Sydney's Sunday Reads: #9
Happy Sunday, friends!!
Sydney's Sunday Reads is a weekly blog series that highlights some of my favorite stories, articles, think-pieces, and more from around the Internet.
On your marks…get set...bake! - Few things in 2020 have been as comforting as The Great British Baking Show (or Great British Bake Off if you’re in the UK). The lush greenery, quaint tent decorations, quirky hosts, and amateur bakers from diverse cultural backgrounds make for the perfect salve in times of deep stress. We all love a good competition show, but with #GBBO, the competition is gentle, friendly. When a cake topples or custard fails to set properly, fellow bakers rush to lend a helping hand, not kick anyone when they’re down. Even Paul Hollywood’s steely stare, meant to intimidate the contestants, is tame in comparison to judges on other shows. In this article, Eliot A. Cohen makes a case for why the world needs The Great British Baking Show now more than ever. (The Atlantic)
A handheld winter wonderland. - Did you know that the invention of the snow globe was a total accident? It all started in 1900 when Austrian inventor Erwin Perzy set out to improve the Edison light bulb. His first attempt was to fill a glass globe with water and glass powder (glitter) to create a brighter source of light, but much to his disappointment, the glass powder sank immediately. Next, he tried semolina, a light-colored gritty wheat flour found in his mother’s pantry. Since we’re not calling it the “Perzy light bulb,” I’m sure you can guess that the creative experiment was a failed one, but it did lead to a rather pleasant discovery - the semolina floating all around resembled snowfall! Convinced he might be on to something, Perzy changed course. instead of a brighter source of light, he wound up creating the world’s first snow globe: a 40mm wide tribute to Vienna. And the rest, as they say, is history. (Martha Stewart)
Plant-based cow’s milk? That’s impossible! - Meat-lovers looking to lower their carbon footprint by implementing more plants in their diet will rejoice - there might soon be another cow product alternative coming! Impossible Foods, the company that brought the plant-based Impossible Burger to the masses in 2016, recently announced that they have developed a plant-based cow’s milk prototype that has a creamy consistency and ability to be stirred into hot beverages without curdling. While dairy milk alternatives like soy, almond, and oat have gained massive popularity - especially in recent years - nothing has yet been able to fully emulate the consistency and versatility of cow’s milk enough to replace it. Impossible Foods, which is also in the development phase of creating plant-based replicates of chicken, seafood, steak, and more, have no definitive plans as of yet to bring it’s cow’s milk dupe to market. But I suspect, it won’t be long until we see this product it in the dairy aisle. My question is: will we be able to bake with it? (Fast Company)
🎶 Let’s go baaaaaaack, back to the beginning…🎶. - On October 23rd, fans of MTV’s Laguna Beach were treated to a virtual reunion of the season one cast (including favorites like Lauren Conrad, Kristin Cavallari, and Stephen Colletti to name a few) in an effort to encourage people to make a voting plan. I have LIVED for all these virtual reunions in 2020, and as someone who watched the show religiously in the early 00s (and also now…), this one was a particular treat. And it wasn’t all business: while the purpose of the reunion was to promote voting, there was still plenty of time for the cast to play a few games with the host and even reveal some behind-the-scenes secrets. Watch it here! (E! News)
Budget Eats! - This should come as a surprise to no one, but my favorite Youtube content is food-related. I love being invited into the homes of complete strangers to see their grocery hauls, watching mini documentaries on how a famous dish gets made, learning about new cultures through food, and of course, watching cooking videos. One particular sub-genre I love is budget cooking because it forces creative thinking more than any other medium. A series I’m LOVING right now is Budget Eats on Delish’s channel, hosted by June Xie. In the video below, June sets out to create 8 meals for two people with only a $25 budget in New York City. As you can imagine, it requires a lot of strategic-thinking and creative problem solving to make it happen. The title of the video is what drew me in, but what kept me watching was June’s super vibrant and funny personality, and killer cooking skills! Clocking in at over 52 minutes long, this video is not a quick watch, but it’s totally worth it! (Delish on Youtube)