PicoBlog

The Iranian military has launched a wave of drones at Israel. While the total amount of drones and the intended targets of this attack are unknown, all available evidence suggests that this swarm is composed of Shahed loitering munitions. For nearly two years, these drones have been a fixture of Moscow’s air raids on Ukrainian cities. These drones shoul… ncG1vNJzZmiZnJrForrDnqmvoZ6ZuqK6jaysm6uklrCsesKopGioX6C7sMOMsqauql2au6a52GaroZ1dqLWitMSdZGprZg%3D%3D

In 2019, that waning year of the pre-pandemic era, I was asked to speak at a conference for writers where Fr. Stephen Freeman was also presenting.  I forget the topic of my presentation, but Fr. Stephen talked about shame.  That was the first occasion I heard him explore the connection between shame and faith as well as the first time I became aware of his forthcoming book on the topic. I recall being deeply affected by the talk—crying and laughing my way through most of it, along with the rest of the room.

Samoa’s famous and beloved cacao drink is sweet and smoky. You may see a layer of cocoa butter on top, and you will definitely find a smattering of nib grounds called pegu at the bottom. Made with unfermented or lightly fermented cacao that is heavily roasted, I think of it as coffee-like. Koko Samoa the perfect beverage to remind you of childhood camp fires on chilly mornings. I honestly don’t have much experience with koko Samoa, and I hope readers with more intimate knowledge will contribute in the comments below.

Every now and again, something really gets under my skin. It's the same thing that happened when I decided to put a trifle INSIDE jelly and when I felt it was my responsibility to bring a DIY vienetta into the world. Last week, I had an unshakeable desire to create a Thanksgiving side dish to end all Thanksgiving side dishes: Enter the mashed potato pie. Crispy rösti crust, smooth mashed potatoes, a crispy top.

I’ve been thinking a lot about peaches and nectarines this week. Each year, there’s a week where the stone fruit in my local shop suddenly changes from rock-hard to juicy, from solid baseballs to perfect globes with just the right amount of give. The fruits look heavy with juice and ready to burst. But there is always one question that hangs over me. Are you team peach? Or team nectarine?

The 96th Academy Awards were a delirious, not-infrequently-delightful sprawl of a show, and if you’re the sort of person who reads the recaps, you’ll find a wealth of coverage cataloguing the triumphant (Oppenheimer, but also Poor Things); the tearful (Da’Vine Joy Randolph, absolutely deserving); and the terrific (Ryan Gosling, John Cena and Jimmy Kimme… ncG1vNJzZmismJq0qrONrKybq6SWsKx6wqikaKhfoL%2Bqv4ybprCdoqh6qrqMrZ%2BeZaeeu6%2Bx0axknKGimLmm

Hi everyone! There are some new subscribers here — welcome! It’s been a while since I’ve posted, and I wish I had a good story about taking time for self-care or giving myself space to work on other creative projects. But the boring truth is, I’ve been sleepy. I have a small child who was going through a sleep regression that lasted for months and that left me too exhausted to do much of anything.

I never liked kueh salat as a child. This is a two-layered steamed dessert that comprises of pandan custard sitting atop lightly salted glutinous rice. Growing up in a family that did not make kueh, the commercialised specimens that I ate were always far too eggy, sweet, mushy and often a horrible garish green. The first piece that changed my mind and the way I viewed the entire genre was from Candlenut.

Three years ago, on September 23, 2019, we released Ryan & Dave. It’s one of our most popular songs to date and even had a viral TikTok trend going around last year. What only the most hardcore of RA fans know, is that the song was originally titled “Kyle & Dave”. A question we are often asked is if the songs we write are true stories. The simple answer is that some are true, some are based on true stories (like our upcoming album: Searching for Strawberries), and some are entirely made up.