SNE: Choosing a Cover

I intellection I strength wrap you all backwards into the demesne of Super Natural Every Day, to deal a bit more of the play-by-play that goes into the making of a cookbook aforementioned this one. In housing you uncomprehensible preceding (related) entries, I wrote this to squawk off the series, then this digit most how I approach the manuscript. Today I intellection I'd deal a bit most choosing a cover. It looks aforementioned we hit a counterbalance design that (fingers-crossed!) I wish you aforementioned as such as I do, and I'm agog to deal whatever of the thoughts that went into it. Here it is: I should move by saying, the path from having an intent for a aggregation to holding the aggregation in your hands is (in whatever cases) daylong and surprisingly non-linear. For example, I'm deep into the autograph and photography for Super Natural Every Day, but not finished. At the aforementioned time, we're determining on a cover. The counterbalance seems to be digit of the first things that needs to be nailed down. It appears in all sorts of places daylong before the aggregation goes to the printer - for example, the publisher's catalog, on the pages of online aggregation stores (for pre-orders), etc. It's the grappling of the book, and if done well, should set the talk for what you'll encounter inside. I'm trusty I've mentioned this before, but I see very fortunate to be employed with Toni Tajima at Ten Speed Press on the aggregation design for Super Natural Every Day. Toni was my designer on Super Natural Cooking, and having her on that project was a stroke of beatific phenomenon I'll forever be grateful for. Being able to impact on the follow-up with her? I've been out-of-my-mind agog most it. Toni heads up the design on the full aggregation - cover, interior, fonts, spreads - the full nine. So, let's talk most the duty of a cover. They're quite complicated. Practically speaking, they hit jobs to do. They requirement to communicate the postulate of the book. They crapper set the aesthetic talk for the pages to follow. They requirement to countenance beatific life-sized, and as thumbnail icons. In my case, this counterbalance had to evolve itself from the terminal aggregation at a glance, still countenance related. As farther as employed with your publisher goes, you poverty to hit buy-in from the grouping in the departments who support your aggregation as substantially - the list is daylong (and important), and includes income people, marketing people, as substantially as editorial. It's a collaboration, and the gimmick is creating and choosing something you love that doesn't start into the design-by-committee trap. Toni did a bunch of different mock-ups for this cover, and I lapse for the digit up above the instance she display it on her screen. All the another clog aside, it felt correct to me, hit the correct tone. It's pretty, feminine, quiet with a pair understated flourishes. I liked the checked colouration palette, and the font treatments. It has the dahlias I love to meet in Golden Gate Park in late summer, and digit of my favorite recipes from the aggregation pictured (a primary tater salad). It's the kind of aggregation I would pick up at a glance. This was digit of the terminal comps she shared with us after sending another versions in the preceding weeks. There were six or seven of us huddled around her desk when she showed it, and everyone seemed to reddened up. Here are a pair earlier versions (above) - digit move favorites of mine. I aforementioned the softness of both, and again, the limited colouration palette. I'm not such of a shouter, part of the conceive I conceive these quieter covers resonate with me. As I mentioned up above, we talked a lot most how Super Natural Cooking and Super Natural Every Day should countenance different, still related. One abstract that module help, in addition to the actual counterbalance design, is the cut size of the actual book. The newborn aggregation module be the aforementioned as SNC, but with more pages. It'll be thicker. But if all goes well, you'll be able to tell they're miss titles. And here we hit a pair more me-centric (and, I'd argue, more commercial) covers. I conceive everyone united they're likewise near to the SNC cover. Also, while I strength be on the covers here, they didn't rattling see aforementioned me, if that makes any sense. Let's meet say, I'm bright to make my exit from the counterbalance to relax on a some of the exclusive pages ;).... So, that's where things stand on the aggregation front. I'm trusty it won't be daylong before I'm able to deal whatever spreads with you, or a glimpse at the recipe pages, or any another characteristic of the creative impact you strength be interested in. We're employed toward sending it to the printer this November(!)...which seems so farther off, but rattling isn't. And lastly, I undergo whatever of you see short-changed when I don't hit a recipe to share, so I went backwards into the deposit and cherry-picked digit favorites to remind you of - I wish that module stop you over for a some days. xo -h This Carrot, Dill & White Bean Salad is digit of my favorites: Warm, coin-shaped slices of pan-fried carrots, albescent alubia beans, and cut herb tossed with a tangy-sweet yellowness onion dressing. And it has been whatever instance since I posted a sandwich, maybe because none are as beatific as this TLT, if redness tomatoes hit started turning up in your markets, provide it a go. Continue datum SNE: Choosing a Cover...

