To Zucchini And Beyond!
News, courgette every which way, and something good
Some news, dear readers, to start us off: tomorrow, I start a new job! I’ve known for 5 or 6 weeks that I would be moving jobs at the end of July and have - mostly - kept it under my hat until this week. First there was the list of everyone in my current department who needed to know - and in which order, so that no-one found out just ‘on the grapevine’ - and then there was my superstition about sharing news like this too early, as if telling the universe something good is happening will make it not happen.
The new job is about attacking the challenge of decarbonisation from a different angle than my previous role. It’s in a different part of the organisation I’ve worked at since I left uni, so although the customers and leadership are new to me, I’ve been on a bunch of project teams with my new team before and know them relatively well. As ever, though, it has me thinking about the nature of making change.
Recently, I had the joy of introducing a friend to one of my favourite films: Pride (2014). (Is there anything better than watching a friend see - for the first time - a film you love?). Casting around the internet for more content about it, I found a fabulous Guardian writeup by Kate Kellaway about the real story behind it, and I’m going to borrow her verdict on the film, because I couldn’t say it better:
It is wonderful. I’ve seen it twice, laughed repeatedly, wept at the end. You might wonder how, after the defeat of the miners, an upbeat ending could be legitimate, but this is one of the film’s many achievements. It is directed with fitness and has a fabulous cast… The story could easily have gone awry but never belly-flops into sentimentality - it’s feel good factor is earned. It evokes the 80s uncannily. And what is most remarkable is that it does not trivialise the politics of the time.
What this film - not just the story it tells but the film itself - reminded me is this: half of change-making is making the change itself. But the other half is telling the story of how the change was made, to remind those of us following along (I was born ten years after the events of the film) to keep pushing, to remind us that progress can be fragile and hard-won but that it is necessary.
I’m not trying to make out that those of us working to finance the net-zero transition are the heroes of the decarbonisation story that will be told. What I’m trying to say is that history has its eyes on us (oh no, she’s quoting Hamilton again) and that even if our contribution is a bit-part in the overall story it is still important.
To help with starting my new job on the same computer and at the same desk as I’ve worked at for the last few years, I’m changing my desktop background. It’s been a photo of Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai for a while now: I’m changing it to a Pride film poster.
And now for the food part…
Friends, I’m loving courgette (zucchini) season. They’re so cheap while they’re in season and there are so many things you can do with them - even if I do usually end up sautéing and serving with pasta (not as pasta, obviously, I’m not living the courgetti life).
As you know, I’m a massive smitten kitchen fan girl, so I scrolled down her recipe archive list under ‘zucchini’ and found a zucchini and rice gratin recipe, which I made last weekend. I made a half-quantity, which made three generous servings, and - obviously - followed the simplified version of the recipe.
It was delicious, and tasted so fresh.
(I took advantage of having the oven on to pop in some halved cherry tomatoes, for her pasta salad with roasted tomatoes - also delicious, of course, even if I was lazy and used shop-bought salad dressing).
The other new courgette recipe I’ve made this week was Nigel Slater’s bucatini with spinach and courgettes; I skipped the peas, simply because I have run out, and added some What The Cluck ‘chicken’ chunks, because after yesterday’s long run (9 miles!!!) I felt in need of some extra protein.
Something good…
Like every other millennial on the internet, I’ve started using Wild refillable deodorant. I”m enjoying working my way through the different scents (I’ve got a raspberry ripple scent at home and the fresh cotton & sea salt scent in my gym bag) and it just does the job. Simple. If you haven’t yet tried it, I (of course) have a referral link to get 50% off your first order from Wild themselves, or they’re available in Sainsbury’s.
Most mind-boggling of all, tomorrow is August. But it is always extra-nice when a month starts on a Monday, don’t you think?
Speak soon,
Lily