As 46 year olds go I’m a bit crap.

I don’t adult very well.

When I was approached by BBC Radio Sheffield earlier this week to see if I’d like to take part in ‘Kats kitchen’ the first thing I did was think of every reason not too.

Don’t get me wrong I wanted to do it and I was chuffed we’d even been asked , but something inside me always rears its ugly head and tells me I’m not good enough. That I’ll mess up.

Lack of confidence has always held me back, something I’ve spoken about on here on numerous occasions and that drives my father and BF crazzzzy

I did however make a conscious decision at the beginning of this year that all that would stop in 2017.

This is the year I push myself out of my comfort zone.

Following a pet talk with the BF who told me to stop being pathetic, while also informing me that if I didn’t do it he’d be extremely disappointed; I said that yes we’d love to do it.

Can’t be disappointing the Mr could I… or more importantly myself.. and pathetic? How dare he?!

To be honest it’s not as though we had to do much. Sit and watch a professional chef cook several dishes and taste the goodies. Sounds like chuffing heaven…

There would however be some chit-chat with myself and Sue my ‘Ladies who Lunch’ companion which would involve speaking LIVE on radio, which is what made me a little anxious.

I don’t like to do any form of public speaking . Terrifying. My career as a Temple Spa consultant came to an abrupt end as I hated having to host classes with groups of people I had never met.

I often got tongue-tied and when I did find my voice proceeded to ramble on like a bloody nutter.

I also have a tendency to call people ‘knob heads’

Not exactly great radio material.

The reason I write is because [ I love it ] I’m so much better at expressing myself via the written word.

So let’s cut a long story short …

Myself and Sue ‘Ladies that Lunch‘ did make our radio debuts on BBC Radio Sheffield on Saturday morning [yay!] Come 9.00am we were on air, eating fried chicken cooked by a Master Chef finalist in a strangers [beautiful] kitchen.

A quite surreal but fun experience. It was great to see both presenter and chef at work.

Kat Cowan Radio Sheffield’s Saturday morning breakfast presenter and her husband Andrew were warm and friendly, making us feel immediately at ease.

Former Graphic Designer and Nottingham boy Pete Hewitt was on Master Chef in 2015 and came an impressive 5th.

He went on to set up his own company ‘Home Boys’ which specializes in New Asian cuisine. He works from and drives his van around the country , cooking up fabulous food at festivals, markets and the like.

He was at ‘Street City’ which was held over the weekend on Ecclesall Road.

I hear from good sources [Sue] that he sold out of chicken! Hardly surprising it was delicious.

We sampled the following dishes :

• Lamb Rump with Red Thia Curry Sauce and Noodles
• Japanese Fried Chicken
• Tater Tots with Steak and Cheese

All recipes can be found on the BBC Radio Sheffield Face Book page //HERE

It was seriously tasty, and I can imagine [the fried chicken especially] would go down a treat if you were suffering with a hang-over. I wasn’t but still thoroughly enjoyed it.

My favourite dish was the tater tots [deep fried grated potatoe] with skirt steak and cheese sauce , which is actually one of Home Boys new dishes. I like a bit of steak I do and combined with the potatoe and cheese sauce was spot on. My kind of dish.

If you ever spot the Home Boys van its worth popping over, saying hi then indulging … or why not make one of the recipes for yourself?

I’m feeling inspired and might just do just that myself. [it’ll no doubt end in tears]

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So to conclude the thing about doing something that scares you a little is the buzz you get afterwards.

I had a great morning.

I didn’t mess up.

I strung my sentences together .

I think I made sense!

The word knob never crossed my lips  …

[FYI – mum and I call each other ‘little knob heads’ affectionately  – it’s a long-standing joke. She once rang my work up and thinking I had answered said ‘now then knob head how are you today !?’ My office manager at the time was most put out and slammed the phone down in disgust. When she told me about it, I knew exactly who had called, but nodded along agreeing that some people were indeed very rude! ]

I’m sure if I’m ever asked to do something that’s  out of my comfort zone again,  I will go into a state of panic [you can’t polish a turd over-night], question myself, try and talk myself out of it etc … but I’ll most definitely ensure it ends in a yes!

Life’s  too short to regret the things you didn’t do… and because when push comes to shove I’m not so bad!

2017 … bring it on!

Until next time, Tracey x

• Kat Cowan presents the Radio Sheffield Breakfast show on Saturdays between 7.00 and 10.00am. Kats Kitchen is on air for the last hour of the show. If you love food and wanted to take part I understand shes always on the look out for people.
• You can follow Pete Hewitt and Home Boys travels // HERE
• Thank you for having us x