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!
The cover shot is gorgeous…I love how the spoon matches the colors of the fruits in the parfait. Congratulations to you!!!
Congratulations!!
I cannot thank you enough for the inspiration and amazing recipes you have provided in the last five years. You truly impacted my quest for self-love and health, you are such an inspiration. I feel like you’re a friend! I hope the zest for your professional life continues, you bring so much to us all!!
Hi Angela,
I LOVE the cover, and being from Massachusetts, I will say that I think it would be a perfect cover for the United States as well. I hope you ate that gorgeous parfait after you shot it! I love your site, the recipes are amazing, and your happiness, contagious. I can’t wait to get three books, one for myself, and one for each of my daughters. Thank you so much for continuing to bring such wonderful recipes to so many people. Oh, and Eric, fantastic job on the pumpkins! They must have been well scooped to appear so clean inside :)
Laurie
Congratulations Angela! Your blog inspired me to start up my own blog, but sadly my career as a first grade teacher keeps me much too busy to dedicate the necessary time to it! I can’t believe it’s been 5 years since you started this! I’ve followed you from about 8 months in and I’ve read your posts regularly every since!
Keep it up! You are doing great things here and you are an inspiration to many.
Just a question: Why did you do a separate cover for your US cookbook?
I just preordered the cookbook and can’t wait to get my hands on it! :)
I don’t even know how I came across your website but I am SO incredibly happy I did. Making 2 recipes tonight and cant wait to make more already. Your story is very inspiring, every part of it. I am happy that good people such as yourself become successful but yet stay so real and down to earth (I swear you are speaking directly to me when I read your intro’s to the recipes, posts, etc.) I love photography and travel too so I really enjoy all the content. Your life is lovely and I thank you for sharing it with the world :) All the best with the book I will certainly be buying it!! I am getting married next April and we are trying to get healthy and fit – with your help and recipes I feel like it wont be so hard! Thanks for being you Angela
Hey Jenny, Thank you so much for your lovely comment! I have a big smile on my face! Congrats on your engagement and good luck with all your health and fitness goals. I hope the book is helpful!
I’m so excited to get my hands on the book!! Can’t wait!
Congratulations Angela! I’ve been an avid follower of your blog for several years now, and I have managed to keep my family of meat-eaters happy with your vegan recipes. I am eagerly awaiting the release of your cookbook! :)
Congratulations! Love seeing a fellow Canadian blogger create a cookbook! I can’t wait to see it- I’m sure all of the photos will be gorgeous!!! Happy 5 years =)
Congrats on the book and on the 5th year anniversary of the blog!
I love your blog!! Y
*Your recipes are truly inspiring! :)
Hi Angela! Congratulations on your book! The cover looks beautiful. And I wanted to add my appreciation to this comment thread for your ever inspiring blog. I’ve been reading for a while and your journey has spoken to me personally. So thanks!
Hi Kate, Thanks for your kind words! :) I really appreciate it.
The cover is absolutely gorgeous and I can’t wait until I have your book in my hands!
Congratulations Angela!! What an accomplishment and I’m sure your book will be a great success! Your recipes are delicious and a wonderful variation too! I can only imagine how excited you are after all the hard work and love that went into all your recipes! I also can understand your excitement as I recently published a children’s book, a true story of my late cat Oliver. All the best!!! ~ Adriana
PS I look forward to purchasing your book to have all the recipes handy : ) I make your buckwheat granola all the time : ) ~ Adriana
Congrats, Angela! I am truly happy for you!!!
Just to let you know that the US cover is already shown on the Amazon US pre-order link. I must say I like the Canadian cover more!
Exciting times ahead – wish you all the best x
I live in the US and can NOT wait for your cookbook I WANT THIS COVER THOUGH!!! haha it’s seriously stunning! If it weren’t for your blog I would probably still be miserably eating animal products… It was your recipes that helped me in my transition to a vegan diet and it was way easier than one may think it’d be! I love your creativity and am so excited you have a book coming out! It’ll be in my kitchen counter for a long time ;)
Thank you Aimee! So glad you are enjoying the recipes.
LOVE LOVE LOVE the cover on the Canadian cookbook. It is beautiful!!! Can it be shipped to the US and how much extra would it be if it can? What’s on the US cookbook cover? Because of being different publishers I guess you have to have different covers??? Love your recipes, Angela, thank you!! P.S. When does the Canadian version come out?
Hi Cindy, Yes, I think they will ship to the US from Amazon.ca (if I’m not mistaken!) not sure about the shipping rate though, you’d have to get a quote.
You are certainly right about two different publishers with two different ideas!
Thanks for your support!
Congratulations on 5 years! Hard to imagine I’ve been *reading* your blog for that long (and experimenting with veg/vegan foods along the way). It’s a terrific milestone.
I am so happy you are still there reading! That means a lot. :) thank you!
Congratulations!! How exciting to have your own cookbook coming out! I have to say that I cannot wait until this is out so that I can have it in my home. Your recipes are wonderful-thanks so much for sharing with all of us:)