Welcome to my first E-mail newsletter. As well as the newsletter appearing on my website www.theroyalchef.com I am now able to send it direct to your inbox to save you checking to see if it has been updated. Of course, if you don't want the newsletter sent to you then you can "safely unsubscribe" and I will never bother you again - boo hoo !

I hope to be able to send you latest news and recipes too in this newsletter so it's got to be worth keeping just for the free recipe right ? (smiles) Give it a try, it's new and it's different and it also deletes at the click of a button.

Tis the season, in the UK at least, for pantomime. Pantomime for those of you that don't know is a British entertainment that acts out around Christmas time. It's a theatrical spectacle of comedy, drama, buffoonery and mild sexual innuendo. Pantomimes like Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. They each have the same fixed characters: the lovers, father, servants (one being crafty and the other stupid), etc.

The one drawing most media this year is called "The Diana Inquest" Of course it has the usual stock characters; a fairytale princess, a wicked stepmother and a rich prince charming and each act is just as comical as the more traditional pantomimes with each character trying to steal the show.

I haven't talked about the inquest in my blog much because like most of the country I don't think it will achieve anything, only cause more pain and heartache to William and Harry. We have already learnt from Act 1 that the princess' last words were "oh my God" That's helpful, huh? We have had the stepmother - who the princess hardly spoke to tell us that "Diana was madly in love with Dodi and was probably about to marry him" She would know, Right ?

Act 2 was her private secretary who worked a 9-5 in the office next door and who saw the princess for about hmm.. two hours a week ? Telling us that "Diana had 5 lovers" Boooooooo ! Oh, yes she did, Oh no she didn't"

Act 3 had "Fatty Soames" (as the princess referred to him) and Dodi's servant butler (is he the crafty or the stupid?)

And on and on it goes, playing to sell out crowds all over Christmas. Will it have achieved anything at the end of the inquest other than given entertainment? No, of course not! Those that think it was an accident will STILL believe it was an accident. Those that think it was murder will believe it all a whitewash (or should that be a "Wishy washy")

One thing is for sure, it's not over yet. We are still due an appearance from the most famous pantomime dame of all Widow Twankey aka. The Butler. Enter stage right William and Harry as the pantomime horse "Look behind you!" the audience yell.

Princess Diana would often go out for lunch. Usually she let me know several days before through the menu book. Other times she would pop her head into the kitchen in the morning and apologize for the short notice, then tell me where she was eating instead.

I remember one morning her coming into the kitchen. "Oh, no lunch today Darren" she said. "Girly lunch your royal highness?" I asked. "Actually no" she replied "I am going to visit a little boy dying of AIDS" That knocked me off track. "Gosh, what do you say? What can you do? I mean, a little boy. Wow!"

"Well their is not a lot I can say and certainly not much I can do" She went on "But if just by chatting with him and hugging him, perhaps telling him some of my bad jokes - and you know how bad my jokes are - If just being there helps take his mind off the pain for that short while, then my visit will have been worthwhile."

That conversation stuck with me and it epitomized Princess Diana. By putting ourselves out just a little and thinking of others - especially at this time of year - we can all make a difference in other people's lives - and our own.

Happy Christmas.

If you love watching cooking shows then I am sure you will enjoy my new DVD. Two hours in high definition and shot by a food network producer.

The DVD has all the royal family favorite dishes on it and a bonus 20 minute segment telling how I got "From the Palace to Dallas.

You can buy it or read more about it by clicking on the "BUY THE DVD" link above the Blog on my Home page.

Well, I am cooked out for this year. Got some really neat classes lined up though for the first quarter of 2008. You can call the cooking schools now and start reserving places. Here's a heads up;

• January 26 Market Street Colleyville
• February 2 Market Street McKinney
• March 16 Market Street McKinney
• March 22 Central Market Houston
• March 29 Market Street Colleyville

Well, that's about it for this year. It's been such a busy year and flown by so quickly. I finally got my book printed and the media tour along with the people I met along the way was amazing. Sat on the sofa at Fox and Friends, cooking live in the plaza on the Today Show, cooked at the James Beard House, three pages in Hello Magazine and reaching number one on Amazon in cookbooks International. They were just some of the highlights.

Seeing the great work still ongoing at the Dresses For a Cause Exhibit raising money for Breast Cancer down in Ocala, Florida. The crazy sort of money people paid towards Autism charities, Taste of the Nation, March of Dimes and many more, just to have me cook for them. You guys were amazing.

For filling my cooking classes around the country, a huge thank you. For bidding on my charity silent auction dinner parties, you are the best. For buying copies of my book and taking it into third print and in doing so, helping me raise thousands of dollars for PEDAIDS - a mega, huge thank you. You are the best !

Have a happy and safe Christmas and when you are in the kitchen rustling up one of my recipes over the next few weeks just think about doubling the recipe and sharing a dish with that little old lady down the street or that family up the road that have hit hard times.

Giving and sharing... the reason for the season!

Until next time...... Darren