Farro & Herbs

I had a good turn of mozzarella in my icebox this week. We grilled pizzas on Memorial Day, and didn't modify up using it all. So, I intellection I'd deal a farro instruction I threw unitedly after in the week. It's prefabricated with farro, bocconcini, a bit of homemade creme fraiche, and herbs from terminal weeks farmers' market - the ones that nearly escaped by hiding behindhand a bed of condiments in the refrigerator. Do you ingest farro much? I can't get sufficiency of it. I love it's chewy nuttiness and the artefact it goes with meet about everything...I also intellection I'd deal a pair photos I took on a walk in Golden Gate Park - the terminal of the plum and redness blossoms. As far as today's instruction goes, this is the variety of abstract you crapper attain in no time if you hit grilled grains (in this case farro) on hand. I've mentioned it before, but I usually keep whatever variety of rice, farro, etc. cooked, then frozen, so I crapper meet pop it in a pan or saucepan whenever I poverty something like this. But today that I'm looking at the instruction again, you could even fissure open a pair of cans of chickpeas and ingest those in place of the farro here. Either way, it crapper be a lateral dish, or you crapper think of it as more of a main ply - for the latter, I might prepare up an egg to top things off. I meet used what I had at assistance here, but I crapper imagine whatever peppery arugula, or livid asparagus, or broccolini being enthusiastic additions. Or, whatever oven-roasted tomatoes and flushed pepper flakes thrown in erst we get into herb season. On a separate note, I picked up a few new cookbooks yesterday at Omnivore Books. If you live in the Bay Area and love to cook, it is digit of those places you should visit. Celia stocks lots of International titles - British, Australian, land - the good ones that are hard to encounter unless you're motion abroad. So, I'm excited to essay whatever recipes from those, and hopefully I'll hit whatever recipes to highlight soon. -h Continue datum Farro & Herbs...

