There are so many exciting things going on today, I can hardly contain myself.
First, I’m happy to reveal the official Canadian cover of my cookbook at long last!
What do you think? As you may know, I have a long, passionate history with parfaits so I think it’s quite fitting. I love how fresh, healthy, and colourful the cover is. The U.S. cover, while super fresh and colourful too, is completely different. I’ll be showing you that cover in a future post.
Some fun facts about the book:
- More than 100 vegan recipes – including over 95 gluten-free recipes!
- Around 100 full-colour, full-page photos
- 8×10 inch trim size
- Very nice paper quality and thickness
- A huge vegan pantry section detailing all of the main ingredients I use
- 10 recipe chapters: Breakfast; Smoothies, Juices, and Tea; Appetizers; Salads; Soup; Entrees; Sides; Power Snacks, Desserts, and Homemade Staples
For more info on the book and where you can pre-order online, please see this page. I’ll be updating it with other retailers soon!
A little story for you – this cover photo wasn’t the original parfait photo. When my editor told me that they were selecting my parfait photo for the cover, I panicked a little. You see, when I shot the photo I wasn’t planning on it being the actual cover photo and even though I liked the shot, I would’ve spent more time styling it had I been shooting for a cover. It’s like your significant other telling you that you are going out to a nice restaurant and then you find out you are actually going to dine with the Royals. No matter what you had on, you probably still feel underdressed. You feel me? So, I persuaded my editor to let me reshoot the cover, even though I knew they were in a big time crunch. Promising it would be back by the end of the day, I raced around town to assemble my props and ingredients, baked the granola, meticulously styled the parfait, and spent a long time trying to get the perfect angle I needed for the cover.
I had a laptop tethered to my camera so I could see the incoming shots and another laptop next to that one with the original parfait photo on the screen. If it wasn’t the perfect angle with the right amount of space for the title (after being cropped to 8×10” trim), I knew it wouldn’t be accepted. I also took the same shots with about 4 different spoons because I couldn’t decide which one looked best. Some things never change!
Thankfully, we all ended up loving this photo more than the original so it was worth the extra effort.
This concludes my Canadian cover story. :)
As it turned out, I ended up re-shooting tons of recipes in the book, especially the photos that I shot early in 2012. My photos have changed a lot in a year so the ones I shot in 2012 stuck out like a sore thumb and were driving me crazy. If I write another book, I’ll try to shoot the photos as close together as possible (probably near the end since I ended up re-testing many recipes anyway) so my style doesn’t change too much.
5 Years
Today also marks this blog’s 5th birthday! Oh how they grow up so fast. My very first post, Boo, was written on October 31, 2008. Here is the very first thing I said on my blog 5 years ago:
“Am I ever glad it’s FRIDAY!!! What a long and exhausting week.”
and then I talked about the weather. Oh boy. Some things never change.
It’s hard to believe I’ve shared almost 500 vegan recipes since then. I’m often asked by friends and family if I’m ever sick of creating recipes and taking pictures, but if anything, delving into something so much has only increased my interest for it. Sure, some days I want nothing to do with it, but thankfully that’s rare. I can honestly say that I love what I do and you, my lovely readers, are a huge reason why. It’s been really fun to get to know many of you and be a part of this community. Even if we’ve never met, I hope that some day we do.
Each year, I feel like I can trust my instincts in the kitchen more. This is something I rarely did when I started out. Everything felt much more rigid and intimidating, but I’ve noticed a real shift in recent months. I thank the cookbook for really pushing me out of my comfort zone. It’s starting to feel more enjoyable, especially with photography. I’m learning to trust myself (and the food) and this doesn’t just apply to the kitchen, but in many areas of my life. So my advice is not to get discouraged if you are new to cooking (or photography) and feeling overwhelmed, it takes time to feel comfortable!
Eric and I have many fun things planned for the future of this blog, starting with our very first vegan recipe app that will be launching soon. Eric is building it on his own and I am helping with the design work and recipe uploading. It’s going to feature the popular recipes from this site as well as totally new recipes you won’t find on this blog. We’re hoping to release it by the holidays, but I won’t make any promises yet!
Aside from some new projects, I want to keep growing as a writer, recipe developer, and food photographer. The saying, the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know, rings true. And that’s exactly why I don’t get bored with it. Most of all, I want this blog to continue to be a place of inspiration for a compassionate plant-based lifestyle. Every time I hear from a reader who has fallen in love with a recipe or got their meat-and-potatoes dad hooked on veggie burgers, it really makes me feel like I’m on the right path doing what I should be doing. Who knows what I’ll be doing in 10 or 20 years down the road, but for now this feels right and I couldn’t be happier to be here.
I’ll leave you with this…
We decided to go with a cat theme this year. Sadly, I can only take credit for the gut-scooping. Eric is the master carver (and crazy cat man, obviously).
If you are looking for last-minute Halloween recipes, see this page. I have lots of recipes from vegan candy (think homemade Twix, Rolos, etc) to dips, soups, and everything in between!
Happy Haunting!
That cover is gorgeous! I can’t wait to preorder the U.S. edition. Congratulations on five years of blogging– your blog was one of the inspirations for me to start my own.
Love the cover – and how the colors in the spoon match the fruit. Congratulations on the cookbook and 5 years!
