i make a coffee, hop on my laptop for school. it’s very sunny so i open the windows wide. after class i make porridge. years ago i read an interview with someone who said that they always dry toast their oats a little before adding the liquid and since then i do this too, til they are slightly brown and smell nutty.
i worked for a few years in jennie moran’s Luncheonette in the canteen of the national college of art and design in dublin. in the mornings we served porridge from a bain-marie situation sitting on the counter. it was scooped into lovely bowls reminiscent of plant pots that jennie had made herself. customers were offered a selection of accessories for on top: toasted hazelnuts, honey, cream, cinnamon.
jennie told me about whiskey on porridge for special occasions. it is a delicious addition to the above accessory combo, perfect on christmas morning.
today i top my porridge with: a lot of yoghurt, sliced banana, orange, walnuts, maple syrup, chaat masala and flaky smokey salt.
sometime’s nora’s sweat smells distinctly of porridge and i say to them mmm hello porridge friend.
later in the day nora and i go on a date to eat brioche buns in the park. i buy two oyster-mushroom-cashew-cream ones (gluten free for me) and a portion of tater tots with chili jam.
nora arrives with a spicy ginger beer for us to share and two iced mate drinks, one each. we drink the ginger beer on the street ~ consensus is that it’s not spicy enough but realise after the fact that we were meant to turn it a few times first to dispense the ginger.
in the park we find a spot that’s sheltered from the wind in which to eat our feast. nora offers some chili jam to a magpie who declines.
our date continues~ we go to buy a can each of premixed negroni that we’ve been meaning to try and sit on the ruins next to the rose gardens to drink them. the tins are teeny tiny and cute. the drink itself is tasty but would be better over ice, but if i were to get a glass and ice involved i feel i may as well just mix my own. we notice a pine tree seeping sap. it smells of cola~i wonder if it’s safe to eat
my downstairs neighbour has left some courgettes on the stairs with a note saying she’s away for a week and someone should take them, so i do. i google ‘courgette pasta’ and find an ottolenghi thing with courgette ribbons cooked slowly in lots of oil and i make a loose approximation of it. it also involves lemon, pepper, pine nuts, many cloves of garlic sliced thinly. it asks for feta but i sub in mozz~ the sharpness of feta would have been much better. i also throw in some cherry tomatoes simply because i have them. the recipe calls for pappardelle but i make do with gf fusilli made of corn
saoirse wall (they/them) is an irish artist in glasgow currently. Find them on Instagram at @saowall.