Came up in my Readwise Daily Review today. Hadn’t realised that the phrase

We live, as we dream — alone

was Conrad’s. I did know it from the Gang of Four song 🎵 📚

Inspired and informed by The Monitor by @maique 🙏 I’ve got @neatnik’s Web Monitor set up and working at nntk.net/status. No real reason, just seemed interesting 😄

Cookery Books: Afro Vegan by Zoe Alakija 📚

Used for our Christmas meal this year 🎄

Xmas Dinner 2022

I know I’m composing this post a few days late, on the morning of New Year’s Eve, 31st December 2022, but for my reference I do want a record of the food I cooked for this year’s Christmas dinner.

Most years I cook Christmas dinner around a specific theme (often a nationality) or from a particular (often new) cookery book. This year our meal was based on Afro Vegan: Family recipes from a British-Nigerian kitchen by Zoe Alakija.

Starters were

• Lebanese-Nigerian Roast Chickpea Shawarma
• Smoky Cashew and Beetroot Dip

and mains

• Classic Jollof Rice
• Groundnut Stew with Sweet Potato
• Efo Riro (Stewed Greens)
• Suya-Battered Vegetable Kebabs
• Eba

The only slight disappointment was the eba - small starchy balls of dough made from garri flour (cassava). I’d never cooked with the flour before and think I got the consistency wrong - too soft and sticky.

Cooking all that was a lot of work for a relaxed family meal for just the four of us. We certainly didn’t eat everything - leftovers were contributed to a much larger Boxing Day family meal at my brother-in-law’s farm.

This was the first time I’d cooked from Afro Vegan - I will certainly be trying out more recipes from it.

Murder on the Orient Express, 1974 - ★★★★

I also enjoyed Kenneth Branagh’s 2017 version but this more dramatic, star-studded production is a treat. Albert Finney really stands out as Poirot.

🔗 Gravestone-encircled ‘Hardy Tree’ falls in London

Couple of my photos from January 2020 📸

Xmas gift. I did.

Walking my in-laws’ dog at 3am this morning after a long and indulgent Boxing Day. Dog is the blur in a hi-vis jacket 🤷‍♂️

🎵 My Top weekly artists: Arte Dei Suonatori, Rachel Podger (18), Dry Cleaning (11), Kae Tempest (11), Ozawa, Saito Kinen Orchestra (9) & Furtwängler, VPO (4) via tweekly.fm

🇲🇽 Tacos at Wahaca

Winter Wonderland Wheel, Cardiff

Cardiff City Hall and Winter Wonderland

Location check in 🗺 — Duke of Wellington, Cardiff. Pint of Brains SA 🍺

First mince pie of the season

🎅 Mince pie and flat white for breakfast. Preparing for Xmas shopping ☕️