Who wants to bring an e-reader into the kitchen, anyway? I mean, I’m sure some

Copyright: Williams-Sonoma

people do, but then you run the risk of getting food on it, of equipment getting tossed on it, and you don’t have those beautiful glossy photos looking up at you. It’s not the same giving someone an e-cookbook for Christmas (“Here, sweetie. Here’s the link to download your very own version of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Merry Christmas! And someone’s birthday is coming up. Be on the lookout for Anthony Bourdain’s LeHalles Cookbook in your inbox!”). Frankly, it’s hard to get excited about a recipe when it’s coming off a flat, boring screen. The most beautiful part of a cookbook is the book itself.

Regardless of your opinion on the matter, the fact is that cookbooks are still going strong in the print market, especially with the growing trend of paper-over-board covers, which is a hardcover book with a photo printed right on the cover, rather than a dustjacket. Read a Publisher’s Weekly article for more information. And I’d love to know what you all think.

Viva la cookbook!

Compounding the problem of lost Christmas sales is the fact that they probably won’t be made up next Christmas. The publishing industry is a funny machine wherein timing is everything.  In order to make decent Christmas sales, you have to release a book a few months prior to Christmas (around September), but no earlier than that, to create the right “Hey, here’s a brand new book on the market” buzz. In other words, a book that comes out between January and August are already old by Christmas. That’s not to say that they won’t sell at all. After all, publishers and authors alike hope that a book will have a long shelf life and a nice cookbook can sell as gifts for years to come.

What I’m talking about is the BIG sales spike on a newly released book, which affects the rest of the life of the book. Within a year, a book—any book—is considered “backlist”; that is, books that are still in print and available but are no longer actively promoted or pushed by the publisher. It’s kind of like when you buy a new computer with the latest technology, but your old computer still works, so you put it in the basement or the guest room and every now and then you turn it on to do something. But for the most part, you’ve forgotten it. That old computer has been backlisted. Fortunately, unlike computers, which become completely obsolete after a few years, books can have a long, healthy life in Backlistland and continue to sell very well. But unless the author is famous or something occurs that draws unexpected attention to the book, chances are you’ll not get a sales spike quite like the one you got (hopefully) when the book was initially released.

At any rate, I’m going through the proof now and it’s taking a while. A cookbook is a complex thing with many different elements that have to come together a certain way. There are lots of little things that require correcting (I suppose that it doesn’t help that I’m extremely anal and a stickler for consistency). Cookbooks are very visual, which is why books with color photos sell better than others. But photos are very expensive to print and not all publishers can afford to do that. That’s where illustrations come in. They break up the text and help readers visualize the recipes and ingredients. But even illustrations are expensive. And because I originally self-published this book, cost was even more of a factor. I was also lucky to have a very good friend, Linda, who’s an artist and did my illustrations for free.

Layout for easy reading is important, too. People should be able to bring their eyes back and forth to a page in a cookbook and easily find where they last left off. And the instructions should be easy to read. I dislike books with “run-on recipes”—recipes that just follow one another on the same page—because it makes it confusing sometimes. However, paper costs money and I myself had to do some run-on recipes when I self-published this book. But cookbook designers try to avoid that, if possible. The only cookbook I own that has run-on recipes and very little in the way of illustrations is Marcella Hazan’s The Essentials of Italian Cooking. But Hazan is an Italian cooking legend and she could write a cookbook on a roll of toilet paper and it would sell.

Moving on to the next project, I FINALLY finished the testing on my second cookbook. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. There are still a few recipes that I decided need one more run in the test kitchen. But the bulk of the testing is done and I’m not on this bullet train of daily testing anymore. I felt like I was doing nothing else, day after day. Alicia Silverstone came out with a vegetarian cookbook recently called The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet, and Vegetarian Times interviewed her about it. She said that she was basically on lockdown in her house for 12 days testing the recipes. Now, I don’t know how she did proper testing for an entire cookbook in just 12 days, but it illustrates my point just the same: Developing and testing recipes for a cookbook is a laborious, time-consuming task. I started this second book in 2002. Can you believe that? Eight years in the making, and who knows how many thousands of dollars for ingredients. Well, phase 1 is over. Now on to phase 2: Trying to sell it to a publisher. That’s going to be the hard part. I still have this whole “platform” problem. More on that another time.

