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Behind-the-Scenes for Book Four!
A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to head down to Cape Town to join in all the happy kitchen chaos that went into shooting the photos for my next book. We shot in a beautiful, sunny, rustic studio in Kenilworth and I loved every minute of it, and seeing the book come to life (and then eating all the food!). Here are a few behind-the-scenes snippets and snapshots that I thought you might enjoy.
Oh, and if you’re wondering, no it’s not as glamorous as it sounds. There’s lots of scruffing around in slippers and tracksuit pants (top half photo-ready), and smiling til your cheeks hurt and trying seven different options to get one shot and moving lights and waiting for sun to move from behind clouds and that sort of thing, but it’s FUN and so rewarding to see it all come together.
And of course, at this point, you expect me to tell you how excited I am about it, and how amazing I think it is – but guys! I honestly, truly am so excited about this one 🙂 They have all been so special in their own ways, but this book is definitely a friend for life. It brings you 100 sugar, gluten and carb-conscious recipes for living well, and I have poured so much love, research and care into writing it and I really hope that it will be your new favourite healthy eating companion.
One thing I can say, is that every book has a different story and a different feel, and I think that’s magical. With ‘bitten.’ I was inspired, caught up in the momentum of novelty, but clueless – how on earth does one go about writing a cookbook? You can have a head and a heart full of ideas, but that doesn’t always easily translate to paper and accurate measurements. I was also pregnant and still working when I wrote ‘bitten.’ and the timeline was extremely tight, only 3 months.
For ‘smitten.’ and ‘home.’ I no longer had the distraction of a full-time job, and I had the distinct advantage of hindsight, and knew so much more clearly how to go about doing what I needed to do. But, I also had the added pressure that I put on myself that they needed to be different, to be special in their own way, to have their own character, and to have the ability to inspire people all over again.
And now, the food has taken us on a slightly different journey, one that’s paying a little more attention to where our food comes from, to putting goodness in, and getting goodness out. And I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I can’t wait to share the recipes with you all in February next year.
Did I succeed? Well I guess you will be the judge of that. And you can take up the task any time from April 2017 onwards when ‘Wholesome’ will hit shelves here in SA. A launch via Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. should follow a few months after that.
A few of my favourite things that you can look forward to?
Pretty pink smoothies (and healthy chocolate ones too); Millet Porridge; Turmeric and Cinnamon Oats Porridge (so much yummier than it sounds!); Gluten and refined sugar free Rusks; my favourite easy, healthy Bread recipes; delicious Energy Balls; loads of salad bowls using beautiful whole grains, seeds and pulses like barley, quinoa, millet, soba noodles and lentils; a bunch of good-for-you soups; and heartier options like Dukkah Chicken Flatbreads; Roast Pork Fillet with Sticky Figs and Red Onions; gluten-free Red Onion and Beetroot Tart, and sweet treats like Gooey Chocolate Pots and Berry Lollies and so much more! And I’d better stop there before I get into trouble for giving away too much too soon.
And as for the photos, here are the very special people who took my recipes from two dimensional words in black and white to something that has life and colour and character in abundance. And for that, I am enormously grateful to you guys! Bev, Curtis, Luisa and Strone, you were a dream to work with xx
Strone, Luisa, Jeanne, Bev, Me and Curtis
Here’s a little hello video that you can watch!
Rooibos, Strawberry and Ginger Iced Tea
There’s a story to these yoga pants! a) I don’t do yoga, I’m more of a pilates girl. b) They’re Luisa’s (she’s basically half my size, so I squeezed into them) c) She unapologetically forced me to wear them d) I didn’t think they would work for the shot, but they did, don’t you think? We all loved this pic.
This is Strone (he’s a legend), turning out a Tarte Tatin (it came out beautifully)
My new favourite Carrot Cake!
Luisa, doing what she does best – making food look AMAZING
Me. Just kneeling on the floor so that we can get an overhead shot of my arms with a bowl of wholewheat linguini. See the shot below, it’s one of my favourites in the book. I was determined to get my funky lime green jersey in there somewhere. Bev (endlessly brilliant book designer and also effectively our boss on the shoot) was not as determined. So I got away with my arms. I’ll take it, thanks Bev 🙂
