Borders cooking guru Batch Lady serving up second helping for book-lovers

A Borders mum-turned-online sensation was due to tour the US to promote her first cookery book this summer, but the continuing coronavirus lockdown has forced her to abandon that plan, so instead she’s come up with a speedy follow-up.
Suzanne Mulholland, also known as, The Batch Lady.Suzanne Mulholland, also known as, The Batch Lady.
Suzanne Mulholland, also known as, The Batch Lady.

The Batch Lady, otherwise known as Suzanne Mulholland, was signed up by US-based publisher HarperCollins last year after building up a six-figure following for her video blog sharing time-saving cookery tips, and it put out her first book earlier this year.

Having found fame and an online global following of more than 120,000 for videos produced in her Ettrick Valley farmhouse’s kitchen, Suzanne, 44, was due to jet off across the Atlantic to promote her style of batch-cooking and meal-planning.

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The coronavirus pandemic and subsequent UK lockdown has put paid to that plan, however, so instead she’ll be following up her first book, called The Batch Lady and subtitled ‘shop once, cook once, eat well all week’, with a second helping of recipes.

“It’s a shame that I was meant to be in the US promoting the book,” she said.

“However, modern technology is great, and everything is still happening, just in a different way.

“I am still doing lots of book interviews in the US, but they are all recorded or done via Zoom.

“It’s good but it’s not the funnest way of doing it.”

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Released in March, her first 80-recipe book, showcasing recipes created and shared over the last two years, reached No 4 on the Sunday Times bestseller list.

That book took Suzanne about six months to write, with her publisher keen to see a mix of new and old recipes included.

Her second publication, though, a paperback planner, is more of a cooking companion, and it was completed in half that time.

“The planner was done really quickly,” Suzanne added.

“I have always had this idea in mind, and HarperCollins called me at the beginning of lockdown and we decided it could be the perfect time to do it seeing as shopping is going to be hard to do at a time when you can no longer browse and take your time in shops.

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“You need to know what you want to begin with when you go into the shop now to avoid getting put under pressure by someone two metres behind you.”

The planner also contains 16 new recipes and 10 older ones chosen from Suzanne’s website that are handy to have when out and about.

She added: “It’s a companion book to the first book really, something you can keep in your handbag and a perfect way to organise but, crucially, it will save you money as you won’t be doubling up on what’s already in the freezer while at the same time allowing you to his the shops knowing exactly what you need.

“It’s a little easy guide to keep nearby.

“I’ve also included handy recipes for the like of sauces in it and some great guides on how to cook the perfect, rice, couscous, gnocchi and pasta.

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“A lot of people still struggle with that, so this means you can easily check.”

Suzanne lives with husband Peter and children Jake, 13, and Zara, 11, on her family’s farm near Selkirk, having moved back to the Borders from Edinburgh 16 years ago.

The Batch Lady Facebook page boasts almost 70,000 followers, and 50,000 more enjoy free videos published on Suzanne’s website and, Instagram and Twitter platforms.

Her visit to the states will now take place later this year or early in 2021. However, Suzanne is still hoping to appear at UK book events being rescheduled for later in the year, including the Borders Book Festival at Melrose.

Her new meal planner is available on Thursday, July 23, via Amazon at a price of £9.99.

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