For someone who doesn’t have a job, I seem to be awfully busy, which is a good thing but it makes me wonder how I got anything done when I was working. How does anyone get anything done when they’re working? I’m going to try really hard to get through a long list of things to do this weekend and, hopefully, get in some exercise. It’s going to be fairly nice before another winter storm moves in. Sigh.

By the way, did you check out the photo of that old cookbook above? It was printed in 1747 and written by Hannah Glasse, but is attributed to “A Lady.” I love old cookbooks. They really are an insight to what life was like for the common woman. And reading through some of the recipes in pre-Fannie Farmer cookbooks, it’s amazing they were able to follow any at all and get it right.

Anyway, that’s enough for me. Hope you all have a great week!

Anyway, on with the show.

This week,  I want to talk about appetizers. It’s a pretty broad subject, I know, but they’ve been a part of my daily existence for the past year. Allow me to explain.

My next cookbook is going to focus on appetizers, so almost every day I have been testing at least one appetizer. The thing is, when you’re testing a recipe, you have to test it exactly as it’s going to appear in the final recipe, including ingredients and quantities. In other words, if you’re developing a recipe for turkey chili with red beans and zucchini (yeah, zucchini.  so?), you can’t substitute pork and chick peas in the testing and then use cauliflower because they were out of zucchini at the market. Everything cooks up differently, at different times, with different results. You won’t know what your end product will be and that could cause dissatisfaction in your readers. Your recipes must work as written. Where quantities are concerned, again, you need to use the same quantities as stated in the ingredients list of the recipe, otherwise, you may end up with a different yield. So, your readers might be expecting 4 servings and end up with only 3, or 10. And not all recipes are amenable to being doubled or halved.

Why is this a problem for me? Because if I’m developing a recipe for appetizers, it’s going to be for at least 6 people. Appetizers can be fun and delicious, but I must say, one can only eat so many appetizers. It’s gotten so that I’m sick of my own food. I give away a lot of food. A lot. The other night, I asked a friend if he’d like to go get Chinese food. I couldn’t stand the thought of eating my own food again. I was already cooking a couple of things that night, mind you, but I just couldn’t bring myself to eat them. I finished cooking, packed it all up, and went out.

Don’t get me wrong. My food isn’t bad. In fact, if my family and friends are to be believed (not to mention my personal chef clients), I’m pretty good at this cooking thing. But sometimes I just need someone else’s food.

Anyway, back to appetizers. Appetizers have existed since ancient times. Here’s what I wrote about appetizers—or antipasti in Italian—in my cookbook, What, No Meat?:

One of the trademarks of an Italian meal is the antipasto (appetizers or hors d’oeuvres). Contrary to popular belief, antipasto does not mean “before the pasta.” It means “before the meal.” Pasto (meal) comes from the Latin word pastus, meaning “food.” The ancient Athenians actually invented the concept of appetizers; unfortunately for their guests, it was the only course they would serve. Other Greeks felt that this was a sign of cheapness because, as Lynceus put it, “such a layout as that may seem to offer variety, but is nothing at all to satisfy the belly.”

The ancient Romans began having true antipasto in the 3rd century B.C. and continued having this premeal course through the 4th century A.D. It included items that are still considered appetizers today, such as olives and a primitive pizza (think of the focaccia on the table at your favorite Italian restaurant).

During the Dark Ages, meals were more for sustenance than enjoyment, so antipasto had no place in it. During the Plague of the 14th century, one was lucky to get a meal at all, let alone appetizers. With the onset of the Renaissance, admiration for beauty and art was reborn and appreciation of food for its own sake reemerged. Appetizers came back in style and have remained with us to this day.

After I finish all this testing, I’m going on a diet. Maybe even a fast. Parties are fun, but parties every day become a bore (how does Paris Hilton do it, poor thing?). But I don’t want anyone to lose interest in the subject. Appetizers are creative little dishes that guests remember the next day and for days to come.

