Weekend Cooking: Christmas at Hollybush Farm by Jo Thomas

 

Jemima Jones is a woman who is going places. She and her partner Matthew are heading back to her family farm in Wales and then they are off to taken on exciting new roles running a luxury hotel in Seattle.  Her dad has always encouraged Jem to follow her dreams, even though it takes her away from the farm. However, when Jem arrives home it is to find her dad very unwell, the farm looking worse for wear and her father on the cusp of making a deal to sell one of his best paddocks to a solar farm company. And it's not just the family farm that is looking a bit neglected. The nearby town is not what it used to be either.

While her dad has always encouraged her to follow her dreams and to make something of herself, Jem knows that she needs to stay at the farm and help her dad out while he recovers and maybe figure out what actually has been going on in her absence.  Matthew does not understand her decision making at all.

Soon she is out with the animals, fixing fences and so much more. When she looks around and sees the hard work that goes into farming with little financial reward, she begins to document her experiences on social media, quickly building up a presence online as the Social Shepherdess. 

Jem also has an unexpected house guest in the shape of Llew, a former star rugby player and now solar panel salesman. To say that things are frosty at the start is an understatement. 

Reconnecting with old friends who are similarly struggling to make ends meet and keep their businesses alive, Jem uses her growing social media fame to highlight the plight of others, most notably the local cafe which was so much a part of her childhood but now is barely staying open. When the worst happens just weeks before Christmas, Jem becomes part of a sit in to stop the cafe being set up into a bland, chain restaurant which serves microwavable food instead of the hearty Welsh food of the past.

As the town comes together, they come up with a multitude of ideas of how they can try to save their businesses and towns. Some are new ideas, and some are revivals of old traditions, but what they all do is bring the community together and Jem and her friends are at the heart of it!

Jem also has a decision to make. Does she want to continue in her corporate career or is her heart telling her that it is time to come home to the farm. And how do Llew and Matthew fit into her future. 

There are also some fun secondary characters throughout the book. I particularly like the feisty neighbour Myfanwy who has been feuding with Jem's dad for years, Evie the community nurse and Mae the single mum who work in the cafe. There are also some lovely secondary romances throughout!

I have read a number of Jo Thomas books now, including three Christmas books. They have always been a magic mix of good story and great food. It is very clear that understanding where our food comes from and supporting farmers are subjects that Thomas is passionate about

Even though I haven't really talked much about Christmas yet, this is a very Christmassy book. Food is also at the heart of this book, and there are several recipes for traditional Welsh foods that are mentioned in the book, such as Cawl which is a Welsh stew and Welsh Cakes which are scone like creations.

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews, Foodies Read hosted by Based on a True Story, British Isles Friday hosted at Joy's Book Blog and Comfy Cozy Christmas hosted hosted by Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.  

Rating 4/5

Weekly meals

Saturday - Pork Schnitzel, mash and gravy
Sunday -
Monday - Meatballs
Tuesday - Mexican Chicken and rice
Wednesday - Beef Stir Fry and rice
Thursday - Out for dinner
Friday - Away for the weekend

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Blog Tour: Golden Girls on the Run by Judy Leigh

 

Sadie and Bronagh have been friends for many years. They are widowed sister in laws, friends, and after a bake off competition in a their local pub ends in disaster they are now on the run from the law. Of course, they are doing it in style, having borrowed Bronagh's grandson's Ferrari. What started as an overnight adventure to Dublin ends up being a much longer adventure as the two fugitives cross over into Wales and our renegades end up making their way to Devon.

Whilst Sadie is mostly sensible, Bronagh is quite the character and soon she is telling everyone that she meets tall stories about who she is and which famous Irish people she is related to. Meanwhile, back at home, their extended families are worried about what the two octagenarians are getting up to and where they might be, although Ryan doesn't seem to be too worried about his car.

When the two ladies end up in Devon, they find themselves staying at an animal rescue farm which doubles as a bed and breakfast. It's fair to say that Tails and Hope farm isn't exactly thriving, especially in the lead up to Christmas. It is here that Sadie reveals a formerly unknown talent for event organisation and fundraising. It is all hands on deck.

