UPDATE September 2023: Woo-hoo!!
The print version of the cookbook is now available - Enjoy!
9/15/2022
Hi sweet peeps!
I want to celebrate a personal momentous occasion with you. Grab your mug, cup or glass, and raise a l'Chaim with me! None nearby? I'll take a high five. Oooh, I feel the love! Thank you!! And I didn't even share what for, at least not in detail. That is the mark of true caring. Sending love back at you!
This week I welcomed the delivery of my family cookbook - one that is five years in the making. Ten if you count from when I first got the idea to create it. "AHAVAT SHABBAT" is the cookbook I put together with the intention of sharing it with my children so that when they grow and build their own families they can enjoy making the very same recipes that they grew up with, and carry the warm feelings that come along into their own homes on Shabbat / Shabbos. Once I got into the creation of it, my goal grew into wanting to share it with you and others, too!
This week was also my mother's birthday and she had come for a visit. The timing of the cookbook's arrival couldn't have been better. Opening the box with my mother at my side was emotional, to say the least. What a gift to us both to share in this moment together!
There were six books in all, sent from Balboa Press, the assisted publishing house I worked with. These copies were included as part of my publishing package. The same physical copy of the book is not yet available for all, however, drumroll please... the eBook version is available immediately for you and anyone else who would like to download a taste of my Shabbos table. Woo-hoo!!
In celebration, I'd love to share a bit of the backstory, of how it came to be:
At some point while I was working on putting the cookbook together, my daughter mentioned how she had shared one of my recipes with a friend, who later told her that it came out amazing and the fact that it did made her feel so good. Hearing this triggered a flash of memories filled with the many times that extended family and friends shared of how recreating recipes I shared enhanced their Shabbos and for some, like my daughter's friend, it built their confidence in the kitchen, and so, within themselves. It was at that moment that I realized this cookbook must be shared with others outside my immediate circle. I was filled with this overwhelming need to do this as my humble way of thanking G-d for the gift that is Shabbos, and in my own way spreading the joy of this auspicious day.
You might be wondering why it took me this long, when there are so many sites nowadays where you can type in or even send a photo of a recipe and have it bound together and shipped in a few week's time, or less. Perhaps it's the perfectionist in me, though I like to think that I have taught that part of me to chill quite a bit. Yes, my kids would love it even if the recipes were scribbled onto a page, copied and stapled together, but I wanted them to have a book that presented the recipes in a way that would make it enticing, with the little introductory paragraphs that would bring back their own memories and have them experience ones of my own. Besides, once I set the intention of sharing the book with others too, I very much wanted to create a book with a layout similar to ones I enjoyed cooking from over the years.
This required sitting with each recipe, thinking, writing, and then editing. After decades of cooking and baking weekly for Shabbat I was making most dishes without measuring the ingredients. Therefore, it took time (a lot of time!) to test each recipe and note exact measurements. It is very important to me that anyone who tries their hand at a recipe be rewarded with delicious results! And then came the next step - editing! (Ok, perhaps the perfectionist has not quite left the building.) I knew that if I was putting this book out into the world, even by way of an eBook, I wanted to feel confident that professional eyes looked it over. Where oh where would I find a Kosher cookbook editor? Google, of course!!
My first search and there she was, Paula Shoyer, Kosher Chef - and cookbook author - and editor! I scanned her page and read one of her many posts. In this one she shared of how she loved baking in her grandmother's kitchen when she was a child, in her grandparents home - in SeaGate!! Why the exclamation marks? Well, I grew up in SeaGate, and so immediately felt a kinship. Also her grandparents were active board members of the shul/ synagogue that was on the corner of my block. It was a shul with attendees from all levels of Jewish observance, there was the chassid with the shtreimel and upstairs in the women's section, there was the woman with white doily pinned on with a black bobby pin. The Rabbi would announce the page we were on periodically and there was always a boy on tip toes (at least the way I remember it) replacing the numbers on the clapboard to reflect the page in the siddur, helping me keep up with the chazan as the prayers went along. I loved it. I can go on and on, but you get the picture. I felt that being drawn to read this post was me experiencing Divine intervention, and I felt pulled to reach out to Paula.
Working with Paula was a pleasure! She is kind, patient and professional. It was only after I mentioned her name to a friend that I was informed that Paula is a celebrity in the Kosher cooking world. I wasn't on social media much at the time, so little did I know. All the more grateful am I that she had time in her schedule to take on my cookbook editing. When our work together finally came to a close, she honored me with a blurb for the back of my cookbook. I was beyond touched. Her generous words of praise felt like a high-five from from Above as well.
So the editing was done, all is good to go, right? Well, almost. I could have called it a day - I could have self published it in black and white and been on my way, but the feedback was - you must have photos!! What's a cookbook without photos? I'll answer that from personal experience - it can be an absolute treasure! Two of the recipes in the book were inspired by ones that I discovered in books without any photos - ones where the author poured their heart into creating a book filled with gems to enjoy. With that said, I totally get it. Food photos entice us, make our mouth water, get us excited to make and bake. But where was I to get a food photographer?
