Highly Enthused

By Highly Enthused PodcastSociety & Culture

Highly Enthused episodes

July 02, 2019Chic House Plants, Wiggle Studs and Fluffy Breakfast Carbs
This week we're debating whether the fiddle leaf fig tree trend is over (it is), where to find the best crumpets (in Syd + Melb), cliches in marriage and relationships (it happens) and what to watch when you're hungover on the couch (we have two choices).
EAT
SR:
Crumpets with whipped ricotta and rooftop honey, Cumulus Inc (Melb)

Dr Marty’s Crumpets, Melb

Crumpets by Merna, Syd
SM:
Butter and Cinnamon Waffle, Cornersmith

Breville The Crisp Control Waffle Maker, Myer (I like this ridiculously easy recipe for basic waffles)
READ
SR:
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi, Booktopia
SM
The Course of Love by Alain de Botton, Booktopia
BUY
SR
Net Baggu bag in Marigold, Baggu

Another, cheaper, and very fun option here.
SM
Umbrella plant! Also known as Schefflera. (Apartment Therapy says they’re under-appreciated and they’re right)

Dragon Tree (also known as Dracaena Marginata. Also LOL they do sell these at Ikea my bad.)

I buy all my plants in Sydney from My Plants and Garden Centre in Darlinghurst.
THE FAST FIVE
SR
Bartender’s Citrus Squeezer, Barware

Kitchen & Co. by French & Grace, World of Books

Tiny Wiggle Stud, Pip Stent

Nick Cave on Grief, The Red Hand Files

The Last Days of Disco, YouTube
SM
P.Franco Posters, Tegan Hendel

The Gimlet Cocktail (Combine 60ml gin, 30ml fresh lime juice, 15ml sugar syrup in a cocktail shaker over ice, shake hard and strain)

Mystic Pizza, Stan

Spicy Kimchi Soup (Kimchi Jjigae), Sang by Mabasa (Syd)

BYREDO Flowerhead Roll-on Perfume Oil, Mecca
32 min
June 25, 2019The Guest List: Saturday Night Pasta with Elizabeth Hewson-Chapman
This week we're leaning in to the pure joy of pasta with Elizabeth Hewson-Chapman - author, restaurant marketing whiz and instigator of the fast-growing #saturdaynightpasta movement. She's fresh off the plane from Rome, in fact, where she spent a week immersed in the stuff. Lizzie talks us through treating pasta-making as a form of self care, her favourite pasta restaurants and all her little tricks to making dough from scratch.
Full list of Lizzie's recommendations below!
Follow the conversation on Instagram @highlyenthused, email us at [email protected] and sign up to our weekly newsletter at highlyenthused.substack.com for Lizzie’s favourite pasta recipes and MORE MORE MORE.
EAT:
Italian Pork Sausages, Romeo’s Fine Food

OTTO Ristorante, Woolloomooloo

Sagra Restaurant, Darlinghurst

Tipo 00, Melbourne

Templo Restaurant, Hobart
DO:
Pasta School in Rome, Grano & Farina
READ:
Geometry of Pasta, Jacob Kenedy and Caz Hildebrand, Booktopia

Encyclopaedia of Pasta, Oretta Zanini De Vita, Booktopia
BUY
Marcato Atlas Pasta Machine, Victoria’s Basement

Dough Scraper, Kitchen Warehouse

Fluted Pasta/Pastry Cutter, Williams Sonoma
WATCH
Pasta Grannies, YouTube (orecchiette, and agnolotti dal plin)
THE FAST FIVE
Caputo “00” Flour, Harris Farm

Use farm-fresh eggs. Try the Gunning Bum Nuts from Harris Farm, or seek our your local farmers’ market.

Use a spray bottle of water to moisten your dough evenly, rather than wet hands.

