978-0-620-44933-5 Sexy Salsa

If you're wondering what the title is all about, let me put you out of your misery. It's an International Standard Book Number(ISBN); but not just any ISBN, it's the very first one ever allocated to me. Cause for celebration I should think.

I had thought that, as with most other bureaucratic processes, it would take great effort over a prolonged period to come by one of these little numbers, but it literally took 10 minutes work and 3 hours wait. Now don't we wish all government procedures were as snappy as that.

I simply logged onto the net, no having to look for parking or stand in dreadfully long cues, Googled ISBN and clicked on one of the first links. I read a bit about it and found out that I needed to approach the ISBN center in the country I was to publish the book in. They generously supplied a link to the South African center, so another click and I was back home in South Africa.

I sent a mail to a Ms. Magret Kibido, of the National Library of South Africa(NLSA), who deals with ISB Numbers, asking her what I needed to do to get my hands on a number. That was just before lunch. By the time I had returned, she had replied, asking me for a contact address, which I duly submitted. A mere 2 hours later I had my number and a directive to fill in a one pager form as well as furnish the NLSA with one copy of the published book. You got it Magret!

And with less than a week to go for the final touches to be added, I'm becoming all the more excited to have my book in my hands with its little ISBN printed somewhere on the back cover.

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TWO WEEKS TO GO

Two weeks, that's how long I think it will take to bring "Sexy Salsa," the book of salsa recipe's I'm working on, to a close. My sister Debby has been hard at work doing the design and layout, and it looks excellent.

All that remains now is the final-final copy edit and a last photo shoot. I feel that I need just 3 more photos to finish the book of well.

But until then , here's a sneak preview of how the book will look.



And please feel free to visit the "Sexy Salsa" blog @ http://www.andrewmendes.blogspot.com

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MIRACLES

It's nothing short of a miracle! That is what it is. I found myself in a situation where I was
thinking, "Now what!?" And I had no answers except nothing is impossible for Jesus,
nothing.

"I overheard them say it's your motherboard," Mrs Lee had said over the telephone, in a thick Singaporean accent.
I remember my heart stopping at that moment. I had expected a faulty keyboard to be the
worst case scenario. "So can we fix it?" I had asked.
The reply came swiftly, "No. It will cost one thousand do-la. Not worth it! You must buy
new one."
I tried to think if ever I had seen a money tree but quickly dismissed the thought. In this
present economy, even if there were one of those, it would have been pulled up by now,
roots and all. "Thank you," I said, "I will pick mine up tomorrow. Good bye." And that's when I
caught myself thinking, "Now what!?" My computer was my interface with the outside
world, my revenue hub, my job seeking tool. I had no money to replace it and I was stuck
without it. I closed my eyes as tight as a pip and squeezed prayers out of my soul.

I looked down on Mrs Lee. She seemed even more diminutive behind her desk than what
she was. She was on the phone again. I understood nothing of her conversation, so I just
stood there, clasping my invoice.
"Can I help you?"
I turned around, a lady with a warm smile walked towards me. I handed her my invoice.
"I've come to pick up my computer," I said.
"Oh yes, the iBook G4," she said, having scrutinized the invoice.
Mrs Lee was still on the telephone. The lady with the warm smile walked around the
counter and pulled my computer from the shelf and put it on the glass counter top. What
was its' shell is now its coffin I thought.
"Just sign here," she pointed with pen in hand.
I sighed, not knowing a miracle was about to happen.

I don't know why I did, I knew the motherboard was broken, but I asked her what was
wrong with it. And she gave me the answer I knew she was going to give me.
"So what are my options?" I pressed on. I knew she was going to say that it would cost
$1000 to fix it. That it would be better to buy a new computer. And what I thought, came
true. I sighed again. She was looking at me as if to say, "So what one do you want?" I began
signing my name, then stopped. I heard Mrs Lee put the phone down.
"I have no money to buy a new computer, nor even enough to fix mine. But I need a
computer for my work. What can I do? Aren't there cheaper options?"

