In this reflective holiday episode of Novel and Nosh, we explore what’s gained and what’s quietly lost when convenience takes the driver’s seat during the Christmas season. Sparked by a simple conversation about online shopping, Courtney shares nostalgic memories of mall dinners, open-air shopping trips with friends, and the small, sensory-rich moments that made gift-gathering feel magical.

Together, we look at how modern life, burnout, and the emotional labor so many midlife women carry make convenience a lifeline—and why it deserves zero shame. But we also unpack the subtle ways convenience can flatten our experiences and separate us from the rituals, surprises, micro-connections, and sensory delights that ground us and help regulate our nervous system.

This episode offers a compassionate “middle path”: practical ways to blend the ease of online shopping with simple, seasonal traditions that bring back meaning—like creating one intentional shopping outing, pairing errands with cozy rituals, browsing for just one special gift in person, or using convenience to support small makers.

You’ll walk away with gentle questions to help you notice where convenience truly serves you, and where a little slowness might bring back joy, connection, and presence.

Tune in for nostalgia, nuance, and an invitation to savor the season—one small experience at a time.

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We share five comforting novels where bread, small towns, and second chances meet, then walk through a simple sourdough method that drops the rules and keeps the flavor. The joy is in the making, not perfection, and we invite you to bake along with us.

• Jenny Colgan’s Little Beach Street Bakery as coastal escape and renewal
• Evie Woods’s Rue des Paris with magical realism and hidden baker
• A community mystery led by older women after a death on the tracks
• The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living as a Vermont second chance
• Bread Alone trilogy as night-shift healing and craft
• Starter care that lives in the fridge
• The no-fuss formula: 50g starter, 325g water, 500g flour, 11g salt
• Overnight rise, minimal folds, and flexible timing
• Bake at 450°F, covered then uncovered, for a crust that sings
• Realistic results, real pleasure, permission to skip perfection

Join us: “Just head to novelandnosh.com, click on the join the community or the book and bake club” 
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A rule follower joins a heist, discovers her nerve, and reminds us why novelty can make life feel bigger. We sit down with author Sasha Preston to unpack The Sweetest Getaway, a witty, food-sprinkled caper where friendship, entrepreneurship, and courage take center stage. Jennifer, a cautious comic artist with big dreams, and Nari, a fearless hustler with flexible ethics, team up against a corporate villain and learn that risk can be a bridge to growth. It’s sharp, funny, and full of heart.

We go behind the scenes of Sasha’s creative process—how weekly short-story swaps rekindled her writing habit, how she drafted on walks and lunch breaks, and why she now blends a loose outline with room for surprise. She shares the invaluable role of beta readers and editors, the sting and payoff of honest feedback, and the craft choices that turn a playful caper into a page-turner. For readers and writers alike, you’ll hear practical strategies for building momentum, shaping character arcs, and sustaining voice across a series without losing spontaneity.

Food weaves through the book as a love language—Thai dinners, mango mocktails, and cookies that taste like freedom—inviting cross-cultural connection and presence in a screen-heavy world. We talk about friendship as fuel, women’s entrepreneurship as a throughline, and small, repeatable adventures that slow time and spark joy. Expect a smart heist rec for your TBR, a silky tofu smoothie you’ll actually make, and a sneak peek at an upcoming international caper that raises the stakes without losing the humor.

If you’re craving a fun, fast read with thoughtful themes—female friendship, cozy crime, culinary fiction, rom-com energy—this one’s for you. Grab The Sweetest Getaway on Amazon, snag the free first chapter at sashapreston.com/newsletter, and stick around for the bonus chapter info. Loved the conversation? Follow, rate, and share the show with a friend who’d join your dream caper crew.

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What if your favorite comfort foods quietly delivered a boost of veggies without the struggle at the table? We dive into Heidi Herman’s Hidden Vegetable Cookbook and share a hands-on review from a busy, family kitchen: what wowed us, what needed tweaks, and how the color-coded system of core prep techniques turns big ideas into simple steps. From roasting and pureeing to freezing and juicing, we break down how to stock your fridge with ready-to-use vegetable building blocks.

You’ll hear how spinach buns won over skeptical kids even after we overdid the greens, why beet-packed beef bourguignon became a stealth-nutrition favorite, and how a clever Salisbury steak flips the script by hiding spinach in the gravy instead of the meat. We also talk through a pumpkin pull-apart loaf adapted for a nut allergy and the cozy charm of butternut squash molasses cookies that bake up soft and cakey with a swipe of cream cheese icing. Along the way, we highlight the nutrition notes contributed by a registered dietitian and explain how those insights help you choose the right vegetable for the right job.

This is a slow-cooking, cozy-living kind of cookbook—perfect for Sundays, batch prep, and anyone who loves building flavor over time. If weeknights are hectic, we share practical ways to make it work: roast and puree on the weekend, freeze portions, and drop them into weeknight sauces, breads, and desserts without changing the taste. By the end, you’ll have a playbook of ideas to fold spinach into gravy, beets into stews, and squash into cookies, raising the nutrient floor of your meals while keeping every bite comforting and familiar.

If this review helps, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs veggie inspiration, and leave a quick rating so more home cooks can find us.

