‘It’s taken me a long life to know for sure that life is for living, and that hard graft has to be
worth it. So, if you are whacked, short of time or just don’t like cooking, cheating is fine. I cheat
all the time, and I LOVE cooking.’— DAME PRUE LEITH

We’re so please that, in her packed schedule (filming publishing and eleven grandchildren!) Prue is finding time to come to the Palace to share here amazing foodie life story.

Prue Leith’s career has included her own restaurants, catering and cookery school businesses; she’s been a board director of companies such as British Rail, Halifax, Safeway, Whitbread, Woolworths, and Belmond (ex-Orient Express) Hotels. She has published eight novels, a memoir, I’ll Do Anything Once (formerly, Relish) and 14 cookbooks. Her latest cookbook, Bliss on Toast, was published by Bloomsbury in 2022.

Prue is probably best known as a judge on the Great British Bake Off, but last year she also presented a gardening programme, Prue’s Great Garden Plot with her husband, and this year will judge the American equivalent of Bake Off. She has also been a judge on The Great British Menu and My Kitchen Rules.

Prue has had a deep involvement with education and the arts: she chaired the first of the companies charged with turning round failing state schools, and was Chair of the School Food Trust, responsible for the improvement of school food and food education. She started and led the campaign for contemporary sculpture to be exhibited on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. She has been active in many charities and is the Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She was an advisor for the Government’s Hospital Food Review.

Among her awards she has a DBE, 12 honorary degrees or fellowships from UK universities, the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the year, and her restaurant, Leith’s, won a Michelin star.

Not bad for an octogenarian!

Wednesday 19 March 19:30 at the Palace Theatre

Prue will be signing her book at the event: ‘Life’s Too short to Stuff a Mushroom’
Chef and TV legend Dame Prue Leith brings us the cookbook you’ve always wanted – 80 delicious recipes,
with accompanying kitchen shortcuts and hacks, for a lifetime of easy cooking. Every recipe in this book
comes with a handy tip or video to help you get ahead.

Coined by Shirley Conran in her ‘70s bestseller Superwoman, ‘Life’s Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom’ is a
phrase that every time-poor cook can relate to. In this clever cookbook, you’ll find really good recipes
without the fuss: recipes where a neat trick can save you time, recipes where the cheat versions taste just
as good as the home-made, and recipes to help you avoid waste and save you money. How do you cook the
perfect steak? What’s the best way to dice an avocado? And what about when it just all goes terribly
wrong?
With quick-win recipes including Chicory, Pear, Hazelnut and Goat’s Cheese Salad, Crispy Pork Belly,
Gunpowder-crusted Steak with Coriander Chutney and Herbed Salmon Parcels, Prue’s handy hacks show
you how a little bit of insight goes a long way. Plus, there are plenty of delicious, simple treats to make life
easier, from Peppermint Meringue Kisses and No-churn Mango Ice Cream to Chocolate Almond Torte and
Cherry Clafoutis.

Perfect for every home cook, the absolute beginner, or someone who has been doing it so long that
cooking has somehow lost its attraction – Life’s Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom contains years of culinary
know-how and inspirational meals, squashed into an accessible cookbook.