All this time she had been smiling, but now she hid her warmth behind pursed lips.
She turned to her colleague standing next to her. Not one word passed their lips but
in that look they spoke.
"Does your battery work?" she asked.
"Yes," I answered.
"Do you have the power cables for your computer?"
"Yes."
"And does your keyboard work?"
If only it was the keyboard that was broken I thought then said, "Yes."
She bent over a pulled another computer from the shelf. An iBook G4, exactly like mine.
The warmth had returned to her now. "This is my old one," she said. "The keyboard,
battery and power cables are broken. It would have cost me a lot of money to fix it so I
bought a new one."
I nodded dully.
"We'll put your battery and keyboard onto it, reload the operating system and if it works
you can have it for 50 do-la."
"No ways! Really?" I exclaimed.
She nodded yes and said,"Come back in two hours, la, if it works, its yours for 50 do-la," as if to say calm down, it might not work.

Two hours to the minute later I was back in Sim Lim Square, standing in SGL Marketing,
the tiny little computer shop. A white lap top stood open on the counter top, its' screen
black. Uncharacteristically Mrs Lee was not busy on a call, but was rather keeping herself
busy with paperwork.
"Hello Mrs Lee," I said.
She looked up and smiled. "It's ready. You give me 50 do-la and you take it. If it doesn't
work in one week, you bring back and we give you 50 do-la, ok?"

It's been longer than a week now and the computer is still working well. I've managed
to re-load most of my old information and software, the bonus being that I've been able to
upload many new versions of the software I was using before. So its all worked out well and
just in time for our move.

We arrived in Malaysia on Wednesday the 8th, happy to be with the people of the
Cornerstone Church; but sad to leave Singapore and the people of the Church of Joy.
We've been having incredible times in God's presence there and have seen Him doing
supernatural things in our friends lives. Jonathan was suffering from debilitating back
aches but last Sunday Ian felt stirred to pray for him. He had him sit down and then lifted
his legs. Ian pointed out that Jonathan's legs were markedly different in length - by about 3
or more centimeters. So we began to pray, asking God to heal him. In front of our eyes
Jonathan's legs began to grow. It was incredible to see someone's legs growing!
“I felt my legs grow,” Jonathan said afterwards, “but my back still hurts.”
However, within the next few days that back ache was gone.

Having said that, God is displaying His power all over Asia. In one meeting in a little village
in China, dozens of people were healed through the prayer of Christians. Almost the whole
village turned to Jesus after that and then they went to the hospital and brought more sick
people to be prayed for, including an elderly lady who was on her death bed. She too is now
alive and well.

And here in Malaysia, in Johor Bahru in Cornerstone Church, God is pouring out His Spirit
too. The Spiritual atmosphere has totally changed compared to the last time we were here.
We went to their prayer meeting on the night we arrived and when we walked into the hall,
we were overwhelmed by God's presence. And people, who were previously sedate were
praying out aloud and prophesying. We spoke to Thomas afterward and he said that the
previous Sunday he had felt to ask the congregation if they wanted to be filled with God's
Spirit. Many of those who said yes, including a 16 year old homeless boy, had incredible
encounters with God, some speaking in tongues for the first time, others speaking in
tongues after many years, and Maran, the Indian boy, fell to the ground, overcome by a
demon. A few members of the church rushed to help him; but for many it was the first time
that they had seen a demonic manifestation. So everyone is quite excited about what is
happening at the moment.

Cindy and I are here in Malaysia for a while, our one month visas for Singapore having
expired on Wednesday. We were given, as per the norm, a three month visa for Malaysia.
We aren't quite sure how long we will stay here, but while we are here I'll be doing some
volunteer work as a teacher at the Cornerstone Church's school, filling in where they need
help. There are about 80 pupils attending the school and the curriculum is based on an
American home schooling system, so all the lessons are pre-planned, making it easier for
me to teach. I'm quite excited about learning a new skill.

Other than that, Cindy led worship for the first time in church, playing the piano and
singing. She did excellently, her voice is beautiful. And I played the djembe drum, another
first for us, it was the first time I played in a band.

I'm also waiting for Debby to finish the design work of Sexy Salsa, which should be by the
end of the day. I can't wait to see the finished product; and more than that, I can't wait
to flip through the pages of the book.

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Bitter-sweet!

Intent on the Apple in front of me, I didn't see the thief until it was too late. His hand wrapping around my phone was the first thing I noticed. By the time I looked up it was almost too late. He ripped it out of its socket, turned and ran.

"Hey!" I shouted. He was already out the door. I stood up and gave chase. Out the door, off the pavement and down the side road. I was wearing slops so I was never going to catch him. By the time I kicked them off, he was far in front. Down the back alley, up a side street and into the park.  