As Saki (writer H.H. Munro) wrote in “Reginald at the Carlton”:

Hors d’oeuvres…remind me of one’s childhood that one goes through considering what the next course is going to be like—and during the rest of the menu one wishes one had eaten more of the hors d’oeuvres.

Have a great week, everyone! And stay away from those viruses.

Actually, to make Christmas sales, it should have been out by now. My publisher, which has a very small staff, had some set-backs in their schedule and they’re struggling to catch up. And, unfortunately, that’s the way it goes in publishing sometimes. People get inundated, schedules go off-track, and unanticipated problems arise. There’s not much to be done about it except to make the best of the circumstances. Although, I’m not really sure what that means right now.

I’m determined to finish the testing of my second cookbook by the end of the year. Or, at least most of it. I’m sure I’ll have few remaining recipes after January 1, but I can deal with that. I’ve spent so many years working on this one that I’m sick of it. I want it done. I think it’s going to be a really good book, but, seriously, enough is enough!

I have a couple more book ideas on the back burner, so I’m anxious to get on those, too. I’d be happy if I could spend my life developing recipes and writing cookbooks, but I’m not Julia Child so I don’t foresee being able to pay by bills like that. So, I’m focusing this weekend on some resumes and cover letters. Doing those always depresses me because I know that each job I apply for will have hundreds of others vying for that same position. And I always end up wondering, “What the hell are they looking for? What do those other people have that I don’t?”

Resumes and cover letters are not easy. Each one has to be tailored to each specific job and it sometimes takes me a couple of hours to tweak them for a particular job. And I get the sense that I’m doing it all for nothing. I always feel that my resume will just end up on the reject pile along with the others. Over and over and over. At the end of a “resume day,” I always end up depressed and, sometimes, crying. Then, I dread doing it again. I mean, it becomes like torture to sit down and do them. So, I put it off. I’ve put it off for a while now. Mind you, there hasn’t been much available, which depresses me even more.

But a couple of job openings came up that I can handle, so I’m going to spend some time applying. I have to. Because when the question “Have you been looking?”  invariably comes up, I have to be able to honestly say “yes.” Certainly, nothing will happen if I do nothing.

On a more pleasant note, I made gluten-free chocolate-hazelnut cake and chocolate chip-hazelnut cookies, and even people who are put off by the term “gluten-free” had to admit that they were damn good. Alas, I neglected to take pictures of them.   I decorated the edge of the cake with mini nonpareils and put edible holly in the center. It was really pretty. Oh, well.

So, that’s where I am right now. I hope you all have a great weekend and coming week. See you next time.

Nonpareil photo: www.Dylanscandybar.com

I have to say that although not having a job really bites in terms of finances, it’s afforded me the opportunity to do things I never would have been able to do if I’d been working. For instance, I never would have been able to go on a two-week road trip or spend three weeks in Colorado (very inexpensive trip). This has been a cathartic year for me, in both good and bad ways, and the ability to travel (cheaply—I emphasis the word cheaply) has been a blessing.

But the other thing I’ve been able to do is plow through the 200-some-odd recipes that I’ve been testing for my second cookbook. I’ve been working on this book since 2002. That’s seven years! I want to be done with it. But testing recipes is difficult when you have a full-time job. It’s not like “regular” cooking, where you can just reach into the fridge or pantry and throw some things together. When you’re recipe testing, you can’t go to the market and just pick out whatever strikes your fancy. You can do that to a certain degree (because sometimes the best recipes come from a whim), but, generally, you have to go with a list of ingredients for your intended recipes. Then you have to prepare the recipes methodically, in a certain order, keeping track of everything you do. It’s like a science project, really.

Anyway, at the beginning of this year, I still had a long, long way to go to finish the testing and finalize my recipe list. In the last nine or so months, I’ve made a concentrated effort to test at least one recipe per day, more if possible. It doesn’t always work out that way. Some days, I just have too many other things to do to shop and cook. How can you be busy? you ask. You have no job. I’ve been busy with writing and editing projects, sick cats, housecleaning (and by that, I mean going through years’ worth of stuff and trying to thin out the useless crap), and family responsibilities. So, yes, even without a job, one can be very busy.

