Look What the Stork Delivered!

When the package arrived, I took my time opening it. I was partly afraid it might not live up to what I'd expected and partly afraid of the amount of work I might have to do to promote it. Once I'd peeled off the brown paper wrapping, the cover picture totally won me over. Even my assistant was thrilled.

My kitchen assistant immediately gave the book four paws-up. But the truth is he was just buttering me up so I'd make a few recipes. After we cuddled with this new baby I flipped through the pages to get a good look. Timber Press really came through and did a great job.

The farmer profiles that I'd written brought back a flood of memories from my farm travels and farmer interviews in 2008. When I started my journey, an editor at Timber Press had suggested a profile of Ayers Creek Farm, in Gaston, Oregon, just a little south of Portland.

I hadn't heard of the farmer, Anthony Boutard , then, but apparently all of Portland already knew about Ayers Creek Farm because Anthony and his wife Carol have been supplying Portland chefs with great organic produce ever since Anthony and Carol started selling at the Hillsdale farmers' market in 2003. The Boutards grow amazing crops, focusing on quality over quantity. Ayers Creek has captured the attention of Oregon and Washington foodies and even well-know cookbook authors. (Check out Deborah Madison's essay about the Boutards in her newest book.)

Anthony told me he gets a lot of inspiration and ideas from agriculture texts from the 1800s. He told me that we don't give enough credit to farmers experiences in the past. Anthony also extensively researchs on the Internet for the perfect organic plant varieties to grow. And growing the best varieties pays off. Market shoppers love the quality and unique crops. Here is Anthony in his plum orchard.
The Boutards weren't the only farmers who brought amazing produce to markets. At the Corvallis farmers' market I discovered Denison Farms, an organic farm owned and farmed by Tom Denison and Elizabeth Kerle. Tom's family moved to Corvallis when Tom was in the 5th grade and Tom recalled wanting to be a farmer when he was in high school. Tom also researches vegetables and fruits varieties on the Internet to find the best varieties for the Northwest. On a busy farm day, Tom and Elizabeth took time out to share their farm's story and before I left, Tom gave me a basket of super sweet tomatoes.

If you visit the Corvallis farmers' market, check out Denison Farms booth.

At the First Alternative Co-op in Corvallis, I picked up information about Gathering Together Farm and suddenly recalled this was the farm name that farmer Nash Huber in Sequim, Washington had scrawled on a note for me when I'd asked him about Oregon farmers I might want to include.

Gathering Together Farm in Philomath, just west of Corvallis had a farm stand so that's where I headed, and once I got there, I was impressed. Farmers Sally Brewer and John Eveland's story spilled over into two profiles (one about the synergy of two farms working together and seed production, and one about farm restaurants.) Farmers' markets, CSA deliveries, farm store, restaurant, and seed processing right--one look at the cute farm store will make you wish you lived closer to this farm to visit on a regular basis.

I'd wanted to linger at this store, but I had to move on. In Ashland I visited the produce department of the food co-op where I found pictures of The Fry Family Farm and Whistling Duck Farm. I searched out both farmers at the Ashland and Medford farmers' markets. When I visited, Whistling Duck Farm, farmer Vince Alionis told me how growing conditions in southern Oregon are more like northern California than Portland or Seattle. "The land is like a jigsaw puzzle," he'd told me.

Every farmer in The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook has a different story to tell. I never tire of hearing these stories, but soon I'd gathered so many farm stories that the big puzzle was how to fit everyone I'd spoken to into one book. One early editor said just make it simple--one farm per profile, but I really wanted to include everyone I'd interviewed.

Check out the book to find out how I did it. I have to confess I had some help smoothing the rough edges. Timber Press had introduced me to the most perfect editor, Lorraine Anderson, whose first book was Cooking with Sunshine: The Complete Guide to Solar Cooking. Lorraine has edited lots of Timber Press books and she lives fairly close to some of the farmers and one season had even gotten Denison Farms CSA. How perfect is that?

But now marketing reality has hit me. This new phase of book writing is a whole different story, so to save my sanity and chronicle my efforts to get media and bookstore attention in this new flood of local food books, I've created a separate blog for my marketing adventures.

With this new blog, I'm hoping to make some sense of our hyper-rushed, plugged-in, interconnected world, where everybody has a brand waving on their own flagpole. Tips, tricks, strategies and links will hopefully help other authors just starting this journey with their books.

This Food Connections blog will continue on--because I've got lots more ideas and food connections are too delicious to give up. Besides my Kitchen Assistant is already waiting for my next recipe.

Check out Whistling Duck Farm's vibrant produce at the Medford or Ashland farmers' market.

40 farms, 201 Recipes and Countless Photo Rejects

Name droppers are so annoying, and now I've become one. After indexing all the people, farms and small towns, I realized every other page contained a farmer or farm name. These farm names were tucked in profiles, recipe headers and produce descriptions. Just how many farmers had I mentioned in 259 pages?

Twenty-one farm profiles, 40 farms mentioned, 201 recipes and a Northwest produce guide with 63 vegetables and 26 fruits. When I started this project, I'd wanted to create a cookbook with multiple uses. Some might like the recipes, some the profiles but the produce descriptions are something a person could refer to endlessly.

