S6 E17: Potato Leek Soup with Tim & James from Thicc Radio Podcast

This week on Three Kitchens we welcome James and Tim, hosts of Thicc Radio, the award-winning podcast about gaining and feedism, and so much more! 

We chat about where the idea for their show originated, all the numerous topics they explore with their guests, and the importance of the community they've created and nurtured. Kink and fetish, gender, sexuality, health and healthcare, dating, culture, politics and body positivity -- Thicc Radio is offering up real talk, hosted by these lovely, genuine humans. We really enjoyed this conversation and think you will too!  

And of course, there's food talk. James shares his mom's potato leek soup recipe that transports him straight back to childhood whenever he makes it. It's easy and classic, and you can zhuzh it up to make it your own. Enjoy! 

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Transcript

Heather (00:12)
Welcome to another episode of Three Kitchens Podcast. I'm your host, Heather Dyer, here with my co-host, Erin Walker. Hello, Erin.

Erin W (00:20)
Hello Heather.

Heather (00:22)
And today we are really excited because we have guest hosts. What we like to call guest hosts is when we have other podcasters or creatives join us to talk about their work and their shows. And also we talk about some food.

So welcome to the show, the hosts of Thicc Radio, James and Tim. Hello, gentlemen.

James Hynson (00:45)
Hello!

Tim Scott (00:45)
Hi,

how are ya?

Heather (00:47)
Good. Thank you so much for joining us.

Tim Scott (00:49)
Thank you for having us.

James Hynson (00:50)
Of course!

We were looking forward to this one!

Heather (00:51)
Okay,

how many times have you been, not many how many times, but have you been podcast guests before?

James Hynson (00:58)
once or twice we did, But again, some, some time ago, it's, it's been a minute. It's fun to be in the, in the hot

Heather (01:00)
Okay.

Tim Scott (01:08)
Yeah, it's a little weird to

Erin W (01:09)
.

Tim Scott (01:09)
be on the

other side of this. I haven't done this too much, like been the guest, So, yeah, this is for me. This is kind of like I'm not used to being the guest.

Heather (01:17)
Well, we'll make it as painless as possible, but I totally get that.

let's start with your podcast. Tell us what is Thicc Radio all about?

Tim Scott (01:27)
thick radio is a podcast that ⁓ is dedicated to while it is dedicated to a niche community, the gainer and feedist community. It is also spreading a wider net as we continue to grow and evolve as a show. are including more themes of body positivity, fat in politics.

that in culture and art and you know, we're really beginning to build something of a community with this podcast. And it was all thanks to James's ingenuity.

James Hynson (01:57)
Well, thank you, honey. Yeah, we are about all things plus size and all things relating to the body experience. Realistically, know, everyone has an experience in their body where it doesn't really matter what shape or size you are. All of us feel the pressures and the influence of the world when it comes to living in a body. So really, it is a podcast for everyone. And we try our best to speak to as many different people as possible, which is really

Part of why we thought it would be a good idea to have you all on with us, a podcast that celebrates the joy of cooking and the freedom of expression within food, exploring a little bit of that cultural side as well, upskilling and, you know, having community with what that experience is like to try and make something happen very much in alignment with what we're trying to do. So yeah, we do what we do. We have a lot of fun doing it.

Heather (02:42)
That was a really nice description of our show too. Can we like make note of that, Erin? And maybe we have a new trailer with James.

Erin W (02:49)
Yeah, right.

Heather (02:49)
Okay, so you made mention of a couple of words in your description, Tim, that I think are key to your show and your lived experience that might be new to other people. They were new to us when James and I met

Tim Scott (02:59)
Mm.

Yeah.

Heather (03:04)
But then I started listening and I realized there's a whole world here that I was not aware of, which Erin and I both really love. We're just like endlessly curious about...

Tim Scott (03:08)
Yes.

Heather (03:15)
well, everything, but like other people's experience. There's communities of people with things in common that some of us on the outside have never even knew existed, which I love. It's so fascinating. Okay. So the two words that stuck out to me was feedism and gaining or gainer. So can you tell us what those terms are about?

Erin W (03:27)
Mm-hmm.

Tim Scott (03:27)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yes.

Well, it's pretty simple, but you know, so a gainer is a person who engages in weight gain for sexual, emotional, psychological, or even sometimes spiritual fulfillment. There's a lot of different reasons why people choose to gain weight. And while I would say that like a pretty large chunk of our community is involved in the sexual side of it, which is why it gets branded as a fetish.

James has been arguing for years now that it's actually much more of a sexuality, which I would love for you to expound on.

James Hynson (04:07)
Sure. mean, you know, for many of us who experience body related desires, you you grow up feeling very strange about yourself. I think that's something that a lot of people experience, right? You experience some kind of desire in yourself. What mainstream culture is showing you maybe doesn't reflect that. And so you go, ⁓ maybe I'm maybe I'm weird. Maybe there's something wrong here. And then you discover online spaces or you're able to go into a broader queer space. You find things that exist in real life and you go,

God, how wonderful. You know, it's not just me, I'm not alone in this. It's wonderful to have that sense of community and how important it is to feel fulfilled in your sense of self. Regardless of the particular label that people use, gainer, feedist it all relatively means the same thing as Tim was saying. It's about intention to gain weight. A lot of people prioritize fat, some people do muscle, a lot of people do both.

It's really just about transforming yourself into the body that is most correctly aligned with how you want to see yourself and how you want to exist in the world. On Tim's point about sexuality, you know, I was very new to it when I realized very quickly that the experience of having gained weight means that I live with this 24 seven, not just in the moments when I might be feeling a certain type of way. And so there comes that question of, ⁓ well, there must be so much more to this experience. There must be.

