A great foodie quote for your Sunday (and hopefully it is as sunny as mine)

"I look at the carts at the supermarket laden with frozen dinners and other quickie food that need only to be heated in the sterile microwave. I often feel sorry for the people who are missing out on the endlessly rewarding experience of cooking, even if it is just for oneself."

-Judith Jones, "The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food"

Carrot Cake FAIL!

What is the latest on The Book? Oh, just that apparently I can't properly handle a carrot cake.

Sure, the picture is pretty. But notice the middle has some how collapsed. Then we have the frosting slippy sliding off the sides of the cake. So this one is a reshoot. I guess we can't get them all right on the first try. But I will say this cake was a delicious mistake. Sweet, moist cake with dots of plump raisins and crunchy walnuts. Paired with a creamy, sweet cream cheese frosting, it was perfection. Especially when I just went at the whole thing with a fork the next morning for breakfast.

Currently, I am in a bit of slump with recipe development. Gosh darn kids, they make recipe development hard. I have three young children. Jack is 6, Van almost 3 and Violet is 1. I have to be able to completely concentrate when I am working on recipes, but those three little delights make that hard sometimes.

When Sheena and I have our weekly photoshoot, we have 5 kids between the 2 of us. It can get a little crazy. But sometimes, they behave. See, look:

Little Lucy and Violet. Little girls gotta stick together.

34 and rolling right along

 The other night, I counted how many recipes I have done. Done as in developed, tested, edited and written. 34! That is about a 1/3. The goal is 100 recipes, which can feel overwhelming. But seeing 34 done is inspiring! 

What recipes am I doing? What can you expect? You can expect some of my old favorites from my blog and a ton of new ones. And yes, I have taken those ones down from the blog. I know, rude rude. But after going through them, I saw that they have a lot of errors and room for improvement. So your favorites will be back with improved writing and a MUCH better picture. And yes, we can go ahead and talk about my lack of quality pictures on Rookie Cookie. But hey, I can only do so much with my little pink Sony Cybershot. 

The cookbook pictures are EONS better than the ones on my old blog. Sheena and I meet once a week to shoot a few recipes and each week, we are turning out some beautiful photos. For example, here are a few quick shots of my hands rolling up an egg roll during our most recent photoshoot.

Pretty, eh? And before I tossed some mushrooms in a pan for a dish, I told Sheena we needed a picture of them. I am not a mushroom fan, but I can appreciate their flavor and pretty colors and textures. Who would have thought the simplicity of a mushroom could be so beautiful?

You didn't think I couldn't stop developing recipes forever, did you?

I am excited to introduce you to my new project in the works. I am currently up to my elbows in writing my first cookbook, "The Family Flavor: Practical Recipes for the Simple and Delicious", hopefully due out at the end of 2011.

The goal of this cookbook is to get you and yours enjoying a meal around the table together, while using accessible, diverse recipes. You will find dishes that everyone can be pleased with, even the vegetarians in your life.

Each recipe is being double tested by people just like you. Mom's with children at their knee while they cook. Women with 9 to 5 jobs and don't have all day to prep a meal. Family's that want to gather around the table for a slow Sunday meal. Using "real people" to test my recipes gives the recipes the true test of real life.

Another great part about this cookbook is the photography. I have been collaborating with the ever-talented and creative Sheena Jibson. The photographs are vibrant, beautiful and real. There are no studio lights or pretend props. The photos depict what you will see on your own table.

Follow along as this beautiful cookbook progresses.