Cooking the Books Live with Claire Thomson

Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith

#Society #Lifestyle #Arts #Gilly Smith #Food #Books #Cooking #Authors #Read #Foodwriting #Climate #Sustainability

35:24

Let’s talk about adulting— actual adulting. Not just paying bills or keeping a houseplant alive, but the kind that involves emotional maturity, healthy boundaries, and conscious self-leadership. Because let’s be honest, most of us weren’t taught how to be fully functioning adults… and it shows. Joining us is Michelle Chalfant , licensed therapist turned holistic life coach, creator of The Adult Chair® model, and author of the new book The Adult Chair: Get Unstuck, Claim Your Power, and Transform Your Life . With millions reached through her podcast, coaching programs, and retreats, she’s here to walk us through the five pillars of being a healthy, grounded adult. Here’s the truth: being an adult isn’t about checking boxes or pretending you’re fine. It’s about owning your truth. Feeling your feelings. Practicing compassion without letting yourself off the hook. It’s about setting firm boundaries—with no need for justification—and recognizing that your triggers are not flaws, they’re clues. None of us were handed a guidebook for how to grow up emotionally. We inherited patterns from people who were figuring it out as they went. But what Michelle shares today is empowering: it’s never too late to unlearn what no longer serves you and become the adult you were meant to be. Whether you’re starting this work or knee-deep in your personal development era, this episode will meet you where you are—and help you move forward with clarity, self-trust, and strength. Connect with Michelle: Website: https://theadultchair.com/ Book: https://theadultchair.com/book IG: https://www.instagram.com/themichellechalfant/?hl=en FB: https://www.facebook.com/@TheMichelleChalfant/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/michellechalfant Related Podcast Episodes: How To Build Emotionally Mature Leaders with Dr. Christie Smith | 272 Boundaries vs. Ultimatums with Jan & Jillian Yuhas | 297 Gentleness: Cultivating Compassion for Yourself and Others with Courtney Carver | 282 Share the Love: If you found this episode insightful, please share it with a friend, tag us on social media, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform! 🔗 Subscribe & Review: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

about a year ago 28:10

MP3•Episode home

This week, we’re celebrating CTB’s fifth birthday with another in our series of Live events at Rockwater in Hove, this time with Claire Thomson.

The Five o clock Apron, as she’s more commonly known was with us to talk about her latest book One Pan Beans, the 10th in her series of how to cook books. In front of an audience of super-fans, she told us how to elevate the simplest of ingredients - beans, chickpeas and lentils - into fabulous weekday meals and weekend feasts.

Pop over to Gilly's Substack for the Q&A which has masses of tips from the book.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

272 episodes

Cooking the Books Live with Claire Thomson

Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

This week, we’re celebrating CTB’s fifth birthday with another in our series of Live events at Rockwater in Hove, this time with Claire Thomson.

Pop over to Gilly's Substack for the Q&A which has masses of tips from the book.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

272 episodes

#Society #Lifestyle #Arts #Gilly Smith #Food #Books #Cooking #Authors #Read #Foodwriting #Climate #Sustainability

All episodes

1
Andrea Oskis: The Kitchen Shrink 26:39

5 days ago26:39

26:39

This week, we're with award-winning psychologist, and graduate of Gilly's How to Cook a Book food writing retreat, Andrea Oskis. Her first book is a series of tales from her clinic exploring how the food we eat reveals who we are – and how we love. Its title? The Kitchen Shrink . Genius. Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Andrea. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

1
Tom Kerridge: The BBQ Book 27:49

12 days ago27:49

27:49

This week, Gilly is confronting her biggest summertime phobia with Tom Kerridge and his latest book, The Barbecue Book. He’s the man with the Midas touch – he turned the Hand and Flowers from a rundown pub in Buckinghamshire into the first and only 2 star Michelin pub in the world. He’s the chef who lost a stack of weight and turned his diet story into books and telly which helped millions of others do the same. He’s the boy who grew up on free school meals who launched Full Time Meals with Marcus Rashford in 2021 and campaigns for free school meals for all children in the UK. He’s the Michelin star chef whose books elevate the simplest of dishes. But is he the man who can teach Gilly how to love a barbie? Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

