The book is great – brimming with ideas, beautifully shot
and – most important for me – beautifully written. This is her hallmark.
The launch at Stoke Newington Bookshop – a brilliant
independent bookseller - was packed with every kind of booklover, gardener,
cook, and maker. As a Northern Outsider
I was interested to observe the styles of these book lovers, which ranged from
neat and familiar, through Shaker restraint, to the elegant and the cookie. My
favourite style-statements were the elegant grey suit with black tee-shirt(man)
and golden brogues with shocking pink bows (woman).
In between the laden bookshelves the tables were filled with gift-food made from the book, complete with luggage label page-references.(I was sent out in the afternoon to buy those labels…) Debora told the story of the book and burnished it with stories of our outrageous Uncle Jos, his witty wife and his amazing allotment. Then - using her recipes from the book - she demonstrated how to make a calming tisane (lovely word that ...) and a beauty skin scrub with the help of her friend Allison.
Here we had great food, aesthetic appreciation, much laughter, hard information and beautiful books. Here the medium was indeed the message. I can’t find it in me to apologies for the eulogistic tone of this post. This writer is my clever kind daughter after all.
As well as rushing out to buy brown luggage labels, another thing I did that week was make a portrait on my tablet of Licked Spoon working, I know, I know! It looks like poker-work, But like Licked Spoon's writing, cooking and gardening, it is all my own work.
If you fancy Debora's Gifts from the Garden click here
It sounds like a wonderful launch Wendy and I for one can certainly vouch for the book which is simply exquisite - and why shouldn't we be proud of our daughters - it's what mothers are for.
ReplyDeleteYou have a very talented family. Yes you should be a proud mum.
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