Into The Garbage Chute, Flyboy.

Notpla, the company which makes seaweed-based packaging to replace single-use plastics, started with its two French and Spanish founders, Pierre Paslier and Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, experimenting in their student kitchen while at Imperial College London.

Now, Notpla has replaced more than 21 million items of single-use plastic across Europe, and is aiming to displace 1 billion units by 2030. In partnership with Just Eat, Notpla’s packaging was used at the UEFA Women’s Final at Wembley Stadium, London in 2022. From seven types of folded carton board boxes that year, it has grown into a catalogue of over 50 different designs. 

A quote from the article:

Now, every time I wake up about three am, knowing I have to get up at 6.45, instead of stressing and panicking about how my day is going to be sleep deprived and miserable, I just tell myself 'Time to activate Mythbusters Protocol' and lie there with my eyes closed safe in the knowledge that I am measurably reducing later feelings of exhaustion.

And when this happens, about 70% of the time the reduction of guilt and stress means I actually do fall back asleep, so all in all instead of getting only three or four hours sleep, I get five to six and a half.

Pumpkin Pudding Pie w/Orange Zest and Cardamom Whipped Cream

(makes ~3 pies)

Ingredients:

Pie:

2 ½ cups sugar

15oz can pumpkin puree

2 eggs

½ tsp baking soda

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

2½ cups milk

4 TBSP butter (melted)

1 orange

1 tsp powdered sugar

Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy cream

2 TBSP powdered sugar

1 tsp cardamom

pinch nutmeg

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Instructions:

Pie:

Preheat the oven to 325°F

Prepare the pie crust (that's another recipe's job- either find a scratch recipe or buy a pre-made dough or graham cracker crust)

Blend 2½ cups sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl (if using a mixer, blend with a paddle attachment)

Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt; blend until well mixed

Add the milk and melted butter, whisk until well mixed (if using a mixer, blend with the whisk attachment)

Pour your batter into the crust, filling right up to the edge (the mix will be more liquid than solid, but it will rise/solidify in the oven)

Bake at 325°F for 55 minutes

Remove from the oven and let it cool

Top with sifted powdered sugar

Zest an orange over the top of the pie (microplane if possible but regular zester is fine; have found that the most aesthetically pleasing version is to peel the orange and then finely dice the peel but that's a hassle!)

Whipped cream:

Put your metal mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer for at least 15 minutes

Whisk powdered sugar, cardamom, and nutmeg together in bowl

Add heavy cream; whisk until stiff peaks start forming