I should have listened a bit more closely to the stern warnings of almost every person I know who has written a book.
“It’s more work than you think it can be.”
“You’ll gain 10 pounds.”
“You’ll miss your regular life.”
OK, alright, I admit that these are mostly from one end of the author spectrum but they still ring true: Writing and photographing a cookbook is a challenge and takes dedication and hard work.
It’s also a hell of a lot of fun!
Now that my book, On A Stick!, has been out a little over a month, I can almost sit back and let out a sigh of relief. What started in Spring 2010 is now on bookshelves all over the country, displayed just in time for summer cooking. And yes, I’m proud that it’s done and am delighted by the fun people are finding in its pages because it’s true: Food on a stick has that built-in fun factor!
But just how much do people love food on a stick? Visit any state fair and you’ll find out. Which is exactly what we did when we began the planning and research process.
I think this photo sums up the deep-fried, county fair goodness. Sausages, cheese and traditional wieners get stuck, battered and fried. And for the sake of research, I ate just about everything I could get my hands on. Nothing was too strange, too greasy, too out there to try. Of course not everything made its way into the book, but I had the best time trying.
Yes, those are porkchops on a stick. When you’re walking around the grounds of a State Fair the stick thing really comes in handy. And they were delicious, as plain as they look.
Here’s an assortment of fair foods. Yes, I ate them all. And the hot dog wrapped in spiral cut potatoes? Genius. And sadly not something I adapted for my book as I just couldn’t figure out how to put those things together. It’s probably better left alone.
Far be it for me to tell you how much people really do love things on sticks. Just look at this vinyl mural that wrapped the entrance to the craft corner of the fair: A field of corn dogs. And corn dogs in a basket! I am totally down for this kind of harvest. I am!
After visiting as many state fairs as we could find before our deadlines we headed back to the studio to begin the process of cooking and photographing the recipes. But before you can begin production you need to procure sticks because, well, what’s a stick book without lots of sticks? I’m happy to share with you that my other half is an intrepid shopper. If it’s for sale, he’ll find it. And find it he did, just look at all the various sticks we found:
Writing a cookbook about food on a stick wasn’t just about finding a bamboo skewer and calling it a day. There are many different types of sticks and each of them have their unique cooking properties. Skinny, thick, flat, round, stainless steel, branches – there are indeed many options!
Here’s my food stylist extraordinaire, Adam Pearson, putting some last-minute touches on donut holes on a stick.
Here I am arranging some very small beautiful little bowls for a chapter on dips, sauces and marinades. Adam advises on placement.
Here’s an outtake of a cover idea. Needless to say it wasn’t selected, but please be assured the corndogs did not go to waste.
I think I need a few corndogs now to celebrate!
What to get a taste of On A Stick!? Browse through a collection of recipes from the book, including Margarita Jell-O Shots, Chicken and Waffles, Molotes and more.
For more fun and festive recipes, pick up a copy of Matt Armendariz’s book, On a Stick!.
More posts from Matt:
- Salsa Fresca
- Braised Cabbage with Creamy Spicy Mustard Sauce
- Gumbo Hand Pies
- Spicy Sweet Potato and Chicken Fritters
- Pimento Cheese Dip with a Kick
- Turkey Tacos
- Chipotle Sweet Potato Spoon Bread
- Twice Baked Potatoes
- Chocolate Cherry Cookies
- Queso Fundido
- Fig and Blue Cheese Flatbread
- Ice Cream Terrine with Sautéed Peaches
- Matt’s Ultimate Summer Salad
- Cherry Galette
Find Matt at mattbites.com.
Cool sites…
[...]I came across a cool website that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some of them worthed to try[...]……
printing services dubai…
[...]The information mentioned in the post are several of the ideal out there [...]…
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Websites we think you should visit…
[...]although websites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we feel they are actually worth a go through, so have a look[...]……
Yahoo results…
While browsing google I found this site in the results and I didn’t think it fit…
Looking around…
While I was browsing yesterday I noticed a great post about…
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Tumblr article…
I saw a writer talking about this on Tumblr and it linked to…
ip lookup…
[...]the time to study or go to the subject material or web pages we have linked to beneath the[...]…
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in this post are useful [...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Websites we think you should visit…
[...]although websites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we feel they are actually worth a go through, so have a look[...]……
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]I came across a cool website that you might be interested in. Check it out[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
Yahoo results…
While searching amazon I found this blog in the results and I didn’t think it fit…
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Its hard to find good help…
I am forever saying that its hard to get quality help, but here is…
Related……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……
swift codes…
[...]just beneath, are quite a few entirely not associated sites to ours, nevertheless, they’re certainly worth going over[...]…
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
kredyty dla zadluzonych…
[...]Every as soon as inside a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below would be the most current web pages that we choose [...]…
Looking around…
I like to surf around the internet, regularly I will just go to Stumble Upon and follow thru…
Websites we think you should visit…
[...]although websites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we feel they are actually worth a go through, so have a look[...]……
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are few of the blogs we recommend to our visitors[...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a nice Blog You Might Find useful that we Encourage You to see[...]……
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Low Cost Web Design…
[...]the time to study or go to the content material or web-sites we have linked to below the[...]…
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Tumblr article…
I saw someone writing about this on Tumblr and it linked to…
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……