Er, hi there… it’s me; I’m totally the new Food Editor of Vintage Life Magazine!
I am beyond thrilled about this as I really made my start as a Food Writer in Vintage Life Magazine. Before the books, before the shows, before the telly, there was Vintage Life.
Photo: Laura Babb
Look at me, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed! I can tell you exactly when this photograph was taken – it was 8th October 2011 and I had just been made redundant that week. Chris and I talked about it and agreed that if we hadn’t starved after 6 months, I would remain self-employed running Restoration Cake.
This is not one of those ‘and look at how wonderfully it all went’ moments – as it turned out, 6 months in we were still covered by a redundancy cheque blanket and the really hard times came a couple of years in…
I knew that I wanted to write and was a huge fan of Vintage Life Magazine so I contacted Editor in Chief, Rachel Evans and offered my services. My articles were cake decoration methods and cake recipes with step-by-step photographs. Because I wanted to be different, I put myself in the pictures too! I worked with the fabulous Laura Babb and the woman who went on to take some of my favourite images, Lexi Fleming at Fleming Photo/Rockabetty Studios.
Rockabetty Studios
This one was taken in Lex’s parents’ kitchen. I was still learning about recipe writing and testing and hadn’t mastered setting my hair at all!
Rockabetty Studios
I look like I’m wearing a wig.
Skip forward to Summer 2016 and I’m five years older, (mercifully) a bit better at my vintage styling, with two published books under my belt. I have learned how to test my recipes and trust my writing of them – the greatest compliment I have ever received was from Nick Coffer at BBC Three Counties Radio who told me that the Weekend Kitchen recipe sheets with my recipes on are amongst the most popular as “they work.”
So I am back at Vintage Life Magazine! In addition to sharing a recipe in each issue, I will also be working with some incredible Food Writers who will be contributing really interesting articles for you to enjoy. I think you can definitely expect to see a thing or two from my darling Kevin Geddes of Keep Calm & Fanny On – who has just completed a Masters Degree ON FANNY CRADOCK! What a legend.
I’ll be sure to let you know when this first re-vamped issue is on sale – because it is not just me joining the team, there will be lots of other incredible editors too so you can look forward to a cracking read.
Stay gorgeous!
Cxx
