Let’s Celebrate a Joyous June

With Our 1st Give-away, My Birthday Month & Lots of Sunshine Cooking

Welcome to Cook With Lerato! A newsletter with recipes & stories for sunshine on your plate. If you haven’t subscribed, what are you waiting for? Hit the subscribe button, or upgrade here to become a member for exclusive weekly recipes, supper clubs & much more.

Hello Sunshine!

Yes, you! You light up my world by being here and reading this. So thank you! June is my second favourite month of the year, with December being the first for its Christmas cheer that turns me into a delirious child. It's my birthday month, precisely the 30th of June, and I choose to celebrate all month long. It removes the anticipation and stress of trying to make that one day very special. I can fill up my happiness cup one splash at a time, with all the little things and glorious food I enjoy and the people I care about. This June happens to be packed, with lots of events, including some very important dinners I'm catering to present my cookbook. I am also attending the Guild of Food Writers Awards—a celebration of some of the best in food writing, podcasting and media organised by this most prestigious organisation, of which I am a member. I have also just been invited to the HarperCollins Summer Party, and several other summer events—all these in the month I am supposed to have jetted off on tour to Tanzania, as part of my African food tour. If you are following me on Instagram, you can join me on these delicious adventures there. Do say hi, if you are following!

Akon waiting for his plate of food! Follow me for more of my adventures!

leratofoods

A post shared by Lerato 👩🏽‍🍳🍅 Africana (@leratofoods)

We had some joyous announcements in May AFRICANA! I just love saying it out loud. And some sad personal moments too, but here we are. Alive and well, and I am so grateful for yet another year. This June we have our first ever GIVE-AWAY exclusively for members and a round-up of wonderful recipes, some you have loved, and some you may have missed or are yet to try. As always, you can find previous posts in the archives and all recipes here. Its the Queen of England’s Jubilee celebration this weekend and the streets are filled with jolly people, victoria sponge cakes, strawberries and perhaps some not so jolly people who don’t care for royal celebrations. I’m sort of in the middle, not obsessed but I love jolly celebrations so I’m off to London to enjoy the wonderful sunshine, dinner with friends at a Nigerian establishment and to finish off with drinks on the South bank. One of my favourite parts of London and where I used to live in my mid-late teens /university days. I am worried about the madding crowd, even worse after reading this guide to surviving Jubilee weekend I’ll share photos.

I hope you enjoy my give-away, the delectable recipes I have linked below and a fantastic weekend wherever you are!

Lerato x

AFRICANA + Newsletter giveaway for members!

It is 3 months until AFRICANA hits the shelves. Can you believe it? In May, I announced my debut cookbook and what an incredible response from you all. Thank you for your support and for all those who have pre-ordered, I cannot thank you enough. I wrote this book to share treasured recipes & stories of important people who deserve to be celebrated, and to share food that you deserve to enjoy. 

I am thrilled to share an exciting GIVE-AWAY for you as a subscriber. If you pre-order or have pre-ordered AFRICANA, I am giving away 50% off one-year membership to the CWL newsletter. 

What do you have to do?

Pre-order your copy or copies of AFRICANA and send your order confirmation to cook@leratofoods.com

You will receive a special link with your discount already applied, to sign up or upgrade your subscription to become a member of this newsletter. If you have ordered multiple books, you can use your discounts for another year or gift the subscriptions to those you are gifting the book to or anyone of your choice. If you are already an annual member, you will receive additional 6 months on your current membership. While subscribers receive occasional recipes, as a member, you will receive exclusive weekly recipes, invitations to supper clubs, cookery classes, member treats and lots more. Pre-order your copies and become a member of this newsletter.

What to cook!

In May, I started sharing Quick & Easy Recipes to inspire your weekly cooking. Every week, members will receive these recipes in their inbox or accessed through the app. Recipes filled with astounding flavours, seasonal cooking and lots of ideas for swaps in the Cook’s Tips section. These recipes are exclusive to our members, so if you are a free subscriber, do consider upgrading your membership to receive these and more. 

• For what to cook when you don’t really feel like cooking, plus an opportunity for a fridge raid, this Cauliflower Groundnut Stew in 3 ways (as a stew, soup or dip) is a handy recipe to have in your back pocket.

• A delightful Tomato Tart, perfect for the plump fruits of seasons.

• This Rainbow Roast had tongues wagging, with plantains, sweet peppers and more. A great opportunity to use up leftover veggies and do a little dance while cooking!

• I have been craving cake so desperately, and have decided to swap the apples in the Spiced Apple Cake (Apfelkuchen) I made at Christmas for a Swiss magazine that featured me alongside the founder of the Royal Horticultural Society. If you haven’t, you must check it out. Such an indulgent cake that is less naughty than it looks, filled with fruits—apples and dates. If useful, a German version is also available, and you can watch me make it here.

• This weekend I’ll be cooking this Steak recipe once again as I still have wild garlic butter and I always have Romano peppers and tender-stem at home. 

• For those who would love a quick seafood recipe, this Moroccan Spiced Roast with Cod with fragrant and toasted seeds is just the treat for an easy feast.

Thanks for reading this newsletter. If you cook any of the recipes and share photos, tag me on Instagram #cookwithlerato & @leratofoods as I love to see your creations. You can always drop a line to say hello or if you have any questions or suggestions, please email me at  lerato@leratofoods.com

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