I'm all about the culture

Myths

My first draft of Persephone in Bloom is with my pre-readers, and the cover design is coming along beautifully. Right now, I’m  working on a short story series prequel that all of you lovely newsletter readers will get for free!

The story’s called “Penelope Finds Her Way”, and it’s about Olympus Publishing’s level-headed Wardrobe Assistant dealing with her cousin’s Helen’s wedding (which she is fairly certain is going to be a disaster) and the obnoxiously clever, red-haired man who keeps flirting with Penny (which she is almost certain has to be some kind of game).

Researching weddings, which I have done a time or two before, plays absolute havoc with the almighty algorithm. For the next four weeks, my ads are going to be all about gowns, cakes, venues, and wedding wow must-haves as Google decides “Hey! This broad’s getting married!” and desperately strives to sell me things.

Although I object to the “no price is too large for your perfect day” attitude, I don’t dislike weddings. On the contrary, I love a good wedding, and by that I definitely don’t mean a perfect wedding.

The nicest wedding I’ve ever attended was my brother’s, which he went to on crutches, having broken his ankle during the bachelor white-water rafting trip. A groom in a moonboot wasn’t in anyone’s perfect plan, but watching him hobble down the aisle with my wonderful sister-in-law, both of their faces alive with joy, is one of the best memories of my life.

Helen’s wedding is, uh, not going to be like that.

(Do you have a favourite wedding memory? Do share!)

Legends

A few people have asked me how they can further support my work, which is really sweet. You’re already a legend by reading this newsletter, but here are some suggestions if you’d like to be my hero:

1. Forward the newsletter! As a massive nerd, my love language is sending people links to articles and essays that I think relevant to their interests. If I write a post and you think “I bet X would like this”, please feel free to forward that post to X.
2. Buy (and pre-order!) my books! Don’t worry about which vendor is best for me; they all pay me eventually. And if you were concerned, borrowing from your digital library service isn’t “cheating”, it’s contributing to a massive public good, and I also get paid there! (Amazon here, other vendors here)
3. Review! I’ll talk about reviews a little more once Bespoke and Bespelled is out (so soon!) but they’re so helpful. And they definitely don’t have to be five stars.
4. Pledge a subscription! If you like the newsletter, and would like access to bonus content when I roll out paid subscriptions (don’t worry, I’ll give you tons of notice), click manage subscription and pledge a future subscription. The more pledges I get, the more bonus content will be sustainable!

And Yogurt

I made yogurt! This is one of those shining times where the breathless cooking blogs that assure you it’s so much easier than you think are actually correct. I poured 2L of milk into my slow cooker, heated the milk for a while, cooled it for a while, and then added half a cup of live culture yogurt.

Then I swaddled the pot in two giant towels, bundled it into my hot water cupboard overnight, and in the morning I sceptically unwrapped the towels to find a creamy yogurt as good as anything I’ve ever bought from the supermarket.

I kept some pretty goopy for cereal and strained some for Greek yogurt. Below is homemade yogurt! Homemade applesauce! Not homemade cereal, but watch this space.

I took the final portion and added salt and more straining to make labneh, the thick Middle Eastern yogurt cheese that’s ludicrously good on anything. Here’s a Nadia Lim recipe if you want to try it yourself (this one adds garlic and herbs, which I might do another time).

My personal preference is to smear a thick layer on toasted sourdough and drizzle warmed honey over top. If you’re a dairy fan and you like tangy and sweet, I can recommend nothing better. And whether you’re a dairy fan or not, I wish you a day with an experience at least that good today!