Book 2 Cover Test Shots? And an excerpt from my current writing project...
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Hey Reader, I don't have anything really pithy to write here this week, as I spent much of last week cooking and doing little else! A few weeks ago, my editor sent me potential mock-ups for the cover of Book 2 and suffice it to say, none of them stood out to me as the immediate winner. I didn't panic or anything, because for Book 1, none of them really stood out to me as the immediate winner either. But there are probably many of you reading this right now being like, "I mean, how could you even think for one second anything other than the iconic jjajangmyeon could be the cover???" Funny story--I took this photo on the fake leather ottoman I bought from Target many years ago for $25 which somehow stuck around, even when I moved into Anthony's condo (which is where I photographed the overwhelming majority of Cookbook 1). I made the jjajangmyeon, ate some, put the bowl on the ottoman, shot the picture and thought--"Yeah. I think that's going to be the cover. But what do I know? I'm taking this picture on a freaking ottoman." Would you believe that I took many of the photos in Book 1 on random pieces of furniture? Like so many were shot on top of Anthony's Steinway!!! We lived in a 1,000 square foot condo and half of our teensy living space was taken up by Anthony's enormous piano, which swallowed up all the natural light. So, I was like, fine, I'll just use this thing as a very expensive table for my photos! I was once introduced to this woman at a party as a "James Beard Award Winning cookbook author," and she proceeded to ask me how I wrote my cookbook. "Well, I was a full-time lawyer at the time, and I was also a self-taught cook and photographer. So, I would come home from work, make something I wanted to eat, put the bowl on my husband's piano, his piano bench, or this cheap fake leather ottoman I had... Sometimes, I'd use this small card table I bought from Amazon with a piece of wood over it to make it look like an actual table. Then I'd eat it. Sometimes I'd jot down a few notes. But mostly, I wrote the recipes by memory several weeks, sometimes several months later. So, yeah. That's how I wrote the book." To which she replied, "I'm sorry, did you say you won a James Beard...?" Anyhoot, I had the same feeling when I shot this photo of kimbap for Book 2: The only problem is, I hated the piece in the center. If you've made kimbap before, then you know, there are always end pieces that you eat before serving because they're ugly and messy. But I wanted to include one as a little inside joke to everyone who's made a lot of kimbap--"Look! I included my ugly end piece right at the center!" But the joke was on me, because it made the photo not right for the cover (which needs to have the widest possible appeal--i.e., needs to look good to people who will have never even heard of kimbap, much less have the capacity to understand a very inside joke about making kimbap). Still, they were so beautiful and stunning to me, and kimbap is so iconically Korean, I asked my editor to give me a few more weeks to take better photos of kimbap (as well as a few other dishes) as potential covers. So, yesterday, I made two different kinds of kimbap, yubuchobap, and kkanpoong tofu ssam. Then, because I invited friends over, I also made more kimbap (because I wanted something warm and not cold to serve them), together with Mac N Cheese. Because, you know--Mac N Cheese is the perfect companion to kimbap and kkanpoong tofu ssam. Taking photos for Book 2 has been, in many ways, similar to the process I employed for Book 1. I like to think I've gotten better at it, but I still do almost all the work. This time around, I did hire a sous chef to help me make some of the food and sometimes, I had my husband or mom or aunt or other folks holding a plate or a bowl or a pair of chopsticks. But I had one rule for Book 1 and the same rule exists for Book 2: I and only I can hit the shutter button. I want to be able to say that I took every last photograph in my book (other than the author photo), even if I'm in the photo. That was the challenge--we wanted to give this cover photo a homey feel, which meant that my hands needed to be in the photo. Thus ensued multiple shots (like a hundred) that required me to contort my body in a way that ensured only my hands were in the shot, but that my phone was within reach so I could see the shot (via a live tether) and then take the shot (via remote): I was a little self-conscious about my hands. One of the most popular reviews on Amazon for my book mentioned the fact that my nails were dirty in Book 1, which is categorically false. I made sure that I washed my hands like a crazy