Laurel Remington’s The Secret Cooking Club hits the shelves this week. Winner of the Times/Chicken House Childrens’ Fiction Competition 2015, Remington’s novel features 12 year-old Scarlet. Poor Scarlet is the main subject of her mum’s popular blog, something she’s not too happy about. So, when she finds a deserted kitchen … things start looking up.
To celebrate the release of The Secret Cooking Club Laurel has popped in to My Book Corner to tell us about the inspiration behind her debut novel.
… AND we were a little inspired too – check out our baking attempts over on Twitter & Instagram #TheSecretCookingClub
Sweet Inspirations – the story behind The Secret Cooking Club
I’d like to say that the idea for The Secret Cooking Club came to me because I’m an amazing cook – and that I was just ‘writing what I know’. I’d like to say that I whip up home-cooked meals for my family on a regular basis, and that my children rise every morning to the scent of fresh-baked bread. But as I’m not a very good liar, I’m going to let you in on my secret – shh . . . don’t tell anyone, okay?
First off, I’m not much of a cook at all. When I was growing up, my mom was proud to be one of the first people on the block to have a microwave – and we ate accordingly. In 80s America, cooking was bound up in the feminist movement, and there was a clear divide between moms who worked and didn’t have time to cook, and stay-at-home moms who cooked. My mom was in the former category, and meals at our house were usually quick and easy. I was proud of her for having a career, and I liked her cooking (or lack thereof) the way most kids like the things they’re used to.
Second, even as an adult, I’ve never really caught the cooking bug, and I tend to shy away from cookbooks and recipes with long lists of ingredients. Just like my own mother, I’m a busy working mum and I tend to cook simple meals for my children. I am, however, quite conscious of wanting them to eat healthy. I try to make sure they eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and as few processed foods as possible. I’m pretty strict on sweets too (at least they say I am!).
Cooking aside, I do like to bake. I love making fancy birthday cakes for my daughters, decorating biscuits and making gingerbread houses. I like making chocolate and caramel flapjacks, and rice crispy snowballs. We also have apples, blackberries and damsons at home, and I usually end up making quite a few pies each year. This is about as complicated as I get, though. I am in awe of the people on Bake-off who have food and baking down to an art – everything looks beautiful, is innovative, and must taste amazing.
The nice thing about being a writer is that I can ‘be’ an amazing cook through my characters, despite the fact that I may fall short in real life. When I began writing The Secret Cooking Club, I wanted the main character, Scarlett, to form her own secret club that would help her regain her confidence and self-belief (which has suffered a blow due to her blogger-mum). I chose a cooking club primarily because I know how much my daughters love to cook and bake – I thought it was something that would interest a young audience, as well as appeal to all the senses. And though I may not be a very good cook in real life, I loved writing about Scarlett’s exploration of food and cooking. For me, words are my ingredients, and novel structure is my recipe. Scarlett finds joy in cooking and baking, and I find joy in writing. I hope that readers of The Secret Cooking Club will be inspired to believe in themselves, take a risk and try something new, whatever it may be.
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