Before too long, the whole Irish family (including a sulky girlfriend) makes the trek to the village to try and talk some sense into Sadie and Bronagh, but they too get involved in all the activities in town ranging from nativity plays to baking competitions and so much more. The Devon getaway gets longer and longer as time goes on. Could it be that there is a new life in Devon calling, or will the comfort and memories of home draw them back to Ireland eventually.

You can't really tell from the blurb, but this book is connected to The Vintage Village Bake Off which I read a couple of years ago. It was such a pleasure to revisit the Devon village and re-unite with reluctant lady magnet Robert and his new love Tressy, his sister Hattie and many of the villagers, some of whom still are trying to get their hands on Robert's baked goods (nudge, nudge). Baking is still an important part of this book, from the opening scenes to the end, and there is some delicious sounding food in it!

This book kicks off at a frantic pace, and I was a bit worried that it would keep that speed up all the way through, but it did calm down a bit once the two ladies got to Devon.  I am not sure that I have even half the energy that Bronagh and Sadie have. It is a very large cast of characters with all the Irish family and all the villagers plus a few newcomers to town. 

If you are looking for something that screams fun, features memorable characters with a big dash of Christmas spirit, then this may be the book for you!

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews, Foodies Read hosted by Based on a True Story and Comfy Cozy Christmas hosted hosted by Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.  Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy.

Rating 4/5

About the book

Golden Girls on the Run

Age is just a number. Trouble is a lifestyle.

When octogenarian sisters-in-law Sadie and Bronagh find themselves at the centre of a scandalous (and slightly explosive) bake-off fiasco, there’s only one thing to do – steal Sadie’s grandson’s gleaming red Ferrari and make a run for it.

Sadie is the practical one, all cardigans and contingency plans. Bronagh treats rules as loose suggestions – especially if mischief or wine is involved.

What begins as a quick getaway across Ireland soon spirals into a wild, cross-country adventure filled with fake identities, unexpected friendships, and more than a few brushes with the law.

Sadie and Bronagh may be on the run, but what they find at the journey’s end might just be what they were missing all along…

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/GoldenGirlsRun

About the Author 

Judy Leigh is the bestselling author of Five French Hens , A Grand Old Time and The Age of Misadventure and the doyenne of the ‘it’s never too late’ genre of women’s fiction. She has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: @judyleighuk

Twitter: @JudyLeighWriter

Instagram: @judyrleigh

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/JudyLeighNews

Bookbub profile: @judyrleigh

Top Ten Tuesday: Books set in a snowy place

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Books Set in Snowy Places (If snow isn’t your thing, pick another kind of place and share books set there!)

Normally when there is a seasonal theme I swap it to represent the season here in Australia. However, this time I decided to go with the theme even though it is summer here.

The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan - I just finished listening to this. There is a lot of snow in this book to the point that the characters get snowed in for some of the book!

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson - This isn't a common Australian setting as it is set in the Alps in winter, and there is a lot of snow. (my review)

Meet Me Under the Northern Lights by Mandy Baggot - This one sees our main character heading off on a last minute trip to Iceland (my review)

Last Stop on the Winter Wonderland Express by Rebecca Raisin - This luxury festive train travels across Northern Europe and ending up in Lapland

Small Things Like These by Claire Foster - Now, I didn't read this book all that long ago, and I am relatively sure that there was snow in the book, but I am prepared to be wrong about that!

Escape to the Northern Lights by Carrie Walker - our main character thinks she is going to a luxury spa weekend but really it is a winter back to nature, vegan wellness retreat (my review)

A Winter Wedding Adventure by Leonie Mack - This is the second book in the Adventure Wedding series, set in the Italian Alps, and Mother Nature plays a bit part in the story! (my review)

One Snowy Day by Shari Low - I mean it even tells you about the weather in the title! (my review)

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - This one is set in winter in Norway! (my review)

Beartown by Fredrik Backman - It's ice hockey season in Sweden. Of course there's snow! (my review)

This week...

Big news this week!! I have launched the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge for 2026! If you love reading historical fiction, reading challenges and want to connect with other historical fiction lovers....join us! Here is the sign up post

2026 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

 I'm reading

Given the above I probably should be reading some historical fiction but it feels like I am reading everything but that genre at the moment!