"What if this was a ploy to get me away from my lap top?" I thought. With that I gave up the chase and ran back, collecting my slops from two ladies who had been washing things in the back street. They wanted to ask me all sorts of questions but I didn't have time for pleasantries. I got back to the shop and everyone there bombarded me with questions, the shop owner was very upset. I began packing my stuff away. I saw a young chap jumping off the pavement on the opposite side of the road. He had a big smile pasted on his face. "No," I thought. A minute later a couple of guys followed, a bunch of people following them. One of their phones was stolen.

 

We were warned to be careful of our stuff while in Johor Bahru. There have been many cases of peoples bags been snatched from them while walking by men riding by on motorbikes. So careful we were; but never did I expect someone to be so brazen as to walk into a shop full of customers, unplug my phone and run. Anyway, lesson learnt!

Other than that unfortunate incident, we have been having a great time in JB. The condo we are staying in is great, complete with air conditioning and a swimming pool. Other than an 80 year old ex-diver and his wife, no one else uses the pool - an Asian thing apparently. The divers name is Charles and his wife Carolyn and they are full of interesting stories they're happy to share with us in the pool. He has had us over to his house to show us his stamp collection, twice actually, with no end in sight. And then there are many more albums at his house in Singapore. They are such nice people, Buddists by culture, so its been nice listening to what they have to say about their faith, which according to him is not faith actually but just a case of doing good.

We are at a golf course at the moment, attending the Asian LTT. Its the second day of five and we are having an awesome time. We've met people from all over the world and Cindy has even bumped into an old school friend. Cindy is part of the worship team, playing the saxaphone and penny whistle. The teaching has been really interesting but what has really struck me is the lives of the people here. They really love Jesus and its clear that they live for Him and His people.

I still haven't found work yet; but we are really trusting that I will soon have something. I apply for at least one job a day but for all that I've only had one interview. I didn't get that job though, unfortunately, I would have really enjoyed working for a cuisine magazine. Speaking of cuisine, the moment my phone got stolen, I finished off all the copy writing and re-editing of "Sexy Salsa." So it was a bitter sweet moment, completing my first book and having my phone stolen.  Anyway, all that remains now is the layout and design, which Debby(my sister) is busy doing. I can't wait to have a finished product in my hand.

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Summer salsa

Skin a fresh mango and peel a buttery-soft sweet melon. Resist the temptation to eat the fruit and cut into blocks a cm big. Split a lime in half and squeeze them till the last drop has fallen over the expecting flesh. Chop 3 table spoons of pine forest green coriander up and add to spice. Two teaspoons of white wine vinegar, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper all sweetened by a teaspoon of castor sugar and your mouth watering salsa is almost ready. And for the heavenly touch, add three small green chilies, seeded, for those with sensitive palettes, or not, for those who like it hot.

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Slumdog Millionaire

"Hulle skiet an advert!" I heard one of the little guys who had just walked past say. I was intent on  getting the shutter speed and aperture settings just right. If I had had the time,  I might've turned around and explained that it wasn't for advertising's sake that I was photographing Andrew but rather for the inclusion in his salsa recipe book.

The scene reminded me of Slumdog
Millionaire; and specifically the scene where the famous movie star comes to town in his

helicopter; and landing is swamped by adoring fans. Now, we are by no means stars, nor

were we being swamped by a mass of adoring fans, not even by one googled eyed being of
any sort for that matter, but the surroundings somehow seemed similar. The likeness was
in this - it doesn't matter where you are in the world, poverty always wears that same
acrid mask.

I put the thought aside, I had a job at hand; and who knew, perhaps one of those kids, or

more likely their parents, would want to buy our finished product. In Slumdog
Millionaire, the lead actor does everything in his power to be with his childhood
sweetheart, so why wouldn't a poor epicurean pay for a beautiful book crammed with

delicious salsa's of every sort?

So I did my job as best as I could and the end result is a selection of really great shots

of Andrew which epitomize what we are trying to achieve with this recipe book:

attractive and tasty food, easily made and for all occasions.

What hasn't been as easy as making Andrew's salsa's though, is taking photos of them.

Three things I've realized can make a world of difference when taking photos of food are;

1. With property its location, location, location but with food shots its setting, setting,
setting! It influences lighting, ambience, background and can give one space to work in

or totally restrict the variety of shots one is able to take. So do your best to get the best

setting for your shoot! It's worth the effort.