Everything else, in fact. Yes, it's a sexual thing for me. But what does it do for me emotionally, psychologically? What does it do for me spiritually? All of those moments. And when you take a more holistic approach to it, you realize that there is a lot of beauty and a lot of joy that can come from something like gaining. So it's something that means different things to different people. But ultimately, it represents freedom from a lot of the

trappings of culture as it comes to bodies and we're seeing a lot of that these days with the push around things like a centenarian weight loss, the return to the heroin chic and all of this that we're seeing in the world, pressures that are put on women to accrue a certain style of body even though they're pregnant or even though they're hormonal, all of these ridiculous things. It impacts each and every one of us which is why as we say the podcast, yes it's for our people, our community, but it really is for everyone because

Erin W (05:45)
you

James Hynson (06:10)
no matter what label or identity you use, we're really all of us in the muck trying to deal with what the world's putting on us.

Erin W (06:15)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. And I think, I think what's really, maybe it seems special, but maybe for your community it's not, but like that your male voices in this community, because like from a woman coming from this, there's been so much talk, especially growing up in the 90s, where there were so many pressures on female body shape and size. We don't often see ⁓

the male side or the male perspective from this. And so I think that you are opening up and talking about this in a very, from a very closed off group of people, you know, men aren't typically told to share your feelings, know, describe your emotions, describe your body, right? Like all that kind of stuff is very taboo within the male culture, right?

Tim Scott (07:00)
or talk about their bodies.

Heather (07:02)
Yeah.

Tim Scott (07:07)
It's considered, you know, there's yeah,

within the patriarchy is considered emasculating to criticize your own body or just say that like you think that you're too much of this or too much or not enough of that. Or now if you're really shrimpy, you're allowed to complain about that so long as you fix it. But you know, like, like men are, you know, men are like the, the definition of men in the patriarchy is that they have to be big in some

James Hynson (07:15)
Hmm.

Hmm

Heather (07:23)
Hmm.

Erin W (07:24)
Ha ha ha ha.

Mm.

James Hynson (07:30)
But certainly the correct ways, because if you think about the ways in which fat tends to aggregate on a body, one of the biggest critiques that are often loved at men is the ways in which it feminizes a man's frame. If he gains weight in the chest, he grows breasts. If he gains it in his waist, he grows hips and a big butt. And if his belly grows too big, it starts to hang down like an apron. And when the thighs get too big and there's the cellulite that appears or the bingo wings and all of these references that

Heather (07:31)
Hmm.

Erin W (07:42)
you

James Hynson (08:00)
basically describe the idea of a male body looking more feminine, or at the very least more androgynous. So there very much is for a lot of people who approach weight gain, a question of gender, a question of sexuality and an inherent sense of presentation. A lot of people go through different questioning aspects of who are they now that they approach a body that's more correct for them. It tends to reveal to oneself a lot of the ways in which culture and society just sort of point the finger and go,

Erin W (08:07)
Hmm?

James Hynson (08:28)
You're a boy and this is it. And if you don't feel enough of a question, you go, okay, and that's kind of it. But then you go through a transformative process like that and then you go, well, hang on a moment. There's actually so much here. And actually now I'm in a position to maybe question some things and really dig through and be like, well, who am I through this kind of a lens and a context? So there is, as I said before, a lot of opportunity for healing and for deeper understanding of the self through a process like that.

Erin W (08:40)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I love that people are having these discussions and talking about this because both Heather and I are moms of boys and there is a lot of terrible masculinity and terrible male discussions going on and I'm like, this is, but this is on the other side. This is, it's great to hear.

Heather (09:12)
so I was thinking about how you said some people focus on muscle. And that brings to mind the stereotype of like the Jimbrow, right, like this.

steroid pumping, like trying to get bigger, bigger, bigger. And you have this idea in your head, that they're doing it to impress other people. Like it's like an appearance thing that it's like, you know, they're trying to be attractive to whoever they're trying to attract, or they're trying to look good in front of the other gym guys, or, you know, there's kind of like, it looks as though it's an outward facing effort.

Erin W (09:29)
Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Heather (09:44)
they're not doing it for themselves, but maybe they are. And we didn't really think beyond that physical exterior. Maybe it makes them feel good.

Tim Scott (09:53)
And I think you've probably find a good mix like within like men who frequent gyms, they do it for different reasons. And some of them probably are doing it for very superficial. They want to attract a particular looking type of person. But, you know, and then I say there's just as many who are doing it for self.

James Hynson (10:08)
Well, you think about it, a lot of the content you'll see online about a gym type who will make content, it's very homoerotic. It's very indicative of like deep, deep connections with the people that they share that particular space in.

When people talk about, you know, the quote unquote, male loneliness epidemic, is bullshit, but anyways, it is because men don't have friends because patriarchy and masculinity tells you that you're not supposed to have deep, intimate connections with men.

These men for the first time probably in their entire lives since they were little little boys are developing good emotional friendships with the men that are around them and developing community. And so it no wonder that they feel so strongly about it because they've actually been without for a very long time. And so you see a lot of like, I don't know, when I look at a lot of this content, I see a lot of like childlike joy,

And it's healing and it's very beautiful to get to witness.

Heather (11:01)
Hmm, that's nice. And on the topic of friendship, how did the two of you meet? You're on different continents. James, you are in the UK by way of Australia, perhaps other places, I don't know. And Tim, you're in the US. So how did you come to meet and start up this podcast together?

