Moving on ..

The tomatoes are glorious this year. Especially good for the tomato chapter so if you've got a copy of Prepped promise to make the spiced tomatoes Jam on page 128 .. and the tomatoes sauce is delicious as a cold soup.

Well.. the year to write Prepped is up . I feel as though I am ready now for the next stage. I can't tell you all how much I've loved writing Prepped. I've learnt so much a met so many amazing people.

It's been seriously good fun and whilst I don't want to dispel the romance of it all I feel it is only fair to say that it has been the hardest thing I've ever done. Meeting the deadlines and writing Prepped was all consuming and trust me ... it tested all my relationships and pushed my health and waist line to the absolute boundaries!

As I set forth on this adventure I honestly believed I would get Prepped in the eyes of the foodie world up there in the best seller list with ease... I mean It is really fabulous and I was totally convinced it's uniqueness was enough to consider retiring as TV deals and invitations to consult on the menu for the royal wedding were going to come flooding in !

Please don't get me wrong .. Prepped is really selling well which is the scary bit when you consider all the hours of PR and bloggiing and a BBC Radio show, a Newspaper column and a huge Twitter following it's the truth to say that the royalties alone are not nearly enough to pay the bills. I won't say I wan't warned by by other far more experienced and successful authors then me. I was told that that writing on its own is simply not a way to make a good living, despite being such a lovely way to live ones life. . it's financially challenging is the what one seriously famous Author said to me ! The phrase I kept hearing was that is is necessary to supplement you income. . but being ever the optimist I ignored the advise in the hope I would prove everyone wrong. In case my husband is reading this ( Alastair sit down ... !) I'm not always right and so I am going back to work after the summer holidays are over.

I'm not however, going back to my old job. I am starting a whole new chapter in my life with a new set of specialist skills I shall be going back into Management Consultancy within the food, drink and hospitality industry. I already have some commercial recipe development commissions and I've now got several magazines I am writing for.

With the regional and local BBC Radio food shows, my fabulous weekly newspaper column in the Chronicle & Echo, coupled with Prepped I have every reason to believe that all the skills in the highly successful commercial career I once had are transferable .. so onward in my foodie adventures as a journalist, Food Consultant and BBC food journalist .. at www.VanessaKimbell.com

I want to say to you all thank you all from the bottom of my heart for following the adventures of writing a recipe book

........ Hooray for following your dreams!

Love

Vanessa

x

PS this is not the last post of Prepped at all and of course I shall keep updating .. but to follow my day to day journalism and Broadcasting then www.VanessaKimbell.com is the place to go

.. and yes a 2nd recipe book is being worked on .. so I shall be testing again

Dash and Grab Cookie Manoeuvre

I've a busy few months coming up, and indeed this week is no exception. On Friday I was in both Rushden and Kingsthorpe Waitrose's signing Prepped. Saturday I was in Cambridge at Waterstones doing the same.

I decided that the best way to entice people to me is to bribe them over with food .. so I made the chocolate cookies from page 206 . I must say in the main people where delightful, although there were two people, separately, who literally walked up to my table without as much as hello and in a sort of dash and grab maneuver they helped themselves to a large handful of cookies, and made away in haste without a solitary word!

Well ... I was in such shock I didn't say anything ! Although perhaps excuse me .. but you left one! at the top of my voice was what I should have shouted after them!

.. Still ... I guess you have to be prepared to meet all sorts of people .. but truthfully it's been really fun, especially to meet some of the lovely people ( such as Kelly below in the photo) who have been following me !

After the signing in Waterstones I met up with a fabulous foodie and good friend, Douglas Blyde and ate one of the most delicious meals I've eaten in a long time at Alimentum in Hills Road. Look out for the blog post about this planned for later week!

