I love food and have been involved with cooking in one way or another for most of my life. Growing up I learned a lot from my parents: I used to make cakes and puddings with my Mum (she is in denial about this as she hates cooking now, but we definitely used to have a cake or sweet treat on the go most weeks and a special pudding on Sundays) and savoury things with my Dad (he taught me how to make proper gravy and real mayonnaise, as well as how to cook perfect rice every time and many other useful skills). I come from a foodie family and when we get together food is always the main topic of conversation. We never seem to tire of it!
I started my little catering business in 2013 when a friend, having ascertained that I wasn’t busy that afternoon, asked me round to make canapés on her kitchen table. It was a bit like Ready Steady Cook: she’d bought a variety of components that she thought would make good canapés, but hadn’t really thought how to put them together. I went round and we tipped everything out and began creating. It was for a small event that evening and I gather they went down very well. On the strength of that, I did another, larger, event for the same friend a few months later and another friend took a bit of a leap of faith and booked me for her Christmas drinks party with 100 guests! From those 2 events I got 2 or 3 bookings and so it all began.
Since then, and pretty much all through word of mouth, I have done all sorts of events, ranging from a dinner party for 6 to a canapé event for 350 and everything in between. I have also got into doing cakes in a big way, which I am very fond of (I think because I’m partial to a bit of cake!) and have supplied many local places, most notably the tea room at Doddington Place Gardens since it relaunched in 2018 and since 2021 some the tea room at Belmont House and Gardens. I have also done quite a number of cake commissions in that time, mainly for big birthdays but I have also done wedding cakes.
I like to involve my family when I can and when they’re willing! My daughter, Molly, is great with canapés, both making them and arranging them artistically and she has also helped a great deal with photography for this website. She also designed my new logo (see news section). My son, Thomas, is a keen and proficient baker. Brownies are his particular forté, and, rather randomly, he makes the best bundt cake I have ever tasted, but he enjoys making (and especially eating) most cakes. They are both also very useful bar/waiting staff when I need extra help.
Food is such an important part of life as it brings people together. Whatever the occasion, birthday, wedding, anniversary, baby shower, wake, business meeting, training day, holiday etc etc, food is the common denominator. I always feel very honoured to be asked to cater events because it’s such an integral part of the day and it’s lovely to provide a service that brings people together and gives such pleasure.
