Whew. When I thought I was prepared to write a book… I was (kind of) wrong. There’s definitely something to be said for the difference between PLANNING something and actually DOING it, that’s for sure! So let’s go “behind the book” again this week!
So far, I’ve been testing out recipes like a crazy woman. Crazy because I thought I knew what it was like to cook a lot, what with trying to keep up with Mr Meatified’s appetite, plus running a Paleo food blog and all. Turns out, that’s NOTHING compared to the testing and tweaking that goes on writing a cookbook. So far, an 8 hour day in the kitchen is actually one of the shortest! But the great thing about it is that moment when you finally get something *just* as you wanted it – it’s totally worth all the little stressful moments.
The thing about a cookbook vs blogging is that the cookbook is totally unforgiving. There are no quick corrections and there’s no “oops, sorry, I should have explained that better!” when somebody has a question. I’ve always tested my recipes for the blog, but this cookbook game is even more detailed. This is how I figured out how long to simmer a sauce the other day:
Top left is the sauce simmered for 5 minutes, bottom left is simmered for 10 minutes, top right is simmered for 15 minutes and the bottom right is the same 15 minutes with a thickener added once it came off the heat. Phew! Who knew how meticulous I could be?!
Speaking of crazy making things going on in my house, this is generally the madness that happens in my living room when I’m photographing recipes:
Yep, my little “photography corner” is gradually being taken over by more and more props. Not to mention the ever growing collection of camera “stuff”. Mr Meatified isn’t thrilled… But then I come up with something like this simple Pork Shoulder recipe and all is forgiven!
Right now I’m 30 completed recipes into the process… so now would be a good time to ask: what are the kinds of recipes you would like to see in your ideal Autoimmune Paleo cookbook? Any special requests? Ask now… or you’ll have to wait for another book!
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I love the behind the scenes info! Some of the things I am longing for on AIP: family friendly dinners, casseroles and one-pot meals to make ahead for breakfasts and lunches, filling soups/stews that are a full meal in themselves, delicious offal recipes, easy/practical seafood recipes, a magical carob recipe that tastes like chocolate, a magical cure for a PB&J craving (something with toasted coconut butter? thumbprint jam cookies? I don’t know), ice cream and popsicle recipes, recipes that incorporate gelatin.
These are all great and I’ve taken notes, thank you! I’ve got some soups that fit the bill and some gelatin goodies, but I could do with bumping up a few one pot somethings 🙂 I may have to work on my kitchen sorcery for the carob and pb&j!
Oh my gosh – it’s going to be aip as well!? I seriously need this book! Is it going to be a paper, real life book? I’m not a fan of eBooks…
I would also love one bowl/pot sorts of meals, or some cook-once-eat-twice sorts of things…
I’m also sorta jealous of you – I’d love to write a cookbook some day! 😀
Yes, it’s going to be all AIP and a real hardcover book! There’ll be about 120 recipes and 80 photos and it will come out some time next Spring 🙂
I am challenging. I have latex allergy and bananas and avacado are crossovers. No nuts except coconut. Will your cookbook have variations for different dietary restrictions?
Since the book is going to be in line with the autoimmune protocol principles, all the recipes will be free of grains, dairy, nuts, eggs, seeds and nightshades. There will be some recipes with avocado, though!