I also wanted this to be a book about farms and food not slick food photos. The publisher requested 50. I agreed before I bought a decent camera. I quickly learned, a good photograph wasn't just about clicking shutters, and when it came to getting 50 photos accepted, I begged and borrowed from farmers, beekeepers and friends for the rest. Luckily people came through and saved me.

Some of the "rejects" didn't make the final cut. I'll show you just a few.

The picture above was taken last winter near Skagit River, on the north side of Mount Vernon when the river had reached the top of its banks. I thought it was perfect at the time, now it looks lonely, a little sad.



This one below was cut when one editor thought too many dogs were in one chapter. Suzy Fry's dog, Zeus, made it in. But perhaps Buzz, this farm dog from Rent's Due Ranch on a giant compost pile wasn't exactly fodder for a cookbook.



Check out all the brown dirt behind Buzz--it's finished organic compost--the secret of Rent's Due Ranch's awesome produce. What I wouldn't give for just one truckload of this compost for my garden. Just gazing at this compost pile gets me thinking about the giant heads of cauliflower, crunchy romaine and succulent blueberries that show up from Rent's Due Ranch at the University District Market in the summer.

Another reject was this big bin at Rent's Due Ranch. The farm name looks like it's stamped over another farm's name. I love it because farmers make use of everything. The day I visited the farm, JoanE was braiding garlic to sell at the market and they were waiting for a produce pick up from PCC Natural Markets. JoanE told me PCC picks-up produce from them three a week during the summer.

This version of my book also includes Oregon farms and I drove to southern Oregon twice in the summer of 2008. What a kick it was just visiting farmers markets, sampling produce, looking for farmers to profile.

On the second trip, I visited Whistling Duck Farm near Grant's Pass. I found the farm from the Ashland Co-op produce department, and I met Mary Alionis at the Medford farmers' market. Vince and Mary Alionis partner with their neighbor Dr. Watson whose family took up beekeeping as a hobby. The bees spend time at Whistling Duck Farm, boosting the berry harvest in the summer. What's the beehive photo missing? A few bees maybe? I do think Josh Nettlebeck of Tahuya River Apiaries had better bee photos and I'm glad his were included.

Finally, these succulent huckleberries were also rejects. I recall standing in line for these and a very pregnant woman was in front of me. We traded stories, laughed, and both bought extra berries that day.

What inspires your photography?

A is for Apples, V is for Vegetable Love

Two days before Christmas a package arrived on my doorstep and it wasn't a gift. The manuscript and proofs of my book had arrived for me to proofread and complete the index. Merry Christmas!

I marveled over the layout, gazing at the photo that might be the cover. A simple farm--I love it! Authors rarely have any control over book covers, but it this is it. But it was only a black and white image. I want to see it in color. I glanced at the proofs and the work ahead right before the holiday dampened my enthusiasm just a bit. Slogging through the index from amaranth to zucchini, listing and cross listing--well, it didn't really sound stimulating, in a story-telling way.

All I could remember about indexing was that my last index was detail oriented and seemed to take forever. Questions suddenly surfaced. Do I list places like Corvallis, Rogue River and Bellingham. Answer: Yes. Do I spell out "See also" in italics like the Timber Press author guide? No, but underline each "see also." My questions continued until the staff took off for the holiday. I puzzled over the pages the manuscript being different from the proof, so which was correct? The proofs only came by hard copy.

When I spent much of the morning on apples, Irealized you can get the important points of a book by counting the number of times a word appears within the pages. Apples are an important Northwest crop, apple juice and apple cider also appear in lots of Northwest recipes. The first (beekeepers and bees) and second farm profile (Apple growers) reaffirm the importance of apples.

I must say, sweat equity and selling my soul for just about nothing may have paid off this time.

Since it seemed such a grind (and right before the holiday) searching for nouns all day, I rewarded myself at the end of the day by getting out my newest cookbook: Vegetable Love by Barbara Kafka.


I had ordered this book as a holiday gift to myself. And the minute I opened it, I fell in love with it. So many recipes and so much detail. On the front of the book is a lifetime achievement award from the James Beard Foundation, and inside over 600 pages all about vegetables! From the unusual lotus root and hearts of palm to everyday potatoes, this book is a dream come true for vegetable enthusiasts everywhere. I bet you could even find something to please a meat-and-potatoes cousin from Kansas or Nebraska.

My favorite vegetable of the season, celery root lists these intriguing recipes:

• Celery Root Salad


• Celery Root, Smoked Mozzarella and Prosciutto Salad


• Celery Root Remoulade


• Cream of Celery Root Soup


• Pureed Celery Root with Apples


• Celery Root Puree


• Gratin of Celery Root
  

It's as though this book was written for farmers' market shoppers everywhere. You buy something bring it home and have a number of options, all in this one book. A bonus is most of the recipes are vegetarian and many can be transformed into vegan versions. I love the uniqueness of recipes like Beet Ice Cream. She turns the vegetable world upside down! On the same page, Kafka writes, "While beets may seem to be odd for dessert--they are certainly unusual--a little reflection will remind us that sugar beets are grown for extracting sugar. Ordinary beets are still very sweet and their color is spectacular." I'd never really thought about it but they are the color of garnets and the way they sparkle cry out for dessert.

Vegetable Love isn't just a cookbook. it's an invitation to the wide world of vegetables and as we peruse the recipes our ideas about vegetables are transformed. Reading Vegetable Love is a great gift to myself at the end of the day looking for apples to zucchinis.