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Pamela Hart’s love of food, words and the chip butty

2019-04-15T16:40:16+10:00Categories: News|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Author Q&A
Pamela Hart says the most difficult part of writing the The Desert Nurse was recording the endless stream of casualties from Gallipoli in a manner that wouldn't overwhelm the reader. Pamela is a research-heavy author and food also plays a key role in her novels. The Country Women's Association cookbooks are her go-to references for the food of the times. She also has a soft spot for Margaret Fulton and the chip butty.

One Enchanted Evening – Charlotte Smith

2019-02-09T23:09:29+11:00Categories: News|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Kate's review
In 2004, Charlotte Smith inherited more than 3,000 vintage couture gowns from her Quaker godmother, Doris Darnell, who had spent a lifetime gathering her collection, which spanned 250 years of fashion. Every single piece had been given to her, by friends who knew of her passion and by strangers who wanted their old and precious clothes to be properly cared for. Doris Darnell also bequeathed her god-daughter her notebooks, which detailed the history of each item. She described these histories as "fascinating stories, sometimes full of joy, other times grief, sometimes bitterness, other times heartache."

Didion on congee and food for the grieving soul

2019-02-09T22:28:11+11:00Categories: Literary Food Moments|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Iconic literary food moments
In honour of our fashion episode for Charlotte Smith's One Enchanted Evening, we have chosen a quote from style-icon Joan Didion because few people have managed to marry fashion, food and literature so well. Didion was an author of both literature and cookbooks, and kick-started her writing career on the pages of Vogue. She experienced great sadness in her life, losing both her husband and her daughter, the latter dying at just 39 year’s of age, but she never lost her connection with fashion and words. The quote we have chosen comes from her novel The Year of Thinking Magically, when Didion muses on the power of food to comfort and console.

Straight from the authors’ mouths

2019-02-09T12:01:12+11:00Categories: News|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Recommended reads
Hopefully you've chewed through all those novels gifted at Christmas and are ready to jump into the 2019 reading year. As the saying goes, there's no rest for the wicked! Word of Mouth TV has three new book and three new cookbook recommendations which will surely take you through to the next episode in March. Guest author Charlotte Smith, a fashion anthropologist, recommends The Riviera Set - a portrait of high society between 1920 and 1960 and the authors who partied with them. And her cookbook recommendation is equally glamorous. Kate and Sarah serve up their favourites as well. Happy reading!

Charlotte Smith’s passion for food and fashion

2019-02-05T19:45:03+11:00Categories: News|Tags: , , , , , , |

Author Q&A
Anglo-American Charlotte Smith inherited a vast collection of vintage and historic garments and accessories from her American Quaker godmother, Doris Darnell. Along with 3,500 items of clothing came boxes of personal letters and Doris’s handwritten notes documenting the stories of the women who wore them. As custodian, Charlotte has expanded the collection to more than 9,000 pieces, to include fashion from 36 different countries - the largest in the world. She has written a series of books about the collection and talks to us about her writing journey.

Charlotte Smith’s high tea with scones and jam

2019-02-05T15:15:53+11:00Categories: Recipes|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Portrait of a recipe
Charlotte Smith lives in the Blue Mountains, which is famous for the high tea served at the stunning art-deco hotel The Hydro Majestic. So we thought a high tea would be the perfect accompaniment to an episode focused on fashion, and to honour Charlotte's British heritage. These fluffy English scones accompanied classic cucumber sandwiches (Kate charmed the recipe out of the chef at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford) and chicken, rocket and mayonnaise sandwiches. These fluffy English style scones are light and rise like the sun! Enjoy!

Josephine Moon’s terrifically tasty Tuscan bean soup

2018-11-17T15:34:00+11:00Categories: Recipes|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Portrait of a recipe
Josephine Moon prefers gluten-free and dairy free dining - which is a bit of a challenge when dining Italian. So we settled on this simple, elegant and oh-so satisfying Tuscan Bean Soup, with Parmesan cheese on the side. This is perfect dining in warm Autumnal weather. Pair it with a delicious glass of wine, good company and a beautiful table-setting and you will be transported to the golden, rolling hills of Italy. It's so easy to prepare, it's become a staple on our repertoire of soups.

Straight from the authors’ mouths

2018-11-17T15:04:26+11:00Categories: News|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Recommended reads
Crime, drama, historical fiction - the choice is yours from the Josephine Moon episode's round of recommended books. Suspense and ambiguity set the tone for all three picks. Josephine kicks off with The Music Shop, a novel by Rachel Joyce, set in Margaret Thatcher's dystopian England. From there, the Word of Mouth TV foodies roll out a luscious, mouth-watering round of cookbooks. The predominant theme is Italy, which is appropriate given the Tuscan setting of Three Gold Coins. Let us know your thoughts.

Josephine Moon shares her love of food and Italy

2018-11-17T13:41:18+11:00Categories: News|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Author Q&A
Josephine Moon reveals herself as something of a foodie in our author Q&A. Not only does food play a central role in all of her novels but at home as well, where she lives on acreage with her family and horses. She also gives us a sneak peak into her next novel, to be published in March, which is themed around coffee (for coffee addicts everywhere!), and shares some of her mother's tips on how to make the perfect potato salad. We'll be incorporating these tips into our Christmas repertoire this year for sure.

Three Gold Coins – Josephine Moon

2018-11-16T17:18:04+11:00Categories: News|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Kate's review
A warm-hearted contemporary tale set in Australia and Italy, Three Gold Coins is the first book written by Josephine Moon that I have read but it won’t be the last. I just loved the skilful twisting together of romance and suspense, chick-lit and family drama. This is a novel which celebrates family ties, food and the importance of kindness, all things which I passionately believe in.

 Josephine Moon sensitively explores themes of depression and mental illness, psychological abuse and violence, which give her story extra gravitas to balance the charm.