Use tongs to bring your pasta straight out of your cooking water directly into your pan of sauce, to perfectly emulsify (don’t forget to add a knob of butter to make it all glossy)

Roald Dahl on being an enthusiast.
27 min
June 18, 2019Astrology Therapy, Unparalleled Sparkle and Matcha in Your Lemonade
Hello! This week we're recommending a LOT of good TV (it is winter, after all), eating fragrant rice porridge and discussing our futures with astrologists for a small fortune over Skype. SoRo has a chilli paste recommendation which will blow your metallic socks off, while SoMo is here to add glitter to your eyelids and interest to your mid-week meals. Huzzah!
Sign up to our newsletter for a full run-down and all our archived lists, at highlyenthused.substack.com
EAT
SR
Fancy Broccolini Sandwich (inspired by Brickfields) - roast some broccolini with this amazing Muraca spicy hot cream peppers from Harris Farm, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix some more chilli into some mayo, add scamorza cheese over the top, add a cheat’s salsa verde (parsley, vinegar, capers), add lettuce, melt in a panini press.
SM
Rice Porridge with Chicken and Lemongrass, Corinne Trang via The Wednesday Chef (SM also adds ginger)
WATCH
SR
Fleabag, Season 2, Amazon Prime Video (watch season 1 on YouTube)
SM
The Society, Netflix
BUY
SR
One Year Ahead Astrology Reading, Dru Ish Astrology
SM
Frank Body Original Coffee Scrub, Mecca

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter and Glow Liquid Eyeshadow in Kitten Karma + Diamond Dust, Mecca
THE FAST FIVE
SR
Small Salad Spinner, Zyliss

LOST iN City Guides, LOST iN

Freeze Your Parmesan Rinds! Harris Farm sells them if you have to buy them (no online link)

NYT Cooking, iTunes

Metallic Lurex Socks, COS (in store only)
SM
Easy, Netflix (specifically, Episode 5, Season 3 for all the feels)

Diana Transparent Bag, Counteract Shop

Ask a Manager Blog, Alison Green

Add a shot of matcha to your lemonade (as drunk at The Teahouse, Santa Fe)

@everynightoftheweek, Instagram
39 min
June 11, 2019Snack-Sized Ep: 10 Delicious Condiments With Condimental!
See, dear listeners? Ask and you shall receive! This snack-sized episode is thanks to a suggestion via our Instagram account. Condiments! What a good one.
Obviously we had to bring in a professional, and who better than Cam Stephens, founder of cool condiment network Condimental. Cam curates seasonal boxes full of extremely unique and hard-to-find small-batch pickles, ferments, hot sauces and toasted-sandwich stuffers.
Cam has kindly set up a nifty code for FREE SHIPPING on his boxes, just for us! Add the code ENTHUSED at check-out and you’ll be stocked up in a jiffy. Remember, sign up to our newsletter for all the deets on each ep delivered to your inbox each Friday: highlyenthused.substack.com
Without further ado:
EVERYDAY CONDIMENT BASICS YOU CAN FIND IN THE SUPERMARKET
Kewpie Mayonnaise

Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce. (Ticks all the boxes)

Chinkiang Black Vinegar. Dumpling Fuel. (turbo version of Worcestershire)

Carwari Cold Pressed Toasted Sesame Oil

Tabasco Chipotle Sauce (on eggs or oysters)
SR Recommends: Masterfoods Corn Relish
SM Recommends: Ottogi Gochujang (Korean chilli paste, I like to use it in this Bon Appetit recipe)
FANCIER STUFF YOU’LL PROBS FIND IN YOUR CONDIMENTAL BOX
Rough Rice Borlotti Bean and Rosemary Miso (look out for this in an upcoming Condimental box!)

Fleetwood Macchiato’s Watermelon Pickle (available at the cafe or through Condimental)

Church Farm General Store’s Billinudgel Brown Sauce

Red Cabbage Arame Kraut by Holly Davis (make it using this recipe!)

