When you have spent your whole life backstage, behind the scenes, managing and juggling crazy musicians and their dramas, it is very hard to step out and draw attention to yourself. At least for me it is. My family is full of punk rockers and deejays who don’t share the same recoil from the spotlight and all I hear from them is “just do it man!”
Entertaining With Chillies is me stepping out of my comfort zone to celebrate something I have found great comfort in.
I’ve wanted to write books since I was a four‑year‑old daydreamer in the English countryside, just managing to handle crayons. I wrote my first book at four. It was a two‑page list of atrociously spelled items from around my house. My mother kept that book and I have it now. It is moth‑chewed and dusky, but it reminds me.
It took some time to get to this point, and it still feels strange that my first book is about entertaining with chillies. I love chillies and I love entertaining, but I never imagined it would go further than that. I made a promise, and once I started investigating, I fell down a chilli‑pasted rabbit hole.
There are some seriously cool recipes in the book, some big memories, and some crazy adventures. More importantly for the person buying and reading it, there is valuable advice. It really is the how to, when to, and why to guide, because you can ruin a meal if you are too heavy‑handed, and you can disappoint if you chicken out. One thing is certain: life is better with parties and reasons to get together with other humans.
There is so much extra life in a meal shared with chillies, and I love more than anything to create occasions and bring people together. Whether it is a concert, a festival, a backstage party, or a home‑cooked meal with my besties, that is where I feel most at home.
A quick thank you to all the early adopters. This book has already reached Sydney, Melbourne, the Mid North Coast, Tasmania, Manchester, North West Wales, Cardiff, London, Bangor in Ireland, Cork in Ireland, Johannesburg in South Africa, Salem in Massachusetts, Germany, and more locations are coming. I feel blessed. Some of the reviews from buyers are already coming in and they are so lovely.
Reach out if you want to talk chillies!
Cheers
