Highly Enthused is a newsletter, once a podcast, concerning all the best things to consume in life. It’s written twice per month by Sophie McComas-Williams and Sophie Roberts, and today’s dispatch is written by SoMo! This newsletter is free!! Paid subscribers also receive a second newsletter with five extra recs, and a monthly voice note download from the two of us. The Fast Five is often where the gold nuggets lie. Thanks for being here!
The most popular link in SoRo’s Fast Five this month was a pottery art collective she discovered whilst in Darwin. Read the post here!
I think I’ve tapped into a new, rich vein of great recipes, and it’s nutritionists. Wholesome, colourful, fibre and protein full, and always just kinda interesting. This month’s recipe comes from Camilla Thompson of Good Plate. Mill and I have drunk enough wines on dancefloors in our time to know what a good body feels like vs a decrepid hungover one, and this decade is all about maximising the former. This recipe was a revelation - and it’s all in the brothy, creamy, garlicky sauce of miso, anchovies and parmesan. You whip up some chicken meatballs (I had some great chicken sausages in the fridge so de-skinned those to sub in), brown them off until they form a gorgeous crust, melt down garlic and anchovies (I also added a couple of leeks here because I had them), add a tin of white beans, chicken stock, miso, a little cream and parmesan, then bring the balls back in for everything to get to know eachother. Throw over some chopped greens such as spinach or cavalo nero or chinese broccoli, let them steam for a sec, then serve. So deeply umami, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Adding to high rotation.
I’m assuming you’ve all watched Stirling Point, so can we discuss?! I swallowed this series down like a cold Gatorade after a hot sprint, all in a single weekend, tears pouring down my face in the final episode. Amongst all the teen drama screening these days, this felt addictive and smart in a way that’s fresh and real, the opposite to Off Campus which I could feel eroding my brain cells as each episode progressed. If you’re new to the premise - 17-year-old Annie (played by Ella Rubin, dead ringer for a youthful Julia Roberts), based in New York, learns she and her twin brother - both are adopted - have inherited a remote parcel of property on a patch of remote Canadian islands. In the summer after graduating high school, she travels there to explore her past, quickly falling in with the locals, and uncovering many twists and turns about her family’s history. I read that director Megan Park left a lot of the dialogue to improv, which gives it an of-the-moment energy that’s hard to find in these days of shiny Netflix blah. I loved it. Love to hear your thoughts pls!
I’d been looking for a crisp red button down for a while, and finally found it at DISSH. It’s oversized, especially in the sleeves, which in this pic makes it look like I have no left hand, but in person is so comfortable and roomy. “Not everyone can pull off red” said a colleague at work, but if you can, this is the one!
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Rec of the week - what sandals are we wearing for Spring? Too soon to ask?!
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For paid subscribers, my fast five next week will include a comprehensive download on hormone research, a spicy sprinkle, a podcast on the end of the influencer and other notes from a week at the snow!
See you later next week for the Fast Five. xx
Birkenstock Mayari for life. Almost strayed to try and pair of slim band tevas but I know I need that orthopaedic footbed.