TODAY IS THE DAY!
Seriously Delish is officially in stores and available for purchase. I can hardly believe it — I’m equal parts stunned and thrilled, and I can’t wait for you to see it. I’m excited in a very Jessie Spano kind of way.
First, thank you. The outpouring of support from everyone who reads this blog has been overwhelming and incredibly meaningful. You are the reason I wrote this book, put these recipes on the page, and endured the anxious second-guessing that comes with wondering whether the finished book will be enough.
I’ve been a jumble of emotions. I was probably on a plane to Florida when I wrote this (if you’re in the Tampa area, come to the signing tonight!), having woken up before dawn and likely running on very little sleep. I kept telling Eddie, “I just feel so WEIRD.” It’s hard to describe — like everything was both beginning and ending at once. Does that make any sense? Maybe not, but that’s the truth.
It’s surreal to see something you’ve worked on for years finally out in the world — in people’s homes, on e-readers, sitting in front of new faces. It’s also terrifying. Recipe development was the most difficult part of this whole project. Maybe it’s because I grew up in an era of instant gratification and perfection, or because I get bored easily and constantly tinker with familiar dishes. I’m the person who finds a perfect brownie recipe and still spends years hunting for a slightly better version.
Back in 2012 I thought I had about 200 recipes finalized. By six months later, I had doubts about many of them and kept reworking the book. By the end of the process I cycled through 300 to 400 recipes before settling on the final 150+ that made the cut.
I worried about trends — would people still be eating kale in 2014? Would I even want kale tomorrow? It seemed impossible to predict what we’d all want on our plates years down the line. But here we are in 2014, and the recipes in the book are ready to be made and enjoyed today.
Here’s a peek at the chaos that was my kitchen during the shoot and testing months. I don’t live in that house anymore, but for months it was a disaster zone as I photographed, re-shot, and retook countless images. The cleanup every night was brutal — I ran the dishwasher constantly and washed a lot of dishes by hand.
Some of those shots were posted on Instagram during the process, and many of the images you see in the book were retaken multiple times. There were long stretches when our house looked like a production set, and I embraced that frenzy because it was all part of making the book exactly as I wanted.
One big lesson: don’t do a cookbook entirely alone if you can avoid it. It was incredibly demanding to handle writing, testing, photographing, and the endless cleanup solo. Still, the upside is that this book is undeniably mine. I photographed every plate, wrote every word, caught many typos, and ate countless test bites. It was literal blood, sweat, and tears — but worth every moment.
The past week has been especially rewarding because of you. Seeing your photos, messages, and social posts about receiving the book has made everything feel real and joyful. Even though I’ve had copies for months and sometimes can’t bear to look at my own work, your enthusiasm has quieted most of my fears — that the recipes aren’t original enough, that something will fail, or that the book won’t measure up. Thank you for making this week so special and for easing my nerves.
The book is out now, and I hope to meet many of you on the book tour — check the tour page for updates and times, as I may add more events. I can’t express how much it would mean to me if you visited your local bookstore and picked up a copy. If you prefer to order online, copies are available from major retailers and should arrive at your door soon. If you sent in your pre-order confirmation for a signed bookplate before the cutoff, those signed plates will be shipped directly from us soon.
Please share photos of dishes you make from Seriously Delish on Instagram with the hashtag #howsweeteats and tag me, or post on Twitter and Facebook. I want to see everything you cook from the book.
That’s all for now. I love you all and thank you for being part of this journey — you mean the world to me.