The Women Books & More’s Podcast

A Child’s Christmas in Wales

As dusk descends on Christmas Eve, my family gathers to hear a recording of Dylan Thomas reading, A Child’s Christmas in Wales. His baritone transports us—though time and across distance—to his childhood Christmases in Swansea, Wales.

It gives me great pleasure to share my story with you.

Thank you for listening and supporting my podcast.

I wish you an abundance of peace and joy in 2026.

You can see photos and read more of my story at Everett Potter’s Travel Report

https://www.everettpotter.com/2024/12/a-childs-christmas-in-wales/

More information about Swansea: visitswanseabay.com

More information about Dylan Thomas’ birthplace: dylanthomasbirthplace.com

More information about Laugharne: visitwales.com

To hear Dylan Thomas read: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFSs2IdDmuU

Traveling and travel writing with the legendary Don George

I am thrilled to talk with Don George. National Geographic calls him “a legendary travel writer and editor.” And he certainly is. He’s also the author of How to Be a Travel Writer and the founder of the annual (in August) Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference held in Corte Madera, California. It is a great conference for beginning travel writers to meet editors and for veteran travel writers to catch up with old friends.

Here are links for more information about topics we talked about in the podcast.

 

Geographic Expeditions trips lead by Don George:

Journey Through Ancient Japan (Kyoto and Shikoku): https://www.geoex.com/trips/japan-ancient-journey

Unexplored Japan: https://www.geoex.com/trips/japan-unexplored

Unexplored Greece: https://www.geoex.com/trips/unexplored-greece

 

Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference: https://www.bookpassage.com/travel

 

Lonely Planet's How to Be a Travel Writer: https://www.amazon.com/How-Travel-Writer-Lonely-Planet/dp/1786578662

 

The Way of Wanderlust: The Best Travel Writing of Don George!

 https://www.amazon.com/Way-Wanderlust-Travel-Writing-Travelers/dp/1609521056

 

Don George’s facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/don.george.travels/

 

For questions about travel, travel writing, Don George’s Paris Writing Workshops and anything else:don.george@sbcglobal.net

The festive season has begun. Ice and Snow, Carols and Gingerbread, Letters to Santa

It all happens at Gaylord Rockies Resort—now through January 2, 2026. The sugarplum dreams of childhood rolled into one.

Andrea Lawley, Public Relations Manager at the Gaylord Rockies Resort—joins us to talk about Christmas at Gaylord Rockies. Always magical. Always fun.

ICE! Christmas is an immersive experience…much anticipated every year. The resort’s signature 17,000-square-foot attraction carved from more than 2 million pounds of ice by 30 master artisans from Harbin, China. Hand-carved icy scenes from Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! complete with interactive slides, tunnels, and the iconic moment when the Grinch’s heart grows three sizes. The event also features a life-sized gingerbread cabin, Candy Cane Mountain snow tubing, the Gumdrop Gliders Ice-Puck Challenge, and the popular Mistletoe Village.

For more information: ChristmasatGaylordRockies.com

Discounts for AAA/CAA members, seniors, teachers, first responders, and Colorado residents. 

What is Snowflake 2025 and why do whiskey fans camp out overnight to snag a bottle?

Stranahan's Whiskey Distillery & Cocktail Bar is having a big party—Stranahan’s Snowflake Village Festival—December 5^th and December 6^th to celebrate the release of Snowflake 2025. The party is at the distillery in Denver. (200 S. Kalamath Street).

Hundreds of Strana-fans from across the country come to Denver for this event. They camp outside at the distillery to secure a bottle of the coveted Snowflake whiskey—released on Saturday morning and sells out in just hours. It may be cold outside but there are food trucks, bands and DJs, dancing, and whiskey tastings, of course.

If you are listening to this podcast after Saturday, December 6^th, this year’s party is over. You’ll want to mark your calendar for the first week of December 2026.

But you can always stop by Stranahan’s for a distillery tour, a cocktail in the cocktail bar and (for sure) sign up to be part of the volunteer bottling crew. This is such a cool thing. You work on the bottling line, have a nice lunch and get to take a bottle home as payment for your labors. Nice deal, no? Happens a few times a month. There is a waiting list.

We talk today with Justin Aden, Head Blender at Stranahan’s American Single Malt Whiskey who tells us how whiskey is made and how to drink it. Turns out there are no rules on how to drink it—with ice, with water, with soda, in a cocktail or just straight up.