SNE: Choosing a Cover

I thought I might loop you all back into the realm of Super Natural Every Day, to share a bit more of the play-by-play that goes into the making of a cookbook like this one. In case you missed previous (related) entries, I wrote this to kick off the series, then this one about how I approach the manuscript. Today I thought I'd share a bit about choosing a cover. It looks like we have a cover design that (fingers-crossed!) I hope you like as much as I do, and I'm excited to share some of the thoughts that went into it. Here it is: I should start by saying, the path from having an idea for a book to holding the book in your hands is (in many cases) long and surprisingly non-linear. For example, I'm deep into the manuscript and photography for Super Natural Every Day, but not finished. At the same time, we're deciding on a cover. The cover seems to be one of the first things that needs to be nailed down. It appears in all sorts of places long before the book goes to the printer - for example, the publisher's catalog, on the pages of online book stores (for pre-orders), etc. It's the face of the book, and if done well, should set the tone for what you'll find inside. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I feel very fortunate to be working with Toni Tajima at Ten Speed Press on the book design for Super Natural Every Day. Toni was my designer on Super Natural Cooking, and having her on that project was a stroke of good fortune I'll forever be grateful for. Being able to work on the follow-up with her? I've been out-of-my-mind excited about it. Toni heads up the design on the entire book - cover, interior, fonts, spreads - the whole nine. So, let's talk about the function of a cover. They're quite complicated. Practically speaking, they have jobs to do. They need to communicate the premise of the book. They can set the aesthetic tone for the pages to follow. They need to look good life-sized, and as thumbnail icons. In my case, this cover had to differentiate itself from the last book at a glance, yet look related. As far as working with your publisher goes, you want to have buy-in from the people in the departments who support your book as well - the list is long (and important), and includes sales people, marketing people, as well as editorial. It's a collaboration, and the trick is creating and choosing something you love that doesn't fall into the design-by-committee trap. Toni did a bunch of different mock-ups for this cover, and I fell for the one up above the minute she display it on her screen. All the other stuff aside, it felt right to me, hit the right tone. It's pretty, feminine, quiet with a couple understated flourishes. I liked the restrained color palette, and the font treatments. It has the dahlias I love to visit in Golden Gate Park in late summer, and one of my favorite recipes from the book pictured (a special potato salad). It's the kind of book I would pick up at a glance. This was one of the last comps she shared with us after sending other versions in the previous weeks. There were six or seven of us huddled around her desk when she showed it, and everyone seemed to light up. Here are a couple earlier versions (above) - two alternate favorites of mine. I like the softness of both, and again, the limited color palette. I'm not much of a shouter, part of the reason I think these quieter covers resonate with me. As I mentioned up above, we talked a lot about how Super Natural Cooking and Super Natural Every Day should look different, yet related. One thing that will help, in addition to the actual cover design, is the trim size of the actual book. The new book will be the same as SNC, but with more pages. It'll be thicker. But if all goes well, you'll be able to tell they're sister titles. And here we have a couple more me-centric (and, I'd argue, more commercial) covers. I think everyone agreed they're too close to the SNC cover. Also, while I might be on the covers here, they didn't really feel like me, if that makes any sense. Let's just say, I'm happy to make my exit from the cover to relax on a few of the inside pages ;).... So, that's where things stand on the book front. I'm sure it won't be long before I'm able to share some spreads with you, or a glimpse at the recipe pages, or any other aspect of the creative process you might be interested in. We're working toward sending it to the printer this November(!)...which seems so far off, but really isn't. And lastly, I know some of you feel short-changed when I don't have a recipe to share, so I went back into the archives and cherry-picked two favorites to remind you of - I hope that will hold you over for a few days. xo -h This Carrot, Dill & White Bean Salad is one of my favorites: Warm, coin-shaped slices of pan-fried carrots, white alubia beans, and chopped dill tossed with a tangy-sweet lemon shallot dressing. And it has been some time since I posted a sandwich, maybe because none are as good as this TLT, if cherry tomatoes have started turning up in your markets, give it a go. Continue reading SNE: Choosing a Cover...

Farro & Herbs

I had a good amount of mozzarella in my refrigerator this week. We grilled pizzas on Memorial Day, and didn't end up using it all. So, I thought I'd share a farro recipe I threw together later in the week. It's made with farro, bocconcini, a bit of homemade creme fraiche, and herbs from last weeks farmers' market - the ones that nearly escaped by hiding behind a row of condiments in the refrigerator. Do you use farro much? I can't get enough of it. I love it's chewy nuttiness and the way it goes with just about everything...I also thought I'd share a couple photos I took on a walk in Golden Gate Park - the last of the plum and cherry blossoms. As far as today's recipe goes, this is the sort of thing you can make in no time if you have cooked grains (in this case farro) on hand. I've mentioned it before, but I usually keep some sort of rice, farro, etc. cooked, then frozen, so I can just pop it in a skillet or saucepan whenever I want something like this. But now that I'm looking at the recipe again, you could even crack open a couple of cans of chickpeas and use those in place of the farro here. Either way, it can be a side dish, or you can think of it as more of a main dish - for the latter, I might cook up an egg to top things off. I just used what I had at hand here, but I can imagine some peppery arugula, or blanched asparagus, or broccolini being great additions. Or, some oven-roasted tomatoes and red pepper flakes thrown in once we get into tomato season. On a separate note, I picked up a few new cookbooks yesterday at Omnivore Books. If you live in the Bay Area and love to cook, it is one of those places you should visit. Celia stocks lots of International titles - British, Australian, Spanish - the good ones that are hard to find unless you're traveling abroad. So, I'm excited to try some recipes from those, and hopefully I'll have some recipes to highlight soon. -h Continue reading Farro & Herbs...

