Do you start with a random reptile, or a spider, or a bird? Don't start with a mammal, there's way less of us.
Then I found Metaflora: same thing, but plants. And Globle, guess a country based on proximity, is helping me learn the various African and Middle Eastern nations.
They're aimed at high schoolers, so utterly perfect for end of the day post-work wind-down. And worthy of a listing for #onecoolthing
Here's #OneCoolThing I learned last week that I want to share with you: Red Sprites are a fantastic form of Transient Luminous Events that occur *above* the clouds during a lightning storm, and they are freaking awesome. To see them you have to be far away from the storm or at a high elevation.
Another huge favorite in our house is Wild Rice Pancakes with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese. Oh. My. Stars! Totally amazing. The mushrooms are a mix of fresh shitake and the normal button mushroom, and the goat cheese goes right in the batter. Serve with guacamole and go to heaven!
The first recipe I want to call out is Spinach-Basmati Soup with Yogurt. It shares some familiar notes with a sorel soup, with the yogurt providing the tartness and the creaminess. You can add more spinach. It comes together in under an hour and is so darned good.
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I want to share #OneCoolThing with you this week and that's a cookbook, The Heart of the Plate by Mollie Katzen of Moosewood Cookbook fame. The subtitle is "Vegetarian Recipes for a New Generation" and as much loved as Moosewood is, The Heart of the Plate feels like the kids have grown up now and the adults are having good friends over for a meal.
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#OneCoolThing tried my own tea infusion and it's delicious, would recommend it: 2 tea bags ~ one a herbal tea with blend of fennel, ginger and dandelion, the other jasmin green tea ~ brew for 3 minutes, add a spoon of honey ~ try it, relax and enjoy ツ
Getting into the swing of which bits of me and my life go on mastodon, this time by adding a profile image. Which leads me to this week's #OneCoolThing
An exhibition of Yolŋu people's art that I saw last year: Yolŋu power the art of Yirrkala
The website with information on the exhibition is still up, including images of lots of the artworks: https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/whats-on/exhibitions/yolngu-power/
The art is diverse and interesting, showing connection to country and people's stories. It was one of those exhibitions that stays with you. Not as good online, but still worth knowing about.
Context: the Yolŋu a people from coastal northern Australia. They are still strong in language and culture, despite two centuries of colonisation.
Many modern artists are Yolŋu, and they have us one of my favourite bands Yothu Yindi. A bonus cool thing - not into art? Check out this band instead. Perhaps making the one cool thing Yolŋu art in general rather than an exhibition :)
Here's #OneCoolThing I want to share with you...
https://tinystart.app A launcher and emoji picker for macOS
Launch apps, links, folders... and a new way to smartly pick emojis!
Stuart Celarier ❌👑
Krin of Sydney
humanum
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