For more information: stranahans.com

We chat with EllynAnne Geisel, the apron archaeologist. Yes. That is a thing.

The lowly apron is making a comeback.

The Guardian (British daily newspaper) notes: Emma Corrin wore a pink apron to a recent premiere, while Richard E Grant looked like a kinky fishmonger in a leather apron on the Miu Miu catwalk. Everyone on The Bear wears aprons. Younger generations have embraced the Cottagecore aesthetic—gardening, bee keeping, pie baking—and that usually involves wearing an apron.

Best-selling author of The Apron Book and ultimate apron collector, EllynAnne Geisel (she’s an apron archaeologist), chats with us about aprons. She’s collected more than 600 aprons and says that each one tells a story about the woman who wore it.

And…she’s created Tie One On Day, a national holiday for the day before Thanksgiving. https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-tie-one-on-day-day-before-thanksgiving

Connect with EllynAnne @ellynanne_apronluv or https://www.facebook.com/ellynanne/

I wrote a piece about EllynAnne for The Saturday Evening Post. Here is a link: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2023/11/aprons-the-ties-that-bind/

You can buy The Apron Book: Making, Wearing, and Sharing a Bit of Cloth and Comfort on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and many other online retailers and independent bookstores.

 

“Which came first…the chicken or the egg?” Jacques Pepin has the answer.

Beloved chef Jacques Pepin joins us. He’s 90 and still cooking up a storm. And he has a gorgeous new cookbook THE ART OF JACQUES PEPIN—full of his favorite recipes and his own artwork. He likes to paint chickens…and to cook chickens and eggs. When asked “Which came first…the chicken or the egg?” He doesn’t hesitate. “The egg, of course.”

We caught up with him in his kitchen. He was sitting in front of a wall of pots and pans—all different sizes and shapes. There must have been 30.

As a young man in the French Navy, Jacques was chef to three French presidents, including the formidable Charles de Gaulle. What did de Gaulle like to eat. Simple food…like chicken.

Toward the end of my chat with Jacques, I wished him a happy birthday. He thanked me and said “I wish I were 80 again.” 

You can catch up with him and follow his easy recipes (in and out of the kitchen in 15 minutes of less). Especially his “budget Tuesdays” posts.

On facebook. https://www.facebook.com/jacquespepinfoundation/

To see Pepin’s art:  https://jacquespepinart.com/

TO DIE FOR—A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes

Recipes written on tombstones. Who knew this was even a thing?

Most headstones list names and dates, in rare cases they include something much more personal: beloved family recipes permanently etched in stone.

Rosie Grant traveled the world to research and write a cookbook full of culinary epitaphs from across the globe—spritz cookies from Brooklyn, chicken casserole from Wisconsin, tea biscuits from Nova Scotia, fudge from Salt Lake City, meatloaf from Texas….

The list goes on—40 recipes--from soup (from Buffalo, New York) to nut rolls (from Israel).

On this journey, Rosie discovered that food is a love language and that memories of meals shared as a family are passed down through generations.

Just in time for the holiday season, TO DIE FOR invites us to gather round the table, celebrate the legacies that live on in family recipes and to ask ourselves the question at the heart of it all: If you could be remembered through just one dish, what would it be?

Check out Rosie’s popular @Ghostly.Archives on Instagram

Everett Potter talks about 100 Train Journeys of a Lifetime + Paris tips

I love trains and travel by train at every opportunity. The Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver, the Eurostar from London to Paris, the mighty Indian Pacific from Adelaide to Perth. So…I was thrilled to hear that Everett Potter had just written a big and comprehensive book about trains, 100 Train Journeys of a Lifetime: The World’s Ultimate Rides.

Let me tell you a little about Everett Potter. He writes for numerous A-list publications like The Wall Street Journal, Conde Nast Traveler, Forbes, National Geographic, and he hosts Everett Potter’s Travel Report, a highly acclaimed digital site. He is also the expert host on select National Geographic Expeditions Train Journeys.

I was pleased to hear Everett say that train travel (especially overnight trains) is becoming hugely popular, especially in Europe. Perhaps it’s the convenience of traveling from city center to city center. Perhaps it is the romance of historic journeys inspired by Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. Yes, there still is an Orient Express—two of them, in fact. Very luxe.

To buy the book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/789609/100-train-journeys-of-a-lifetime-by-everett-potter/

To read Everett Potter’s Travel Report: everettpotter.com

For info on National Geographic Expeditions Train Journeys:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/destinations/europe/train/swiss-italy-train/