I heard you were missing seeing a lil Harry Styles before your morning news, and one thing about me???? I’m in constant service to you, so what the people want, they get! I will now endeavour to have Harry (or someone else with that type of rizz) greeting you at the beginning of each newsy. Because I love you!!!
I got back from my hometown yesterday to the best gift I could possibly ask for - A CAT!!! She’s not mine, but we got a new flatmate (she’s also cool) and she bought the beautiful Bella with a 10/10 loaf. Everyone say hi Bella!
PS, thanks to a little thing we call EASTER, Culture Vulture is coming at you a day late (tomorrow) and it’s a Bel episode!!! Hell yeah!!!
Shit You Should Cook About: Healing soup for the SYSCA soul 💘
Brittney Griner is working on a memoir about her captivity in Russia
Elon had an exclusive interview with the BBC
And some stray headlines:
Millie Bobby Brown to Join the House of Bon Jovi
The Bud Light boycott, explained as much as is possible
Ariana Grande Would Like Everyone to Stop Talking About Her Weight
Shit You Should Cook About: Healing soup for the SYSCA soul 💘
Shit You Should Cook About is written by London Laura - our resident ray of sunshine and co-host of Culture Vulture (our weekly pop culture podcast!) She’s a new London dweller, chief of romanticising literally everything, and will definitely ask you all what your love language is at some stage. You can find more Shit She Should Cook About over here!
Bonjour SYSCA whanau!!! I cannot start this without saying how much life it is giving me seeing you COOK THESE RECIPES 💘 I’m not sure what I expected when we started putting these into the newsy (or if anyone would even give it a go) so getting tagged in your beautiful focaccia pics and seeing you make easter shakshuka (incl Normy💖) has me literally gasp each time!! I have decided it is my love language and it makes me soooooo happy please keep sending me whatever you make and drop in the comments what you’d like next!
As for my week - I am freshly back from spending easter weekend in Paris where I devoured my weight in cheese / pastry / natty wine. BUT, upon return, my body desp needed some nutrients - and poss a Gaviscon (lol) - and as it is STILL cold here (UK friends when does spring start here because this is getting unbearable???) so there was only one thing I wanted: a bowl of soothing, savoury soup packed full of veges and whatever else was in my pantry.
This broth has been known to alleviate Sunday scaries / loneliness / a weekend of pulling the clutch out by giving you something therapeutic to do (chopping veg genuinely is mindfulness for me) and something warm to balance on your lap whilst watching the latest ep of Succession (no spoilers but I am still recovering!!!). It also uses a ‘mirepoix’, the base of all classic French cooking which is just diced onion, carrot and celery cooked in fat and used as the base for most soups, sauces and meat dishes. It is a simple trio but honestly will transform most things - next time you are making a bolognese or pasta sauce consider starting with this and marvel at how chic you are! I can’t tell you how many times I have made this (initial inspiration c/o Alison Roman’s brothy beans) and each time I throw in something new so the below recipe is loose and there to be adapted - make her your own!! Until next time xxx
Soothing soup for the SYSCA soul
(writing this I had a flashback to those ‘chicken soup for the teenage girl soul’ books that were in my school library - anybody else??)
FEEDS TWO
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 zucchini (or courgette depending on your place in the world)
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tin lentils / butter beans
½ a lemon
1 stock cube (vege for me but you do you)
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp honey
Olive oil
Parsley or thyme
Chili flakes / Salt / Pep
550 ML / 3 cups water
Heat your olive oil on medium in a deep cast iron pan or a saute pan (large enough to hold the soup). Chop your onion, garlic, carrot and celery and add in, sauteing gently until everything is golden and tender. Season with salt, pepper and chili flakes (here I add a dash of celery salt if I have it). Add your chopped zucchini and any other vege you want to use up (potato, green beans, broccoli!) along with your dash of red wine vinegar and honey. Pour in 3 cups of boiling water plus your stock cube, your tin of beans / lentils (drain these of any brine first!) and add in several slices of lemon, some good grinds of pepper and any herbs you have on hand (parsley, thyme). Cook with the lid on your pan for 20-30 mins until the liquid tastes fab but before the lentils / beans break down or the liquid disappears. Sometimes I forget about it and quickly add in a cup more water and let it cook a bit longer - so don’t despair! Remove the lemon slices and ladle into bowls with equal amounts of vegos / soup and top with cheese / focaccia to dip / whatever you fancy!
Elon had an exclusive interview with the BBC
AND in very Luce-coded fashion, they wrapped up the six biggest takeaways from the interview, which I am now going to pass on to you (and add in some of my own):
He would sell the company if the right person came along
BUT he would turn down $44bn for it
“If he did sell, he said it would be more important to find a buyer who cherishes the "truth" rather than how much they'd pay because, as he says: "I don't care about the money."
“But is that true? Remember, he desperately tried to back out of the deal.”
He's against banning TikTok
AND says he doesn’t use it (no wonder he’s so out of touch)
He denies hate that speech on Twitter has spiked
He voted for Joe Biden
Close to half the country voted for Mr Trump in the last US election, Mr Musk said, but he added: "I wasn't one of them. I voted for Biden."
He says Twitter is beating the bots in war on disinfo
Of course he does
He reckons Twitter is now close to breaking even
“No wonder - sacking 6,500 workers does tend to lighten one's costs.”
He will back down on how BBC is labelled
It’s currently labeled as a "government-funded" organisation, but Elon’s gonna change it to "publicly funded"
“Asked whether he had any regrets about buying Twitter, the world's second richest man said the "pain level has been extremely high, this hasn't been some kind of party".
And the last thing I would like to add are some words to live by from Elon:
"I think I should not tweet after 3am.”
You can read more about the interview here!!
Brittney Griner is working on a memoir about her captivity in Russia
I know you’ll all remember Brittney because we covered her captivity in Russia quite heavily in this newsy, and now she’s writing a memoir about it! Griner - who was detained for 10 months in a Russian prison on drug-related charges - will be writing about this ‘unfathomable’ period of her life, set to be released in the spring of 2024.
"The primary reason I traveled back to Russia for work that day was because I wanted to make my wife, family, and teammates proud. After an incredibly challenging 10 months in detainment, I am grateful to have been rescued and to be home. Readers will hear my story and understand why I'm so thankful for the outpouring of support from people across the world."
Not gonna lie, I actually really wanna read this!!
Now, two things for you to watch:
And some stray headlines:
Millie Bobby Brown to Join the House of Bon Jovi (Vulture)
SHE IS ENGAGED
The Bud Light boycott, explained as much as is possible (Vox)
“In early April, Bud Light sent an influencer named Dylan Mulvaney a handful of beers. Mulvaney, in turn, posted a video of herself dressed like Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, using said beers to celebrate both March Madness and her first year of “womanhood.” One of the cans featured her image. It was part of a paid sponsorship deal and promotion for some sort of sweepstakes challenge where people can win $15,000 from Bud Light by sending in videos of themselves carrying a lot of beers.
This made some people very mad, and not because Holly Golightly wasn’t really a beer gal (her preference was the White Angel, a boozy mix of vodka and gin, which, whew). Instead, they were upset because Mulvaney is transgender.”
Ariana Grande Would Like Everyone to Stop Talking About Her Weight (The Cut)
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Thank you for the happy Harry!
Laura!!! Must try this soupy - Regarding the weather ( this coming from a uk resident for the past 4 1/2 years) It only gets better for a day or 2 and then back to the rainy gloomy weather - however this time in 2020 it was sunny every other day and you could actually go outside in a dress with no tights (unthinkable right now!!!)