Something to Eat and Something to Read

This month we are discussing a book of essays that could be described as a “literary potluck”. My First Popsicle: An Anthology of Food and Feelings was edited by actor and writer Zosia Mamet (fellow fans of the series Girls will remember her as the character Shoshanna). We both loved this collection of short stories about food and all the feelings we attach to and around how we cook and share meal...

So much goes on at the breakfast table, especially in books. Don’t you think? We do. So much so that we dedicated a whole (mini) episode to our favourite breakfast scenes in some favourite books; from Helen Garner to Maggie O’Farrell, there are some great scenes in this episode. Show notes with all the books, links and a breakfast recipe Sophie is particularly fond of will be emailed to our subscr...

Our book this episode is the book Milkfed by Melissa Broder. And it sparks a big conversation covering appetite, disordered eating, faith, sex, frozen yogurt, and a bit of mysticism for good measure. It’s a fascinating, well-written, but ultimately (for us at least), sad book that gave us A LOT to talk and think about.  We also share some book and cocktail recommendations for puzzle nights (they’r...

Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow is one of our most requested books, and now we get it. In this episode, we chat about the important role that food, cooking and shared tables all play in this charming book. We meander from how a good meal can be like time travel to thoughts on mixing the perfect aperitif - “A cocktail is not meant to be a melange. It is not a potpourri or an Easter parade. At it...

Hello, and welcome back to Something to Eat and Something to Read for another year! We have a lot of cooking and reading-related things to talk about so we thought we’d start with an episode full to bursting with the books we have been loving this summer, plus a few recipes to help nourish and soothe as we hurtle into the new year. We talk about the idea of guilty pleasures (boo), what actually is...

Welcome to our Christmas special! Also special as we recorded this episode in front of our first audience at the Henley Community Garden with the Gladesville Happy Hens. We hope you enjoy listening to us talk about our book advent (list below) while also prescribing something to eat and something to read for two letter writers. The list of books discussed is below and there will be more informatio...

This episode takes us from contemplating the ways the kitchen can be the “endeavour of serious thought”, the good meals that heal, to the bad meals that haunt us (we’ve all got them!), into an examination of the possibly problematic word lovely (a bit of a problem for Sophie), cooking to make yourself appetising to others, cooking to say what you can’t say, the sensuality of aprons, the golden bea...

This one is all about recipes with story arcs, the wonderful writing of Ella Risbridger (her latest book, The Year of Miracles, is our episode's book), finding comfort and consolation in poetry and recipes and reading and eating recommendations to buoy the tired and uninspired. Recipes, links, books and more will be sent to our beloved supporters very soon. Thank you to the growing community who h...

Welcome to Episode 3, Season 2! This might be my favourite episode so far (Sophie talking here!); a really gentle and hopefully comforting chat about breaking out of boxes we or society put us in, about taking cooking seriously and treating yourself with infinite courtesy (thank you MFK Fisher for that wonderful turn of phrase, as always). Also, is listening to a book ‘as good as’ reading it? We d...

Welcome back! We’re so happy to share this episode with you, a conversation between two book and food lovers, for our fellow book and food lovers! In this episode, we come back to the idea of “faction” and, when it can be problematic, the fantasy of elaborate dinner parties that take days to prepare and the reality of “Life Among the Savages”, aka everyday chaos. Sophie waxes on about the pleasure...

Hello and welcome to episode 1/season 2 of Something to Eat and Something to Read - a podcast all about food and reading and reading about food. Our book for this episode is Annabel Abbs’s ‘The Language of Food’, and it sparks a big chat about how good food writing can be its own form of poetry, how reading and cooking can give us a sense of order and calm, historical ‘faction’ and how it gives ce...

Welcome back! It’s been a longer than expected break between episodes but we’re back and we have A LOT to talk about. Mostly, of course, to do with food, food in books and caring for each other through food. Our book this episode is the extraordinary Leave the World Behind  by Rumaan Alam. And we answer a letter about how to “gracefully navigate” a new and challenging chapter of life with the good...

Hello and welcome back to Something to Eat and Something to Read, and happy new year! We got together last week - in person! - to record episode seven and had such a lovely time covering everything from comfort and discomfort foods, writing about and cooking through grief, and how food connects us to our identity and memories. The book responsible for bringing up all these ideas and themes is Cryi...

This is a conversation about the solace and joy that reading and cooking can bring us. About comfort reading, re-reading, and a favourite book of ours, Elizabeth Jane Howard's The Light Years.  Germaine prescribes our letter writer a life-affirming graphic novel and Sophie a cold, simple and very very delicious Christmas lunch inspired by Mrs Cripps from our book. For the recipes, book recommendat...

Where we decide to get into the festive spirit a little early and explore a cold, snowy Christmas read alongside celebrating bright, colourful Australian summer foods. The best of both hemispheres! Our book this episode is Christmas Days by Jeanette Winterson For links to all the recipes, books, music and good things we mention in this episode, please head over to our newsletter archive (better ye...

Well here we are at episode four of our podcast! And this one is a special edition of Something to Eat and Something to Read where we talk to author Sarah Winman and food writer Emiko Davies about what food means to them and how it shapes their stories. Thank you to Sarah for chatting with us about the kindness of strangers, how being given a meal or a good coffee can make you feel more than your...

It’s episode 3 and reading-wise we have a new experience for Sophie and a familiar one for Germaine. It’s the world of the psychological thriller and a conversation about how food writing can help pace a page-turning novel, add subtext to character development, create a time and place, and add a depth of emotional atmosphere. Join us as we enter the world of Nicci French and their latest book The...

Episode two of Something to Eat and Something to Read in which we discuss Sarah Winman's Tin Man and the shape her other novels have also left on us; along with what happens when relationships disappoint us. The answers may well lie in books that explore relationships that don’t meet expectations, yet end up being something much more fulfilling. And this could also be greatly aided by desserts!  ...

Something to Eat and Something is a podcast about cooking and reading, and reading about cooking. Hosted by food writer Sophie Hansen and Bibliotherapist/Psychotherapist Germaine Leece; we believe that you should never go anywhere, or for too long, without something to eat and something to read.   So every episode we’re going to dive into a book we’ve both read and talk about the ’shape’ it left o...