Hi from Brooklyn, where it’s hot and sunny and you can definitely feel the holiday weekend vibes starting early!
There comes a point in every book-writing process when I need to cancel all my plans, hunker down at the kitchen table and get a little weird. We are officially at that point, and I’m calling it Cookbook Camp.
Both boys are on trips this week, so it’s just Aaron and I—which feels so weird! Aaron’s working on a recording project and I’m testing recipes, scribbling notes, taking at least one trip a day—and sometimes more—to the fruit market. I’m surrounded by index cards, measuring cups, ideas and post-its.
In the evenings, we go out for dinner or for a walk, and then I try another recipe or do the dishes for what seems like the 10th time in a day.
Last night I met my friend Jennifer at Via Carota—they only serve their zucchini fritti during peak zucchini season and I’ve been watching their menu for it semi-obsessively. To say I’ve been waiting a calendar year for that incredible plate of zucchini is not an exaggeration, and I’m delighted to report it did not disappoint—light, salty, crispy…truly one of my favorite restaurant dishes anywhere. Of course we also had the legendary green salad and the tagliatelle, and everything was delicious—perfect summer night out in the city, perfect break from post-its and measuring spoons.
Here’s one great piece of news: we’ve landed on the cookbook’s title, and while I am definitely, definitely not allowed to tell you, I AM allowed to tell you that I love it, and I feel like you’ll love it, too. Every time I tell someone, their response confirms it: this is the one. Of course as soon as I have the all-clear, you’ll know.
Two more exciting things: we’ve landed on both the photographer & recipe tester and I could not be more excited to work with both of them. My editor is calling it a dream team, and I completely, totally agree. I’m currently emailing back and forth with the recipe tester every day (Hi Maria!), and we’ve scheduled the photo shoot for September…which means I definitely have my work cut out for me between now and then—EEK!
While I’m loving the process and learning so much, please do not assume that every recipe is a success. The other night I tried a new version of a flourless chocolate cake I’ve been working on. I brought Aaron a slice with no context, and this is what he said: “I like it. But I feel like it doesn’t taste very much like chocolate, and it does taste a lot like something else that is not chocolate.”
This is evidence that Aaron’s becoming a very astute recipe tester, because he 100% put his finger on the problem with the cake: it’s a flourless chocolate cake that uses prunes to add sweetness and richness, but the math is definitely off. I made a note on that recipe that said, “PRUNE-FORWARD”…which is not exactly a selling point for a chocolate cake. We died laughing— you win some, you lose some!
One of the weird things that happens when you cook as many recipes a day as I do these days is that you run out of ingredients that normally don’t need replacing more than once a year. Who runs out of vanilla? Oregano? Fennel? These days, I DO.
As is my way in my regular life and certainly in my creative life, please be assured that I am definitely, definitely overthinking it. I’m waking up in the night thinking about cucumbers and cheddar. Wait a minute: are there too many sweet potatoes?! How can I write a cookbook without mushrooms? How many are too many beets?!
I’m absolutely sure that there’s a more organized way to do all this, and as much as writing a cookbook seems really different than writing a regular book, this is something I recognize: the tinkering phase.
I was at a friend’s house for dinner recently, and the hosts were in the kitchen. I asked a mutual friend if I should go up and offer to help, and he said—no, it’s not that they need help. They’re tinkerers—that’s just how they like to do it. And that struck me—that’s what I am, at a certain point in every creative process: I’m a tinkerer.
I like to think about every little thing, to write things on cards and then move Scrivener documents over to Google docs, then write a list, then cross things off. I wander a little, putter a little, reorganize the pantry while I think about sandwich ingredients—you know what? The brie on the Turkey and Fig Focaccia is too much. But the Jambon Buerre needs stone ground mustard, not dijon…and so on, and so on, times infinity.
This little window of Cookbook Camp is time for my mind to run a little wild, for the kitchen to get a little (a lot!) messy, for me to scratch around the edges of a big ragged creative space. I mostly don’t work that way—I’m pretty organized, pretty structured: deadlines, schedules, etc. I always say I write like it’s my job, because it is my job. But also, like I said earlier, there’s one part in the book-making process that has to get a little weird, where I have to get all the way inside a project, a little obsessively. I need to inhabit the whole of it a little bit, listen to it, stare at it, circle it.
And you know what? I do kind of love these little weird stretches—it’s a good reminder to me that creative work does get a little strange, that my mind is quick and nimble, that I’m energized by making things, that it’s a great privilege to dream something up out of nothing.
I’m wearing an apron that’s stained with tomato juice and who knows what else. My hair definitely needs washing. There are bowls of lemons and shallots and tomatoes overflowing on the kitchen counter, waiting to be put to use, and the fridge looks like it belongs in a catering kitchen, deli containers stacked precariously.
