Notes from Isolation Week 2

Some more recommendations from me and friends :

Make:

Charlie’s Creamy Fish Chowder :

20 grams of salted butter

1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced (include some of the fronds)

1 leek, thinly sliced

150 ml of a dry white wine

100 ml of crème fraîche

250 grams of cod loin, cut into thick slices

A handful of prawns

Flat leaf parsley

Crusty bread

Lemon

1. Melt the butter in a pan, add the fennel and season. cover the pan and cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly.

2. Add the leek and cover for 5 mins. Then add the wine and crème fraîche and simmer for 3 mins.

3. Finally add the cod and the prawns. Cover and simmer for a further 6-8 mins. Season and scatter with the fennel fronds and parsley before serving.

4. Serve with crusty bread and a squeeze of lemon.
   

Photo by Charlie Newman

Listen:

To Elizabeth Day’s special episodes with Mo Gawdat and Alain De Botton – the kings of calm and reassurance.

Brene Brown’s TED talk Unlocking the Power of Vulnerability is one of the top five most viewed TED talks in the world. The research professor has spent the last twenty years studying courage, empathy, shame and vulnerability, which she explores in her best-selling books. Most recently Brown’s podcast Unlocking Us unpacks and explores the ideas, stories, experiences, books, films, and music that reflect the universal experiences of being human, from the bravest moments to the most brokenhearted.

Read:

This poem, “Hope” is the thing with feathers, written by Emily Dickinson in 1861.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

25 novelists’ suggestions of books to inspire, uplift and offer escape – here.

Content Editor for Natoora – Bre Graham’s interview with Sonder & Tell about why telling stories about food is more important than ever – here.

Watch:

Flora Tennant’s brilliant short film Mr Alan on a Saturday here.

The trailer for the eagerly anticipated adaptation of the inimitable Sally Rooney’s Normal People – here – airing on BBC 3 Sunday 26th April.

Follow:

London-based florist Harriet Parry’s sister Instagram account – for some delightful visual creations – Parry reinvents art, film and fashion as floral arrangements. Find here.