Q. What can’t you start your day without?
A. First a cup of tea, sometimes this is uber healthy with sliced ginger and fresh lemon, sometimes a good old-fashioned cup of tea. My coffee follows at 9.30ish when I am really gasping for it.
Q. Breakfast is?
A. Sourdough toast and home-made marmalade, peanut butter or marmite. Or home-made muesli or porridge. Occasionally an egg or some fast guacamole. At weekends we may have the odd pancake with maple syrup!
Q. What beauty product can you not live without?
A. Oskia’ skin oil is dreamy to put on at night – I always wake up with really soft skin. But the biggest beauty product is drinking masses of water (and extra virgin olive oil with everything!).
Q. What gets you going? (exercise/ wellbeing routine)
A. Cycle to work. With three children and quite a busy career I no longer have much time for the yoga and swimming I used to do to relax, so now I rely on cycling to keep my body moving and my head feeling straight. If I don’t do any exercise I feel awful pretty quickly. For me it is key to feeling well, happy and alive.
Q, Where you are most inspired?
A. Mexico is the most colourful, warm and wonderful country, full of the most delicious, mostly incredibly healthy food and inspirational arts – I always come away from a trip there feeling energised and positive about life.
Q.What cause are you currently championing?
A. We are hosting our annual Day of the Dead festival on 2nd, 3rd and 4th November and all our profits are going to a Mexican Earthquake Relief fund. On top of that I am a Women for Women ambassador which trains women in war-torn countries, helping them to become entrepreneurs which helps entire communities climb out of poverty. I have been running around the country promoting my new book Home Cook too – a call to arms to get us cooking simple, delicious food – it is a kind of modern day Mrs. Beeton – showing people how to feed themselves well without spending a fortune or hours chained to the kitchen stove.
Q. Where is your happy place?
A. At home with my family is bliss. I cannot get enough of it.
Q.How do you relax and switch off?
A. By cooking! Yes, really. And dancing, and reading, and movies and having dinner with friends, and travel and tennis and walking and and and….
Q. Book or Boxset – what are you reading/watching?
A. I have just finished ‘How I live now’ by Meg Roscoff which was the most moving book I have read in a longtime. We are on series 3 of Boardwalk Empire – I do love that Kelly McDonald.
Q. Your bedtime routine?
A. I always go to bed too late – but I take up my Sleepytime tea which I have a mild addiction too – brush teeth, wash face, moisturise and then try to avoid my phone so that I can actually read something. I always go to sleep listening to radio 4.
Visit www.thomasinamiers.com for books, recipes and more.