lady for all my photos, but if you cook a lot, then you'll know, no matter what you do, unless you paint your nails, they can look a little stained. I thought about getting my nails done (I have a perfect french manicure in many of the interior photos), but it felt weird. Like... this book is about Joanne and the food she makes at home for her family and loved ones, and I don't go out and get a manicure every time I make hobbahk jeon. I opted not to get my nails done but scrutinized my hands and nails, zooming in as far as my computer would let me and then zooming out to get a broader sense of how my hands looked and it struck me, "My hands look... familiar." Well, duh, yes, they are my hands, so they should look familiar, but I mean, they reminded me a lot of someone else's hands. I took the photo above when I was just getting into photography. I used the webcam of my laptop. Yup. I didn't even have a camera. Still, I'm glad I lugged my laptop with me to my grandmother's hospice, as the photos I took that day are among the last I have of my grandmother. She liked to get her nails done, too. Once, I came to her nursing home with a whole manicure kit and did her nails for her. It made her so happy. I think she would be so proud of me, right now, knowing that I made my kimbap look so pretty, that I spent all day making them from scratch. I think she would be super proud of my kimchi, which tastes sour and sweet and crunchy and perfect (and also happens to be one of the most popular vegan kimchi recipes on the interwebs). I think she would also be so pleased knowing that, in the end, her American granddaughter prefers kimbap and kimchi over hamburgers and pizza, as if I carry a bit of her 손맛 (the effect of her hands) in my body, everywhere I go. This Week's Recipe Inspos. I'm giving you 5 recipes this week--all the recipes featured in the above writing! 4 Kinds of Kimbap.
*** Mac 'n Cheese.
*** Kkanpoong Tofu.
*** Careless Kimchi.
*** Zucchini Pancake & Fritters.
What I'm... Parting Thoughts. The other day, I shared on my IG stories about how I got into creative writing as an adult and ultimately became a published poet and a cookbook writer. I started writing when I was a little girl and many teachers, along the way, encouraged me, telling me I had "talent." But, adulthood erased a lot of their words and the urgency of mortgage payments and car payments and monthly homeowners association fees... Well, those things stood prominently in the way of storytelling. Somehow, though, I ended up right where I guess I should be. I've been thinking about my writing career a lot lately, because I'm trying to write a book (not a cookbook) about my mother. The more and more time I spend with her, the more and more I realize that I have one of the best mothers in the whole world and that I am lucky beyond words to have such a gracious, strong, and smart woman in my life. Thus, I feel, like, a lot of pressure to get this book done and done right. Am I a better writer today than I was two years ago? Yes, absolutely--largely because you all indulge me and read all my writings from week-to-week. Am I a better writer than I was a decade ago? When I was writing bits of poetry and prose every single day on my writing blog? I dunno... Jury's still out on that. The best way to get good at anything is to do it and to do it a lot. It's how I got good at running. It's how I got good at cooking. It's how I got good at photography. And it's how I'll continue to get good at writing. Below is a short excerpt from the book I'm working on now, the book I hope to publish one day: The "love story” of my grandparents really begins here. When she lost my grandfather. Because it is often our grief that reveals the sharp, defining corners of our love. “Love” was not a common word back then. Sarang was rarely used to convey affection. Indeed, I’d never heard my grandmother use it in all my life. Perhaps it offended the Buddhist sensibility that rooted itself along the spine of their small nation; the Korean people preferred to keep their ardor in check, contained within the sturdy confines of less dangerous words: I like you, I miss you, I am lonely without you. These words were not entirely foreign to my grandmother, who’d already had to bury her first child. Grief—real grief, the kind that sprang only from watching clods of dirt land indifferently on a shroud, the long white cloth covering a tiny body—the hands, feet, head, heart, and toes that had once lived entirely inside her own… No, grief was not a stranger to her and thus, despite her reluctance to mouth the word sarang, neither was love. Thanks, friends, for your indulgence this week. I promise, more recipes to come. <3 Wishing you all the best,
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