Habanero Hot Sauce by The Fermentalists (available via Condimental)
Music by Oly Marlan. Click here for the dulcet pop tunes of Cam’s band, Baby Beef.
25 min
June 04, 2019Pimple Mud, Watermelon Pickles & Dirty Neon Dressing
This week Roberts rides her birthday week through to the bitter end, dressed in obnoxiously bright colours the whole time. McComas tracks down pickles that taste just like sour coca cola bottle lollies and HAS SOME OPINIONS about espresso martinis.
As always you can find us on Instagram at @highlyenthused, or email us at [email protected].
Subscribe to our newsletter here, to get all our recommendations in your inbox!
Music for this episode by Oly Marlan.
Full list of recommendations below!
EAT
Sophie Roberts recommends:
Alison Roman's Savoury Granola: Get the recipe in Dining In from Booktopia or you can find it here.
Sophie McComas recommends:
Condimental Gift Boxes: Condimental
READ
Sophie Roberts recommends:
Email Newsletters!: Ann Friedman Weekly; The Collected AHP; Good People; Better have My Money; Read Like the Wind; London Review of Looks.
WATCH
Sophie McComas recommends:
Street Food: Netflix
BUY
Sophie Roberts recommends:
Bright clothes! Like the Lykke Floral Dress in blue: Permanent Vacation

Or dirty, neon green jumpers from COS (available in store)
Sophie McComas recommends:
Fat & the Moon Pimple Mud: Fat & The Moon
FAST FIVE
Sophie Roberts recommends:
Co-Star App: Itunes Store

Espresso Martinis!

Chantecaille Just Skin Tinted Moisturiser: Mecca (AU)

Emailing politicians about climate change

Wide Tooth Comb: Chemist Warehouse
Sophie McComas recommends:
Not washing your face in the morning

Oh Crap biodegradable dog poop bags: Oh Crap

Knock Down the House: Netflix

LUMA Primer: Priceline

Jauma Peekaboo Pet Nat: Jauma
40 min
May 28, 2019The Guest List with Elle McClure
This week Highly Enthused hosts our first Guest List! Elle McClure - Culture Director for ELLE and Harper's BAZAAR - drops in to share the things she's currently enthused about and teach us how a professional finds the things she wants to recommend.
As always you can find us on Instagram at @highlyenthused, or email us at [email protected].
Subscribe to our newsletter to get all our recommendations in your inbox here!
Music for this episode by Oly Marlan.
Full list of Elle's recommendations below!
DRINK
Amaro Montenegro: Dan Murphy's

The Bitter Orange: The Adelaide Hills Distillery
READ
The Farm by Joanne Ramos: Booktopia
WATCH
Russian Doll: Netflix
BUY
Vintage homewares from Sun Folk

Vintage homewares from Details Store
THE FAST FIVE
SOS Sense of Self Bathhouse

Natural Reader App: iTunes

Courtney Barnett Playlist on Spotify

Where Should We Begin by Esther Perel

The Radical Act of Embracing Your Own Mediocrity by Meghan Nesmith for Man Repeller
34 min
May 21, 2019Fish Collars, Grief Gifts & Creepy Little Novellas
This week McComas talks us through how to cook the "fish equivalent of a pork shoulder" (over coals if you're fancy, in the oven if you're not), Roberts reminisces over her trip to Adelaide and we try to figure out what to give friends who are grieving.
As always you can find us on Instagram at @highlyenthused, or email us at [email protected].
Subscribe to our newsletter to get all our recommendations in your inbox here, including the saffron spaghetti recipe from this ep!
Music for this episode by Oly Marlan.
Full list of our recommendations below!
EAT
Sophie Roberts Recommends
The Tea Sandwich at Africola, Adelaide
Sophie McComas Recommends
Cooking Fish Collars from Faros Brothers in Marrickville, Sydney (or your local fishmonger). Here's a good recipe!
READ
Sophie Roberts Recommends
The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark: Booktopia
Sophie McComas Recommends
The Arsonist by Chloe Hooper: Booktopia
BUY
Sophie Roberts Recommends
Incense Burner: Subtle Bodies
Instagram Vintage sellers: @luciazolea @waywardcollection @subrinaheyinkvintage
Sophie McComas Recommends
Moleskin Notebooks: Milligram
FAST FIVE
Sophie Roberts Recommends:
Smitten Kitchen's Pasta e Ceci recipe

