Its not all about pudding....

For those of you who are unaware of my other food loves and passions, this may come as a big surprise… I am not always the Pudding Queen. In fact, that is only part of what I do during my busy year.

I’m going to let you in on a well known secret amongst my inner circle. I am not, nor have I ever really been a sweet tooth! I would usually choose cheese over dessert to finish a meal. However, with my little secret now revealed; my love, passion and commitment for Christmas Puddings is every bit a part of who I am, even if my relationship with puddings is a little more complex than straight forward...

My motivation to begin making Christmas puddings, really just happened, after my Grandma (my dads mum) finally hung up her pudding apron for good! The traditional family Christmas pudding was never going to be a part of our Christmas table again - “are you kidding me”. . .I was not going to let that happen! What kind of a ‘foodie’ granddaughter would I be, to allow that to happen! For me, Christmas Pudding was steeped in tradition, this was a family recipe, that truely needed to be passed through the generations and friends.

While I may not be the sweet-tooth people might expect me to be, my love for creating recipes and the joy of food, is where my heart lays. With a catering background and my love of feeding people, one of my dreams was to help those that might be anxious about cooking. Whether it was selling cooked meals or teaching people how to cook, I have dabbled in all aspects.

For me creating meals and enjoying food is one of the many joys in life.

Eating, drinking, sharing, nurturing, comforting, are all words that come to mind when I think about food. It never sat well for me to hear that others found cooking a chore. It almost stressed me out..I wanted to help! I wanted to share a little piece of my food heart with them, so they too may love cooking, eating and enjoying food.

For many years I have dreamed about publishing a recipe book. A recipe book that was the food that I love to eat at home with my family. Simple meals, no stress meals, my go-to meals. The meals that can be whipped up, effortlessly, with no particular strict recipe to work off. This recipe book had to be easy, particularly for those that stressed about cooking. It needed to be yummy, but of course with nutrition in mind. When I eat, I enjoy food. My enjoyment of food also comes with an eye to nutrition - my food of choice is almost always made with quality, fresh ingredients.

Sharing what I have learned over my many years in food is how the book The Feel-Good Family Food Plan came about.

My good friend and co-author, ‘Nutritionist Extraordinaire’ Dr Joanna McMillan asked me if I would be interested in collaborating with her in a recipe book. Jo is far from new to the world of writing and publishing books. After 8 successful books, it was an absolute privilege that Jo would invite me, and trust me to CO-AUTHOR!! Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity. A lifelong dream come true! Thankyou Ms Joey!

But it’s not the first time Dr Jo and I have collaborated over recipes either. I have worked for Jo for many years, creating and styling recipes for her website. Jo has been pivotal in my career over the past 7 years working in recipe development and styling. If Jo is anything, she is a friend who encourages you to get out of your comfort zone and helps throw you in the deep end, but with serious confidence, encouragement and belief in you!

So after working for Dr Jo for several years the pinnacle of our collaboration has brought us to this… The Feel-Good Family Food Plan by Dr Joanna McMillan and Melissa Clark.

So bloody exciting and something I am so proud of.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed cooking it up! x