Love Letter to My Son in 40 Recipes

Love Letter to My Son in 40 Recipes
Easy vegan and gluten-free cooking, with a Southern African flair.

*UPDATE* This project is STILL happening. However, I vastly undersestimated the work involved. In addition, I am now working while trying to finish the cookbook so my timeline has stretched out considerably. I don't have a definitive date yet.

You can still pre-order but please be advised that I do NOT have a completion date set. Although, I am pushing to get it done by December 2017.

The Story:
My son loves my cooking. Not an earth shattering statement, I know. But that is where this story begins. He asked me to teach him how to make all his favorite recipes. And we tried for a while. But I have control issues. When we’re in the kitchen and I’m instructing him and he’s working too slow for me, or not exactly how I would do it, I have an obsessive tendency to take over without even realizing it. Then my son gives me the look and I pause and say “I’m doing the thing again aren’t I?” and he says “yes, you’re doing the thing”. That’s what we call it “the thing”. I do “the thing” often, whether it’s with him or friends. 

Another problem was that often he would say “that curry you made the other day, I really liked it, can you make it again?” And always my answer was “I don’t know. Maybe?” This is because not even I kept track what I was doing in the kitchen. So I started keeping a notebook in the kitchen, with the idea that I would transcribe it at some point and my son would have his own little guide tailored to his tastes. A way for him to learn and practice cooking his favorite dishes without me right there in the kitchen with him. That way he could do all the cooking himself and actually learn how to make his favorite foods. And THAT is how this cookbook began:  as a notebook in the kitchen where I would keep track of how I cooked things.

Some of these recipes are straight forward, some are variations on South African foods, some are unique enough that I call them my own. All of them represent pretty much the entirety of what my son and I eat on a regular basis. Some are recipes I don’t cook that often simply because my son doesn’t like certain things. Mainly: anything coconut (the milk is okay), any variation of pumpkin or squash, and sweet potato (I know, right? Who doesn’t like sweet potato? Or coconut?). Some are twists on my mother’s recipes which are twists on traditional Swazi recipes so I am not even sure what they are any more, but they taste good!

Right now, I need your help to get this amazing cookbook through the final stages of: photography, editing, design, and publishing.

What do you get for helping me out? I have awesome rewards at every level, even if you can only donate one dollar. And, of course, reward levels that are pre orders of the cookbook (which will be available in e-book, soft cover, and hard cover).


Dollar Store Rewards (cont.)
I cannot set rewards lower than $5, so if you are donating less and want your reward, identify yourself with the donation, and message me your e-mail address (unless there is a way to do that when you donate. If there is, do that). 
$1 - 1 recipe plus photos randomly selected, by me, from the "Sweet Treats" section (via email).
$2 - 1 recipe plus photos randomly selected, by me, from the "Sweet Treats", and "Greens Greens Greens" sections (via email).
$3 - 1 recipe plus photos randomly selected, by me, from the "Sweet Treats", "Starchy Goodness", and "Curries, Stews, and Sauces" sections (via email).
$4 - 1 recipe plus photos randomly selected, by me, from the "Sweet Treats", "Starchy Goodness", "Greens Greens Greens", and "Mixing it Up" sections (via email).