1
Bee Wilson: The Heart-Shaped Tin 27:50

19 days ago27:50

27:50

This week, we’re back with one of Gilly's favourite guests on Cooking the Books, Bee Wilson and her latest book, The Heart Shaped Tin. It’s a book about love and loss, and the magical thinking that so many of us transpose onto everyday objects, often found in the kitchen. As she navigates her way from the despair of a broken marriage to a gloriously happy present via the death of her mother and the inevitable life changes that happen as children grow up, she gathers stories and explores the psychology about our relationship with things – the junk and the treasure – in her most moving book so far. Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Bee. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

1
Noor Murad At Cooking the Books Live: Lugma 37:02

26 days ago37:02

37:02

This week, we’re basking in the evening sunshine at Cooking the Books Live at Rockwater, Hove with Noor Murad. Her debut cookbook, Lugma is her twist on the familiar, to use an Ottolenghi term, of the food from her homeland, Bahrain. It’s the very first international cookbook of Bahraini recipes, but reflects her own experiences of growing up there, the mix of Persian and Indian flavours infused with her own half Britishness and a brash of new York where she worked before landing in the bosom of the Ottolenghi family. Click here for tickets to the next Cooking the Books Live with Gurd Loyal, and then pop over to Gilly's Substack for the fascinating Q&A with the audience. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

1
Julie Lin: Sama Sama 32:39

5 weeks ago32:39

32:39

This week, we're with Malaysian Scottish chef, restaurateur and now food writer, Julie Lin and her debut cookbook, Sama Sama Sama Sama meaning Same Same is all about food and identity. It’s a book that has been simmering for years as Julie explores her same-same notions of home and all the ingredients of belonging that have come together in the hashtag third culture food. Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Julie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

1
Rosie Kellett: In For Dinner 32:30

6 weeks ago32:30

32:30

This week, Gilly is with the queen of communal living an icon of bohemian anti-capitalism, Rosie Kellett. An actress, a baker with Meringue Girls and Claire Ptak’s assistant at Violet Cakes – which included working on Harry and Meghan’s wedding cake , it was moving into a Carpet Warehouse in London that shot her to fame on Instagram. The idea of sharing the cost of living with her ware-housemates, cooking and eating communally – as well as the supper clubs with Italian housemate, Virginia - hit home to so many that publishers were queuing up to sign her. Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Rosie and a recipe from the book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

1
Leyla Kazim: Pathways 31:30

6 weeks ago31:30

31:30

This week, in a special extra episode to coincide to the minute with a fascinating new way of publishing, I’m with content creation queen, Masterchef judge and co-presenter of The Food Programme, Leyla Kazim Leyla’s debut Pathways is not one but two books about her massive life change to become a farmer in Portugal . It’s a memoir/manifesto/guide to living a purposeful life. Published by The Pound Project , it goes on sale for three weeks only, from 7pm on May 6th - 27th May. She’s in good company - Jess Phillips MP, Dolly Alderton , Pandora Sykes , Emma Gannon , Sebastian Faulks, Charlie Mackesy, Rita Ora, Richard and Scarlett Curtis are just some of her fellow authors. She tells us about disruption in life, the food system and publishing! You can purchase the book from the following link, which goes live at 19:00 on May 6th: https://www.poundproject.co.uk/shop/pathways Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

1
Stuart Gillespie: Food Fight 31:48

7 weeks ago31:48

31:48

This week, we’re talking about the dirty rotten scoundrels who run our global food industry with Dr Stuart Gillespie Stuart’s book Food Fight: From Plunder and Profit to People and Planet gives us the back story of a food system driven by greed and exploitation. But it suggests how to transform it into a food system fit for the future which prioritises global health and justice. And it starts with really understanding that the food system isn’t broken—it’s functioning exactly as designed . Pop over to Gilly’s Substack for Extra Bites of Stuart, and for her recent posts on what Food Fight has inspired her to do with Cooking the Books. Click here for The Dark Side of the Plate, the report that Stuart mentions in the episode that he contributed to for The Food Foundation. And click here for the Food Foundation's Pod Bites. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

