Sultanas in my Spaghetti
and trucks in the tomatoes
First, let’s address the alluring elephant in the room (that is, the sultanas in the spaghetti), if you haven’t seen it already and share with you my latest recipe.
Sultana, Mint and Tomato Spaghetti
It’s been a fortnight that I’m sure is very typical of many people reading this at the moment - plenty of lovely, cautious, one on one catch ups followed by finding out one of those catch ups has since come up positive with the you-know-what and questioning whether our hay fever is something more sinister (thankfully, it wasn’t).
We’ve done lots of gardening the past two weeks (gardening sounds more romantic than weeding). There’s something very satisfying about a full green bin. Alexander has been exceptionally helpful, placing weeds into the bucket for me and attempting to shovel dirt into his dump truck.
We have plans to move closer to the city in the next few years and his absolute love of the garden (especially the olive trees and vegetable garden - about 50% of all the tomatoes, strawberries and carrots never make it into the house in his hands), makes me very appreciative of our suburban backyard, and very aware that a no-yard home doesn’t suit our family. At least not yet.
And for the round up this fortnight.
LISTENING…
To music! For some reason the Bee Gees are currently on high rotation (I think as a result of seeing this fab video of Cost n’ Mayor (two dancers) wedding entrance, but I’ve also been loving Zoe Foster Blake’s ‘The Moodlifter’ play list whenever I drive.
READING
I’ll be reading the same book forever with the current toddler late nights, but I’ve been cooking from Melanie Lionello’s ‘Frugal Mediterranean Cooking’ book a lot as the recipes are beautifully simple and mostly easy to manage with a toddler requiring my attention every 2.3 seconds.
LOVING
This drink (Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Classico). It tastes nothing like the prosecco I missed for so long, but it’s really enjoyable in a champagne glass nonetheless.
It’s available in Woolies which is why I’ve linked it, but I think it’s a little cheaper from Sans Drinks online.
THINKING
Coming back to my last newsletter and the above drink, I’ve decided completely alcohol-free is not for me (as I do genuinely enjoy the taste of wine and champagne). I’ve had two glasses of wine this month which is a huge reduction for me and I’ve enjoyed them without feeling like I needed another (or needed more the next day)
A month without it has taught me a lot though and has definitely changed my habits.
Thank you for reading this fortnightly newsletter which I am going to turn into a monthly one.
If you liked it, please let me know - natalie@nataliezee.com
If not, that’s OK, it’s been lovely having you here anyway.
Nat x