Tim Scott (11:20)
So actually, before Thicc Radio, I was doing a podcast on my own. I I called it the gaining perspective it was like the pandemic was just about to start. but I had taken up an interest in podcasts and I knew that I was into this community and had been for like almost 20 years at that point.

So I thought, I'm wondering if there is a podcast that talks about my community. And I went looking and I only found an episode here or there about BBWs and maybe, you know, feeding and eating, but from a more negative point of view, more like a, like a let's examine the freak show kind of thing. So I said, screw it. I'll just do it myself then.

I did not realize what a daunting task it is to create a show and keep it running and like be on top of it and be organized. So then James had been over on Instagram and he had been talking to prominent members of the community on live streams that he called Big Boy Chats.

And someone said to him, you know, have you ever thought about turning this into something like a podcast? And, uh, and then I think that whoever suggested that to him pointed him in my direction because they knew that I was doing this thing. And so James, um, just slid into my DMS and he's like, you know, Hey, can we have a conversation about this? Um, first time we talked over zoom, he's like, have you thought about taking on a cohost? And I was like, yes, thank you, God. I don't know how I'm going to do this.

Heather (12:40)
You

Tim Scott (12:42)
So then the gaining perspective kind of died in order for Thicc Radio to rise out of its ashes.

James Hynson (12:48)
I mean, I was nervous messaging you the first time because I had not really tried to do anything like this before.

And I remember very distinctly someone had just posted a very simple comment. This is never going to change until someone in our community actually, ironically bellies up to the table and says, no, no, no, I'm going to host conversation. You will take it from us. The truth and reality about the situation. And I was just like, yeah, somebody needs to do that. Who's going to be that? And as someone who doesn't believe in Jesus,

the spirit of the universe clapped me across the head and then I went, I could do that. That sounds fine. So yeah, started doing stuff on Instagram, had a good time doing it and then heard about Tim's podcast and thought, ooh, I'm going to like slide up and in there. I'm going to weasel my way into his life and get into that podcast. And then, you know, as he said, basically threw himself at my feet and said, yes, please God, like, please take this from my hands. And I just went,

Erin W (13:39)
You

Heather (13:41)
Okay, ⁓ I'm curious about misconceptions. So you've said a few things, I think you've mentioned a few things along the way, but what would you say is like the key sort of misconceptions that you're trying to correct about your community or lifestyle or, you know, what do you run into?

James Hynson (13:57)
Mm.

Tim Scott (13:59)
I mean, there's a lot. There's a lot. mean, you know,

James Hynson (13:59)
I mean, girl... How much time have you got?

Tim Scott (14:04)
when people hear the word fetish, they immediately think, kinky dirty, know, unclean, like normal people don't do that They think we're perverts.

James Hynson (14:02)
How much time do we have? God,

Heather (14:04)
no.

James Hynson (14:10)
perverted in a way that's

Heather (14:13)
Mm.

James Hynson (14:13)
Again, like non-consent. I think that's, for me, that's one of the biggest pushbacks because, you know, part of what we do on the show as well is we watch all the documentaries, all the shows and episodes of shows where people decide that they wanted to make gaining in fetism, the pinata that they be with a stick. And, you know, we review it and we talk about all the ways in which it's...

poorly done and dishonest and really bad journalism, Obviously members of our community want to be shown with respect and dignity because we're not doing anything that connotes anything less. So they trust people and it's very disappointing when people produce something that isn't really any good.

Erin W (14:47)
Mm-hmm.

James Hynson (14:54)
So that's something that we do, that we try to push back against, because frankly, my dear, the idea of, it wouldn't matter how attractive I thought someone was, if I say, I'm into this, do you like this? And they say, no, I immediately don't care. I couldn't give a fuck.

So like the idea of I'm going to dedicate time of my day to try to like push you, force you, bullet, like absolutely ridiculous.

So the notion that this is something that everyone is trying to do, very weird and very narcissistic to believe that someone cares enough about you to want to force you to do something.

Tim Scott (15:28)
Something that I always like to push back on is, you know, people think that this particular community is weird and subversive for just wanting to eat good food and, you know, put on some weight in the process, Like if you think that what we're doing is weird, you it's like what we're doing is not that subversive.

Heather (15:44)
Yes.

James Hynson (15:46)
The people out here doing all sorts of things and like all I want, a little bit of cake. You know?

Tim Scott (15:51)
But you know what the major difference there

Heather (15:53)
Yes.

Tim Scott (15:53)
is like James was saying earlier when he said that, you know, we have to wear this on our bodies all the time. That's the thing is there are many people out there who can be into some really wild out there, BDSM kind of stuff, but you'd never know it because they can pack it all away in a suitcase or in a closet and no one has to know. They can go back to doing their nine to five. Whereas in our community, you will see the body change. So it's something that we can't just pack away. It's not something we can shove back in a closet.

James Hynson (16:19)
yeah, and then you get comments from people who are very caring because in their mind they look at you, there's no narrative of positive weight gain in this world. It is all bad news according to society. So I start to put on weight. My family wanna make comments, my friends wanna make comments. And that's again, something that people need to navigate where it's like, I don't feel like I can share with you that this is intentional or that this brings me a certain type of joy because you're my mom.

Erin W (16:23)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (16:27)
No. Yeah.