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The first chill hits, wood smoke threads the air, and suddenly the world feels a little stranger—in the best way. We lean into that feeling with a cozy, grown-up spooky season: five gripping reads, simple rituals, and small adventures that make October feel enchanted again without tipping into gore or overwhelm.

We start by reviving your senses with Bird Box by Josh Malerman, where Mallory’s blindfold turns every sound into suspense. Then we pivot to the plausible fear of Our House by Louise Candlish, a domestic thriller that unfolds through documents and an embedded podcast, raising goosebumps because it could happen on your street. Julie Clark’s The Ghostwriter brings psychological tension and family secrets into sharp focus as a daughter is hired to capture her estranged father’s fading memories—and the truth behind a long-ago tragedy. For bonus chills, we add Peter Swanson’s Her Every Fear, a smart apartment-swap mystery, and Neal Shusterman’s Scythe, a speculative page-turner that sparks big conversations across ages.

Books are only half the magic. We share one small dare for the week: choose a ritual that fits your life. Wander a moonlit corn maze, take a ghost tour through your town’s old streets, or keep it simple at home with a candle, a warm drink, and a spooky-but-cozy movie. Along the way, we highlight how local haunts, farms, and conservancies turn seasonal thrills into community support, so your night out (or night in) feels meaningful and memorable.

If you’re ready to trade busyness for wonder, press play and pick your path. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves October, and leave a quick review to help more listeners find their version of mystery this season.

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We move from a heavy week into simple, grounding rituals that help us slow down, reconnect, and rebuild trust at home. Cozy corners become tiny tools for calm, presence, and real conversation without leaning on consumerism.

• drawing a boundary around politics while naming shared values
• seasonal living as a path back to community
• cozy corners as signals for rest and presence
• simple, budget ways to build a nook
• using texture, light, and scent to cue calm
• inviting friends for small, meaningful talks
• shifting from screen time to face time
• weekly action to create your own fall nook

Create your own cozy fall nook this week: choose a spot, add one seasonal touch, and give yourself at least 10 minutes to sit there. Then invite a friend over for tea and talk

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We share five witch books that carry crisp air, warm light, and just enough shadow—from meadow-soft magic to woodland lineage, grim fairytales, rebel romance, and an Oxford mystery—then pair them with pumpkin spice latte bread. Comfort meets courage, sweetness meets risk, and reading becomes a fall ritual.

• five witch-centered reads for autumn mood
• The Honey Witch as cozy, heart-forward magic
• Wayward across three timelines and a woodland cottage
• Sorceress Comes to Call as dark Goose Girl retelling
• Crimson Moth duology mixing romance and revolt
• A Discovery of Witches for fog, stacks, and slow-burn chemistry
• candid thoughts on sequels and where to stop
• pumpkin spice latte bread with cream cheese–coffee glaze
• reading rituals with tea, candles, and blankets

We will put a link for our blog post where we’ll post the recipe that we used

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We lean into fall as a season of gathering—stories that comfort, meals that bring us together, gentle health that grounds us, and home rituals that create warmth without overspending. From three cozy book picks to a 15-minute chicken gnocchi, we share simple ways to savor the shift indoors and out.

• why gathering is the frame for fall
• three autumn book picks and why they resonate
• starting a low-commitment, cozy book chat
• a fast chicken and gnocchi skillet with spinach
• roasted vegetables as a versatile base
• warming herbs and spices for depth and comfort
• grounding health habits without optimization pressure
• unhurried walks, sunlight, and seasonal produce
• creating cozy nooks with what you already have
• low-cost decor from nature and well-loved books
• small rituals that make home feel intentional

Feel free to join us in our Novel and Nosh community. The link will be in the description box

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We share a clear guide to the books and cookbooks we’ll recommend by mapping our four and five‑star reads into eight lanes. From atmospheric escapes to food‑lit comfort, we explain what draws us and how it shapes future episodes.

• atmospheric escapes with rich sense of place
• soft fantasy and gentle, healing magic
• bookish and culinary comforts that anchor change
• emotional fiction about family, identity, and repair
• feminine power threaded through historical mystery
• character‑driven psychological tension and unease
• romance as a slow, supporting strand
• coming‑of‑age and transformational journeys

Try it out for yourself—or if you loved books on our love lists, you’ll enjoy listening here. Make sure to go grab a good book and some good food and enjoy

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We share the origin of Novel & Nosh, from a college book club and a symbolic crème brûlée to a podcast built on pairing stories with food. We invite you to join a growing community across platforms and help shape where this passion goes next.

• the Lovely Bones scene inspiring a dessert metaphor
• early book club experiments pairing reads with dishes
• growing up in a bookstore and loving Food Network
• comfort reads like Bread Alone and Little Beach Street Bakery
• Instagram era of flat lays and themed cocktails
• learning through imperfect photography and persistence
• discovering podcasting through a fitness business
• choosing to lean in at fifty and build community
• plans for menus, simple pairings, and reader input
• where to connect: website, socials, and a Facebook group

Subscribe to follow along. Find me on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and visit novelinosh.com. Join the Facebook group so we can talk about books, maybe start a book club—anything. I’d love to find a community who also loves this.

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