2. Having a food stylist to co-ordinate and organize the decor for the shoot and then

to help on the day with the setting up of the table and to make sure that the food

looks photo sharp all the time(Its amazing how quickly a sprig of whatever can wilt).

3. Equipment, the better the better and the more the better. Things almost never go
according to plan and so its safe to say be prepared for all types of situations, like too
much light, too little light, no electricity etc etc.

But at the end of the day, we can't always have the best all the time, especially if just
starting out, and if that's the case, then be prepared to just slumdog it and use what you
have!

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NUTS

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Moving on

It has been a while since I last posted an entry, I've been busy painting a house. That's not to say that things haven't been moving forward with regards to the Salsa recipe book because they have.

In the last post I spoke about having done two photo shoots of Andrew creating scintillating salsa's, of the two rolls of film I had developed and the hope I had that the third roll would round the visual side of things off for us.

Well, it didn't do that. Now don't get me wrong, the photos were great; but Cindy and I agreed that something was missing, that little bit of something that distinguishes the great from the good.

Cindy pointed out the fact that most of the photos were taken from an angle almost directly above the food and dishes, as opposed to your normal side view of cullinary creations. I had purposely done this because I was shooting in a very limited space using available light shed by the moving, and often cloud covered, sun. Added to those limitations, I only had a 28 -80mm lens which ruled out blurring the background, which included many horrible and distracting shadows. But the point was well taken none the less.

So on Friday night, after work, Andrew and I sat down and went through an edited selection of photos, over 40 of them. He loved them, especially the pics of the nuts and chilies; but he too agreed with us that they were missing that pinch of salt to complete things. So, armed with pens and notepads we crited every photo, noting what we liked or didn't and what we could do to improve each pic. A few main areas needing attention were identified.

First of all was the point Cindy had raised, although we thought a few of the pics worked like that. So we need to re-shoot a few of the dishes from a side on angle and incorporate those with the ones we like, to add spice, which was another area of concern for us. We need to, and we were always going to do this, personalise the book with photos of Andrew, as well as add photos showing ideal settings and relevant themes, like textured and coloured fabrics of Mexico.

In line with that, we realized that we will definitely need a better venue to shoot at, a place with space and character, so Andrew is going to try and see if he can organize a place for us. This also ties up with our need to pep up the props a little, both background and foreground, especially the crockery we used. We decided we need to work with white dishes with character, which Andrew will source for us.

Because the shots are close up, little things are magnified, so we realised the need to make sure that everything that gets photographed is as perfect as possible and taking measures to ensure this, like keeping the coriander and whatever perky by storing in the fridge.

To sum things up, we are on the road to success; with what we have done providing the framework for what we need to add to to end up with the polished product. And in terms of the photos, I'd like to add a bit of motion, a bit of blur and a touch of the different to what we have.

Go to: http://www.andrewmendes.blogspot.com to get his perspective.

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Red hot

Colourful is a word that will, from now on, always be synonymous with salsa for me. So too tasty, quick and easy, spicy, hot, fresh, fruity, versatile and Andrew Mendes, if he wasn't already.

Andrew is an exceptional chef; I've witnessed his mastery on a weekly basis for the last few months, so I knew that his salsa recipes would be great. Little did I know that they would be magnificent. It takes a genius to blend as many flavours as he did and end up with a dish that has an overall taste and texture but at the same time still retains the many individual tastes within that. Andrew did that, dish after dish, over the two days we spent cooking and shooting.

He created a salsa for almost every occasion. Little plum tomatoes, fresh basil, finely chopped red onion and bacon served with a fresh sesame seed French loaf made an exquisite breakfast. Then there was a fresh summery salsa of roasted nuts, red onions, red peppers, jalapeno's and rocket leaves served in a bowl surrounded with cheesy nachos; an ideal dish to enjoy around a table of friends while playing a board game or just chatting, although the salsa is sure to shut even the most prolix person up for at least a moment or two. And for a touch of elegance Andrew braised chicken breasts in lime and lemon juice with salt and black pepper and served that with a boiled butternut, avo and sweet and sour jalapeno vinaigrette. 

All the different ingredients made a superb palette of colours, the presentation gave height and the light depth, ensuring that I was never without photographic inspiration. I've developed two of the three films I shot and I'm quite happy with the results; but somehow I think that the last roll will round things off nicely for me, in terms of variety that is. I collect it tomorrow. 

So what now? Once I get the last roll back, I'll start the tedious task of editing the photos, which I hope Cindy will help me with (She has a brilliant eye for what works and what doesn't).