James Hynson (16:46)
whether in my life I don't feel comfortable telling you about those things because most people don't feel comfortable talking about that kind of stuff especially with friends and family but different people approach it in different ways but it's a reality that whatever extent to which you engage you've got to be prepared to front up and deal with it because it's gonna happen people have something to say

Erin W (17:06)
and they feel like they have they've been invited to make a comment or say something to you they feel like they have that that right or it's their job to to to make those comments or or try to pull you back in line right like

James Hynson (17:23)
Yeah,

it's a very moralistic thing that a lot of people don't talk about, right? Like within the body experience, the narratives that are approved by society that we put on people, know, bodies change every single one of us because we age. Every single one of us will age to the point where we become disabled. Eyesight will go hearing, mind, body access, all of this will change. That's natural. But if you turned around to Nana and said,

Erin W (17:37)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

James Hynson (17:48)
You're a bad person for being old, you know, go have surgery to fix your, you know, bad parts, you horrible person costing the healthcare. Like that would be insane. And yet as a society seems to be perfectly fine to remark on larger people who were just trying to get through the day, you know, things like that, that a lot of us don't even question, but is the lived experience for so many people.

Erin W (18:09)
I'm

James Hynson (18:15)
Plus size or not, because also the fat doesn't mean anything. Like if you close your eyes and you picture a quote unquote fat person, guaranteed every single person listening, both of you all, you're gonna picture someone completely, completely different. And all of us, like I said, experience the body fascism of your body is imperfect. You must constantly be working to improve your body, to better your body. Don't you wanna live longer for your kids? Don't you wanna do this? Don't you wanna? And it's like, just eat the fucking donuts.

Tim Scott (18:42)
Well, as queer men, as queer men, have the added pressure of what, you know, queer men are expected to look like. You know, like we're all expected to be supermodels.

James Hynson (18:42)
It's a donut.

Mm.

Absolutely.

Heather (18:51)
Yeah, yeah. And is, I mean, I imagine it sounds like you've heard it from well-meaning family and stuff, but is health a concern for you or for people in your community? Like, is it a balance between this thing that brings you joy and ensuring that your body is healthy at the same time? Like you say, just eat the donut, which I totally, I mean, I love donuts too. But is it like, is that something that is a concern?

Erin W (18:53)
rate.

James Hynson (19:14)
Hmm. Yeah. Hmm.

Tim Scott (19:19)
I think

it's I think it's kind of nuanced because it's different for everybody. Like have been people within the community who actually a part of the thrill is the idea of trashing their body, you know, like

But then there are many, many others that are more interested in like, no, I'm going to make this a very long-term thing. I still intend to live into my seventies and my eighties, my nineties. So they, they're a little bit smarter about the end. look at the journey as a lifelong thing.

James Hynson (19:44)
Health is hard because ultimately there is no hard line definition that works for everyone. Even between the two of yourselves, what is considered healthy or unhealthy might be vastly different based on your genetic history. You might live in different areas, which means your access to affordable, quote unquote healthy traditional food might be very, very different. All of these factors contribute to whether or not someone is able to maintain a healthier, quote unquote lifestyle. And that's before you even get into whether or not someone's gaining.

Erin W (19:52)
Mm-hmm.

James Hynson (20:13)
You know, the genetics plays a part, whether or not someone finds it easier or not to gain weight, whether or not eating certain foods will cause them to experience health detractions, whether or not that thing is going to manifest over time. But this happens to every single human.

Erin W (20:14)
Hmm.

James Hynson (20:27)
it's not to say that worrying about the health is not really worth it, but as Tim said, it is individualized. The responsibility of an individual should always be gainer or not. What do I need for health? What matters to me?

Erin W (20:32)
Mm-hmm.

James Hynson (20:39)
After all, people who are Olympians punish their bodies a lot of the time to become this epitome of physicality, and as a result, they often wear out faster than other bodies. But we would see an Olympian and someone being a prima ballerina.

Erin W (20:43)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

James Hynson (20:53)
or a world champion powerlifter as a fine thing to achieve. So why should this be any different?

Heather (20:59)
Yeah. Have you found it difficult at all to get used to talking about very personal things on a podcast that could be listened to by the entire world? I mean, we talk about cooking, there's nothing super personal, but it did take time, I feel like, for us to get comfortable

Erin W (21:17)
Yeah.

Tim Scott (21:18)
You know, it's funny, I have just been an open book for quite a while. And I think it's just because of a lot of the things that I went through in my personal life. know, I long before I met James and before I started my own podcast, I would just go live on Instagram, like late at night. And, you know, so I had to try to engage with my audience in some way. I'd be like, guys, ask me questions and anything's on the table.

if you ask, I'll tell you, but you've got to deal with me telling you like that's how I look at it. It's like, if you ask, I will tell you, but you know, I can't guarantee that you're going to enjoy what I have to say.

James Hynson (21:45)
Hmm.

I for me, I've not struggled because I think the way that my mind has always worked is that if it is true for me, then it is truth, period. I'm not going to lie about it because I have no desire to because I don't care about what you think of me. My truth is that this is what is correct for me.

But once again, if they ask the question, like that's on you babes. Like if you want to know, I'ma tell you, but maybe...

Erin W (22:15)
Are you sure this is

the question you want to ask?

James Hynson (22:17)
Is this the question

Erin W (22:19)
I feel like, like you talk about being very open about this and finding this community and having it for many years, but I'm assuming that growing up this was, it took time to find your people and find your community and find that space to be in and be like, okay.

Tim Scott (22:30)
Yeah. Yeah.

Erin W (22:35)
now I can accept this about myself and now I can start sharing, right? And that...

Tim Scott (22:40)
Yeah,

because the connectivity of it all didn't really happen until the Internet But as the like I discovered it in the late 90s when the Internet came to my

Erin W (22:45)
Gotcha.

Tim Scott (22:51)
You know,

James Hynson (22:52)
I was 12 when I first started searching things online. but it was something that had been in my mind for, since I was single digits of age, literally, like, cartoons of the nineties.

