I got one of those dream assignments, shoot the cover of Beth Dooley’s new cookbook. The theme of the cookbook is northern harvest. The publisher wanted Kale and to have the feeling of a bountiful harvest.   I shoot a series of images and submit them to the publisher and hope they will like one of them.  Kale is a tricky subject to make look fresh and appetizing, it is so dark and moody. But in an interview, Beth Dooley is a big fan  “Beth: Kale! Kale! Kale will save the world!  Kale is good for your health, it grows everywhere, it’s hardy, and it actually returns nutrients to the soil instead of depleting the soil. I learned about it from Atina Diffley of Gardens of Eagan. She’s a huge proponent of kale.”  Perhaps I should rethink how I feel about Kale.

The Northern Heartland Kitchen is a cookbook  about cooking local, seasonal food. The recipes are organized by season, with what is ready to harvest from the garden or shop at the local farmers market.  There’s info on pickling and preserving food.

There is a good review of several of the recipe’s on the Heavy Table web site-

http://heavytable.com/the-northern-heartland-kitchen-by-beth-dooley/

It is a great cookbook for cooking local seasonal food and staying healthy with more vegies. There are several recipes I need to try before the summer season is over- the next on the list is a watermelon gazpacho.

Here are some out-takes from the photo shoot for the cover shot of the cookbook.