The Royal Chef At Home: Easy Seasonal Entertaining

For much of southern England though, spring can be glorious. The tantalizing promise of sunshine comes with budding wild primroses, Canterbury bells and Michaelmas daisies followed by sweet pea blossoms, ranunculas, ever present phlox and masses of forsythia with its sprays of yellow blooms. I remember the bouquets of cut flowers that would be harvested from the gardens at Windsor Castle and arranged into magnificent displays in large ornate urns along the wide hallways and through the royal apartments. Perhaps it’s because I am a chef that I do notice flowers quite a bit, especially the edible ones, like nasturtiums, that automatically brighten up my salad and dessert plates. It’s that combination of colors and textures that reminds me when plating a dinner that you do indeed “eat with your eyes first.” Food, like flowers, should always look good. Each spring, my catering company in Dallas “Eating Royally, Fine Dining” cooks for numerous charity events and philanthropic fundraisers, so it is important that I make sure everything from tables to flowers to food looks its best. I’ve been connected to charity and philanthropic circles nationwide for a long time, sometimes as a chef and caterer, but often as someone donating their services to charitable causes. Participating inphilanthropy was something I learned from the world’s best teacher, Princess Diana.

It was “the Boss” and her ceaseless support of charities at home and abroad who showed me the importance of good works. As her personal chef at Kensington Palace, I remember being asked along with several of my chef friends to donate our time to help pull off an event for an organization called Children in Need. Working on our day off? For no pay? We all turned up our noses. But watching the Princess’ unwavering commitment to needy children, the sick and the elderly inspired me to start doing the same. At that time she was patron to 119 charities… surely I could “do my bit” even for just one! After her death I continued supporting her favorite charity, donating the advance and royalties from my first cookbook Eating Royally: Recipes and Remembrances from a Palace Kitchen to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. GiventhatPrincessDiana’s focuswasonchildren and AIDS, this seemed to bring both together nicely. Currently I support American charities like the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, a local Dallas based suicide and crisis center and a number of children’s charities. It’s all thanks to the Princess: she left an important legacy of giving back and it’s one I’m proud to see her sons, William and Harry, continuing in their own lives. So each spring my personal and business calendar starts filling up with both fundraising parties and “fun”raising parties. On the “fun” side, there is Easter, St. Paddy’s Day and

“Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” – Princess Diana –

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