There was always like a random episode where for whatever reason the characters got fat And then they just had to like go in their normal adventure, whatever it was, as these like super round characters bouncing along. And those were obviously my favorite. And I was like, Why is this my favorite episode? I don't understand. You know, so I think this is another one of the reasons why I've always held to the idea that gaining for a lot of people transcends.

sex because for me it tapped into something in me from before a time that that could have ever have been possible. It was always something that I just, the moment I saw it, I knew that it was for me

So I think it is something that's quite innate to people but certainly like the advent of community and the online space is a life changer, my god. When we interview people and they talk about the experience of first coming in connection with community it's just it's life-changing. It really is.

Erin W (23:55)
Yeah.

And that must be, I mean, that's an important role that you now play within the community as generations and youth come up and start seeking out that validation, that connection. and now they can find that in you, right?

Tim Scott (24:11)
Yeah. And we've talked a lot in the past about mentorship and how we really have a need for it like so our hope is that we are providing that through, you know, through our podcasts and to kind of link it back to, know, what you asked about talking about things that are so personal. My hope was always that like my stories are stupid, but if my, if one of my stupid stories helps you avoid making the same mistake that I did, then I'm glad it helps.

Erin W (24:35)
Right.

Heather (24:36)
Yeah, well, we all need to find our people. I mean, we're social creatures and we all want to find some common ground with people who don't think we're the weirdo or the oddball or whatever. want people to go, really? Me too. I like that too.

Erin W (24:51)
you can throw

out those comments or those ideas and people just accept them and are like, yeah, and then you can talk about it without them having to go like, or make a face at you like, what?

Heather (24:59)
What? What are you talking about?

Tim Scott (25:02)
Which is why

it just feeds the soul when we get to congregate with each other. Because even though we're not all best friends, but having that in common and knowing that we can do that in a shared safe space is like, it's just so liberating.

Erin W (25:15)
Yeah, yeah.

Heather (25:16)
Mm-hmm.

Erin W (25:16)
So,

we're all about food on our podcast. And I'm curious Okay, so can I say that you are gainers? Is that the right... Okay. Okay. So then, as gainers, how does that... How does that change your relationship to food and to eating like...

Tim Scott (25:25)
Yes, yes, that would be correct.

James Hynson (25:25)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Erin W (25:34)
I'm assuming there's a calorie counting thing going on. There's a scale thing going on. There's a, right? Like all these things that kind of tie into food and diet. Like we kind of talked about health a bit, but like all those come into your, into your food life

James Hynson (25:42)
Mm-hmm.

Tim Scott (25:43)
Yeah. Yeah.

James Hynson (25:46)
Mm-hmm.

Tim Scott (25:49)
And again, I would say it's kind of nuanced because there are quite a few people who do do the daily calorie counting and they know how many that they want to hit in a day and they've already calculated how many they have to hit daily in order to reach a goal by a certain timeframe. ⁓ I'm not so much for myself. I just for me, it just means that when I want to eat something, I'm just I'm going to

Erin W (26:04)
Right.

Tim Scott (26:12)
I'm not going to shy away from that right and I don't feel embarrassed about maybe eating the entire pint of ice cream or You know if someone hasn't finished their dessert when we go out to eat I'm not embarrassed to say hey, I'll finish it,

James Hynson (26:20)
Mmm

Tim Scott (26:27)
I was going to say about the scale is there are quite a few people in our community who really love tracking that every chance that they get. They want to know how much they're going up, even if it's by ounces. Someone like myself finds the scale rather triggering because I will step on it and it will not give me the number I want. And then I will get depressed because I will feel like I've put in a lot of effort to try to move you and you're not moving. And this is making me feel like crap.

James Hynson (26:40)
Mm.

Mm-hmm

ways in

which it is very similar to a lot of people who try to lose weight, which is why we often say it's a part of all the same journey, whether you're going up or down, we all know the struggle of you want to achieve something that you're not achieving. So that's a pain. But when you do achieve it and you feel really good, that's us, you know, we're just going in the other direction, baby.

Erin W (27:09)
Right.

James Hynson (27:12)
But one of the biggest things I've noticed about my own food journey is like the freedom within it. Because I came from a family who we did not have a good relationship with food. Mum was not someone who enjoyed cooking. And in fact, I'm sure we'll talk about this later. The recipe of today is one of the few things that I know that she enjoyed that she passed on. But, you know, that was something I had to really learn about was a love of food. And what I've noticed is that over the years,

A joy in food is a freedom for everyone around you. I find that if I'm the larger person at a friend grouping and we're out to lunch and they go, oh, we don't need to look at the dessert. And I say, I'm a look at the dessert man, you bitch. I already know what I want to pick out. Thank you. And how quickly everybody else falls. I go, well, actually, now that you mentioned it, I was going to get the sticky date pudding, you know, and it's just, I'm not out here trying to convince you to do anything you don't want to do.

Erin W (27:42)
Mm.

Heather (27:55)
Thank

James Hynson (28:05)
but me living in my authenticity, because I'm gonna have extra, I'm gonna have seconds and dessert, suddenly a bitch goes, maybe I too shall have the food that I want to have. And it just means that other people get to experience that freedom as well.

There's language and emotion attached to food, the idea of a reward or a treat versus a cheat day and being irresponsible, having an affair on our diet, like really dangerous language that it's like, you know.

Erin W (28:23)
Mm.

James Hynson (28:33)
When I gain weight, it is not because I hate my skinny self and want to be the opposite. It's actually because I love myself.

So as I gain weight, I feel wonderful. feel more affirmed in my human identity, in my gender, in my sexuality, in my masculinity. It makes me want to live. It makes me want to be in this world more and more and more because I love myself. I choose to love myself and I choose to approach my body in the same methodology. Therefore, my weight gain message and methodology is never going to be bad because it is what is correct for me.

Same too with weight loss. So

many people choose to lose weight because they've been taught to hate their fat cells. And that is why they choose to lose weight and that is why they feel unhappy in the weight loss. That is why we see personality shifts with people who lose weight through that same methodology. There's that trope of meanness and unkindness that comes in some people who lose weight and anger. And we joke and we say, well, it's because they're hungry, they're not eating.

But it's because the truth kernel at the core of that is that they are training themselves to hate themselves and to pursue something through hate. It is a very different story when you pursue it with love. So I will say that on that point.

Erin W (29:40)
That's beautiful.

Heather (29:40)
Beautifully said.

So since we are a podcast about cooking, we always ask our guests to send us a recipe before the episode that we can try in our kitchens, and then we can talk about it and the listeners have a recipe to go and try if they so choose. And I think

They probably would choose to make this one. James provided the recipe. Can you please tell us what that recipe was and you chose it.

James Hynson (30:31)
So it's potato and leek soup. As I expressed, my mother growing up was not someone who really enjoyed cooking. She wasn't someone who I think in many ways exhibited a lot of classic maternal attributes. But this was one of them. And I have a very fond memory. I was born in Sydney originally and I have a very fond memory of one winter somewhere...

somewhere in the mid 90s. was very, young, young enough that I'm sitting in a high chair and the legs are dangling and like I'm short. So like my hands are kind of like across the table like that. I can't really, you know, you get in the spoon like that. Very, very little, very, very young. But I had this memory of like a big steaming bowl of this soup and like having a spoonful and like that sensation of it's cold outside, but like the warm food is like traveling down and then like warming my tummy and I'm feeling like all safe and cuddly.

So I've always had a very positive memory attached to the meal and when I first moved away from Australia it's something that I started making as one of the like remembrances of home something that makes me feel attached to family and country and all those things and obviously it's gone through changes over the years as my personal taste of shift but ⁓ yeah it's a it's a recipe that I love and I love finding a good excuse to whip it out and make a big

massive pot that will last me for an entire calendar week. Fabulous stuff.

Heather (31:50)
Mm-hmm. And it's also easy to make and you don't have to have any fancy equipment or skills in the kitchen. Like probably why your mom liked to make it if she wasn't really that into cooking, but she knew she could pull this one off, which is common to lots of people at home in their kitchen where they're like, I don't feel like cooking today, but I can make this because it's easy. It's relatively inexpensive in terms of ingredients. know, it's onions, leeks, garlic.

James Hynson (32:01)
yeah, absolutely.

Heather (32:15)
potatoes, vegetable broth, cream, and then nutmeg and salt and pepper. Like it's very simple. Yeah, and it just, think is a great example of how the simplest recipes can be the most comforting, you know.

James Hynson (32:22)
Very throw together.

Definitely.

Heather (32:33)
And it was,

I made it yesterday actually, kind of pushed it to the limit on our timing. And it was minus 20 something here. It was cold. And my kids had like a little, snow shoveling job they do in the neighborhood. they, shoved them out the door, go shovel, you got to go earn your money. And they came back and they were so cold and the soup was like the perfect thing. And it makes a big pot, like you said.

James Hynson (32:35)
yes, how to go.

Erin W (32:58)
Yeah, and it's the type of thing too, like when we've got these shorter days and we're not like, this is coming out post Christmas, you know, we've all been busting our butts to try and, you know, make the meals and feed the everyone and the cookies and the blah blah blah. Like the last place I kind of want to be is in the kitchen for three hours.

James Hynson (33:19)
Mmm.

Erin W (33:20)
again or whatever to make something but I want something that's gonna hug me and feel cozy and yummy and you know if I can jump into the kitchen whip this up and everyone is happy and contented with it it's a win right like and that's easy to do

James Hynson (33:35)
I love that.

Heather (33:36)
Yeah, it's a great recipe. would say like in terms of tips, if anybody needs them, carefully wash those leaks. Those things hang on to dirt like you wouldn't believe. But the nice thing is you're chopping them up, like put them in a bowl of water, let them soak for a while and get clean. And then you're going to puree the whole thing at the end. So you don't need any fancy knife skills careful chopping. You can just cut those onions, cut those leaks.

Erin W (33:38)
Mm.

James Hynson (33:45)
Mm.

they do.

Heather (34:01)
In the end, you're just going to whiz it all up anyway. So ⁓ super not fancy, but so good.

James Hynson (34:04)
Mm-hmm.

Well, I will say, because Tim, you... Can I share? So you were preparing this and you said, actually, James, can I make this with you on a call and you can kind of... And I was like, sure, we can absolutely do that. And I love that one of the first things you said was, so I don't actually have a blender and I will not be blending it. So this is gonna be different. And I was like, okay, great. is... ⁓

Tim Scott (34:12)
Yeah.

I don't have a hand

blender and I didn't want to pour hot soup into a traditional blender.

Heather (34:33)
Okay.

James Hynson (34:33)
that and that is okay but then you would ask me questions like well what do think this is gonna what do you think is gonna happen here and I was like you are quintessentially not making it the way that I make it so I I do not know this is we're gonna find out together what state it is in upon arrival

Erin W (34:33)
Mm-hmm.

Tim Scott (34:48)
Well as a tip,

you don't end up pureeing it at the end, if the potatoes are soft enough, I started mashing the potatoes in it and that thickened it up.

Heather (35:00)
That's also a good point too, if you don't want to use cream. I used lactose free cream because I have the lactose issues. But if for whatever reason you don't have it or you don't want to use it, there's always that trick of like blending part of the soup or say, matching those potatoes and putting it in, which kind of makes it feel creamy.

James Hynson (35:05)
Mmm.

Erin W (35:17)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (35:23)
So you don't even have to blend the whole soup if you didn't want to. I'm sure your soup was great, Tim.

James Hynson (35:23)
Mmm.

Tim Scott (35:27)
No, I mean, it tasted fantastic. was just a little, you know, was a little runny because it hadn't been pureed.

Heather (35:30)
Yeah.

And you can put hot soup into a blender. I mean, you might want to let it sit cool just a little, but you can.

Tim Scott (35:39)
Now it just always feels weird

to me to put hot soup in a blender. Like mentally I'm like no this is for ice cream and ice like this is not for hot soup.

Heather (35:42)
You

Erin W (35:47)
You ⁓

Heather (35:48)
Okay, well maybe next

time you'll try it because you can do that. It's okay. It's not breaking any rules or anything. Erin just ate it for breakfast just before you joined us on the call. She had a nice bowl of soup.

Tim Scott (35:51)
I will,

James Hynson (35:52)
Hmm. Aaron, what did you think of it?

Erin W (35:58)
Yeah, I had it for breakfast. Yeah,

James Hynson (35:59)
really?

Erin W (36:01)
it was, I mean, it's all those good warm feelings. Like, like when you say like you're sitting there and you take a, you take a bite and you take it in and it just warms you all the way through. Like, I don't know, that blended soup, it's different than, you know, any other soup that's got the chunks and stuff in it, right? Like maybe that's not the most attractive word to use for it, but you know, like when you've got those blended soups, there's something about it that just...

James Hynson (36:05)
Mm.

Hmm

Erin W (36:25)
It coats your tummy. It goes all the way down. And it just like I had it for breakfast this morning and I was like, God, this is so delightful. Like this is and I have a big serving. So I have a second container that I can warm up again. I'm like, mmm, breakfast again tomorrow? Like, yes, please.

James Hynson (36:39)
Yes!

I will say, like in terms of reheat, because it's a, as you say, it's a blended soup, it keeps really, really well. It's very easy over low heat within five to 10. It is nice and hot and bubbling and it is just wonderful. It really is. I have a tendency, I don't blend it until it's like perfectly smooth. I love a little sense of that. You know, it's almost like a porridge texture where it's like a little, it's a little thicker. And I think, you know, chunks, like it's a little...

There was little moments, little pops of things that you get in there as well, which is lovely. I knew someone who, yeah, I knew someone once who what they would do is they would make it and when they served it, they would actually get like their pepper grinder and set it to the widest settings and crack fresh pepper on top. But at the widest setting, you get like not whole peppercorns, obviously, but you get like actual like slight pieces of peppercorns so that like you would get it and you would bite it and it would get this like pop of pepper.

Tim Scott (37:14)
Yeah, more like a stew.

Erin W (37:16)
Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

James Hynson (37:39)
So like, there are all sorts of really, I think fun ways that you can kind of dress it up to be more your particular flavor and style. Like you said about the lactose free cream, I think there are plenty of people who wouldn't bother even with cream. just put milk in, you know, if it helps thin it out a little bit and does a little something to it. Or maybe even don't put in dairy at all. You can leave it just as at stage without the cream. It'll probably be just as lovely, probably a lot thicker. You might need to add more stock or something like that to play with the levels.

Erin W (37:54)
Mm-hmm.

James Hynson (38:08)
but I think it's a great base for so much as well.

Erin W (38:11)
I love a cream, a good cream soup, a good soup and sandwich. Like I'm always, if I'm out somewhere for, for a meal, I love getting the soup. If it's like a homemade soup and not just like a canned soup because whatever. I love, love a good soup. And so this, this checks all my...

Soupy Love Box.

Heather (38:33)
Soupy love boxes.

Tim Scott (38:35)
If I were going to bake

a bread bowl, I would definitely want to this soup in it.

Erin W (38:37)
you

Heather (38:38)
⁓

yeah, that's a great idea.

James Hynson (38:39)
yeah.

Mmm. Well, I mean, cause the perfect accompaniment with this, of course, is like an entire stick of French bread that you'd cut into huge chunks. And for all the cream and butter you've just used, you're going to slather more butter, both sides on that. And then you're going to use that to eat. Do you know what I mean? Like, this is what I mean when I say like, not even just the gaining side of it, but just like there's a sense of decadence and I'm going to have all the trimmings. And it's just like, yes, yes, yes. Give me the whole damn thing.

Heather (38:56)
Yeah.

James Hynson (39:08)
Amazing.

Heather (39:09)
Yeah. And you could like toss croutons on top or you could, I like bacon with, I mean anything, but with, potato and leek. It's like, if you have a quiche or you have a potato, like what was that potato pancake that we've made before, Erin, those Dutch pancakes, panna cokken. Yeah. And so if you did crumbly like, ⁓ bacon on top of your bowl, I wouldn't put it in the soup because it would

Erin W (39:24)
The Panna Cookins

James Hynson (39:28)
Mmm.

Heather (39:34)
might get soft, but on your bowl when you sit down to eat, that's really yummy. ⁓ Yeah, like you said, it's a great base and you can do kind of what you like with it.

James Hynson (39:35)
Mm. Mm.

Erin W (39:39)
in

James Hynson (39:43)
Mmm.

