What Can I Bring? Sophie Hansen Solves a Perennial Problem

plus, her favorite things, including an indispensable and inexpensive kitchen tool, and a romantic getaway!

Hello and happy Friday! This week, we’re joined by Australian cookbook author, and joyful wearer of many other hats, Sophie Hansen. Her latest book, What Can I Bring? is filled with seasonally delicious answers to that perennial question.

In other news, I have yet to unpack following our recent trip, which, according to my patented version of Vacation Math™ means that real life has not resumed…and that my suitcase is open on my bedroom floor, with clothes and shoes spilling out of it.

How about you? Do you fastidiously unpack as soon as you get home or do you, ahem, ease into it, like I do?

Sophie Hansen is one of my heroines. Originally trained as a print journalist, she lives on a picturesque cattle farm in southern Australia with her family and has built a business empire that celebrates sharing local and seasonal bounty. Sophie’s weekly newsletter, 5 Things To Be Cheerful About, brightens my Mondays - her warmth is palpable, and I feel transported to the soothing quiet of her cozy farm kitchen. She also runs the Local is Lovely blog, a monthly podcast, a dreamy Instagram account, regular cooking classes and other events, and a Bed and Breakfast!

Each of Sophie’s cookbooks seeks to solve a problem and add more joy to everyday life. Her latest, What Can I Bring? is based on the idea that the easiest and best gatherings are when everyone pitches in. A Basket By The Door, a well-loved favorite of mine, is a seasonal collection of recipes to take to family and friends in need of love, nourishment, and cheering up. Also adorable: Around the Kitchen Table, a collaboration between Sophie and her mother, an artist, which is filled with simple recipes and art projects to spark creativity.

Here, Sophie shares her hosting advice and a few of her favorite things:

1. How to be a great host: Don’t ever feel awkward asking people to bring something to a gathering, but do give guidance - what kind of dish would be helpful? How many people will be there? And let them know what you are doing too, so their contribution can complement it!

2. Comfort food: For me it’s got to be a beautiful sponge cake! How delightful is it to be presented with a slice of soft sponge cake filled with fruit and cream? I don’t know of any more gentle, cheerful, and delicious treats!

3. Place: Our farm is about 1,500 acres and we currently have about 400 head of cattle on it. I love the space, the peace and quiet! I grew up in the city but have lived here on the farm for almost 18 years, and I am grateful every day for this beautiful valley I call home!

4. TV Show: I just finished watching One Day and loved it. The soundtrack is on repeat now too!

5. Book: I’ve just finished reading The Bee Sting by Paul Murray and highly, highly recommend it. It is funny and sad and quite the saga. 

6. Movie: I will always always re-watch About Time. It’s my favourite movie of all.

7. Playlist: This is the one that gets me out the door and walking, sometimes jogging, most mornings.

8. Clothing: I have a few dresses from local Orange designer Barney and Jacq and love that they are Australian-made, comfortable, cool, and I think, timeless.

9. Kitchen tool: My bench scraper! It’s a little plastic thing that cost just a few dollars, but I use it all the time! Ed. note: Sophie doesn’t endorse any particular brand, but here’s a good option!

10. Vacation destination: I would love to go to Mexico, for the food, colour, people, culture! I am going to Piedmont, in Northern Italy, later this year to lead a small group with my friend’s new business Pink Pelican Tours (I used to live there and can’t wait to reconnect with this beautiful part of the world). But my favourite place to go with my husband, our happy place, has to be Queenstown in New Zealand (in Autumn). We generally stay at the Novotel because it’s very central and comfortable and all about the location! But my all-time favourite thing to do there is to go and have a nice cold New Zealand Chardonnay and a bowl of chowder at Eichardt’s Bar!

Thank you for sharing your delicious and colorful world with us, Sophie!

Entertaining, amusing, thought-provoking miscellanea from the Interwebs: Thanks to

Ali Slagle

I am now craving meatballs // Obligatory Kate Middleton content: one of her lookalikes weighs in, and

Bess Kalb

posits four delicious theories based on familiar stories // RIP, Serge Raoul, founder of one of my favorite NYC restaurants (and site of an epically bad 2001 first date, which included accosting Robert De Niro) // “Coolcations” are the summer trend of 2024 // Visualizing all of the US Currency in circulation //

Anne Kadet

gives us another tragically hilarious Eric Adams Watch, in which he calls “New York City the Port-Au-Prince of America” and likens his ascension to the mayor’s office to “Jesus cleansing the temple.” // Longevity advice from a 101-year-old former CEO: prioritize communication in relationships, and “I eat a lot of cabbage and salad." // A Darwinian assertion updated: male mammals are not necessarily larger than females // Alfred Hitchcock defines happiness, “you can look forward, and the road is clear ahead, and now you’re going to create something…” //

❤️ Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you next week! xo Amelia

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