Hello and welcome to AC & The Kitchen Bookshelf Cookbook Club
I’m Angela - it’s lovely to meet you. I’m an award-winning writer with 3 cookbooks (so far….). of my own on my kitchen bookshelf. I am passionate about all things food and food writing, cooking and cookbooks.
The AC half of this substack is a home for my writing and recipes. Right now that’s at a particularly exciting / intriguing / diverse stage as I have started working on my fourth book which in its style and format is going to be quite a departure for me. I will be sharing its formative thinking, interviews and research here. Expect issues, stories and features that explore how our food system got to the place it is now; and the people, places, food and spaces that might help us build a better one.
Then there’s The Kitchen Bookshelf Cookbook Club - the other half of this substack which is a digital reincarnation of the hugely popular and beloved Borough Market Cookbook Club that I ran at Borough Market for 7 years. I want to channel its same energy here for a club that’s for anyone who loves cooking and cookbooks. It is a place to discover new (and old) cookbooks, share what we think about cookbooks, and generally indulge in all the reasons why we love cookbooks: for the pleasure and insight (and, of course, the deliciousness) they can bring. Alongside reviews sand interviews. each month I pick a cookbook or theme to focus on together. We have digital meet-ups to discuss cookbooks and also in-person events.
Why subscribe?
All subscribers will be emailed my latest features or recipes. Sometimes those will be The Kitchen Bookshelf Cookbook Club features / event announcements; sometimes they will be extracts / recipes from Seasoning; some will be new recipes; and a lot of the time they will be features, interview or thoughts that relate to the building blocks of my next book.
Plus, all subscribers will also be sent a monthly newsletter update with all my latest news and work; updates on all aspects of The Kitchen Bookshelf Cookbook Club; and info on anything else I’ve been up to which is cookbook related and therefore likely to be of interest.
(Free subscribers are not able to be part of The Kitchen Bookshelf Cookbook Club, take part in events, or be part of the conversations yourself. For that you will need to become a paid subscriber….)
That’s all lovely - so why become a paid subscriber?
Paid subscribers are the ones who can get that warm glow of knowing you are giving something back towards the creation of the words and activities here.
But more tangibly (and in addition to all the above):
ONLY paid subscribers will be able to actually take part in The Kitchen Bookshelf Cookbook Club, read and comment on the cookbook features and reviews, join in with the community cookbook conversations, attend events and more. As a paid subscriber you become part of The Kitchen Bookshelf Cookbook Club and gain access to:
every month I choose a cookbook or theme for The Kitchen Bookshelf Cookbook Club community to cook from and share thoughts on - and I send round my thoughts on what I think makes it worth being on The Kitchen Bookshelf.
live The Kitchen Bookshelf digital, and in person, events. (Note that in person events will be costed additionally.)
interviews / events with cookbook authors and cookbook makers.
the latest cookbook releases that I think it’s worth keeping an eye out for.
comments area to share opinions on The Kitchen Bookshelf book choices.
community conversations where you can share wider opinions on cooking and cookbooks.
cookbook giveaways
Only paid subscribers have full access to the archive of posts, features and recipes across AC & The Kitchen Bookshelf Cookbook Club.
Remember you can at any time change in your settings how you read / receive the different sections of AC & The Kitchen Bookshelf. If you only want the Cookbook Club stuff then you can choose that, and if you want everything except that you can choose that too.
You can become a paid subscriber in 3 ways:
Monthly for £6 - which works out as £1.38 each week
Yearly for £54 - so that’s 12 months for the bargain price of 9…. and barely pennies over a pound each week
As a Founding Member which allows you to pay any amount you would like to above the yearly subscription, and in doing so support more closely the work that goes into building this community.
What we expect from the The Kitchen Bookshelf community
Members of this community are expected to treat this space and each other with respect. We don't always have to agree with each other - but whether we do or we don’t, let’s do it with gentleness. This is a place of open and honest opinions and that can be done respectfully. We reserve the right to remove anyone we consider to have behaved disrespectfully, aggressively or abusively here.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
