HOW I WROTE A COOKBOOK DURING LOCKDOWN

About two years ago, I bought a little set of pastel notebooks. As a stationery hoarder, I obviously had no idea what to use them for, I just knew that I wanted them. When I moved to my uni flat in 2018, I started using one to write down my shopping lists and recipes I would find online to try in the kitchen without bringing my laptop. After a few pages were filled, I decided that writing my recipes down would be useful if I ever intended to make them again, and it would be a good way to chronicle the bakes that saw me through my final year of studies. 

At the same time as copying recipes into my notebook, I was occasionally writing recipe posts on my blog - this blog. I created a Persian inspired almond cake and was so proud of how the recipe (and pictures!) turned out that I knew I had to write a blog post for it. 

To create the graphic in the post I used a site called Canva. I have been using this graphic design website for years and I adore that it's a user-friendly interface, template options and interesting typefaces. Besides, after graduating from Uni, I no longer have access to Microsoft Word, so I have taken to Canva to produce all documents. I scrolled back through my designs to see when I first started using the site, and all I can say is that it was clearly during a time when I had a huge crush on Ed Westwick. Embarrassingly, the first eight or so designs were collages of trendy Tumblr pictures (and Ed Westwick, duh) to use as my desktop wallpapers. But I digress.

Back to the point, at the end of April, after a month of isolation at home due to coronavirus, my boyfriend suggested that I type up the Persian cake and format it using Canva. I was having a bad week, I think, and as per usual, he knew that playing around on some designs would calm me down. The next recipe project I tackled was the complicated task of collating about fifteen different sourdough starter guides and sourdough loaf recipes into an easy-to-follow document for me and my boyfriend to use to start our sourdough project! It hadn’t actually occurred to me to combine the two documents, but then I looked back at the pictures on my phone. In the last fortnight, I had baked cinnamon rolls, cookies and two curries so it made perfect sense to copy those recipes up, too. I got into such a roll that I was itching to write up new recipes, and that's when I decided to use my little pink notebook (forgotten about that one, eh?) as a starting place. 

The design of the cookbook has changed since I first drafted it, and each time I try a new recipe, I add a new page for it in the book. Because some of the recipes were tested 18 months ago at uni, I don’t have photos for them all, but with each new bake, I am making additions that will add colour and life into the book.

I use the overview function on Canva to make sure the pages look cohesive next to each other, and then I edit each page individually. I have found that duplicating a page and then changing the text is the easiest way to maintain a regular format throughout.

I love to use the auto-alignment features and grouping options to move images and text around on the page while ensuring it is level and centred evenly.

As I don't have photographs for every recipe, it's important that the pictures I do have are beautiful and stand out. I have been using A Colour Story, the photo editing app from the creators of A Beautiful Mess the blog to edit all my photos with the same preset for continuity and to match the colour scheme of the book.

I love that I have the ability to exercise my creativity during a time where I'm feeling frustrated at home. I have written this cookbook for my own enjoyment more than anything, and the joy it has given me in editing and baking has been wonderful. Not a bad way to pass the time during a lockdown.