Afternoon Tea

I've been about and about fetching strawberries from Mr Troops to have for afternoon tea.. I love it - is just so easy and yet it has quaintness to it. Rose patterned china cups, cupcakes, dainty egg and cress sandwiches, Battenberg cake of course fresh scones with clotted cream, a large dollop of strawberry jam and a steaming pot of fresh tea. I love throwing my red checked tablecloth on the table and having the children come in from school to sit and tell me about their day whilst tucking in to this very British spread. The recipe doubles easily to make more ( I use it for my the topping to my plum cobbler recipe.) You can swap out the flavour at a moments notice, leave out the sugar and add 70g of parmesan for a savory cheese scone, thrown I a handful of sultana’s or add a teaspoon of fresh lavender for a delicious twist and serve with plum jam and a pot earl grey tea instead.

Makes 8
Prep time 5 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
Freeze Yes

Ingredients

225g self-raising flour
75g butter, chilled, cut in small pieces
50g Vanilla Sugar
¼ tsp salt
125ml buttermilk mixed with 2 tbs of freshly squeezed lemon juice ( ordinary milk will do)
3–4 tbsp milk
Extra flour, for dusting
Vanilla Sugar, for sprinkling
1 free range egg, beaten, for the glaze

Method
Preheat the oven to 180˚C/gas mark 4.
Put the flour, butter, salt and sugar into a bowl. Mix well. Make a well in the centre and add the buttermilk. Bring the mixture together to form a dough. If the dough seems a bit too dry, add a little more buttermilk, a teaspoon at a time.
Turn out onto a floured work surface and use your hands to form a 2.5cm round. Cut out shapes from this, depending on your preference, and put them on a baking tray.
Glaze the scones with the beaten egg and bake for 18–20 minutes and sprinkle with sugar.
Cool on a wire rack. If you want to freeze these scones do so as soon as they are cool.
Note: Scones are best enjoyed the same day.


Linked recipe
You can turn an every day scone into something really special by replacing the Vanilla sugar in the recipe for Lavender sugar. 

I've been Nominated for the Observer Monthly Food Awards!

I don't generally go for awards and I certainly had no intention of going for the Observer Monthly Food Awards - Why? I suppose it makes me feel judged and so I avoid these kind of things, however that said I was tickled pink to get a tweet from a lovely lady called Jules who runs a supper club ( a fabulous supper club I might add) called The Secret Supper Society. The Tweet read

Vanessa I have nominated Prepped for the best cookery book in the Observer Monthly Food Awards. This... yes .. this tweet meant more to me that winning it. Just being nominated made my day .. Jules you made me feel like I had won, as has everyone else who has tweeted me since has done the same.

Will I canvass support? Well yes I'll admit I've asked a few friends to vote.. I even asked my husband *laughing* but this time it's not the winning that matters .. as far as I am concerned I have already been judged and won by the very fact I've been nominated.

The panel of judges is impressive including Nigel Slater, Allan Jenkins, Tim Hayward, Jay Rayner, Jo Barnes and Jason Atherton and Gareth Grundy. A seriously impressive line up of extraordinary talent.

Simply by participating in voting in these awards and picking your favourite foodie personalities of the year you can win a huge assortment of prize. I've voted for Helen at Fuss Free Flavours as my favourite blog of the year.

I wish all participants the very best of luck and if you have bought a copy of Prepped and feel a desire to vote for me then click here before the 24th June ... . but whatever the outcome ... I am already celebrating!

Vanessa

x

PS

a list of prizes include

A wine lover's trip to Bordeaux 

• A meal for four at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal 

• An overnight stay and Michelin-starred lunch at The Manor House in Wiltshire 

• A year's supply of Riverford Organic vegetables 

• A Gourmet Picnic hamper (for two winners) 

• A Weber One Touch premium BBQ with tool set 

• A personal wine tutorial and dinner at Orrery in Marylebone 

• Afternoon tea at Bar Boulud 

• Tickets to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition plus dinner at the Royal Academy restaurant 

• A year's supply of Cafédirect coffee and Presso coffee-maker 

• Harvey Jones chopping boards (for 10 winners)

• A tour of London's Sipsmith distillery for 10, plus a bottle each to take home

For more information about the prizes including the

full terms and conditions click here.