For the love of food and family

Hello there 👋 Hope your week is going by beautifully, in the comfort of your home and the warmth of your loved ones. Our daughter is 15, and while the thought of her going off to college in a few years leaves us parents wee bit anxious, it’s also a reminder to savor each day. To make the most of what we love doing together — cooking, watching, reading, and eating! Today, I bring you a glimpse of our typical Sunday mornings through the eyes of my daughter, Sia. She wrote the following piece for her school assignment based on a prompt. After you finish reading, try guessing what that prompt might be. 💭 Let me know in the comments. Don't miss out on this week’s Mental boosters at the end of this newsletter. 

Happy reading ❤️

It’s a regular Sunday morning. The sun is peeking out from behind the fluffy clouds, 🌥️saying a quick hello to us before it would allow the Singapore rain to dim its sunshine.

If I closed my eyes, I would feel the crisp wind cool my warm face and play gently with my hair — an indication of the storm ahead. But the forecast was neither threatening, nor was it a sign of misfortune. Instead, I welcome the rain and wind as a friend, knowing it will only enrich my outside dining experience.

Like clockwork, my father hands me a plate, freshly served with steaming Shakshuka. The familiar smell of charred tomatoes, spices, and perfectly cooked egg takes over my sense of smell and causes my mouth to water. I accept the plate with a big smile on my face, noticing how my father cooked the egg well-done, just the way I like it. It makes my little brother — who likes his egg in a different way — grimace, but his action only makes my smile widen, knowing my father cooked this meal specially for me today, putting his love, time, and effort, to make me enjoy this food to my full extent. 

My mom smiles as I create the perfect bite by taking a chunk of warm, homemade, buttered bread and scooping up the reddest tomatoes, the brightest peppers, and the yolk of the egg (which is clearly the superior part of an egg). I practically shove the enormous, overfilled bite of Shakshuka into my mouth and close my eyes as I chew slowly: savouring the different tastes of different ingredients merging together in my mouth. 

As I chew, the flavours bring me back four years, when my family and I lived in a different house, a different neighbourhood, and I attended a different school. Here, was one thing that stayed the same throughout these changing times: a hot, steamy meal of Shakshuka every Sunday morning. Some families go to church, some families go out for brunch, some simply sleep in, while mine chops tomatoes, measures spices, and argues over who gets to crack the eggs into the blazing hot pan. 

Unlike my family, where we all come from India, Shakshuka is a dish that comes from multiple backgrounds: Tunisha (the birthplace of Shakshuka), Israel, Egypt, and Libya, where they add the unexpected but tasty element of potatoes. This dish is not just a simple meal for my family, it helps us to connect and embrace different cultures in ways we haven’t been able to.

As I load up my next bite, just as perfect as my last one, I wonder what our Sunday mornings would have been like if my father hadn’t clicked on that one Youtube cooking tutorial 4 years ago, on the wonders of Shakshuka. Perhaps we would have been those families sleeping in, perhaps we would have been cooking pancakes instead. 🥞👎

As I savour the last bite of shakshuka, I am reminded that, in the end, it's not just about the Shakshuka, but the moments of cooking together, laughing, and gentle sibling rivalry that season our family’s Sundays. 🤗 ❤️

Mental boosters of the week

Before we talk about this week’s mental booster, one last reminder to grab my friend Onjae’s guide – The Top 5 Brain-Boosting Supplements to Get Sh*t Done – to help you reclaim your focus and clear brain fog (within minutes) so you can win the day!

I’d highly recommend it if you are seeking to experience:

✅ Razor-sharp mental clarity

✅ Unshakeable focus and attentiveness

✅ The ability to tap into the ‘flow state’ on demand

✅ Unparalleled mental energy

✅ Brainpower that will help you become antifragile

Click the link below to grab the guide and other emails about nootropics, psychedelics, and biohacking from Onjae.

Get his PDF and awesome emails

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Moving on to a tool that helps you beat overwhelm in your day-to-day. It works beautifully every time. Be it those ‘I don’t know where to start this complicated task’ moments or ‘What to cook for dinner today’ conundrum. 🥘 🤔

Magic Todo is a tool that helps break down complex tasks into manageable steps. It provides a standard to-do list with the added functionality of assigning a ‘spiciness level’. Need more detailing? Add another chilly. 🌶️ The app costs 90 cents but the web version is free. Try it out for yourself!

Following our food theme today, The Chef is another nifty tool by the same developers. If you ever need ideas on what to cook based on the ingredients you have in hand, this is it. No more looking inside the fridge and wondering what to cook!

Until next week, wishing you blissful moments with your family. After all, cherishing times with our loved ones is the best gift we can give to our minds and bodies. ❤️ 🧠