Good food and a good book. What's not to love? It's hard to think of a better combination. That's why Lee Majhen-Todd, owner of Lee & The Sweet Life, is cooking-up a storm with her latest venture.
It’s a Foodie Book Club. Let’s start with the obvious question. What IS a Foodie Book Club? We caught up with Lee to discover all of the juicy details. “I’m an ex-counsellor, and when the first lockdown arrived last year, I was contacted by some former clients who asked what I thought they could do to keep themselves occupied, look after their emotional well-being and stay connected with people.” said Lee, “I immediately suggested forming a book club. It had to be something that people could do over Zoom, Skype, Facetime etc, and we’d need something to talk about. I decided to merge that idea with another of my passions…. cooking. The one continuing theme for the past year has been finding fiction books with ingredients in the title to be our monthly reads. Members of the group then use the ingredient to make a dish and when it’s time to “meet virtually” we discuss the book, the recipes and share some good food. If anyone gets a little stuck, they can find a monthly recipe by me or one of the talented top chefs who gift us a recipe each month on my website. I try to mix it up with new and established authors, and we even throw in a few children’s books. We’re celebrating the joy of reading and cooking while bringing in the traditional element of people gathering to feast together. It’s a social and community event that builds relationships and strengthens them.” One thing has led to another and Lee has used her contacts within the catering and hospitality industry to help spread the word and even join in with the fun. She’s a recipe developer, recipe tester and food consultant specialising in helping catering firms, restaurants, shops and cookery writers ensure that their recipes will work. She ‘road tests’ them. It’s no surprise therefore that she’s worked with some very influential people, many of whom are keen to help out with Foodie Book Club. She regularly features top chefs like Hrishikesh Desai, Adam Handling and, coming up, Kenny Atkinson from the House of Tides in Newcastle. Lee has even worked closely with Irini Tzortzoglou who was the 2019 MasterChef champion. Such has been the popularity within food circles that Lee has now got a list of top chefs who’ll be appearing in the Foodie Book Club over the next 18 months. It’s obvious they all rate what Lee is doing. “Initially it was a case of using the chefs to help provide some variety within Foodie Book Club, but we’re now using the platform to help promote the chefs who’re perhaps not so well known as Kenny and Irini. We’re also finding that independent businesses are getting in touch so I’ve decided to try and support them as well. In return for us giving them some publicity, each week they provide us with special discounts. It means Foodie Book Club gets to hear from chefs and businesses…the chefs and businesses get some publicity…and our members then have the chance to buy or sample products at a discounted rate. In fact, many of the companies provide us with access to something that isn’t available to the general public.” Interested? There’s a couple of ways to get involved and it’s all free too. Start your own book club and register it on the website to become part of the Foodie Book Club Family. No group? No worries! Just subscribe to the weekly newsletter to have recipes, discounts and news sent straight to your inbox There’s also Foodie Book Club TwitterHour (#foodiebookclubhour) chats on a Wednesday evening 6-7pm. Here’s something brilliant! See what some of the Foodie Book Club chefs get up to at lunchtimes. Go onto YouTube, type in ‘Foodie Book Club’, and you’ll be able to see loads of incredible chefs creating some wonderful dishes. It’s called Lockdown Lunches. Oh, and don’t assume that the recipes use ingredients that you’ve never heard of. The idea is that the chefs will use the sort of food you probably have in your fridge or cupboards right now. The best idea is to go onto Lee & The Sweet Life website www.leeandthesweetlife.com and check out Foodie Book Club pages to see how to become involved for free. Head over to Twitter and look for @book_foodie to join in with the Wednesday night fun or go to Lee & The Sweet Life Facebook page to see what’s happening there. You’ll also see what else Lee is up to on Twitter @CakesandMore or why not check out her Instagram site…Lee & The Sweet Life…. or her web page www.leeandthesweetlife.com As we said at the start….good food and a good book….what’s not to love? Join in with the fun, check out some really cool recipes and find a cracking book to snuggle up with. And become part of the Foodie Book Club.