SNE: Choosing a Cover

I thought I might loop you all back into the realm of Super Natural Every Day, to share a bit more of the play-by-play that goes into the making of a cookbook like this one. In case you missed previous (related) entries, I wrote this to kick off the series, then this one about how I approach the manuscript. Today I thought I'd share a bit about choosing a cover. It looks like we have a cover design that (fingers-crossed!) I hope you like as much as I do, and I'm excited to share some of the thoughts that went into it. Here it is: I should start by saying, the path from having an idea for a book to holding the book in your hands is (in many cases) long and surprisingly non-linear. For example, I'm deep into the manuscript and photography for Super Natural Every Day, but not finished. At the same time, we're deciding on a cover. The cover seems to be one of the first things that needs to be nailed down. It appears in all sorts of places long before the book goes to the printer - for example, the publisher's catalog, on the pages of online book stores (for pre-orders), etc. It's the face of the book, and if done well, should set the tone for what you'll find inside. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I feel very fortunate to be working with Toni Tajima at Ten Speed Press on the book design for Super Natural Every Day. Toni was my designer on Super Natural Cooking, and having her on that project was a stroke of good fortune I'll forever be grateful for. Being able to work on the follow-up with her? I've been out-of-my-mind excited about it. Toni heads up the design on the entire book - cover, interior, fonts, spreads - the whole nine. So, let's talk about the function of a cover. They're quite complicated. Practically speaking, they have jobs to do. They need to communicate the premise of the book. They can set the aesthetic tone for the pages to follow. They need to look good life-sized, and as thumbnail icons. In my case, this cover had to differentiate itself from the last book at a glance, yet look related. As far as working with your publisher goes, you want to have buy-in from the people in the departments who support your book as well - the list is long (and important), and includes sales people, marketing people, as well as editorial. It's a collaboration, and the trick is creating and choosing something you love that doesn't fall into the design-by-committee trap. Toni did a bunch of different mock-ups for this cover, and I fell for the one up above the minute she display it on her screen. All the other stuff aside, it felt right to me, hit the right tone. It's pretty, feminine, quiet with a couple understated flourishes. I liked the restrained color palette, and the font treatments. It has the dahlias I love to visit in Golden Gate Park in late summer, and one of my favorite recipes from the book pictured (a special potato salad). It's the kind of book I would pick up at a glance. This was one of the last comps she shared with us after sending other versions in the previous weeks. There were six or seven of us huddled around her desk when she showed it, and everyone seemed to light up. Here are a couple earlier versions (above) - two alternate favorites of mine. I like the softness of both, and again, the limited color palette. I'm not much of a shouter, part of the reason I think these quieter covers resonate with me. As I mentioned up above, we talked a lot about how Super Natural Cooking and Super Natural Every Day should look different, yet related. One thing that will help, in addition to the actual cover design, is the trim size of the actual book. The new book will be the same as SNC, but with more pages. It'll be thicker. But if all goes well, you'll be able to tell they're sister titles. And here we have a couple more me-centric (and, I'd argue, more commercial) covers. I think everyone agreed they're too close to the SNC cover. Also, while I might be on the covers here, they didn't really feel like me, if that makes any sense. Let's just say, I'm happy to make my exit from the cover to relax on a few of the inside pages ;).... So, that's where things stand on the book front. I'm sure it won't be long before I'm able to share some spreads with you, or a glimpse at the recipe pages, or any other aspect of the creative process you might be interested in. We're working toward sending it to the printer this November(!)...which seems so far off, but really isn't. And lastly, I know some of you feel short-changed when I don't have a recipe to share, so I went back into the archives and cherry-picked two favorites to remind you of - I hope that will hold you over for a few days. xo -h This Carrot, Dill & White Bean Salad is one of my favorites: Warm, coin-shaped slices of pan-fried carrots, white alubia beans, and chopped dill tossed with a tangy-sweet lemon shallot dressing. And it has been some time since I posted a sandwich, maybe because none are as good as this TLT, if cherry tomatoes have started turning up in your markets, give it a go. Continue reading SNE: Choosing a Cover...

