dinner with Julie

Everyone, meet the Blog Aid Cookbook.

(Click the cover to enlarge.)

It’s done. It’s done. It’s totally done. It’s really, fully done. The combing and the fawning and the spell-checking and the Cheezie-eating and the cross-eyed-going dragged on for an extra day or so, but we managed to upload it at approximately 4:53 pm (which, it eerily turns out, was the exact time of the earthquake on January 12th) and finally LET IT GO. At which point it came back, with file issues… we went across the street for spaghetti and meatballs and then came back to hack away at the pdf and replace some images that weren’t cutting the mustard. What was supposed to be a brief touching up this morning followed by a triumphant upload by noon stretched out to a 14 hour marathon (can’t believe it? neither can we), at which point we REALLY AND TRULY FINALLY got it gone, and then the ordering system set up. Before midnight, even. Barely.

And now commences the press release-sending, hand-wringing and order-status-checking.

What now? I’m going to Disneyland! Not really. Maybe Swiss Chalet.

There’s still a glitch in the system – my overtired self can’t quite determine how to get both the hardcover and softcover version onto one ordering page – right now they are on two pages – but I couldn’t wait any longer and it leaked out on Twitter soon after midnight, so here I am, offering up the goods. You can order the book, and preview it – the hardcover version ($50) is here, and the softcover version ($25) is here. They are both the same book, save for the cover – 7″x7″ and 110 full-colour pages, with photos of each and every recipe. I’m hoping that with the light of day, when my mental capacities return somewhat, I can figure out (or have someone tell me) if/how to put both versions on one ordering page.

But yes – we squeaked in under three weeks – from concept to completion – and there were so many on board helping make that possible. Cathryn Ironside. Beth Snyder. George Brookman and the fine folks at West Canadian Graphics. Jim and the guys at Blurb.com (some of whom are apparently from Lonely Planet). And everyone who cheered us on, sent rah-rah emails, brought lasagna.

I’m so proud of all who contributed to this pot of stone soup, so eagerly, generously, selflessly – even while tending to wee ones with a stomach bug or while pregnant and teaching band to dozens of young teenagers. One is at athlete’s village, cooking like crazy in what he calls the biggest kitchen he’s ever seen (and I imagine he’s seen a lot), another is celebrating the launch of her first book, yet another is in high school. I love that this project has brought together such a diverse group of people with a common love of food.

Hell, I’m going to bring them out again. Let’s hear it for Chef Michael Smith, Dana McCauley, Emily Richards, Catharine from Weelicious, Cheryl from Backseat Gourmet, Jeannette of Everybody Likes Sandwiches, Nishta from Blue Jean Gourmet, Lauren of Celiac Teen, Charmian from Christie’s Corner, Shaina from Food for my Family, Marisa of Food in Jars, Shauna and Danny from Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef, Lauren from Healthy Delicious, Alice from Savory Sweet Life, Tara from Seven Spoons, Jess of Sweet Amandine, Helen from Tartelette, Gail from The Pink Peppercorn, Pierre of Kitchen Scraps, Tim from Lottie and Doof, Tea from Tea & Cookies, Jamie from My Baking Addiction, Lori from Recipe Girl, Melissa from The Traveler’s Lunchbox, Brooke of Tongue-n-Cheeky and Aimee of Under the High Chair.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

February 04 2010 | leftovers | 70 Comments »

Take out.

The dining room table has seen far more action than the kitchen counter this week. Last night my Dad dropped off the free lasagna he got from spending $250 at the Superstore, which takes up too much freezer space and he and my Mom wouldn’t eat anyway, and Mike put it in the oven while I took over traffic reporting on the Homestretch. Tonight, right now in fact, we’re eating the muhammara with pita wedges and salty grilled cheese sandwiches made with olives, feta and that salty, stringy cheese Mike picked up from Aida’s for us to eat with our hands while we edit.

That’s Cathryn up there, spending yet another evening rearranging text and aligning ingredient lists. This project could not have happened without her. An art director for almost 20 years, she this year became a casualty of the crumbling print media industry, and so poured her recently acquired extra time into this project. Lucky us. To be honest, I’ll miss our late nights working together.
(In case I haven’t put it out there before, if anyone is looking for a wonderfully creative, open-minded, generous, personable, not-at-all-ego-driven designer of anything, I cannot recommend her highly enough.)

SO yes, the book is together. It’s done. I need to come up with something for the intro page, and comb through it once more time, and double check the index. And then tomorrow morning Cath and I are meeting for coffee and an upload, at which point it will FINALLY BE DONE AND AVAILABLE. And I am looking forward to a mighty long nap. I’m worn out, and I sound like a sort of sultry Marge Simpson. And I want me some W time. And I need to get back into the kitchen.

P.S. I almost forgot! I’m feeling badly about all of you who so generously offered your editing eyeballs – because the direction has shifted to a POD (print-on-demand) system, we a) have to get the book finished and uploaded quickly, because the system can’t queue orders so we can’t pre-sell like we thought we could, and b) it’s all on one pdf file, which is 18MB, and so it’s not like I can email it to anyone either. At this point, the point at which I thought I’d call in some backup, I suddenly don’t have time to burn CDs or transfer files to get it into anyone’s hands. Also, Blurb is processing orders and taking care of shipping, which is great, but it means there won’t be a need for our tentatively planned envelope stuffing party. On the upside, I’m hoping it means a larger reach and more book sales worldwide.

And in terms of getting a visit in, there are still 9 spaces at the table for the Farm table dinner on February 24th!

February 02 2010 | leftovers | 20 Comments »