I finished reading Menu of Happiness by Hisashi Kashiwai, which is the third book in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series. As usual I enjoyed the stories in this book, and I will read the next book when it comes out in English. 

I also finished listening to The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan. This was connected to a short story she put out last year called The Christmas Book Hunt. This time, Mirren and Theo head to the Scottish Highlands to help a cash poor laird search his book rich castle for a book following a series of clues left for him by his grandfather. It was a fun story, but the audio wasn't fantastic. There were lots of weird gaps so I had to listen to it sped up otherwise it annoyed me!

From here it is all the books I started!

I am supposed to be buddy reading Flashlight by Helen Choi. I have read the first chapter, which was very interesting, but I hadn't gotten to it yet! Will make more in roads this week. 

Last year I read A Christmas Carol and The Chimes by Charles Dickens and posted about it here. I decided that I was going to read Dickens' other Christmas stories and so this week I started reading The Cricket and the Hearth. I must confess that I was a bit perplexed by the first part of the book which was all about the cricket, but the story is moving along now!

I also started reading Golden Girls on the Run by Judy Leigh. I need to finish this one first as I am on a blog tour for the book this week! 

I normally try to listen to Hogfather by Terry Pratchett every Christmas and I will still try to but I thought I better start Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil first. This is the current Cook the Books selection. I would prefer to be reading it, but this book isn't available in any of the libraries in my state, and the ebook was completely unreasonable priced so I have used one of my Audible credits to get it. I wasn't sure how it work as an audiobook but so far it is good. 

I'm watching


I am starting to get my Christmas on, mostly through watching things on TV, but that's a start. This week I watched A Merry Little Ex-mas, which stars Oliver Hudson and Alicia Silverstone as a newly, amicably divorced couple who are trying to look like what Christmas looks like for this first year as a separated family. It was a fun watch. 

I did also watch The Chocolate Queen - a Very Chocolatey Christmas. The Chocolate Queen is Australian pastry chef queen Kirsten Tibballs, and she shared a number of relatively simple recipes, along with a couple of guest chefs. I might watch it again to see if I can get motivated to make some of what she shared. Maybe.

We have watched quite a bit of the cricket this week, which is very out of character for us! It's not something we have really done together since we met, but apparently this year we are interested! Australia is playing England, in a test series called The Ashes which has been happening every couple of years since 1882. It helps that Australia is performing pretty well!

On Sunday I went and watched Hamnet which is showing here as part of the British Film Festival. This is the movie adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's book of the same name. It isn't a happy movie, but it was definitely good, and very moving. Definitely worth seeing if you enjoyed the book!

Life

Speaking of getting our Christmas on, we did take a quick trip into the city to check out the Myer windows. Every year they have a specially themed Christmas story. This year it was all Lego and it was a lot of fun. I did try to convince Robert to go and do some other Christmassy stuff in the city but it was the end of a long day, so that will have to be on another day!

We had our book club Christmas lunch yesterday and we did a book gifting! We all ikced a number and then we got to unwrap the corresponding book. I ended up with a book I had already read but someone else had a book they already owned so we did a sneaky swap. The book I bought home with me was Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz. It was a lovely lunch and I got to have my first mince pie and christmas pudding of the season as well as a delicious burrata and tomato salad and some roast turkey!

Finally, a quick shout out to anyone who is visiting as part of Comfy, Cozy Christmas, hosted by Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs. I look forward to seeing what Christmassy adventures other people are having! I should warn you though, I am in Australia and our Christmas is less comfy and cozy than hot and sweaty, weather depending! Melbourne does tend to have variable weather so it could be 15C/59F or 38C/100F, or anywhere in between!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Christmas Books That Remind Me of Songs
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2026 Sign Up
Daughters of Batavia by Stefanie Koens
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2025 Wrap Up Posts

In My Kitchen: November
Six Degrees of Separation: Seascraper to The Four Dutchmen




I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings

Six Degrees of Separation: Seascraper to The Four Dutchmen

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best. The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links. I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz and A Good Book and a Cup of Tea hosted at Boondock Ramblings.

