Good morning friends,
As crazy as it sounds, we’re halfway through the year this week, and without cutting corners, I have to tell you that this week was full of all of the rest I’d been missing after the craziness that preceded. Thanks to an adequate early week grocery trip, as I’m writing this, I haven’t started my car in two days since I’ve had what I needed here at home. And when I have left it’s been for my usual walks around the neighborhood while dodging the heat and the lightning. My days this week have been happily filled with rainstorm after rainstorm, which has done all of my garden watering for me, including dousing my new fig tree, Esther. (Yes, I have of course chosen to be entirely original and name my fig tree after the main character in Sylvia Plath’s Bell Jar.) These storms have also planted me squarely on my couch for plenty of naps while reading and I’ve happily plunged back into some of my favorite creative practices. But anyway, let’s chirp.
A home I can’t get enough of: Ice Cream Factory in Devon County, U.K.
Furniture designers Russell Pinch and Oona Bannon, who run London-based Pinch Design worked alongside architect David Kohn to convert an old ice cream factory they discovered in The Modern House into a stunning countryside home that blends some original structures with modern updates. Featured on House & Garden’s Design Notes, this home is such a beautiful example of converting an old space into something new. I think it’s a perfect melding between everyone’s creative practices as an overall design team. I love few things more than seeing a well-designed home that not only looks beautiful, but functions in a way that serves the people who live in it. And as someone who is very hesitant to call themselves an amateur furniture designer, I drool over the possibilities of converting a space like this and adore all of the Pinch pieces in their home.
Watch the full home tour here:
Album of the week: Shelter by Alice Phoebe Lou
Like so many other forms of art, music can often become repetitive to the point that artists within any genre tend to sound uncomfortably similar. And with the way we listen to music being more frequently dictated by things like Spotify or Apple Music, many artists get buried in an AI-generated playlist made to carry you through an otherwise mundane work day. Point being is that amongst this changing music environment artists can stand out less, but out of the many artists I listen to, Alice Phoebe Lou has always maintained her sound in a way that makes her music immediately recognizable. Shelter is the fifth studio album from the South African singer-songwriter who is highly touted for her unique mixture of grooviness, potent lyricism, divine energy, and music that flaunts as much sensitivity as it does sensuality. The most honest thing I can say about her music is that I can’t ever sit still for very long when I listen to it. Between the words and the music itself, it always makes me move, or as Alice often refers to it “shake”.
Shelter starts with the simple piano cradle of “Angel” that is carried by Alice’s voice to an unexpected twang by the song’s end. “Lose My Head” is impossible to avoid dancing to. There aren’t many sweeter songs I’ve heard than “Shine”. The crooning “Hammer” is a perfect bridge to the album’s ending with “My Girl”. Filled with memorable lines and subtle hip-swinging rhythms, this album is an open exploration of the intoxication of loving another person while consistently focusing on the need for self love throughout a relationship.
My personal favorites are “Shelter”, “Lose My Head”, “Shine”, and “My Girl”.
Listen to this when: You need to loosen your bones. You’re home alone washing dishes. It’s summer but you have a little nostalgia for a cooler day. After the sun sets at the beach. You’re sitting outside at night with a nice breeze.
If you enjoy this album, I highly highly recommend checking out some of her live performances because seeing her energy takes it to another level. My favorite of which was filmed at the Copenhagen-based Brodie Sessions who have some phenomenal live performances on their channel. (My favorite is their session with Andy Shauf).
What I ate this week: Cherry tomato pasta, mangoes, and my first Pizookie®.
In summer, grocery stores, farmer’s markets, and hopefully your garden, are overflowing with cherry tomatoes. Throughout summer I usually have tomatoes around and often resort to throwing together an easy pasta with sauce made from cherry tomatoes when I don’t have anything else to eat.
The recipe (which is very loose and has only been tested on two people other than myself) is below.
Recipe for tomato sauce (serves 2):
1 carton of cherry tomatoes (typically between 12-16 oz)
3 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 tbsp of butter
1 clove of garlic, crushed (can use a mortar and pestle if you have one)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (more for serving if you like spice) or 1/2 tsp Calabrian chili paste
4 leaves of fresh basil, Julienned (more for serving)
Salt to taste
Freshly-grated Parmigiano Reggiano (for serving)
8 oz of pasta
Add olive oil to a pre-heated skillet over low-medium heat and cook the garlic and red pepper flakes until it just starts to brown.
In a large bowl with tall sides, crush the cherry tomatoes by hand. Add this to oil and garlic and stir.
Continue simmering the mixture, covered, over low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add about 1/4 cup of pasta water along with 1/2 tbsp of butter to your sauce. Stir to incorporate and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Salt to taste, then add in basil* and pasta. Stir everything together to coat pasta evenly with sauce.
Serve in bowl or plate and top with grated Parmigiano Reggiano, more basil, and red pepper flakes.
If you really want a summertime treat, chop up half of a ripe peach and add it to the tomatoes at the beginning. It’s a super fun balance of sweet and spicy.
*If you add the basil at the beginning of making your sauce it can often become bitter and lose the ideal flavor of the basil.
That’s it for Week 26. Enjoy your week!
Talk soon.
Love,
Zach
