I’m sorry that I’ve only just got around to blogging about the launch of A Lot On Her Plate. Suffice to say it’s been a ridiculously hectic month since the book launched on the 23rd April, and I was in the kitchen at Carousel (blog to follow) all week straight afterwards, which was an incredible, and – in the best possible way – full on experience. But I still wanted to share with you the pictures from the night which were brilliantly captured by Jason Bailey.
We launched the book at Clive Watson and Justin Gilbert’s new restaurant Blixen in Spitalfields, which is one of the most beautiful openings so far this year. The brilliant Penny Watson – Clive’s wife and restaurant PR extraordinaire – had the inspired idea to launch the book alongside Blixen’s new terrace – a stunning sheltered outdoor space out the back of the restaurant filled with tropical plants and Ercol furniture. It was the perfect match for the book, which has a garden/outdoorsy feel to it, and the kitchen team did an ace job with the canapes, translating recipes from the book into snacks that everyone could enjoy. We had fantastic sponsorship for the night from Henners sparkling wine – a fine fizz from East Sussex that’s made using the champagne method, and from Saltaire Brewery which provided plenty of its superb craft ales.
As you might expect, I was ridiculously over excited on the night, wearing my new House of Hackney dress, and was so thrilled by the turnout of friends, family and colleagues who came to wish me well with my first cookbook. It really was overwhelming to see so many people that I’ve respected, worked (and eaten with) turn up on the night and celebrate – a real testament to quite how supportive and encouraging our industry is.
Having my mum there too was absolutely wonderful – I welled up a bit during my speech when I talked about how much she’s inspired my cooking, and how well she’s done despite losing my dad ten years ago. I wanted to give my dad a mention too but the emotion took over and I almost balled when I started talking about him, so it was a bit of a hurried one! I managed to pull it back round though by talking about how foxy the book’s brilliant photographer Helen Cathcart looked in her slinky black playsuit. Phew!
Since the book has been ‘out there’ I’ve absolutely loved seeing people sharing their pictures of it on social media. So many of you have been cooking from it and sharing your recipe triumphs with the #alotonherplate hashtag – do keep it coming. The most amazing thing about having written the book is that you readers seem to really like it and enjoy the recipes, and seeing you cooking from it at home is the best feeling! I really wanted to create a cookbook of exciting and approachable recipes that people would actually try out and delight in at home, and so it fills me with joy to see you trying them out. You guys rock!
More coming soon…
Rosie x