Cooks & Books: Claire Thomson for Dear Grace
Tuesday 15th September, 7pm
Topping & Company Booksellers of Edinburgh, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh EH7 5JH
6.30pm
7pm
A mother's recipes and her daughter's first kitchen adventures away from home.
Dear Grace is a warm, wise cookbook written by chef and food writer Claire Thomson for her daughter as she leaves home for university. Claire began addressing Instagram posts to Grace, each pairing heartfelt advice and reminiscences with a recipe to nurture and comfort. This struck a chord with parents everywhere experiencing similar emotional highs and lows as they prepared to send their children off into adult life.
Each recipe begins with a note to Grace - advice about surviving deadlines, sharing meals, cooking for one, or navigating heartbreak - followed by an easy dish designed for small kitchens, tight budgets and busy schedules.
Through memories and stories of family and food, Claire perfectly captures the bittersweet moment of watching your child begin their independent life - and the comfort of knowing they can feed themselves and their friends with confidence, creativity and care.
Claire Thomson is a chef, food writer and a constant source of family-cooking inspiration to her 250k plus Instagram followers. Claire has written for the Guardian, Telegraph, BBC Good Food Magazine and Delicious and is a Guild of Food Writers award winner for Tomato. She has appeared on BBC1's Saturday Kitchen, Channel 4's Sunday Brunch and BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour. On her podcast The 5 O'Clock Apron, she chats and chops with people from other professions about what they cook for dinner.