Aoife McElwain is a messy cook, but she’s managed to go from chaos to craic in the kitchen, and that’s what her book, Messy, will help you do too. With simple recipes interspersed with musings on how to harness the joy of cooking, this book is for anyone who’s tired of the cult of busyness and the lie of perfectionism or whose inner critic follows them into the kitchen.
ISBN
9781738479597
Publish date
28 October 2025
Page count
72
Dimensions
154 x 217 mm
About the author
Aoife McElwain is a messy cook who lives in Connemara, in the West of Ireland, where the wild beauty of the landscape helps balance her work as a food writer, food stylist, wedding DJ, events planner and creativity coach. She is Chief Craic Mechanic at Sing Along Social, a singing party for people who can't sing, and pops up at weddings and festivals in Ireland, Europe, the US or wherever the craic calls. She started a food blog in 2009 to learn how to cook and wrote a weekly food column for the Sunday Times Ireland in 2021. Her words about food have also been featured in the Irish Times, the Irish Independent, Totally Dublin Magazine, the Financial Times and the Guardian. She published a book about burnout, Slow at Work, in 2018. In her free time, she volunteers with Connemara ponies and is passionate about the therapeutic benefits of being mindful with animals and in nature.
