Brown Eggs & Jam Jars cookbook cover reveal!

by Aimee

Dear readers. If you forgot about that cookbook I told you over sixteen months ago that I was writing, I wouldn’t blame you one bit.

I imagine it has felt like radio silence since the announcement from your perspective, but believe me when I say I’ve been steadily pouring my heart and soul into the recipes, tutorials, sidebars, essays, headnotes, photographs and cover of Brown Eggs and Jam Jars. At this point there are decisions made nearly every day, heaps of emails, final edits galore, and lists like you wouldn’t believe.

I can’t wait to share the book with you. We have a release date: February 10, 2015. February could use a little something special, don’t you think? It’s a dark, cold month here in Montreal; an ideal time to warm up the kitchen with something new and inspiring.

For now though, I am so very excited to reveal my first cookbook cover. I’m also sharing an exclusive pre-order offer from Canadian bookstore/online retalier Indigo.ca, so keep reading to find out more.

Behind the scenes of a cookbook cover shoot

Shooting the cover for the cookbook was heaps and heaps of fun – and there were heaps and heaps of pancakes. Wait. Did you think I would put anything else on the cover of my book? Pancakes are my children’s absolute favourite food. They also lend themselves very well to the cookbook title’s tie-ins: eggs and jam.

Just the photographer, Tim, and I were on ‘set’ that hot July day. We shot in Clara’s bedroom on the second floor of the house, where I have a primitive little photography space set up next to a window. I was chief food + prop stylist, in addition to keeping the three kids out of trouble. When I think back, it’s a small miracle we were successful.

First, let’s look at what didn’t work.

One has to start somewhere, and apparently my beginning included a flamboyant orange coffee pot that stood out like a fire hydrant and totally stole the show from my (stand in) stack of pancakes. The blues and browns were working for me, though, as was the wood on my ‘tabletop’. But the background? Too flat and too cool. And that orange coffee pot? Bye-bye.

The cover needed to have a warmth to it, yet feel winter-y too – considering the February release date. It needed to embody family food, in a slightly rustic way, as a nod to the book’s strong urban homesteading themes.

We kept working.

I swapped out the ‘tabletop’ and stood it up as a background instead. That beautiful wood? It’s really the back of an old door that someone had put out for garbage. The props needed softening somewhat, so I played around with linen napkins, settling on a white one tucked under the plates. Oh, and of course those are our own brown eggs, collected that morning and served up on a small wooden plate from Crate and Barrel.

I added my favourite jug for maple syrup, an indigo coloured pottery piece that I brought with me from home when I moved to Quebec over 14 years ago. It’s one of my most cherished kitchen possessions, made by a humble homesteading couple of potters in Northern British Columbia’s Kispiox Valley. As a teen I swam, fished and inner-tubed down the river where Huel Pottery digs their clay; now one of their pieces is on the cover of my cookbook as a little reminder of my country roots.

When Tim and I were finally happy with the background, props and lighting for the shot (probably 2-3 hours), I prepared the “hero” pancakes. One stack to rule them all…

I  measured out the batter in exact 1/4 cup measurements and fried the pancakes on two, well-oiled cast iron skillets. My maple syrup was in the freezer, because ice cold syrup is how you get those slow drips down the side of the stack.

I rinsed and refilled the enamelware coffee cup, placed a dollop of blueberry butter onto the top of the stack and Tim went to town behind the lens.

And a new cookbook cover was born. I absolutely adore it, because despite the work that went into styling it, it reminds me of a typical Saturday morning around our table every time I look at it. It’s an honest representation of my food, not overly fancy or gussied up.

We totally tore into that stack of pancakes immediately after the shot. I tossed the cold coffee, though.

The title has stayed steadfast, ever since I pitched it to Penguin. The tagline has changed, then changed back. There will be a few final tweaks, but folks, we have a cookbook cover!

An exclusive offer from Indigo Canada

I’m happy to say that the Brown Eggs & Jam Jars is on pre-order as of today. Our friends at Chapters Indigo Canada are offering an exclusive, four day discount on pre-orders. You can pre-order a copy now at indigo.ca for just $16 with promo code: SIMPLEBITES (special cover reveal price ends on Sunday, October 19th at 11:59p.m.)

Who else is excited for the Simple Bites cookbook?!

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