1
Poppy Okotcha: A Wilder Way 30:08

8 weeks ago30:08

30:08

This week, we’re digging deep – culturally and politically - into our connection with the land in Poppy Okotcha’s A Wilder Way, how gardens grow us. Poppy is this year’s winner of the Jane Grigson Trust Sous Chef Award fo r New Food Writers for her memoir – and very practical handbook – about putting down roots and growing a garden while reconnecting with Mother Earth’s infinite power to restore life. Her beautiful book is a wonderful wake up call to remind us of what’s under our feet, threaded through with fables and folklore from her Nigerian Igbo and British cultures. Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Poppy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

1
Caroline Eden: Green Mountains 31:17

9 weeks ago31:17

31:17

This week, we're walking the Green Mountains of Armenia and Georgia with food and travel writer, Caroline Eden The last time we met on CTB, it was to talk about Cold Kitchens, her dream of journeys past during Lockdown, as she tried to make sense of a changing world. This time, she’s putting one foot in front of the other to process the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on this still largely unknown part of the world, her signature edible postcards a wake up call to the sensory adventures of the Caucasus in the last in her colour trilogy after Black Sea and Red Sands. Head to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Caroline. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

1
Rachel de Thample: Bees and Honey 30:00

10 weeks ago30:00

30:00

This week, we’re back at River Cottage with bee queen, Rachel de Thample River Cottage Handbook No 19: Bees and Honey is the latest in the practical guides to everything we need to know to live a sustainable life. Rachel and Steve Minshall take us through everything from caring for bees to honey recipes for soothing and healing, but as a former chef, commissioning Editor of Waitrose Food Illustrated and Head of Food for the organic box scheme Abel & Cole, Rachel has carved a niche as a writer who is all about the role of nature and climate change in food. Gilly asks her to trace that journey to River Cottage. Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Rachel Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

1
Irina Georgescu: Danube 28:40

11 weeks ago28:40

28:40

This week, we’re off on our travels again through Eastern Europe, this time with Irina Georgescu as our guide along the lesser known banks of the Danube. Irina has become the word on Romanian food, and from her home in Wales, she’s committed to exploring her homeland through its food history. Her last book , Tava: Eastern European Baking and Desserts from Romania and Beyond won a James Beard Foundation award in 2023. In Danube , she finds publishing gold in everyday recipes from a part of the world most of us still haven’t discovered. Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Irina and recipes from the book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

1
Roopa Gulati: Indian Kitchens 29:32

12 weeks ago29:32

29:32

This week, we’re visiting the kitchens of everyday India to find the food behind closed doors with chef, food writer and broadcaster, Roopa Gulati, Brought up in Cumbria, Roopa spent 20 years as a chef in Delhi before she came home to advise on Rick Stein’s India series for BBC2. She's a woman who knows how to find the story in everyday food, and Indian Kitchens is an extraordinary story behind the recipes of 12 different communities to find the food that makes up a nation. Bee Wilson raves about it, Tom Parker Bowles calls it a modern classic, Diana Henry says, 'The recipes are pure gold.' Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Roopa and the recipe for the lamb in ginger and orange from her food moments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

1
Cooking the Books LIVE with Lucy Brazier 36:42

13 weeks ago36:42

36:42

This week, we’re back at Rockwater, Hove with River Cottage writer, Lucy Brazier telling a live audience about her memoir, The Honesty Box. It’s a highly moving and very funny diary about healing a broken marriage and growing enough vegetables to fill her new distraction, an honesty box. But the rickety old receptable outside her garden gate is also a metaphor for the treasure trove she finds as she lifts the lid on the mental health crisis her husband – and the rest of the family – have been living with. We begin with a question from the audience about the title, and if it was always meant to have such a brilliant double meaning. Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Lucy and the audience Q&A at Cooking the Books Live. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

1
Laurie Woolever: Care and Feeding, A Memoir 30:37

14 weeks ago30:37