SNE: Choosing a Cover

I thought I might loop you all back into the realm of Super Natural Every Day, to share a bit more of the play-by-play that goes into the making of a cookbook like this one. In case you missed previous (related) entries, I wrote this to kick off the series, then this one about how I approach the manuscript. Today I thought I'd share a bit about choosing a cover. It looks like we have a cover design that (fingers-crossed!) I hope you like as much as I do, and I'm excited to share some of the thoughts that went into it. Here it is: I should start by saying, the path from having an idea for a book to holding the book in your hands is (in many cases) long and surprisingly non-linear. For example, I'm deep into the manuscript and photography for Super Natural Every Day, but not finished. At the same time, we're deciding on a cover. The cover seems to be one of the first things that needs to be nailed down. It appears in all sorts of places long before the book goes to the printer - for example, the publisher's catalog, on the pages of online book stores (for pre-orders), etc. It's the face of the book, and if done well, should set the tone for what you'll find inside. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I feel very fortunate to be working with Toni Tajima at Ten Speed Press on the book design for Super Natural Every Day. Toni was my designer on Super Natural Cooking, and having her on that project was a stroke of good fortune I'll forever be grateful for. Being able to work on the follow-up with her? I've been out-of-my-mind excited about it. Toni heads up the design on the entire book - cover, interior, fonts, spreads - the whole nine. So, let's talk about the function of a cover. They're quite complicated. Practically speaking, they have jobs to do. They need to communicate the premise of the book. They can set the aesthetic tone for the pages to follow. They need to look good life-sized, and as thumbnail icons. In my case, this cover had to differentiate itself from the last book at a glance, yet look related. As far as working with your publisher goes, you want to have buy-in from the people in the departments who support your book as well - the list is long (and important), and includes sales people, marketing people, as well as editorial. It's a collaboration, and the trick is creating and choosing something you love that doesn't fall into the design-by-committee trap. Toni did a bunch of different mock-ups for this cover, and I fell for the one up above the minute she display it on her screen. All the other stuff aside, it felt right to me, hit the right tone. It's pretty, feminine, quiet with a couple understated flourishes. I liked the restrained color palette, and the font treatments. It has the dahlias I love to visit in Golden Gate Park in late summer, and one of my favorite recipes from the book pictured (a special potato salad). It's the kind of book I would pick up at a glance. This was one of the last comps she shared with us after sending other versions in the previous weeks. There were six or seven of us huddled around her desk when she showed it, and everyone seemed to light up. Here are a couple earlier versions (above) - two alternate favorites of mine. I like the softness of both, and again, the limited color palette. I'm not much of a shouter, part of the reason I think these quieter covers resonate with me. As I mentioned up above, we talked a lot about how Super Natural Cooking and Super Natural Every Day should look different, yet related. One thing that will help, in addition to the actual cover design, is the trim size of the actual book. The new book will be the same as SNC, but with more pages. It'll be thicker. But if all goes well, you'll be able to tell they're sister titles. And here we have a couple more me-centric (and, I'd argue, more commercial) covers. I think everyone agreed they're too close to the SNC cover. Also, while I might be on the covers here, they didn't really feel like me, if that makes any sense. Let's just say, I'm happy to make my exit from the cover to relax on a few of the inside pages ;).... So, that's where things stand on the book front. I'm sure it won't be long before I'm able to share some spreads with you, or a glimpse at the recipe pages, or any other aspect of the creative process you might be interested in. We're working toward sending it to the printer this November(!)...which seems so far off, but really isn't. And lastly, I know some of you feel short-changed when I don't have a recipe to share, so I went back into the archives and cherry-picked two favorites to remind you of - I hope that will hold you over for a few days. xo -h This Carrot, Dill & White Bean Salad is one of my favorites: Warm, coin-shaped slices of pan-fried carrots, white alubia beans, and chopped dill tossed with a tangy-sweet lemon shallot dressing. And it has been some time since I posted a sandwich, maybe because none are as good as this TLT, if cherry tomatoes have started turning up in your markets, give it a go. Continue reading SNE: Choosing a Cover...