Café Handmade TT

07/02/2026

The feedback on this book has been coming in—
thoughtful messages, quiet reflections, people seeing themselves in these pages.

Safe to say, none of my family members have read it yet.

Not that I expected them to.
I made peace a long time ago with the fact that
the family I was born into
is not the family I put my energy toward.
I have built my own circle.
People who show up.

People I can turn to when I need support
or just an encouraging word.
And honestly?

That kind of family has carried me further than I imagined.

📖💙

01/02/2026

This book is about surviving, then growing into thriving.
You don’t want to live forever in survival mode.

There comes a time when you need to breathe.
To live without panicking.
To live without stressing about tomorrow.
How I faked it till I made it was the story I told to survive
in a world that keeps judging a book by its cover.
But somewhere along the way,
I became that story.
Not by pretending—
but by doing the work,
by learning, unlearning,
and becoming the best version of myself.
Now I am not just surviving.
I am living.
And I am finally enjoying it.

📖✨

26/01/2026

As an avid reader myself—and someone who has read so many survival stories—I am still in awe when someone mentions something from my book, asks me when the hard copies will be out, or even jokes about whether I am making macaroni pie for the launch party.

Moments like that still feel surreal.
Being a chef-author means I get to tell my story through two languages:
food and words.

One nourishes the body.
The other nourishes the soul.
This book holds my journey—my childhood, my early adulthood, my pain, my resilience, and the healing that came through cooking. It is the most vulnerable thing I have ever created.

And I love this era that we live in now.
You do not have to wait for permission anymore.

You are the permission giver.
I am grateful for every message, every reader, and every person who finds a piece of themselves in these pages.
This is not just a book.
It is a chapter of my life.

👩🏾‍🍳📖💙

13/01/2026

📖 Recently, someone asked me why I decided to write my story and share it with the world.

"Aren’t you afraid of being judged?"
"Putting all your business out there for people to talk about you?"

Honestly, yes—there’s always a little fear. But then, I received a voice note from someone who said my book inspired them. They were shocked by some of the experiences I shared, but they were even more amazed at how I overcame them and built something meaningful.
That moment reminded me: we all have a choice. Do what makes you happy. Share your truth. Heal in your own way. You are not here to live your life for anyone else.

Some will say you should keep your struggles private. But for others, your story can be the spark they need to believe in themselves. ✨

Your journey, your voice, your impact—it’s yours. Own it. 💙

23/12/2025

Why Recipes for Life?

Because no one gives you a manual for surviving chaos.

You learn by watching.
By adapting.

By doing whatever works in the moment.
Every chapter in this book is a recipe I didn’t ask for —lessons built from silence, resilience, and instinct.

This is not a cookbook.

It’s a record of how I learned to live.

22/12/2025

We are about to go LIVE. 📖✨

I am officially stepping into a new era — Chef Marcelle, author.

And honestly? I love the world we are living in right now.

There was a time when becoming an author meant sending your manuscript to 59 different publishers, waiting months (or years), and collecting rejection letters along the way. Today, with intention, preparation, and courage, you can self-publish in as little as 72 hours.

One click. One decision. One leap of faith.

This book was seven years in the making. What began as journaling to heal trauma and pain evolved into a memoir that blends my life story with the recipes that comforted me, carried me, and kept me grounded through every season.

This is more than a book.
It is healing.
It is truth
It is survival.
It is growth.
It is proof that we no longer need permission to tell our stories.
Technology? Sweet.
This era? Powerful.
This moment? Surreal.

We are going live — and I cannot wait to share this journey with you.

04/12/2025

Death is one of those truths we carry quietly —
We know it’s woven into life,
we brace ourselves for its arrival.

Yet when it reaches for someone we love,
The heart still trembles.
Because suddenly their laughter becomes a memory,
their touch becomes a wish,
and the voice that once called our name
now echoes only inside us.

And maybe that is what makes us human —
that even with all our knowing,
all our preparation,
We still feel the ache.
Because love leaves its mark,
And grief is simply love trying to find its way.

28/11/2025

Stepping into my new role as an author has been one of the most transformative chapters of my life.

This journey began seven years ago, when I made the decision to finally heal—from the trauma, the pain, and the parts of my story I had buried to survive. What started as simple journaling during therapy sessions slowly grew into something bigger than I ever imagined.

Those pages evolved into my first book—a memoir that weaves together my lived experiences with the recipes that brought me comfort, grounding, and strength at each stage of my life. It’s a book shaped by truth, resilience, and the flavors that carried me forward.

The process was its own education: the writing, the countless edits, the long nights of self-doubt, the decision between self-publishing or finding a publisher willing to believe in a first-time author, and even the practical questions like—How many copies should I print? Should I host a book launch? Where should it be?

Every single step reminded me that life is a cycle of learning and growing. And doing all of this while scaling Handmade by Jeanette Company taught me new depths of discipline, creativity, and courage.

What can readers expect from my memoir?

✨ A raw and honest journey through healing
✨ Lessons learned from life on the edge and life in the kitchen
✨ Stories of survival, purpose, and transformation
✨ Recipes that held my hand when words couldn’t
✨ A reminder that no matter where you start, you can rewrite your ending

I am humbled, proud, and excited to share this piece of my heart with the world.

Here’s to new beginnings—and to every woman rewriting her own story.

18/09/2024

Take a breath.
Have a rest
And start
Again tomorrow.


   

19/05/2024