This month the starting point is a novella called Seascraper by Benjamin Wood, which was fitting given that there was an event called Novellas in November. 

Keeping with short stories/novellas and the word wood, I am choosing The Yellow Wood by Minnie Darke.  This was an Audible original short story that I listened to last year. 

I am focussing on the word yellow for my next selection and choosing Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan, which was a short story collection. I really enjoyed Margo Lanagan's writing but she disappeared of the publishing scene years ago now, which is a real shame.

A full length novel from the same author is Sea Hearts. I did think about going down the route of books which have different titles in different markets as this one was called Brides of Rollrock Island elsewhere. 

However, I couldn't resist sticking with the sea connection so I have chosen Never Want to Sea You Again by Leonie Mack. This short story was a fun read from earlier this year. One thing about this story is that you can choose your own spice level, so if you like closed door action you can choose one version and if you like it spicy you can read the open door version 

If I think of the sea, the one thing we know is that there are plenty of fish in the sea, and so I have chosen The Fish Girl by Mirandi Riwoe. (my review)

The Fish Girl was inspired by a character from a short story called The Four Dutchmen by W Somerset Maughan. In Vaughan's story, the character is a nameless "Malay trollop", whereas in The Fish Girl she is given a name and a whole backstory. 

Next month is a wildcard to begin the year so we need to start with the book you finished this month’s chain with. That will be interesting given I haven't actually read The Four Dutchmen. I actually found this month a bit challenging so hopefully next month's will be a bit easier!

See everyone next year!

In My Kitchen: November

Welcome to the first Saturday of the month where I share everything I have made over the previous month. When I say everything, I mean not much. I am struggling with a bit of motivation to make things and hubby seems happy to just have the same old, same old, so I haven't been making much and when I do make something it is an old favourite. 

The first thing I made this month was Banana Bread which is always a winner. I like banana bread with either choc chips or with cream cheese frosting, but Robert just likes plain banana cake which he then has with butter. Now I really want cream cheese frosting on something!

I did try one new baking recipe this month. About 6 weeks ago or so I shared a quote about making scones from a book. In the comments CLM from  Staircase Wit shared a recipe that her family uses for choc chip scones. Rather than being the traditional round scones, these ones were made in wedges with quite a different method. They were good but I have now been asked to make normal scones with jam and cream. I think that is more about the cream rather than the scones because my husband is a cream fiend.

We spent the first couple of weeks in the month slowly making through the bag of chocolates that we bought in duty free in Colombo. We bought a bag as we were going through duty free in Colombo and we really enjoyed them. We wanted to buy another bag in  Male but they were charging $41USD which is crazy expensive.  We ended up buying them again as we transitted through Colombo at a much more reasonable $17. It's still expensive but not extortionate.

Another thing I was excited to pick up in duty free was this bag of treats. We discovered them on our first trip to the together 7 years ago. I then came home and realised we hadn't eaten the last lot that we bought when we were last in the US. 

We did get some new glasses this month. They were the free ones that you get from Hungry Jacks with a meal. I don't know why but we really like these glasses and we have quite a lot of them with different patterns on. They are a great size and they feel like they are good quality.  I guess we are just suckers for a freebie.

So there wasn't a lot of baking, but what there was is a lot of foodie experiences. The weekend we got home from our holidays it was our 6th wedding anniversary. I wasn't a hundred percent sure of how tired we would be after the holiday so we didn't plan anything that weekend so we didn't go out to celebrate until the week after.

Our anniversary dinner was at something called Le Petit Chef and Friends. Basically it is an animation than uses your table cloth and plate as a screen and tells a story about each course that you are going to eat. It was a lot of fun and the food was surprisingly good as well. The steak was one of the best pieces of steak I have eaten in the last few years and the dessert was amazing, served in a rush of dry ice. I forgot to take a picture of the dessert. Apparently there are at least 6 different versions of this so you could go again and have a different experience. There are at least two other types of this kind of show, so maybe we will do another one eventually

Last week I posted about our three eating on trains experiences recently, two of which occurred in November. One was at a burger joint that is in a repurposed commuter train carriage which is on top of a multi story building, and the other was a fancy meal on Q Train - a moving restaurant that serves good quality regional produced. 

