Your especially supportive...and slightly traitorous Heyday Friday newsletter
People who have your back, and people who are back-stabbers both feature in this week's newsletter, along with some other worldly performers and an absurdly tasty recipe.
Hello!
In this week’s blog I write about a number of very special, and especially supportive, relationships I’ve had over the course of my life, with people who have been invaluable to me in my professional and personal development.
These people have guided me through challenges and challenged me to grow and evolve. Listened to me with empathy and understanding but never let me wallow in a mire of negativity. And been unfailingly generous in sharing their own experiences, good and bad to help shine a light on the path ahead when it seemed dark and difficult.
None of them are therapists. Or coaches. Two of them were award winning journalists, others have been equally successful in their professional lives. All are survivors of the vicissitudes that life inevitably throws our way.
I’m profoundly grateful to each of them and I hope I have managed to returned at least some of their generosity and wisdom through playing a similar role for others.
You can find out what this very particular relationship is that I’m talking about, and exactly who those two award-winning journalists are, by reading THIS WEEK’S BLOG
WORDS OF WISDOM
This is something that one of those people I talk about in THE BLOG said to me during one of our conversations and which I’ve never forgotten
THIS WEEK I’VE BEEN……WATCHING
There’s an awful lot that goes on behind closed doors in The Traitors (don’t worry, there are no spoilers ahead)
I resisted all the hype around the first series, feeling very much I couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. Then I thought I’d give the second series a go and woah! I discovered all the hype turns out to be justified. The double dealings! The back stabbing! The psychological manipulation! The endless twists! It was utterly riveting, right up to the final breath-holding denouement.
This time it’s been particularly fascinating watching having listened to the various conversations about the programme between Marina Hyde and Richard Osman, the hosts of the unfailingly illuminating podcast The Rest is Entertainment (link is to the episode where they discuss The Traitors following the launch of the new series). Their analysis and professional insight into the format, how it works and what about it doesn’t, the need to be constantly tweaking and changing it so there are genuine shocks and surprises for both the contestants and the viewers, the absurdly complex filming and editing process and how key the casting is to its success, has made it even more engrossing.
And then there’s Claudia Winkleman, who I think is one of the best presenters we have on TV at the moment, and the much lauded/commented on/ridiculed (delete as appropriate) outfits she wears, which contribute another thoroughly entertaining reason to watch (some of them really are completely bonkers).
If you’re already a Traitors fan, you’ll have been as glued to it as I have (the finale is tonight, Friday. I’m going to have to impose a media blackout on myself for reasons you’ll read below and watch it on catch-up first thing on Saturday morning).
If you’re not, then you can watch all three series on BBC iPlayer
HERE’S a suitably tense taster in the meantime
WHAT’S MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK
There’s something other-wordly - in a beautiful rather than alarming way - about these dancers and how they appear to be floating over the floor as they perform these gorgeous Caucasian national dances.
Having had a pause from them over Christmas and the New Year, I’ve resumed getting my bi-weekly Mindful Chef food boxes. This recipe from the latest one was absolutely scrumptious (so scrumptious I forgot to photograph my version before scoffing it, so you’ll have to trust that it looked reassuringly similar to their recipe pic)
SALMON WITH RED PEPPER TAPENADE & ROAST POTATOES
This amount is enough to serve two people and takes 25 mins to prep and cook
Preheat the oven to 220c/200c fan/gas 7 and line a baking tray with parchment paper
Finely chop 4 garlic cloves. Quarter 6 (or however many you think looks the right amount) baby potatoes and rinse 40g baby spinach.
Spread the potatoes on the baking tray and toss with half the garlic, 1tsp Italian herbs, half a teaspoon of oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper and roast for 30 mins turning halfway, until cooked through and golden.
After 10 mins add 2 salmon fillets (skin side down), seasoned with salt and pepper and drizzled with oil.
Thinly slice 1 red or yellow pepper and one onion. Halve 110g baby tomatoes. Heat a medium frying pan with half a teaspoon of oil and once hot add the pepper and onion and cook fro 5 mins or until softened. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Add the remaining garlic and 1tsp Italian herbs to the pan. Cook for 1 min then add the tomatoes, 200g passata and 1tbsp pepper tapenade and 100ml water. Simmer for 4-6 mins until the sauce thickens. In the final minute or so add the spinach to wilt.
When the fish and potatoes are cooked, serve the tomato sauce topped with the garlic potatoes and salmon, spoon over 1tbsp pepper tapenade and sprinkle with 10g pine nuts (which you can toast gently in a pan first if you like them that way. Just watch they don’t burn).
FRIDAY FUNNY
Humour is something I believe plays an important role in the relationship I write about in the blog this week (if you haven’t already clicked through to read about it -why ever not? - you can do that HERE) and something that consistently brilliant greetings card company Rosie Made A Thing provides in spades, as regular readers of this newsletter will know.
Here’s one - which could well play a part in the blog subject - for you to hang on to over the weekend and bear in mind come Monday. You’re welcome.
I’ll be spending the weekend marking my birthday (which is on Saturday but I’m very much hoping to extend the celebrations, which kick off with a family dinner tonight, Friday, over the full two days.)
Hope you have a marvellous weekend and week whatever you’re doing.
See you next time
Happy Birthday for tomorrow - hope you have a lovely weekend x