I have had more global cuisine this past year than probably any other time in my life. I’ve had Indian, Chinese, Turkish, Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, Armenian, Korean, Macedonian, Greek, Hungarian, Russian, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Irish, French, Japanese, Nigerian, Kenyan, Brazilian, Chilean, Mexican, Honduran, Peruvian, Puerto Rican, Polynesian, Moroccan, and more. (I’m trying to figure out how to say “from the Ivory Coast.” Ivory Coastan??)

I’ve made quite a dent, and while I’m still not close to being done, I’m way closer than I would have been if I had a job. So, as tough as things have been financially, I am grateful for the opportunities I’ve gotten and am taking full advantage of them while I can. And that actually has taught me a valuable lesson. Some opportunities only knock once, so always answer the door.

It’s pretty rainy and windy here in NY today. Hope it’s better wherever you are. Have a great week, all. Ciao.

Photo credit: Mrs. Yandle Cooking on Coal Stove by Alfred Eisenstaedt

Many people believe that writing a cookbook is a cinch. After all, what is there involved? Writing down some ingredients, scratching out a few instructions, and slapping it together neatly for a publisher, right? Wrong. Very, very wrong. Writing a cookbook is a very specific process.

What to find out more about it?

Let’s assume you are creating all your own new recipes (and let’s take this one recipe at a time). First, you must decide on what you want the dish to be like/taste like. What ingredients would you like it to contain? Write them down, and write down the approximate method of cooking. Then, you must test the recipe to see if what you conjured up works. As you go along, you must make notes about what’s working and what isn’t, what you’ve changed, and what you would like to change. Then, you must test it again to see if your changes improve the recipe. Even if you feel it was perfect the first time, you must test it again to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Ideally, you should test a recipe at least three times–more, if you made substantial changes all three times.

Once you’re satisfied with the recipe, you must format it properly. Now, styles will vary, depending on the publishing house you submit to, but there is one strict rule: Always list the ingredients in order of use. If your method calls for first sauteing onion in olive oil, then adding spinach and salt, don’t start  your list with green peppers, mushrooms, and cinnamon. And you have to make sure that your method is clear and concise. You don’t want to confuse or overwhelm your readers with convoluted instructions.

(Incidentally, if you’re writing individual recipes for magazines, format it according to the magazine’s style. For example, if they use the “1.2.3.” method, then that’s how you should set up your recipes.)

The process can be expensive. Unless you have an advance from your publisher or the sponsorship of a company, the cost for all the ingredients (and whatever specialty equipment you might need) comes out of your pocket. The upside of this is that you can deduct these items on your tax return. That’s right. If you earn an income from your book (i.e., royalties), you can write these things off.

All of this is time-consuming, too. Just to give you an idea of just how much, according to my files, I started my current cookbook-in-progress in 2002. Yep, you read correctly. Why so long? Because when you have a full-time job, coming home at night anywhere between 6:30 and 8:00, recipe testing is relegated to the weekends. And, of course, even the weekend are time-constrained. We all (or, most of us, anyway) have lives and responsibilities and things to do, places to go, people to see. Many weekends came and went when I just had to say, “I can’t do any cooking this weekend.” And when you have to test 100 or 200 recipes two, three, even four times, well, that makes a project drag on a mighty long time.

Having said all that, when you have your finished product, that is something to be immensely proud of. I put a hell of a lot of work into my first cookbook, What, No Meat?, and I am very proud it. I’ll be sharing some of the recipes from that book on the Recipes page, starting with an antipasto (of course, what else?), Insalata Caprese. And I’m going to be chronicling the progress of my current project, too, so keep checking in for updates–especially if you want a good laugh (sometimes things turn out…um…not so great).

I hope this helps all you aspiring recipe/cookbook writers out there. Let me know if I can help out in some way.

Peace,
Roberta