Win a signed copy of my new cookbook Cook from the Heart : Food for every mood
My second book has been out for a few weeks now and I am so overwhelmed by the response of the media, friends, family and readers. I am so incredibly happy because I love this book so much. The fact that others like it, really is like the cherry on top. I’m very proud of this book and feel like the photography and styling is the best I’ve ever done and the recipes are all ones I love. Through this post you’ll see a sneak peak of what you can find in the book.
With that (and Christmas right around the corner), I thought it only right that I share the love with you guys. I’m giving away 6 copies of my new book and for the first time ever, 2 of those copies are up for the take by International readers. As most of my readership is based in Northern America and Canada, I think that’s just fair. Locally (South Africa), I will be giving away 2 English and 2 Afrikaans copies. All signed. All with one of the custom-made spoons we had made for the launch of the book. These spoons are so drop-dead gorgeous and everyone who sees them falls in love instantly.
As Cook from the Heart is a book all about emotion, all you need to do to enter is to comment with what emotion inspires you most to cook/eat and what you like to cook/eat when you are experiencing that emotion. Also please add your location to your comment and if you are local, whether you’d like the English or Afrikaans version of the book. This giveaway will be open until Friday 6 December 2013 and winners will be notified by e-mail (so please make sure the e-mail you use is correct). {Sharing this post on your social media channels will give you an extra entry.}
I thought I’d also share some pics of my lovely media launch with you. I decided to give the table a big food influence and got some help from an amazing friend with a gorgeous vegetable garden. I’m so utterly in love with this rustic, casual yet chic style of table decor.
I recently stumbled upon a quote by Neil Roake saying that you should first look for someone to eat with before looking for something to eat.
This is exactly the case with me and my hubby – food just tastes better if we eat together. We love setting the table each night, enjoying our food and having the best conversations while a lazy song (usually
something by Louis Armstrong or the Editors) is playing in the background.
Our ultimate indulgence, however, is ice cream. My fridge is stacked with litres of experiments – some more successful than others.
I live in Pretoria and would like an Afrikaans version of your book.
Well done! You should be very very proud!
When I feel melancholic, nostalgic or jumping with joy – one of the first things I like to do is share it with the people around me via food. I am a baker by heart and love baking cakes, biscuits, crème brulee, tarts, pies, quiches, and more!
Afrikaans and I live in Cape Town
Love! Love! Love! and not as you may think for the people I love (which I really do) and for the love of food (which I really have) but for the fact that my family LOVE my food! My son (a real foodie) tells me all the time I am the best cook ever (which I am sure I am not) and that each meal is better than the one before (Which may be so) and so I cook for the love it spreads in our family!
I am a lekker local and would love an English copy of your book!
Thank you for the inspiration
When I am stressed i need to bake no matter whether it is biscuits, cake, bread or whatever. Somehow the process of measuring and weighing ingredients and preparing tins calms my frazzled nerves. I am from KZN and would love to win an English copy of your book.
There is a certain type of contentment that I feel as soon as I get into the kitchen. With each whisk, stir and slice, the troubles of the day fall off…
But essentially – I find that having family and friends around is the biggest motivator for me in the kitchen – and this emotion would be LOVE.
Therefore I would say that cheesecake is my food of love… I adore trying out new recipes and it is often a firm dessert favourite on my menu!
I live in Brussels… Belgium (so an English version would be my preference)… but mom lives in Cape Town so delivery there also works!!!
I am going for LOVE;
When i am home alone and waiting for my boyfriend to come home from work or soccer practice i always get that urge to cook for him, to make something he loves! And then, when he opens the front door…the smell of mac and cheese with chorizo flies in his face:D BAM.. And i think; There’s your love honey;) pure, tasty, comforting LOVE on a plate!
Here I am, early in the morning of the day before the day before Thanksgiving (that would be Tuesday!) planning out the next two days of cooking projects. And you’ve asked us to tell you about the emotion that sparks our desire to cook. For me, it’s thankfulness, not just at this time of year, but always. Being thankful for the wonderful family and the dear friends I have — knowing that they are indeed gifts, makes me want to return their love with delicious and beautiful food. Like all of us who truly love to cook, I find that the looks of anticipation on the faces of those we love and the “oh my goodnesses!” when they savor the first bite is a true high! Life is good!
I am writing from our little town of Delhi in the Catskill Mountains of Upstate New York, and I would like an English version if I am lucky enough to win.
I found you on Pinterest and have been loving your work since then! Congrats on the positive reception to your beautiful book!
Living in London, at this time of year I get a bit homesick being away from sunny SA! So it’s comfort food all the way for me, something warm and filling for the winter here. This would be my Mom’s simple Pasta with Blue Cheese sauce – a spin on macaroni cheese I suppose. The stronger the blue cheese the better! It reminds me of when my Dad worked night shifts – we’d eat this between us as it wasn’t his favourite – so it was our treat. It’s so rich and satisfying, you want more but can’t manage another mouthful!
What I enjoy is taking the time to make the white sauce – it focuses my mind and I look forward to the end product. Still, it’s never quite the same as Mom’s!