Congruently I'll be working through the recipes and making my final adjustments to them before handing them over to Andrew for him to do his final edits. Then we'll start working on the presentation of the book, which recipes go where, which photos to use, side notes, etc. Oh, then there's still an article to write about Andrew and his salsa's as well as a photo shoot of himself. And much more I'm sure; but that's enough work to keep us going for quite a while yet.

Hasta la vista, muchachos!

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Beautiful in its time!

Everything is made beautiful in its time. I love this line of words. The hope held in them has often lifted my spirits and sounded a clear prophetic call to my soul. And now again I find this line woven into the fabric of my everyday life, giving me hope for a better future.

Not that I'm kneeling at some rotten nadir in my life. Quite the contrary, life is filled with expectation. But regarding my temporary setback last week, with our failed shoot, I see how time sometimes holds us back only to catapult us into our destiny at the proper moment.

Its a truth in this situation too. I've been enlightened to that. I spent the last week mulling through all Andrew's delectable recipes, fixing the copy and making notes regarding things that seem unclear, and somehow, through this process, the candle of inspiration began to burn brighter in me. Now I can taste the salsa's, can feel the intensity of the chilis on the tip of my tongue and can see Van Gogh's colours splashed over the crisp white pages through teary eyes in ways that I had never imagined before. Its become palpably vivid!

The cover of the book, the forward, the recipes, the glossary; they're all there, in my mind's eye.

The project has gone from beautiful moth to magnificent butterfly. Armed with that canvass, I go shoot tomorrow, not needing to be inspired but left only with the pleasure to arrange time, place and space into the beautiful thing it is.

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Shooting blanks.

Shoot! Shoot a chef, at work in his flat on his balcony! That's what I was meant to be doing today, as part of our grandiose plan to put together a book of hot and not so hot salsa recipes. But those plans began to unravel yesterday when a small minority of taxi drivers took to the streets armed with guns and real live bullets, not blanks, and bricks, stones, fire and whatever else they could wrap their greedy, bloody hands with.

So instead of him cooking up a storm and me photographing the process, I'm writing this and he's most probably washing dishes at the restaurant he is executive chef at, because who in their right mind would want to risk their lives for the meagre salary of a dishwasher?

 And these riots aren't happening  for the first time. And like the times before, they have no right to carry on the way they do! No right! There, I've said it, adding my voice to a million others who are now sick and tired of being held captive by these rogues. Every time they carry on like this, they bring the entire South African economy to her bruised knees. And we're sick of it! Sick of them killing our innocents; our babies, our children, the sick and the elderly, our mothers and fathers.

They want our business and they want the government to rubber-stamp and favour them for the foreign business soon coming to our shores, when the FIFA World Cup honours us as a nation. But the government, quite rightly so, seems to be intent on favouring a Rapid Bus Transport System, like in Brazil, to transport our guests to and fro between stadiums and the many beautiful sights in and around hosting cities. We want them to feel cared for in our country and safe on our roads, to create a sustainable tourism environment.

Just turn back the pages of recent South African history and you will soon see why these people have lost the government's and the peoples  vote of confidence. Innocent people shot dead, burnt alive in their cars, stoned, people threatened with their and their children's lives if they dared go to work and businesses crippled because of the resultant unstable labour force. And more, bus drivers and drivers of other taxi's, under the governance of other associations, shot because they are seen to be in competition with them, roads blocked and people unable to make it to work, cars and private property smashed and businesses looted.

An acquaintance of mine was reduced to tears, crying uncontrollably for days the last time these taxi gremlins went on a rampage. They broke into his laundry cleaning shop, stole whatever they could and then smashed every one of his expensive washing machines, dryers, irons and whatever else was there that they couldn't carry. And who do you think paid for that? He did and we are, in increased insurance costs and resultant service delivery costs and in fear!

And that's them at the worst of times! What about in the best of times? Ask anyone in any city or town in South Africa who the worst drivers are and they will all tell you, without a milliseconds hesitation that it's the taxi drivers. They slip in and out of lanes, push other drivers off the road, skip robots, drive as fast as they can without regard for speed limits or the safety of their passengers or other road users, stop when and where they please, mostly without indicating their intent to do so and in doing these things, causing many accidents and road deaths.

Are these the actions of people who have the interest of fellow citizens at heart? Then how can they be trusted with the lives of guests if they can't even tend to their brothers and sisters?Are these the actions of responsible businessmen and woman or of good citizens? Then how can they be trusted with very valuable and much needed foreign investment?