Cuca Anchovies

Obnoxious, highlighter colour clothing like this coat from Zara

Moonshine Viognier by The Other Right

The Bold Type on Stan
Sophie McComas Recommends:
White Converse High Tops

Alice Waters on How I Built This

Shichimi Togarashi

@nottildaswinton

The OA Part 2 on Netflix
38 min
May 14, 2019Snack-Sized Ep: Skincare Special!
This week we're talking about one of our favourite ways to spend our money - things to put on your face! McComas likes a new face every day, whereas Roberts is all about hydration on a cellular level.
As always, you can find us on Instagram at @highlyenthused, or email us at [email protected]. You can sign up for our newsletter with all our recommendations here.
Skincare Recommendations
Sophie Roberts recommends:
Josh Rosebrook Hydrating Accelerator: I am Natural Store

COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence: Nudie Glow

Indeed Labs Hydraluron Moisture Booster: Priceline

Living Libations Rose Glow Serum: Luna Beauty & Apothecary

Camellia Nut Oil: Australian Wholesale Oils

The Chemistry Brand Retin-Oil: Deciem
Sophie McComas recommends:
Aesop Blue Chamomile Facial Hydrating Mask: Aesop

Bioderma Micellar Water: Priceline

Organic Cotton Face Cloths: Kora Organics

Sunday Riley Good Genes & Luna Sleeping Night Oil Duo: Mecca

Mecca To Save Face Sunscreen SPF 50: Mecca

Odacite Immediate Skin Perfecting Beauty Masque: Luna Beauty & Apothecary
23 min
May 07, 2019Mezcal, Martinis & Sentimental Garbage
This week we're downing mezcal, encouraging you all to take a second look at commercial women's fiction and learning a liiiiittle too much about McComas' social media 'orbiting' habits.
As always you can find us on Instagram at @highlyenthused, or email us at [email protected]. Music for this episode by Oly Marlan. Full list of our recommendations below.
Episode Recommendations:
EAT
Sophie Roberts Recommends
Mezcal Margaritas: Cantina OK

Del Maguey Vida Mezcal: Dan Murphys
Sophie McComas Recommends
Clam pizza: Bella Brutta
LISTEN
Sophie Roberts Recommends
Sentimental Garbage: Apple Podcasts
Sophie McComas Recommends
The Moth Story Slam: The Moth
BUY
Sophie Roberts Recommends
Levi's Wedgie Straight Leg Jeans: Levi's
Sophie McComas Recommends
Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth: Dan Murphys

Grey Goose Vodka: Dan Murphys

THE FAST FIVE
Sophie Roberts Recommends
Cornflake Ritter Sport

Bon Appetit Gourmet Makes

Plums!

Stutterheim Rain Jacket

Christophe Robin Sea Salt Hair Scrub
Sophie McComas Recommends
The Cut on Tuesdays with Sally Rooney

@alex_delany and his Spotify Playlists

Braised Miso Eggplant in Cornersmith Salad and Pickles Cookbook

Fruit by Chez Panisse

Lunch Hopper Set at Lankan Filling Station
32 min
May 02, 2019Snack-Sized Ep: TOAST!
On our first snack sized episode we go deep on our favourite use for bread - toast! When should you eat it? (Whenever you want!) What should you put on it? (We have suggestions!) What's the difference between simple toast and party toast? (Mostly it's whether you have to turn on the oven!)
As always, you can find us on Instagram at @highlyenthused, or email us at [email protected].
Toast Recommendations:
Simple
Peanut butter, honey, sea salt and chilli flakes (Aleppo Pepper specifically)

Taramasalata and pickles

Ricotta, honey, toasted fennel seeds and sea salt

Butter, anchovies, pickled shallots
Party Toast
Gorgonzola, roasted black grapes and rosemary

Goat’s curd or cream cheese with roasted sliced portobello and thyme

Giant crouton toast with garlic, mascarpone, tomato and vinegar

Nut butter, sliced banana, cinnamon, honey and toasted sliced almonds
12 min