Fun is better than rest!

Plus the fastest fish dinner, a trip of a book and a new silhouette

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 SoRo! 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!

February has been a real steamroom of a month. It was 96% humidity when I woke up the other morning! I have been clammy for weeks. The fruit trees of Marrickville are laden - mangos dropping into the streets, half eaten by possums; pomegranate trees weighed down by fruit; front yard zucchini plants with forearm length zukes. It’s a real fertile, rotting, tropical late summer vibe. Something about the weather and the time of year seems to have triggered a panicked desire to GET OUT and DO FUN THINGS energy for me. Summer is almost over! It’s all going to end! And so I’ve booked tickets to Bad Bunny and Robyn and Cut Copy. I’ve had Mapo gelato for lunch (if they have the red plum flavour GET IT), gone to the Art Gallery on a whim and forced my friend to come line dancing with me on a Wednesday night. We’ve got birthday parties every single Saturday until March. I’m underslept and overfed, but I actually feel great? It turns out fun can be more nourishing than rest!

This recipe was a real vibe based experiment. At some point in one of my insta scrolls I saw a post where a butterflied mackerel was grilled in the oven at high heat for a few minutes and then topped with a green papaya, lemongrass, herby, limey, salad. It was approximately 10000 degrees that day and I instantly knew I wanted something similar for dinner. When I went to the fishmonger they didn’t have mackerel, so a butterflied bonito was subbed in instead (ask the fishmonger to butterfly it for you). At home I was dealing with a surfeit of just-on-the turn nectarines and tomatoes that I needed to use ASAP. The result was seriously yum and seriously fast. I thinly sliced some shallots and threw them in a bowl with salt and lime juice to start softening. Roughly chopped tomatoes and nectarines were added in, along with a little sliced chili, and a handful of Thai basil and mint. (If I’d had coriander that would have gone in too). Glugged in a generous splash of fish sauce to give it that essential umami kick, and let that all get to know each other and get juicy. Meanwhile the grill in the oven was cranking at top heat, and the bonito had been sprinkled with sea salt and rubbed with olive oil (both sides). It’s just needs to be in the oven for 6-10 minutes (depending on the size) and that’s it. Out of the oven, topped with the salad (with the tomato, limey juices poured onto the plate) and then I scattered over some store bought crispy shallots, roughly chopped cashews and some left over toasted rice powder I had hanging around after making laab. Served it with rice but it could be good with rice noodles, or lettuce wraps or even little tortillas!

Never has there been a more aptly titled book - Susan Orlean’s memoir is a delightful speed run through her life and career, that I immediately wanted to buy for every single writer and journalist in my life. It’s a wonderful blend of a traditional memoir - with juicy tidbits from a misspent youth doing too much cocaine in Portland, all the way to working for Tina Brown at the New Yorker - and a masterclass in her writing process. I loved how much detail she went into on how she finds her ideas and starts working on a project, a combination of highly developed skill, gut instinct and sheer natural talent. I loved following her as she felt her way into her particular niche, trying to figure out how her close examination of the ordinary world and everyday people could still be considered journalism. It made me want to re-read The Orchid Thief and deep dive into the rest of her back catalogue. A real fun one guys!

It started innocently enough in the changeroom at COS, trying on those navy blue pants that I couldn’t find a link for. Next came the viral Uniqlo trousers which seemed too good to be true, but which I found myself wearing three times a week. People were literally stopping me in the street to ask me where I got them. Then I tried a pair of AGolde Luna jeans on at Incu and realised that…mid rise? Might be better for me than high rise? I balked at the price but then had a depop triumph, finding a pair in my size at less than half the cost. Finally, deep into summer, when I couldn’t walk two meters without dripping in sweat, I got not one, but two pairs of the Assembly Label Lola pants and the transition was complete. Hi I’m Sophie, and I’m a barrel leg pant addict. I’m at the point where even my trusty straight leg Levi’s haven’t been looked at in months. As an average height (5’7), midsized (sz10), pear shaped woman, I don’t think I’ve ever had such flattering pants. And they’re so easy! So cool! Directional but not crazy. If you’ve been nervous about trying the shape - I get it, it seems a bit weird at first - I urge you to give them a go. If I had to choose just one to try it would be the Uniqlo pair. (My sister and two colleagues have already bought them at my urging). At $60, with a range of different dark neutral colours it’s hard to go wrong!

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Guys, Bonds stopped making my favourite style of undies and I am in DESPERATE need of recommendations. None of the other Bonds styles are it! I’d like cotton, mid rise (can’t do high rise unless it’s intentionally shape wear) brief (only do thongs very rarely. A high cut leg? Less than $25 a pop? Suitable for a sizeable bum? Does this exist? Help me! I’m desperate!

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For paid subscribers, this weeks fast five includes a sexy and tragic TV show, my favourite new kitchen vessel, a very cool update on an old favourite, the skincare product I swear has made me look 2-5 years younger and a rediscovered pair of earrings making every outfit better.

Will be back on Wednesday with the Fast Five for paid subscribers!
SoRo x