It’s certainly been a busy year for Pippa Middleton!
In July, she said ‘yes’ to partner James Matthews’ marriage proposal, and just one month later, the younger sister of Duchess Catherine climbed the Matterhorn in honour of his late brother.
Now, the brunette beauty is tackling another milestone – the release of her first cookbook!
Heartfelt features a collection of over 100 recipes, all of which are approved by the British Heart Foundation’s dieticians.
The charity book was made in conjunction with the foundation, which Pippa has been an ambassador for since 2014.
Speaking to The Daily Mail of the cookbook, the 32-year-old revealed that although her name is on the cover, she is yet to try them all.
Sister Kate was apparently all too keen to try Pippa’s culinary creations!
“I would like to say I have made every single one, but I have definitely done a good 80 per cent of them. I made a lot of the dishes at home.”
One of which, halibut with roast tomato and herb dressing, holds a special meaning to the author, as it was the meal that won her fiance’s heart.
“I am sure he might choose a different dish as his favourite, but it was a very special dinner for us. You roast the Halibut and serve it with lentils. It’s delicious. James loves it.”
When asked if she learnt the acute skill of cooking from her mother Carole, the soon-to-be Lady couldn’t help but laugh. “No, not at all,” she says.
A date is yet to be set for the couple’s highly-anticipated wedding.
“We were taught to eat properly and to eat together as a family three times a day,” she said, recalling growing up beside her sister Kate and brother James in their Berkshire village home.
“As children we didn’t have anything different, we always ate what our parents ate. My mother and father took the view, and I agree, that you don’t need to make different food for children.”
“We had to eat everything on our plate and not be fussy about food. There were times when I would be sitting at the table after lunch or dinner, having not eaten something because I decided I didn’t like it and actually remaining there until I had eaten it.”
With a laugh, she continued: “We had to stay at the table until we had eaten everything. There were no exceptions. And in the end I liked everything because I had to.”
Talking about their diet as young girls, Pippa says: “Even from a very young age we had lots of traditional food like shepherd’s pie, liver and mash with an onion gravy, kidneys and even mussels.”
Pippa hopes the new recipe book will allow the world to see her for more than just a socialite or an iconic maid of honour.
“People see me as someone privileged who has used my position to advantage; that I don’t really work, that I am a socialite – that word really irritates me – and that I’m a party girl without any substance,” she admitted before revealing that she wishes to gain a nutritional qualification after her impending nuptials.
“I work very hard, I’m true to my values. I just try to live a normal life like many of my friends,” she explained to the publication.
WATCH: Pippa talks about her sister’s royal wedding in the video player below! Post continues…
Kate’s little sister was thrust into the limelight at the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s royal wedding in 2011 but, unlike her sister, Pippa doesn’t have royal minders and 24-hour security guards.
Speaking candidly, she admitted that the relentless attention does occasionally get to her and her family.
“I have had a few years of being in the public eye and I have developed something of a thick skin,” she told.
Pippa’s enviable silhouette caused quite a stir at Wills and Kate’s royal wedding. “I was surprised and still don’t understand it,” she says of the world’s reaction.
“But managing it all on my own has been quite hard. It can be unnerving.”
“I guess it’s become the new normal for us. It means there are factors we have to weigh up and think about, but we try not to let it affect us.
While it’s Pippa’s debut cookbook, it’s not her first foray into publishing.
In 2012, she was given a hefty advance from Penguin Books to pen the coffee table tome Celebrate which nose-dived in sales and was slammed for its glaringly obvious party planning tips.
She has also lent her byline to columns in The Spectator, Vanity Fair, and The Sunday Telegraph.
Last June, the proud aunt to Prince George and Princess Charlotte dabbled in the fashion world when she teamed up with designer Tabitha Webb to release a capsule collection to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
