LAGOM - February 2025
We made paprika oil and ate fruit, spoke to Anna Woodruff from Francie while looking for practices to mitigate stress.
Hello, hello!
It is February already, and we’re keeping on with practices and rituals as a way of connecting deeper to ourselves. First, with a homemade paprika oil to enrich any meal or staples, such as hummus, dressings and marinades. For those days when you are feeling blah, we draw a list of ideas and practices if you tend to experience more anxiety, stress, or sleeping issues. Discussing this piece led to another conversation about fruit. We realised we might not consume enough, and this prompted us to gather our fruit-packed recipes—smoothies, salads and all the ways to consume food to be radically healthy. And finally, we share a wonderful conversation with Anna Woodruff about her work and label Francie, demonstrating that slow fashion is achievable with intent and determination.
Is this world serious? That is what Ted Gioia wondered last year, referring to American writer, critic, public intellectual and activist Susan Sontag, who wrote in 1996, reflecting on her career: “What I didn’t understand (I was surely not the right person to understand this) was that seriousness itself was in the early stages of losing credibility in the culture at large, and that some of the more transgressive art I was enjoying would reinforce frivolous, merely consumerist transgressions. Thirty years later, the undermining of standards of seriousness is almost complete, with the ascendancy of a culture whose most intelligible, persuasive values are drawn from the entertainment industries. Now, the very idea of the serious (and the honorable) seems quaint, “unrealistic,” to most people.” The constant flow of news, public discourses, international relationships, and political decisions, the next being more absurd than the previous, repacked, rebranded, reframed. It all seems without sense and makes us wonder, is this world still serious? In a world dominated by memes, are the people “in charge”, the public people, losing it?
So where do we go from there? We go back to basics. We save our attention from the noises, selfishness, from those who lost sight of what matters. We prioritise our environment, our planet, the only one that can sustain our basic needs, providing us with fresh water, nutritious food, well-being and mediums to dream. We reflect on that big picture and act at our level. We focus on what we can influence for change in our home, relationships, and community. And maybe we become more serious about what matters.
Paprika olive oil
The motivation for this recipe was because Trace missed Gemmayze Street’s hummus, in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. The generous layer of infused paprika oil on their already rich hummus just added to what was already divine and she missed it, so she decided to try and do it herself. It tastes pretty good, it is bright and vibrant. How we want all our food to be and feel!
We spoke with Anna Woodruff of knitwear label Francie
Anna is determined to create knitwear collections that are inclusive, wasting as little as possible and still beautiful. So, when Trace found herself back in Aotearoa last year, it was an opportunity to see Anna again and photograph her in her lovely space. Later, we sent her our questions, and here is the magic. Discover why Anna decided to start her own label, the behind-the-scenes process of creating knitwear, and Anna’s thoughts and hopes for the fashion industry.
Practices around food to change our personal experience of stress
What is stress? This is a really important topic and something that a lot of us are likely thinking more and more about. Stress, broadly defined, is anything that adds load to the body beyond life generally. Stress is a cause of many symptoms, and it is also caused by something. So, while this article is not a deep dive into remedying it, as you would with any other imbalance, this is rather a manifesto for shifting our relationship with stress, leaning heavily on plants and practices around food and its rituals to change our personal experience of stress.
Are you eating enough fruit?
It comes without surprise that fruits are essential components of a balanced plant-based diet. They are a rich source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre, promoting skin and eye health, strengthening immunity, optimising digestion and blood sugar, and lowering the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. Fruits are also a way to maximise your eating experience, through flavours and texture. Well with that said, we recently noticed that we don’t eat enough of them! It is a shame, so this month, we decided to curate a list of the recipes that can change the tide for us and maybe for you, too, helping you consume this fabulous food more often.
Smoothies. Stating the obvious, our smoothie recipes are packed with fruits, including bananas, citrus, raspberries and strawberries.
Salads. We have this hydrating salad with kombucha dressing including grapefruits and tomatoes (yes, technically a fruit) and our recent radicchio salad with blood oranges. And stay tuned for a refresh of our poke bowl recipe, which will contain mango.
Deserts. One of our favourite sweet recipes is the rhubarb strawberry crumble. In addition, we have this vanilla pear cake and a pantry classic, the banana cake.
Amandine's edit
We received lovely gifts celebrating the birth of our child, and one of our favourites is this beautiful play mat, adorned with rich tapestry celebrating the Pacific Island culture, with Samoa, Tonga and Cook Islands traditional patterns. BO & KO, based in Aotearoa, New Zealand, makes baby products and was founded by two mothers of Māori and Pacific Islands lineage. Their designs are a tribute to their roots and cultures. I am pleased to have a little piece from a region of the world I miss and cherish deeply.
I love movie posters, and so the other day, my dad shared about Laurent Durieux, an illustrator who called the attention of movie directors such as Coppola and Spielberg with his work. I like the style, the retro-futuristic vibe, and the precision, picking up a particular aspect of the movie it is focussing on. Durieux posters are a great way to adorn any space with swag.
I don’t know how I found this website, nor what its goal is, but I spent some time playing the game and it was relaxing, kind of soothing, so here I am sharing the good!
Trace's edit
I had no idea this even existed or that it was all over TikTok. My friend’s housemate was eager to show me how it made VERY creamy ice cream out of bananas, protein powder and soy milk, which is how I discovered that not only The Ninja™ CREAMi™ Ice Cream Maker existed but that I wanted one!
It’s always fun to discover a new or new to you skincare brand (clean and cruelty-free, obviously), and last week, for me, that was Leahlani Skincare. Solar-powered and made fresh on Kaua’i, infused with Hawaiian nectars and botanical actives, even the brands’ video and photography scream vacation vibes. The Mahana Coco Infusion KULA for hair, skin and sun feels like the perfect pairing with all these 34°C days.
I’m unsure which link led me here, but this brand—the story, website imagery, all of it is so beautiful. The Tibetian yak-wool label Norlha’s collections feature remarkable pieces of outerwear, knitwear and the most glorious blankets. Each item is handwoven yak khullu and silk blends that are created out of Norlha’s atelier on a nomad settlement by a team of artisans who have spun, woven and felted for generations. Just beautiful.
Thoughts, questions, you can always direct reply to these emails. We look forward to hearing from you!
Tracey Creed & Amandine Paniagua
