Something to Eat and Something to Read

Hello! We’re back for another year of reading and cooking and are kicking off with a big, juicy summer round-up. In this episode, we share 16 books we read and all the things we cooked, watched, listened to and loved most over summer.
Germaine’s summer read was The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers, a story about the secret life we live alongside our public lives and what happens in long-term marriages when you love but are not in love. Sophie devoured Heart the Lover by Lily King, a beautiful story of first love, growing up and losing people. We also discuss The Transformations by Andrew Pippos, When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén, Hamnet the film, and so much more.
We talk about summer cooking – peaches wrapped in prosciutto, chilli and fruit, Sophie’s halva with cold peaches, and Germaine’s beetroot and pickled cherry salad.
We share thoughts on A Brain that Breathes by Jodi Wilson and heartily agree with and are trying to stick to her advice to start each day by reading instead of scrolling.
Plus films including My Brother’s Band and Somebody to Love, exhibitions, podcasts about slowing down in the kitchen, and recommendations for good psychological thrillers.
The book we’re reading for our next episode is Tamar Adler’s Feast on Your Life.
Show notes are coming soon, featuring lists of all the books and topics we discuss.
In the meantime, thank you for listening, and thank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully.
Germaine and Sophie x
We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people.



Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe

Reading and cooking are doorways into Christmas for many of us.
And because this year we need it, and perhaps you might too, we have made ourselves an Advent calendar of 25 things to read, cook, eat, listen to and do throughout the month. All things that might help slow us down, help us feel the festive feels, fill our tables with good things to share, and have a happy, calm month.
Show notes with links, recipes, and the full list of things are heading to our subscribers’ inboxes.
In the meantime, thank you for listening, and thank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully.
Germaine and Sophie x
We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people.


Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! And welcome back to Something to Eat and Something to Read, a podcast for people who love reading and eating and talking and thinking about both. This episode’s book guest is TART - Misadventures of an Anonymous Chef by Slutty Chef a 20-something chef based in London who became famous via her Instagram page @sluttychef and a few posts calling out the misogyny in the high-end (or all) world of food.
The book is sort of a memoir, but also, the author says, an amalgamation of fact and fiction. As she told UK Cosmo, “Some parts are incredibly true and accurate, and others have been juiced up.”
Show notes are coming soon, featuring lists of all the books and topics we discuss.
In the meantime, thank you for listening, and thank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully.
Germaine and Sophie x
We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people.



Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe

We have talked about dinner parties in literature before, but none have been quite so much of a struggle to sit through as this one! Happiness and Love by debut author Zoe Debno is a treat for the senses … in quite a different way. And via this book, and the conversation it sparked, we experience how appetites can be lost and food can be nauseating depending on the company we keep.
This is about becoming curious about our reactions to a book, how food creates atmosphere and adds to character and how wealth, class and education can be a cover for the emptiest of internal lives. As ‘the actress’ says in Happiness and Love;
“You act like all you want to do is have serious conversations about art and about literature, and that only a select group of people who have studied enough, who have the credentials you think are important, are smart enough to engage with you, but what is even inside of a book but people’s thoughts and feelings. Everyone can understand thoughts and feelings. Everyone can read a book and understand it.”
Bibliotherapy in action! We hope you enjoy this conversation as we join our narrator on the “white linen sofa” for a long night ahead.
Show notes are coming soon, featuring lists of all the books and topics we discuss.
In the meantime, thank you for listening, and thank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully.
Germaine and Sophie x
We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people.


Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe

What books will you never let go of? What recipes will you cook forever? In this episode, we talk about letting go, holding on and the recipes and books that we turn to when we need to fall in love with cooking or reading again. We share the books that ‘wallpaper’ our minds and the things we’re cooking, reading and loving this month.
Show notes are coming shortly, with lists of all the books and things we talk about, plus Sophie’s heart-shaped sponge recipe.
Thank you for listening, and thank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully.
Germaine and Sophie x

We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people.


Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe