| Mae turned a year older recently and I am sure she is extra excited that this year she can add another title to her list of achievements..author! Lets get up close and personal with this very interesting lady,
Please Tell us about yourself: My latest title is author 🙂 but before all of that I’m simply me, a joyful dreamer with a zest for life. I’m a daughter, sister, wife, mum, friend and an all-round easygoing person who likes to try out new things, sometimes several new things at the same time {laughs). I value experiences over things and I constantly seek the simple pleasures of life. In addition to working in global supply chains and running a food and lifestyle blog, I host supper clubs, write (fiction and nonfiction) and create recipes out of everyday ingredients. My happy place is by the sea, with a simple classic burger, a complex cocktail, good music, great company and lots of laughter.
Well I guess your introduction explains why your first book is a cook book.
Absolutely! I’ve always been fascinated by cookbooks. Ever since I was a little girl, I would spend hours poring over my mum’s cookbooks. Well, maybe that’s where it started from. She would buy these cookbooks and she had a whole row on her bookshelf dedicated to them. So as I grew up and started setting up my own kitchen, it was basically a no-brainer. Then I discovered that not everyone around me had the same experience growing up. Yes we mostly learnt how to cook by experience and close supervision, but I felt like having those books was something special that I took for granted, so I thought I should share that experience with everyone – young and old, male or female, everyone!
Why inspired the title: Risk with a whisk?
The title of the book came to me after about an hour of ruminating on it. I had already written the story by then and I was looking for something that captured the essence of the main character, the story and the experience I was hoping people would have when they read the book. So in many ways it represented two things – the risk I took to even start this venture, the risk the main character took to go on her adventure, the risk everyone would take to buy a cookbook/adventure fiction/ story book/ activity book haha. But also the whisk was symbolic. I won’t say too much so I don’t give the story away but the whisk represents the empowerment, and transfer of skills, the enablement to do something you’ve only dared to dream about. Here I go again, making everything deep!
Tell us your experience trying different recipes
Funny enough, I’m not a very adventurous eater but I’ve always been surrounded by people who are. So I would try new recipes and serve them, see them express their joy or surprise or (in rare cases) fear; and more than anything, I’ve not just loved adventuring with food for its own sake but for the sake of making others happy, letting the joy flow around the table and simply having a good time.
Now for many mums the kitchen is a chore, what makes it fun for you?
It is a chore for me sometimes, to be honest. But more often than not, I find being in the kitchen therapeutic. Spending time in the kitchen does two things for me. First, it calms me down. I wrote a blog post once where I tried to describe what cooking was for me. Here’s a quote from it “….. regardless of what he said or she did, of what painful coincidences or disappointing surprises happened, if I cream equal parts butter and sugar, add eggs and flavouring to give it just the right curdle, fold in double the weight of the buttercream mixture in dry ingredients, set the oven temperature just right, grease the tin and bake the mixture for a specific number of minutes, I will definitely have a cake! Even if I didn’t get that thing I was praying for and had worked super hard for at the office, or a terrible driver dented my car on my way back from a tough day out; all I had to do was walk through my mum’s steps (thank you, photographic memory), and in a specified amount of time, we will be eating exactly what I ate 30 years ago at her kitchen counter.” The second thing it does for me is, it keeps me grounded. Cooking got me to the point where I subconsciously recognised the effort, time, precision and care that goes into every morsel I bite, and it made me respect the process, the food produce and the result of all that effort. Are there some days when cooking is simply a boring chore? Those days when we spend almost an hour wondering what to make for dinner? Definitely! But I recognise that my love for cooking is not the same for everyone; and if my book introduces some excitement to your kitchen routine a few days in the year and encourages your young ones to get excited about food, that would be mission accomplished!
You book is unique in that it’s not just a cook book but also a story book and activity book! Who is this book for?
The book is mainly targeted at the young ones from age 7 and above. The story, recipes and activities are patterned towards that group. However, the recipes are also suitable for adults who want to try something new, for themselves, their families or simply just change their typical mealtime repertoire.
Any final words?
Buy the book! Haha. Seriously though, I’m just really happy that I was able to pull off this project and I would love to have people read, share and send in their feedback and reviews. I think everyone should get to read it and meet the amazing character in the book. I would love to see people try out the recipes, cooking with their kids, as a family and trying something new. So yes, buy the book, share with your friends, young and old; and let me know what you think!
Well done Mae and I will definitely be reading and using ” Risk with a Twist”‘ in my home! | |
Such an exciting and unique book – I really love it! Well done Mae!!
Really unique!