THE KITCHN COOKBOOK IS OUT NOW!

About a year and a half ago, I embarked on a huge project -- the images for The Kitchn Cookbook. This is not just a collection of 150 recipes, it includes 10 kitchen tours shot around the country, cooking skills, equipment must-haves, meditations on food and much more. It's a powerhouse of information -- written by Sara Kate Gillingham and Faith Durand. More photos, out-takes and news after the jump.

Beatrice Valenzuela's warm Los Angeles kitchen

a few of the wonderful recipes featured: baked salmon in olive oil, banana ice cream, veggie burgers and jam hand pies.

various tours in Portland and Brooklyn

Nancy Neil's cabin kitchen in Carpinteria 

El Presidente cocktail

NYC, Brooklyn and Portland kitchens

Probably my favorite kitchen featured: in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn home of Kristin Ossman

a few more delicious recipes: meyer lemon bars, green papaya pad thai, lentils with roasted veggies and jam jar salad dressings

This book took a lot of time, had a lot of moving parts and many participants. It was the ultimate group project really. One of my favorite aspects was shooting so many kitchens in a row, seriously it was like going to home school, trying to decipher the person's cooking style and space quickly, then show them in their kitchen in the best possible way. Setting up our studio kitchen now, i'm using a lot of the tips and tricks I gleaned from the subjects of these tours.

Shooting a cookbook is, at times, grueling (long hours, lots of critical thinking and compromising), but it is also sparkly and wonderful -- knowing we are apart of teaching someone to cook, the most basic of needs being met is immensely gratifying. Working with a small team of amazing women: Adrian Hale as lead food stylist, Chelsea Fuss as lead prop stylist, Katy McCarthy as lead assistant in our Portland studio (another friend's restaurant!) was incredible, they all poured their heart, talent and soul into this book too. Looking around at their confident, smiling faces, meant so much to me -- I'm lucky to call them collaborators as well as great friends.

Here's a behind the scenes post I worked on right after the shoot if you'd like to see some "making of" pictures. And, last but not least, go out and get this book! It's a beauty and it's available now in bookstores and online.