Erin W (39:44)
And the best part is you can make the batch, you can make a whole bunch. And my favorite thing is to toss it in mason jars. And if it's not going to get eaten that week, you pop it in the freezer and then you've got that thing when you're like, today is not the day. ⁓ wow, I got this soup. And then you just grab it out. You let it thaw. You come home and you've got like instant meal of warm, cozy, delicious. Right.

and it's going to satisfy.

James Hynson (40:11)
Absolutely. For some reason, Heather, when you were talking about bacon bits, my mind went to like a duck cell mushroom situation. like, you know, like frying off some mushrooms. Okay, because whenever I do this, this is what I do. If I get my mushrooms, I will always use a little spray oil. Mushrooms are in the bowl, washed, spray oil, toss them with some thyme. Very simple. Large skillet, cap side down, fry them off for about five minutes. Don't move them.

Heather (40:11)
Mm-hmm.

James Hynson (40:34)
but like after the five minutes you can start to shaky shaky, you get like the browning all over, they start to squeak, that's how you know that they're getting good. Set them off to the side, let them cool, then duck sell them and they get like really nice and fine and they are just the perfect addition to, first of all, any kind of meat sauce you wanna like add a little flavor base, like it's good. But now I'm wondering, you do that separate, you do the soup as you're doing it.

Erin W (40:51)
Yeah.

James Hynson (40:55)
And then when you add the stock and everything in, also put like the duxel mushrooms in. Maybe that helps to like boost the onion flavor, like gives it like a nice round base flavor. I think I'm gonna try that next time actually.

Heather (41:05)
Mmm, that sounds good.

Erin W (41:07)
I think you could even, like, put some Gruyere cheese on top, like you would a French onion soup, and, like, pop it in there. Like, when you talk about the crunchy bread and the mmm, all of that could go really good, too, right?

James Hynson (41:12)
Yes!

⁓ what's

the one that people do where it's like they make like a grilled cheese sandwich and what do you have? You have it with like a tomato soup, right? You'd like dip the whole like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe you do something similar where it's like instead of doing the French slice bread with butter, maybe you do the sliced bread, little bit of cheese on top, little bit under the grill. So you get like that cheesy bread, dip that in the soup instead. Okay, that can be really nice.

Heather (41:22)
Yeah.

Tim Scott (41:29)
⁓ Krotmas here. Yeah.

Erin W (41:29)
Grilled cheese.

Heather (41:46)
Mmm. my god, I'm so

hungry right now.

James Hynson (41:49)
Hahahaha

Heather (41:50)
We forgot to warn you this is a hazard of being on Three Kitchens podcast. end up, the end of every episode, we're always like, God, I'm so hungry. Yeah.

Erin W (41:50)
Warning, may cause hunger pains.

James Hynson (41:56)
I will-

Perfect. I

will literally be heating up more of that soup after this recording. I'm so ready!

Heather (42:04)
Mmm, me too.

Yum. Well, thank you so much for sharing that recipe and thanks to James' mom out there. I don't know if she'd listen to us here, but if she does, thank you very much for sharing your recipe, passing it down to your son. We all need to have those things that we can pass down to our kids if we have them and or to our friends who you're sharing it with us and we're sharing it with everyone listening. Go make potato leek soup. It's so good.

James Hynson (42:13)
You

Erin W (42:29)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (42:30)
Okay, well, in the interest of time, I mean, I feel like we could all just chat all day, but let's maybe wrap this up. Can you remind ⁓ our listeners where to find Thicc Radio Podcast and anywhere else that you are hanging out online where they might like to join you?

James Hynson (42:45)
Of course. So Thicc Radio, spelled with two C's, the way that God intended it to do so. Thicc Radio. You can find us as a podcast, anywhere you get your podcasts on any such podcasting platforms. We are also on YouTube. We have our website at podpage.com forward slash thick radio. And you can find us on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, as I say, at Thicc Radio.

Come and find us, come hang out with us and reach out to us if you're curious about what it is that we do. If you want to learn something, please ask questions as you see today. We're more than happy to chat about it. So ⁓ we'll see you there.

Heather (43:20)
Awesome. Thank you so much for joining us, you guys. This has been fun.

Tim Scott (43:23)
Thank you.

James Hynson (43:23)
Thank you so much.

Erin W (43:23)
Yeah, and

thank you for putting all this wonderful positivity out into the world with your podcast and going through those hoops every week to make it happen, because I think you have an important message to share and I think it needs to be be heard.

Tim Scott (43:41)
Thank you.

James Hynson (43:41)
Thank you

so much. That's very edifying.

Heather (43:43)
And we

will put links to all of those to your podcast and your social media in the show notes. So listeners scroll down and click on that and go find James and Tim and check them out. We enjoy listening to it. Erin and I enjoy listening to Thicc Radio podcast. So anybody out there, you don't have to feel like, that's not my community. Anybody out there will find something interesting, entertaining.

Erin W (43:58)
Yup.

Heather (44:07)
can tell you, well, if you don't know by now that these two are fun to listen to talk, then I don't know what you've been doing the past hour or so, but they're a lot of fun and we know you're gonna love it. So go check it out.

Erin W (44:08)
Mm-hmm.

Tim Scott (44:12)
Hahaha

Erin W (44:15)
You

Tim Scott (44:16)
Hahaha

James Hynson (44:20)
Thank you honey. And to that point, y'all are doing great sweetie! This is your reminder once again!

Tim Scott (44:22)
Thank you. Yes.

Heather (44:26)
You're doing great work! Keep it up! I love it.

Erin W (44:55)
My phrase this Christmas has been, shitter's full. Like,

Tim Scott (44:57)
Yeah. Shatters fall.

Heather (44:58)
Yes.