How do I begin? When we first started the Pairings Box, I never imagined that 2+ years later, we would still be going strong. Optimistic much? Before I ever had this site, or even knew how to cook, I dreamed that one day I would write a book.
My dreams started in front of my great-grandfather’s typewriter, in my parents’ Moscow apartment. I’ve tried writing books a number of times in my life. In the fifth grade, I spent hours at the local library, researching the Great Barrier Reef, hoping to pen a Jules Verne-style tome about ocean exploration. There would be drama and suspense (think: Aliens and Jurassic Park). What little I knew about writing a book, I took to heart: a good book required research. About twenty-some pages into my book — and fifty-some more of notes and photocopies, I focused my attention on other things: boys, beach, makeup.
My first year living in San Francisco, I spent many hours at the Canvas Cafe, which sadly, shut down a few years ago. I was on to my next book. The thing about writing that every writer will tell you is: writing is hard. It takes dedication and commitment. Most of us writers question our writing at every step. We are impossible perfectionists. From talking to friends who’ve published books, I questioned whether I could possibly stay sane, writing a book.
Life continued at full force and while I never gave up on that dream to one day write a book, I allowed myself to let it go, a little. I reminded myself that the accomplishment of writing a book is less about saying “I wrote a book” and more about feeling that you’ve written something you’ve waited — sometimes all your life — to write.
So, I have not written (or am writing) a book — in the traditional sense. But, much like with the Pairings Box itself, one day I realized that, in fact, I had created over 80 original recipes. I tested, styled, and photographed them, edited them endlessly, and, outside of the Pairings Box, never shared them in a complete package. The process of writing my first ‘cookbook’ happened organically.
Turntable Kitchen’s Cookbook in a Box
So what am I here to tell you about? A product I’ve been dreaming about for, maybe my entire life? The Turntable Kitchen Cookbook in a Box. A handmade, heirloom cherrywood recipe box (with dovetail joints and Whisk + Headphones engraving, no less), along with over 80 original Pairings Box recipes, including some from guest contributors Tracy Benjamin of Shutterbean, Jenny and Teri Lyn from Spoon Fork Bacon, and Ashley Rodriguez of Not Without Salt. The ‘cookbook’ also includes a cherrywood ‘favorites’ divider to help you organize your recipes.
Get it here.
If you’re a Pairings Box subscriber, you’ll find that there’s plenty of room to add new recipes to your collection — the benefit of a Cookbook in a Box vs. the standard cookbook.
The Cookbook in a Box is two products in one: a beautiful, handmade heirloom recipe box and a cookbook-sized collection of original recipes. We take great care to create a range of recipes every month for the range of cooks out there. Our hope is to inspire anyone to cook at home and we offer approachable instructions and a reasonable ingredient list. Of course, to get the complete Turntable Kitchen experience, you might consider subscribing to the Pairings Box: every month, you’ll expand your recipe collection to include three new recipes, and the Premium Ingredient of the month needed to help you create them (in addition to an exclusive 7″ and mixtape).
I am so thrilled to be able to share this product with you, which I feel I’ve poured my heart and soul into over the last several years.
P.S. You’ll notice that the intro card inside the Cookbook in a Box gives a little sneak peek into our new design. For the last several months, we’ve been working hard on the site’s redesign, and we’re so, so excited to share it with you soon. Stay tuned…