Lucky for me, at the same time the thought was circling in my head the Kosher Food Fest (festival) was going on at The Jacob Javitz Center in New York City. Being that I was in driving distance, off I went, on a mission to collect cards from food photographers. I figured there would probably be some attending. Besides, I was curious to explore the latest Kosher food offerings. After a long day of walking the isles, I came away with only three contacts, and those were from cards picked up off of tables as I explored the food booths. I didn't feel a pull to any, probably because there wasn't any personal connection.
Feeling a bit disappointed yet trusting I would be shown the way, it was only a few minutes later when an idea popped into my head - why not ask my niece Zoe to take the photos? Photography was more than a hobby for her - she had professional equipment and had attended programs in the city during her summer vacation months off scvhool to learn and perfect her skills. She had taken on photography jobs for Bat Mitzvahs and family photo shoots, so I figured food photography would be doable. I figured I'd convince her by pointing out that you don't have to tell an apple kugel to stop fidgeting and smile.
Turns out Zoe was excited for the project, but since she started her senior year of high school at the time, we were limited to scattered weekends when she was free. This was fine by me, and so between us both we made it happen. Or I should say, between us three, since I could not do this all without her mom, my darling sister-in-law Nechama, who has been supportive of all my ideas, for as long as I know her. For this one all she opened up her home to me - literally! I was testing food in her kitchen during the time when we were in-between moves and looking for a new home. I have incredible hakarat hatov / gratitude to Nechama, her husband David, son Zachary - and of course Zoe, for putting up with my taking over the kitchen time and again. What a blast we had!
Now all that was left was to submit the recipes I typed up along with the photos, and additional info, such as the menu, index and acknowledgement page, to Balboa Press, the publishing press that I was working with to help me format the book. My intention in doing so was to save myself lots of time, which I believe I did. The only downside, is that the set cost of the physical copy of the book became extremely cost-inhibitive, both for making it available for purchase as well as for getting multiple author copies. I was told it was due to the number of pages I had and the rising cost of paper.
Still, I am very pleased with how Balboa laid out the book and it was pleasant to work with them. (I'll be happy to share details if you want to learn more about the process and/or my experience - just reach out to me directly.) The eBook looks great, if I may say so myself. It is priced at 9.99 and 50% of the proceeds will be donated to Tomche Shabbos of Rockland an organization that does incredible life-changing and uplifting work. It is a charity that is dear to my heart.
That's right, every copy you order whether for you or a friend, I will give Tomchei Shabbos 50% of the proceeds. You will be my partner in Chesed /kindness. Oooh, that feels so incredibly soul-nurturing. Just the thought makes my heart smile.
I hope you can get a sense of how much heart and soul was invested into this book, not only by me but so many others, including all who shared recipes that in turn inspired ones in the book. Perhaps now you can understand, how for me it wasn't the case of simply taking a recipe that was already typed up, and copying and pasting them into a book for an app to process and ship. This truly is a labor of love, one that came to being by making space to work on it while living life in other areas, figuratively and literally - moving three times, marrying off kids, and welcoming grandchildren, thank G-d. Blessings, blessings, blessings, that I wish for all.
So here I am with my physical copy of book in hand feeling grateful for the fact that my original intention of creating the book to hand to my kids, has been fulfilled. AND I am blessed to have the eBook available, which hopefully help raise funds for the charity work of Tomche Shabbos and thereby have a hand in filling many homes with food for Shabbos. My heart is full.
Wishing you a year where all that you cook up and bake in every area of your life comes out even better than you expected. May your place be filled with the heavenly aroma of peace and love, and may your year be filled with sweet and delicious moments of happiness and celebrations.
Thank YOU for celebrating this momentous birth of "Ahavat Shabbat cookbook. (Previously named "For the Love of Shabbos") Please consider ordering a copy for yourself and friends. Thank YOU for all your support!!! I feel it! HUGE HUG!!!
May we continue to share in goodness, always.
Shana Tova U'metuka - a super sweet New Year!
Stay uplifted!
With love,
Leah
P.S. I still hope to make the physical copy of the book accessible to all someday, now that the tedious job of formatting it is complete. I do have a number of other things happening, BH, so it may be some time before I get to work on it. All in due time :)
PPS. I'm currently enrolled in the "Leverage Your Art" course and am soaking in the information - it's jam packed, and I'm absolutely loving it! I'm also in the midst of working on a coloring book consisting of illustrations inspired by poetry. If you are curious about any of this - for the sake of curiosity or because it's of personal interest to you, then absolutely join my new monthly newsletter! (Really new - I hope to get it going next month.)
In it I will be sharing about my creative journey into the world of "surface pattern design." (I never even heard of the term before this year.) I plan to include any share-worthy delightful surprises I discover in the process. I hope my doing so inspires you to live true to your G-d given essence, too.
Join me on my artful life journey - I would love your company!
To sweet beginnings - L'Chaim - to life!
(Photo of my grandmother, Ida Yifrach, a"h, me at 1 year, and my mother, amv"s)
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Kneading Flour Photo by Theme Photos on Unsplash
Heart Photo by Jasmine Waheed on Unsplash
Apple Kugel / Cake Photo by ZoeFishPhotography