This post is sponsored by Blurb, a platform for self-publishing books, magazines, and ebooks. Thanks for supporting the brands that help us do what we do!
I won’t lie — writing a cookbook is definitely something that’s crossed my mind. Watching a lot of my friends and acquaintances go through the process, it’s hard not to get sucked into the dream of seeing my recipes in book form, on a shelf at my favorite bookstores (not to mention little shops and boutiques I love to browse).
Creating recipes for the Pairings Box every month gives me an opportunity to explore some of the aspects of book writing — the recipe development, the photography, the layout. Earlier this year, we compiled our favorite Pairings Box recipes over the years into a Cookbook in a Recipe Box, which was super fun. But I’ve still been curious to see what these recipes would look like in book form.
Enter Blurb, a company that lets you easily create a book, magazine, or ebook. When the folks at Blurb approached us to see if we’d be interested in creating a book with them, I jumped at the opportunity. My magazine editing days are long behind me (as is what little experience I had creating magazine layouts) but Blurb made it super easy to take my idea from concept to creation.
Ultimately, I chose to focus on three chapters, highlighting our favorite meals (breakfast, dinners, and dessert). It was fun going through over 100 of the recipes I’ve created over the years and thinking through which ones we love the most. Of course, we had to include a coffee recipe (our maple iced coffee, which is such a delicious treat on a warm day). And my go-to ice cream sundae (with olive oil and pepitas). There’s our weekly soft-scrambled egg recipe, and our favorite turkey chili (which we JUST remade the other week).
Blurb’s BookWright software, which can be downloaded to any computer, makes it super easy to pull in images, add text, and move elements around. Plus, you can easily use a book template to help get you started. You can also preview your book as you’re making it, giving you a better idea of what it will actually look like in print.
You can find plenty of inspiration on Blurb’s site for everything from photo books and cookbooks to children’s and travel books. You can even sell your book on Blurb, Amazon, or in the iBooks store.
For my first go at creating a book myself, I opted for a shorter soft cover book with a handful of my go-to recipes. This might just be the beginning of my book-making efforts.
Thanks again to the team at Blurb for giving us the opportunity to collaborate on this fun project!