Books
I’ve authored one cookbook and contributed to several others. I’ve also worked as proofreader for one, recipe tester for two, and have lent my culinary expertise to food style the photoshoots on a few more.
My next book is currently in the sh*tty first-draft stage.
Make it Spicy
What: Hired by Weldon Owen Publishing to write a cookbook for Williams Sonoma.
Problem: The publisher had already agreed to the book, but they needed a Crackerjack writer and editor to complete the project and meet the deadline. I quickly realized that many of the recipes had errors and needed to be redeveloped to match the photos from the photoshoot.
Fix: I wrote all the intro copy, the sidebars for each recipe, and redeveloped about a dozen existing recipes, plus created a dozen or so more that had yet to be determined.
Result: I completed the manuscript and validated the quality of each recipe, adhering to the publishing house’s internal style guide in a matter of weeks so it could make its deadline with the client and printer.
Team: Weldon Owen’s internal editor, publisher, and freelance photographer and food stylist.
Sunset cookbook
Contributing writer
What: First ever compilation cookbook representing the best of the recipes published by this iconic brand over the last 100 years.
Task: Adapt older recipes for today’s cooking style and instruction type. Help choose the final best recipes from thousands of recent options. Write specific topic areas related to the cookbook; history of coffee in the West, best local dairy producers, standardization of measuring in the Sunset test kitchen, equipment lists, etc.
Result: Numerous contributions to award-winning Sunset cookbook.
Team: Food editor, food department writers, test kitchen staff, copy editor, Oxmoor House publishing team.
The One-Block Diet Cookbook
Contributing writer
What: A shorter, bound version of our James Beard Award-winning blog, The One-Block Diet.
Project description: Based on the trend of a 50-mile diet, which aims to have all the ingredients for a menu come from a 50-mile radius, ours was based on what we could plant, grow, and cook from the Sunset garden, which was roughly the size of a city block.
Result: This book chronicled our magazine’s efforts of learning how to raise chickens for eggs, beekeep for honey, and grow a year’s variety of produce to have a seasonal feast using all that we had produced, with recipes we created as a team.
Team: Food editor, food department, garden department, numerous photographers, food stylists, editors, and publishers.
Luscious Fruit Desserts
&
Frozen Desserts
Contributing writer
What: After my book, Make it Spicy, the team at Weldon Owen asked me to contribute recipes and content for two of their seasonal cookbooks for Williams Sonoma.
Problem: They needed additional recipes and content for two of their books which were short on timeline, so they needed contributions they knew were solid.
Fix: I created a dozen new recipes, with sidebars, and intro copy for each for both books.
Team: Publisher, editor, copy editor, freelance photographer