The real thing...

The lovely folks at Harper Collins sent me the first real copy of my book today, as seen modeled here by two of my dear friends.

It's such a strange feeling.  Great but peculiar, something that's lived in your head for so long and is finally real.  I wish my grandparents were around to see this - my two grandmothers in particular, who were both amazing cooks, and from whom I learnt that the greatest expression of love is over-feeding.

For some reason its arrival has sent me into a flurry of over-ambition in the kitchen.  In the minutes between arriving home from work and seeing friends I've been on overdrive - thrice-boiled candied orange peel with cardamom...

Maria Elia winning combo rosemary and orange biscotti...

and Heston's simple chocolate cookies that I cocked up royally:

Great taste but format was not as Heston destined...

I guess the thing about putting your heart and soul on the page is that you have to be prepared for people to hate it and hate you.  I'm not sure I'll ever be ready for that, but still.

Anyway, the very clever folk at PeerIndex are giving away some advance copies to readers who really love books about food and heartbreak and love.  If you're one of them and promise not to turn troll, then see if there are any still up for grabs.

If not, it's out two weeks on Thursday...the 19th...