So we the people say no to them. And to the government we say: do not give in to them and do not give them the business they are killing for. It's time for the nations voice to ring out in the halls of government and for those people charged with the safe keeping of our children to stand up and add their voice; and to exert the power at their disposal to stamp out this killing, thievery and thuggery! Once and for all.

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Gunning for the shoot!

I'm gunning for the shoot on Thursday, there's so much to do but not enough time in the day to get it all done. But none the less, progress is being made. 

Andrew has drawn up a chart with all the different types of  chilies, tomatoes and onions. And working through Andrew's recipes I can see why that could be very helpful. There are so many different chilies alone. But wow, don't those salsa's seem incredibly delicious. My mouth waters just thinking about them. I'm not sure if that's because they're going to be so tasty or because I'm afraid that they'll burn the heck out of my mouth! But I'll have to hang on until Thursday to answer that question.

I mailed the contract to Andrew this morning for him to have a look at, and if he is satisfied I will print it and so we can sign the agreement. And then we'll legally be in business. And besides that I'm working through the recipes, ordering, editing and spicing up the copy. 

That's all I have time for now, I'm off to get ready for my night job. I waiter at a restaurant in Camps Bay, the same one Andrew is the Executive Chef at.

Hasta la vista

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Sexy salsa

One of the things I love about being a freelance writer and photographer is the variety the work affords one. You never quite know what you will be doing from one day to the next. With that said, I'm sure you're now thinking,"I wonder what he is up to?"

I won't hold you in suspense any longer then: I'm embarking on my first book publishing experience. And not a book of poetry nor a novel, nor even a book of photographs, as many of you who do know me might have guessed; but a book of salsa's!

YUM!

That's right! A book of hot, sexy, salsa's made by chef extraordinaire Andrew Mendes. Mendes is the executive chef at a restaurant in Camps Bay, Cape Town. He has a passion for food that could fill volumes of books, not to mention many hungry belly's. But to start off with, he has chosen to share his original salsa recipe's with the world. Hot, cold, light, very hot, summer, winter, he has a recipe for every occasion.

"Salsa's are easy to make and are the perfect dish to snack on before dinner, or while having a braai; and they're complete meals on their own. They're even brilliant eaten on a hot slice of toast for breakfast," Mendes asserts.

Go to http://www.andrewmendes.blogspot.com to follow his journey and perhaps get a sneak preview of one of his many yum salsa's. Stand back Jamie Oliver.

And on the flip-side of his culinary journey is the journey to publish his creativity. And this being my first brush with publishing, I thought it might make for some interesting following. What will I have to do? How will I go about it? Who will need to get involved and will anyone be willing to help? How much will it cost? These are just some of the anomalies we're facing at the moment.

So what has been done so far? For one, we've realized the potential success we can achieve by working together - Andrew creating beautiful salsa's and me photographing the process and writing about it. That was the catalyst to arrange a brainstorming session at La Vie, over a couple of coffees of course, to plot our course.

I've drawn up a rudimentary contract (a lawyer would cost thousands),  between the two of us, just outlining what I would do and what Andrew would do. It still needs to be finalized and signed though.

As far as marketing is concerned, I've already set up a GMAIL account for him and the blogsite mentioned above, the www.andrewmendes.blogspot.com site, that was done by me. I mention that with pride because I'm a computer dotard. And hidden in the pages is an analytics account tracking the visitors to the site. Man, blogging is brilliant. 

Anyhow, back to the marketing. I've interviewed Andrew to find out what makes him tick and what makes a salsa hot or not! And I'm now writing an article about that, in the hope of getting it published in various newspapers and magazines. But the big day is on Thursday. That's when we'll be making the recipes in a makeshift kitchen on his balcony and giving them the final tasting test to make sure that they are perfect. And I'll be documenting this process on film. Yes, I mean still film - I'm still stuck in the dark ages. 

And then it'll be over to designing the book. We have what we think is a brilliant design theme for the cover and the content but then we'll need to arrange it all in an appealing manner. And that's where our skills fail us. But we have a plan of action - big sister Debby, who has a brilliant eye for design. Please say yes to helping us Debs!

And then, who knows what then - find an agent, find a publisher, find a printer! We'll just have to take it step by step. 

Anyway, follow this blog and his to find out how we are doing!

 

 

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