I’d like an English copy please 🙂
To me the emotion that rules the most is the one of Love. It is out of love for my family that I prepare meals, including every morning’s breakfast and sandwiches for them to take to work. I believe a taste of my food should reveal my Love for them and every bite should remind them that the preparation of food and the meal or sandwich was done out of Love. When having guests, my love for life and friends rule my emotions when preparing a meal. Also memories of times we enjoyed with friends play a roll when preparing a special meal for our friends. The biggest emotion a human was born with remains love, this is the first emotion experienced by a Foetus and the first emotion a baby experiences when coming into this World. This is the emotion that drives me and puts me on a high. Every Human wants to love and wants to feel love. Meals in our Home is a token of Love!
Skuus sien ek nou eers al die requirements, ag ek is op my gelukkigste as die tv op cooking channel is as ek vir vriende kan kook en sien hoe mense dit geniet dit maak my die gelukkigste, probeer local produce gebruik en altyd keen op nuwe dinge te experiment en te leer
I am no doubt a foodie and cooking homemade meals daily for my family is never a chore in our home.
My best meals are cooked with so many emotions, so I have listed my top 5 as part of my personal “emotion-apron” that I don for each meal. Mealtime is not just a physical need…in our home it’s an EVENT!
1.Greed: my husband and I are BEEEG eaters and meals are prepared simply because we want to indulge and we want to indulge a lot…
2. Satisfaction: This certainly drives my meal choice and ingredients choice-how I’ll feel once it’s tasted and
eaten! Yum!
3. Appreciation: I am very practical when I cook and I try and use everything I can before it goes bad, so
as to not waste fresh ingredients. This really makes me feel much more appreciative of my special creations.
4. Passion: You can’t be a daily kitchen slogger without this very important emotion! It helps me
re-invent my meal “regulars” and keep my family surprised.
5. Love: You know what they say, above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
My favourites to prepare and eat are curries with homemade soft routis and all the sambal trimmings (just about in any form and I make beef, lamb, chicken, mince or bean curries frequently) or sweet treats 🙂 Baking is still a new area for me as I always lean towards savoury, but it is so rewarding and
fun!
P.S I am a local Capetonian and even though I am married to a boer and have the surname Smit, I would very much love an English version please!
<3
<3 Right back at ya maatjie xx
Knowing I am preparing for my family, get’s my creative juices flowing. My kids live the other side of the country, so when we are all together, I try to cook all the lovely things they enjoy. It can be quite a mix but all goes down extremely well. So the emotion is love of family and the food is always favorite comfort foods. I live in South Africa and would love to receive a copy of your awesome new book (english). It would make my year! Thanks for an awesome blog!
Hugz
Moz
Oh bummer already ordered in Kalahari, will keep the signed copy for myself, will I win ?
lets see 🙂
Having recently become the mom to twins and a toddler, I find the emotion that most inspires me to cook is my urge to nurture – whether it be my immediate or extended family, our friends and their new families, I love to know what I make with my hands will fill their tummies, make them happy and create wonderful memories. More and more I am inspired to cook the classics – my mom’s roast chicken, melt in your mouth lamb shanks, melanzane and pâté.
I’m in Johannesburg and would love English please!
I love to cook with passion…try different things and love to see peoples expressions when they take the first bite.
I adore baking, patisserie and desserts and the pure joy at the response I get from my beautiful family and friends when I make them something sweet, makes me feel as if I have been swaddled in love. It’s difficult to actually describe if you haven’t experienced it, but it’s something really special. I am in Durban and would love an English version of your book.
I have your first book and follow you on Pinterest and your blog as all your recipes work, so I use them a lot.
Love and happiness inspires me to cook and I love to bake delicious puddings or cakes.
Especially love to make lemon meringue.
I’m in KZN and would love an English book.
[email protected]
I love your style of cooking, over the top and unpretentious at the same time. I would love one of your cookbooks, in English please>
I love to cook when I get homesick, missing my family and especially my mom and her great food.
There was always something delicious to eat at her house, no matter how many people I brought with or at what time.
Now, when I go visit them in Germany, where I am actually born, my mom makes all the delicious meals that I love. And I completely overindulge.
So when I am in that homesick mood I love to make homey comfort food like Lasagne, or I bake a cake. The leftovers I usually take to work, because it makes me happy to see all my co workers enjoying whatever cake I make. They keep on asking about my German Apple Tart :).
Travelling a lot I missed that time to stand in the kitchen with my mom and learn all her little secrets. So now when I want to try one of her recipes or try something new we are on the phone, or I what’s app her a picture to make sure it looks right.
Cooking is amazing, and just gives me a great feeling when we sit down together, with family and friends, to enjoy whatever I have prepared.
I live in Tzaneen/Limpopo and would LOOOOVE to win one of your books in English.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.. food and love go hand in hand, and what drives me to cook day in and day out is LOVE, Love for my husband and baby daughter. What food to cook?.. What is better than pasta or pizza and a bottle of red wine or something warm and comforting like oxtail… I am a local, Durban. Would love an english book