#5: A book about sisters and a *good* new romantic comedy film

🍝 Plus a love letter to my favourite food of all time, pasta

I’ve been desperate for Autumn to be here, and it’s… kind of here. I’ll take it. I am definitely one of those basic bitches who romanticise the concept of ‘cosy, PSL Autumn’ for weeks before it actually gets here. Flickering candle light (from effortlessly crafted homemade cinnamon candles), reading curled up by the fire, surrounded by pumpkins and hot chocolate, Gilmore Girls on in the background. In reality, I don’t really like Pumpkin Spice Lattes as much as I remember, we don’t have a fire and peeling pumpkins is a pain in the arse. I will watch Gilmore Girls though, it is an ultimate comfort watch if you haven’t already seen it (It is also for adults! Early 2000s references! Paris and Lane were the best characters!). Anyway, I wanted to do a ‘cosy’ edition to celebrate the beginning of Autumn, so here it is (VERY tenuously linked to Autumn and comfort).

Film – Love at First Sight (Netflix)

I’m still in a ‘comfort’ zone so my usual diet of crime and thriller just isn’t doing it for me now. Desperately scrolling through Netflix for some instant dopamine TV wasn’t doing anything so I took a punt at ‘Love at First Sight’ which sounded awful but the trailer actually looked quite good and not (as) cheesy as those usual rom-coms Netflix churns out. I wanted some quality background noise, essentially.

© Netflix

I was very pleasantly surprised. The concept is a ‘meet-cute’ of an English Guy and American Girl on a plane to London, by pure fate (she’s four minutes late to her intended flight). She’s chronically late, he’s textbook anxious and a stats student. They fall in love on that flight, but then they get separated coming off the plane. A classic film trope.

I learned by googling that it’s actually based on a 2011 novel which had under 1,500 ratings on Amazon (85% were 4 stars and above) – I don’t really know anything about optioning books or any of that process, but that seems pretty obscure for a film on actual Netflix. For context, Richard Osman’s book has over 130,000 ratings. On closer inspection, the author, Jennifer E. Smith, has now had two novels that’ve been adapted for film, with another three in the potential works. Before today I’d never heard of her - now I’m considering buying the book (99p on Kindle at the mo).

The main guy (Oliver) as apparently Peter Beale in Eastenders, and the main girl (Hadley) was in the latest season of White Lotus, as well as a load of others – Rob Delaney and Sally Phillips, plus Jameela Jamil.

The aforementioned spends the film as a part-time narrator, part time various bit part player, alluding to their fate throughout. After the plane, the film follows their separate journeys back to each other, one expected and one less expected.

The result was the expected juxtaposition of Americans versus cheeky Londoners in that kinda film. But it was done well – funny, charming, compelling and at times verging on heartwrenching. I was getting serious ‘Richard Curtis’ from this film. If you want to watch a well made, easy watch, I definitely recommend this. It’s a perfect Autumnal, cosy Sunday film.

Book – I’m Sorry You Feel That Way: Rebecca Wait

I found out about this book because I participated in a book club at my local indie bookshop. I did enjoy it, but I did actually find it really hard to listen to strangers in some instances absolutely skewer a book I loved. It was useful in the sense that it’s hard to think critically about a book that I was viewing through rose tinted glasses, but I guess that raises a question about whether we have to view everything through a critical lens and pull it apart – can I just love it?

This book starts with a funeral… something which brings up a reaction for everyone. The first two pages told me everything I needed to know about the two main characters by just their actions – I LOVE when authors show, rather than tell. The strength in this book is the character studies, so I will caveat this recommendation by noting that some of the plot points were a bit ridiculous, but I kind of loved that (everyone in the book group felt very strongly about that).

The main character, Alice, is an anxious, chronic people pleaser, and her sister Hanna, the rebel – I don’t think it would surprise anyone who knows me that I hugely identified with one of the sisters (it’s Alice, in case of any doubt). This is a story about their relationships with each other and their dysfunctional family, in particular their mother, whose childhood informs her relationship with everyone.

It’s not a light, fun read, but there were a LOT of moments where I laughed out loud due to the sheer relatabity and comic timing of the characters. It’s tender, heartbreaking in multiple moments and ANOTHER of my favourites this year. I took a lot of photos of pages at the time of reading because they had so well articulated a point of platonic and non platonic relationships, which is a sure sign I’ve loved a book.

A love letter to pasta

Most people who know me know of my obsession with pasta. It would be my ‘last meal’ without question. I have always loved it, and there’s something about it which makes it the most comforting meal which I always eat when I need cheering up, or it’s my birthday, or [insert excuse]. At university, I made (and ate out of) huge pans of pasta and whilst I’ve become (slightly) more moderate, I still love pasta. And it’s the perfect, cosy Autumn food.

The best pastas (in no particular order):

Quick lunchtime pasta

Fried mushrooms (shown the pan, like my dad taught me), tin of tomatoes, ten minutes of furious cooking down, throw some just-cooked fancy twirly pasta in and cook for 5 mins more. Add some fresh basil. I cooked the below the other day and it was so, so simple and so, so good.

Pasta Puttanesca

This is a bastardised version of two recipes. Marcella Hazan’s famous tomato sauce (which is the most delicious thing in the world, but cook it for like, an hour and a half), and then add olives, chopped anchovies and capers and ladle it onto Linguine or Mafalda pasta (and of course, a bit of pasta water). Then shovel grated parmesan on. I cooked this for my sister Annie and she said it was the most delicious thing I’d ever cooked her (I was quite a shit cook before I started living with Jon, so I always wonder how much a compliment that was, but I can objectively say it WAS delicious).

Tuna pasta

It’s as basic as you want it to be. I like using Kewpie mayo, lots of lemon juice, and my secret ingredient, gherkins (maybe even capers and red onion if I’m feeling daring). Mix in just-cooked broccoli for some health. I remember cooking my very basic version of ‘student food’ for my first landlady, Karoline, because it was the only thing I could ‘cook’ and she said I converted her! We’re still friends so I reckon it was because of that. I have recently favoured this with a robust macaroni.

Nigella’s Lemon Mushroom Linguine

I’ve only made this once and I completely messed this up. But this is one of the most lovely, fresh pastas I’ve ever made and it was so delicious I really want to make it again. I’ll link the recipe here. I’ll be brief about it, because obviously I can’t say it as well as Queen Nigella, but it’s one of those recipes that’s the pure definition of ‘greater than the sum of its parts’. Thinly sliced (raw) mushrooms marinated in thyme, garlic, parsley and lemon juice, then you cook the pasta and then toss everything together with a load of parmesan. The smell of the marinade is the freshest, most delicious thing I’d ever smelled, and even though I managed to clog all of the parmesan together, it was still one of the best pastas I’ve made.

PS, penne and spaghetti are the worst shapes. Bow and shell are the best. I’d love to hear your best pasta dishes in the comments.

What I’ve enjoyed this week:

• This podcast about Sally Rooney’s book marketing (from 2021, but still really interesting).

• Had some people round and did film night (‘guilty pleasures’). We all picked one film, and a couple were chosen. We did hot dogs, nachos and butter popcorn. I hand made the cinema tickets because I’m too much. It would also work as a great date night.

• Everybody’s Talking about Jamie at The Lowry, Salford, which is a musical based on a true story about a sixteen year old boy who wants to wear a dress to his prom - so charming and uplifting.