Wow gorgeous cover and I think a parfait is so fitting – I only discovered your blog a year ago but have been an avid reader ever since. And I literally have had your overnight oats every single day for breakfast since I first saw the recipe on your site. I am so excited to get your book (and since I’m in the US – I can’t wait to see what the cover looks like :-)). So happy for you and thank you for all you do!
It’s good to know I’m not the only one eating vegan overnight oats every day. heh. I seriously rarely go a day without a big bowl or it or chia pudding! Thanks for your lovely comment!
Congrats on five years and a gorgeous book cover! I am totally guilty of judging cookbooks by their food photography, and I have no doubt that yours is going to wow everyone, especially with 100 pages of beautiful recipe photos!
I think I started reading your blog almost four years ago (it was one of the first on my reader) when I was in a crappy place career-wise and I would follow along with your posts as an escape from cubicle life. I especially remember your own career-related posts and all that you went through in switching gears to do what you love. They gave me hope that I could do the same (thank you so much for that), and I also learned a lot about vegan cooking in the process (including green smoothies!). I can’t wait for your cookbook, and cheers to another year of blogging! <3
Thank you Amanda! I adore you and your blog, so this is a huge compliment. Keep up the great work!
I looooooooooove the cover. So gorgeous. Much better than the carrot cover. Cant wait for the book!
The cookbook cover is BEAUTIFUL, Angela. I can’t wait to see the U.S. cover – I’m sure it will be just as gorgeous.
I’m so excited for your book and ready to hold it in my hands. Hope the last few weeks/months of work on it go smoothly!
Congratulations Angela! It look beautiful, awesome job :) XO
Wow- congratulations on both your cookbook cover and five years of blogging. I bet you never guessed this is where it would take you!
I love the cookbook cover. The spoon choice was great :)
Can’t wait to get a copy of your cookbook and perhaps give a few out as gifts!
Happy Anniversary!!! I started reading your blog 4 years ago today:) and Oh She Glows is my first blog to follow. So, thank you for 4 years of entertainment (Sketchie and Eric), encouragement (running, yoga, try-a-tri) and knowledge (not all protein has to come from meat). Keep up the great work you do. I have to ask – will the US cookbook be available before Christmas?
That’s amazing you’ve been reading for so long! Thank you. The book will be released on March 4th, both here and in the US. Pre-orders tend to arrive a bit early. The original publish date was supposed to be late December but it got pushed back. Hope it’s worth your wait!
Happy Blogiversary! The cookbook cover looks fantastic – I promptly went and pre-ordered it. Looking forward to the tasty recipes and delightful photos!
Thank you for your support, Denele!
I love both covers – the US one is on Amazon.com. Other than the cover, are there any other differences between the two versions?
There won’t be any content differences between the two books. However, the Canadian cover is supposed to have “French flaps” while the US version will not. Unless something changes between now and next year, that is.
I love this cover soo much better than the carrot cover as well. But as I live in the US… I will be happy to get this book either way. I can’t wait to try all the yummies!! Congratulations!! :)
The Color Blue and Food:
http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-the-body/color-and-appetite-matters
I’ve heard that about the colour blue too. It’s also known as a trust-worthy colour. I take it all with a grain of salt. Plus, you can’t judge a book by its cover, right? hah. ;)
All your hard work has paid off, I hope you are as proud of yourself as we are of you!!!! Way to go Angela!
Double celebration today! Congrats on the 5-year anniversary and the launch of your cookbook. Time sure flies by when we’re having fun! Congrats again! All the best!
The book looks gorgeous! You’ve given me so many ideas and helpful hints. I can’t wait for this to come out!
I LOVE the canadian cover! It looks amazing! I can’t wait for your cookbook to come out so I can get copies for all my friends who think vegan food is “weird”…I’ll show them! Or actually, you’ll show them ;) Is it weird that this morning I thought, “Oh it’s Halloween….oh yeah it’s Angela’s ‘blogiversary'”? It has been a fun few years reading so thank you for the effort you put into the blog and recipe creation.
hah that is impressive – what a great memory you have! Thanks for your enthusiasm, it really means a lot.
Happy Blogiversary!! Love the cookbook cover, cannot wait to get my hands on it!
Just pre-ordered the book…I’ve been so excited for it since I first heard the news. I’ve been reading your blog for about 3 years now and still look forward to every post and delicious recipe. Your blog really helped me to transition into veganism without relying on tofurky or other junk products…who needs fake food when you can make delicious, beautiful and nourishing meals from whole foods! I also love to make Oh She Glows recipes for my friends and family – vegan or not – because they never fail to be crowd pleasers. Thank you for all that you do here on the blog, I look forward to watching you grow and can’t wait for my book to arrive!!
I cannot wait to see the US cover of the website, and to get my very own copy. Will you be doing any US book signings? I just want to say that I am absolutely in love with your blog and have been following it for about 3 years. I love seeing how you have grown and it constantly keeps me inspired to continue with my blog. Thanks, Angela and congrats on all your latest success!
Hi Katie, Thank you! I would like to do some book signings, but it’s still very much up in the air right now. The funding will have to come out of pocket, so I will have to see if I can save my pennies and make it happen! I would love to meet you sometime.