Finally, last weekend we went to do an afternoon tea at a place called Oxi Tea Rooms. We have been before, but the menu changes every six month and this was a completely different experience. I will post more about this in a couple of weeks, but hopefully this photo shows just how amazing the food looked!  We did also score a couple of spoons that one of the courses was served on. This is because it was the second last day of the menu that we had and so presumably they didn't need them anymore!

52 Recipes Challenge

Here are the new recipes we tried this month.

Jollof Chicken and Rice - I made this for Cook the Books

Choc Chip Scones

Weekend Cooking posts from the last month

What We Ate on Holiday's: Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Joanna Lumley's Spice Trail Adventure

Cook the Books: Maame by Jessica George

Eating on Trains

Weekly meals

Saturday - 
Sunday - Pork chops, mash and cider gravy
Monday - Pressure Cooker Spaghetti Bolognaise
Tuesday - Chicken Parma, Chips 
Wednesday - Spanish Tuna Pasta Bake
Thursday - Out for dinner
Friday - Steak and salad

I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2025: Wrap up posts

And just like that, we are almost at the end of the 2025 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

Whilst there is still another couple of weeks to add your December links (the linky post for December is here), now there is an opportunity for you to add your wrap up post links if you have done one. You don't have to, although it is always interesting to see what people have read throughout the challenge.


I expect that I might read at least one more historical fiction book, but in the meantime, I thought I would share my reads for the year. I am pretty happy with the fact that I more than 50 hist fic novels...so far. 

Please bear in mind that I am a bad book blogger and I am a bit behind on my reviews from the last 6 weeks or so. I am aiming to get caught up by the end of the year as one of my goals was to review all the historical fiction I read. Here, though, are the historical fiction books I have read this year so far, including links where there is a review. The ones that have reviews are in bold.

There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak

The Storytellers Daughter by Victoria Scott

The House of Echoes by Alexandra Walsh

The Secrets of the Rose by Nicola Cornick

The Paris Dancer by Nicola Rayner

The Woven Lie by Liz Harris

The House of Light and Shadows by Lauren Westwood

A Santorini Secret by Rose Alexander

The Jam Maker by Mary-Lou Stephens

The Shadow on the Bridge by Clare Marchant

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

The Girl from Sicily by Siobhan Daiko

Sunbirds by Mirandi Riwoe

White Mulberry by Rosa Kwon Easton

The King's Messenger by Susanna Kearsley

The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin

Under a Riviera Moon by Helen McGinn

Where the Birds Call Her Name by Claire van Ryn

Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt by Lucinda Riley

The House of Lost Whispers by Jenni Keer

Away with the Fairies by Kerry Greenwood

The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson

The House at the River's Edge by Rachel Burton

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club

The Madamoiselle Alliance by Natasha Lester

The Women by Kristin Hannah

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

Half Truth by Nadia Mahjouri

The Girl from Normandy by Rachel Sweasey

The Butterfly Women by Madeleine Cleary

The Lost Story of Sofia Costella by Siobhan Curham

The Secrets of the Huon Wren by Claire van Ryn

A Bakery in Paris by Aimee K Runyan

The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl

The Cryptic Clue by Amanda Hampson

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

The Deadly Dispute by Amanda Hampson

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

One Hundred Years of Betty by Debra Oswald

Glorious Exploits by Ferdi Lennon

The Girl from the War Room by Catherine Law

The Florence Sisters by Tessa Harris

The Whisky Widow by Karen Brooks

The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas

The Lost Garden by Angela Petch

Daughter of Genoa by Kat Deveraux

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Daughters of Batavia by Stefanie Koens

The Tea Planters Wife by Dinah Jeffries

Dear Mrs Bird by A J Pearce

Foster by Claire Keegan

There's some really good reads on this list! I gave 5 of them 5 stars. They were The Jam Maker, The Winter Sea, The Women, The Summer Before the War and The Whisky Widow.

I am already looking forward to next year's historical fiction reads!

Feel free to share your wrap up post below!