And I’m tired and learning a lot and really really grateful for all of it—Cookbook Camp is really fun. :)
A couple more things:
As you can imagine, our kitchen is seeing some seriously hard use—I’m working on a post about my absolute kitchen must-haves, but in the meantime, here are two current favorites:
East Fork Pottery You may have noticed that I’m currently obsessed with all things East Fork…there’s a store right in our neighborhood, and it’s my go-to stop for gifts for graduations and birthdays right now. I use the Weeknight Bowl every single day to plate whatever I’m testing, and it’s really the perfect size. I use the Mixing Bowl to store big piles of lemons, limes and shallots, and the oval platter for sliced heirloom tomatoes from the farmer’s market.
I started building my collection with Yuzu and Eggshell, and I love them…and then they just released a new color and it’s so so beautiful—my collection might have to swerve a little bit to include some Heron pieces, the perfect moody, silvery gray-blue.
Geometry Kitchen Tea Towels You cannot imagine the amount of dishes I’m doing these days—between teenage boys and all the recipe testing, the dishwasher is running around the clock and the kitchen island is more or less permanently stacked with drying pots and pans and sheet pans.
Last year my friend Emily turned me on to Geometry Tea Towels and now I’m hooked—they’re way more absorbent than my other dishtowels, extremely quick drying, and they come in all sorts of fun, seasonal patterns. When you spend as much time doing dishes as I do these days, you develop strong feelings about things like dishtowels, and these are (as my thirteen year old would say) the GOAT.
Also: (this is fun!) this week East Fork is offering a 15% discount and Geometry is offering a 35% discount to readers of this newsletter—use the code SHAUNA15 for both.
One last thing: EGG BITES!
This recipe was born out of the reality that I'll try anything to get Will to eat more protein--and if that means copying a Starbucks move, I'm not above it. I made them first for Will, but Aaron loves them, too. They're perfect to have in the fridge for a drive-by breakfast or snack, but I also find myself making a quick batch to serve alongside almost any menu that I think picky eaters--especially kids--might not like.
The last time I was in Michigan, I made them for my family there, and since then, my mom and sister-in-law have started making them, too, and we text each other pictures of each new variation we make—my mom recently brought some to happy hour at a friend’s house, and my SIL texted to tell me she was bringing some down to the boat…the egg bites are a hit, guys!
Here’s the only trick: I think you need a silicone muffin pan…or at least I need a silicone muffin pan. I tried several times with a metal pan, and even with cooking spray, even with tons of olive oil, I could never get them out of the pan in one piece. I caved and bought a silicone pan, and while I’m generally opposed to single-use kitchen items (tiny apartment! So little storage!), the silicone pan gets used for egg bites about every other day, so I’m calling it a win.
If you’re buying one, look for one with a metal frame around it—mine doesn’t have that but I wish it did. Because mine is only silicone, I have to put a rimmed baking sheet under it, but the ones with the metals frames (like this one) can just pop into the oven on their own.
Ingredients:
6 eggs
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt or cottage cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheese (any kind)
1/2 cup other mix-ins—bacon, ham, pepperoni, roasted red peppers, leftover cooked veggies, chopped fine
Black pepper
A little more cheese for after they come out of the oven
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400, and put the silicone pan on a cookie sheet.
Put the eggs and the yogurt or cottage cheese in a smoothie blender, and blend for about two minutes, until they’re frothy. Pour the blended mixture into 12 equal portions in a silicone muffin pan--they’ll fill up to about halfway.
Add 1/2 cup shredded cheese and 1/2 cup other mix-ins. Sprinkle with black pepper.
Bake at 400 for 15 or 16 minutes. Add another sprinkle of cheese to melt on top. Let cool for a couple minutes, then slide a butter knife around the edges to remove from pan
Makes 12.
Some ideas for your mix-ins:
Pizza-style: crisp up some pepperoni in a skillet, drain it on a paper towel. Add cropped grape tomatoes and shredded parm, a little basil.
Broccoli/cheddar: roasted broccoli, chopped fine, shredded cheddar
Starbucks-style: gruyere and bacon (we find 5 slices of bacon is the right amount)
Greek: feta, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, chopped fine
These are also a great way to use up any little leftover bits of protein or veggies—this week, I had a couple last spoonfuls of ropa vieja, and that worked great. Chopped deli ham works, as does a chopped-up meatball or two, and goat cheese with roasted red pepper is a current favorite—you basically can’t go wrong!
Okay, back to the kitchen. Next up: sautéeing a big pile of tomato and garlic shrimp, trying a peppercorn sauce to go on grilled flank steak, and another attempt at an olive oil almond cake. Wish me luck! ;)
XO--S