The Bookshop Bowral presents lunch with Leigh Sales and Gwen Blake

13 November 2026 at 1pm

Centennial Vineyards Restaurant

Let’s kick off the holiday season!

Leigh Sales and Gwen Blake are on a mission to ease the mental load of cooking. In The Holiday Kitchen, they share mouth-watering recipes to take on holidays and enjoy at home.

You’re invited to share lunch and a chat with mates who’ll help make cooking for loved ones feel like a joy, not a job. Radiating common sense and warmth, Gwen and Leigh are the friends we all need – they’ve got you sorted!

Tickets include drink on arrival, lunch, author talk and book-signing.

About The Holiday Kitchen

Mouth-watering recipes that ease the mental load of cooking on holidays and at home.

Packed with the hard-won wisdom of decades spent cooking for family and friends, two of Australia’s best-organised women share their most delicious recipes with tips on how to cut corners, minimise work and maximise taste and fun while on holidays. The sensible, practical and unfussy philosophy of Leigh Sales and Gwen Blake will look after your wellbeing and protect your downtime at home or on vacation, with dozens of answers to the perennial question, ‘What’s for dinner?’

From ‘double down’ recipes that create two separate meals, to ‘half-baked’ dishes that get as much prep as possible done before leaving home, to ‘fridge clear-outs’ that make the best of what you have on hand, Gwen and Leigh do all the thinking and organising for you. Coming up with ideas for economical meals and how to stretch them further is one thing you can tick off your never-ending to-do list.

About the authors

Leigh Sales AM is one of Australia’s most recognised and respected journalists. She is also the author of 5 books, including the national bestseller Any Ordinary Day, and co-host of the wildly popular podcast Chat 10 Looks 3, with her friend Annabel Crabb. Leigh presents Australian Story and The Assembly for ABC TV and formerly presented 7.30. She is a Walkley award winner and has been a foreign correspondent based in Washington DC.

Gwen Blake is the Founder and Director of Boxer & Co, an award-winning branding and packaging design agency based in Sydney. She also produces merchandise for Chat 10 Looks 3, the wildly popular podcast hosted by Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb.

About the event

The Bookshop Bowral presents lunch with Leigh Sales and Gwen Blake is a special afternoon at Centennial Vineyards Restaurant.

Enjoy a drink on arrival and lunch, and settle in to hear the author talk. Take part in the audience Q&A, meet the authors and have your book signed.

Doors open at 1pm
You don’t need to hunt for your ticket… your name will be on our list at the door.
This is an all-ages event.
If you can't come but you'd like the author to sign a book for you, please let us know – if you like, we’ll even ask for a dedication to you or a friend.

The Bookshop Bowral presents lunch with Leigh Sales & Gwen Blake

Choose your tickets

General Admission ticket

Book with Ticket (receive 10% off the RRP of Leigh and Gwen's new book "The Holiday Kitchen" ticket