Cookbook Chronicles: Write It Down

How I got started—and hooked on—writing recipes.

Jun 29, 2024

Welcome to the first post in a series where I give you a peek behind the scenes (and inside my mind) during this exciting, scary, and wild adventure of writing a cookbook.

I'm writing this from New York City, at the second annual reunion with my Great American Baking Show castmates. People often ask if we actually got along on the show. "Absolutely," is the answer—so much so that we meet as often as possible. We plan to hit as many bakeries as we can, but mostly reconnect and reminisce.

Write it Down

My husband and I eat dinner together practically every evening, and have for the past 16 years or so that we've lived together. Most nights I whip something up. Maybe it's a simple pasta improvisation or an exploration of a new cookbook. This ritual started way before my baking journey.

Anytime I made something up or riffed on a recipe, my husband would instruct me to "Write it down." When we were both in graduate school, I'd scribble recipes on note cards and keep them in an old-school box. They usually just had ingredients listed and minimal instructions. When I started to get serious, around the time I caught the baking bug, I typed up the recipes with more detailed instructions. (The typing eliminated a colossal problem: my horrific penmanship.)

The wildest thing happened: I liked writing recipes. After dinner or after I baked on a Sunday, I relished sitting at my computer to translate what I just did with my hands into words. It felt like an exercise in using language to describe senses and actions.

I didn't have a blog, I didn't share recipes on social media, and I didn't have a newsletter. I didn't care. I enjoyed writing it down for myself. Typing these recipes was the closest I ever got to journaling.

I studied English literature, playwriting, and writing poetry in college. Yes, I'm That English Major. (I went to graduate school and got a Master's Degree in Public Policy and Economic Development, an incredibly practical and useful degree.) Writing recipes (and writing about food) continues to be my favorite way to use my English major skills. It's straightforward yet challenging. You describe a process to achieve an outcome. You have to find accurate words to describe the movement of your hands and the smells, sights, sounds, and tastes. You teach, guide, but also (try to) entertain and enlighten. You must to tap into an accurate yet accessible vocabulary. I want the instructions to be clear, detailed, yet concise and playful. (Isn’t dump a better term for pour?) But I also want my voice and personality to come through, but not at the expense of the final product.

Recipes use action. They demand writing in active voice and finding the appropriate verb for each situation. You can can fall back into "recipe speak" or "happy robot voice," but I try not to. (Although sometimes overused phrases are overused for a reason: They work.) Recipes require detailed, specific descriptions of colors, textures, sounds, aromas, and flavors. Just calling a cookie "sweet" won't cut the mustard. I started this newsletter to share recipes, yes, but really to give me a place to practice my writing and develop my skills.

I've spent more than fifteen years "writing it down," and I'm just getting started. I have so much more to learn and so much more to write.

Oh boy. I just spent all this time writing about writing recipes when I really should be writing them.

Folks have asked me for resources on writing recipes, so here are a few:

Dianne Jacob
’s book Will Write for Food has been on my shelf for over a decade, and I worked with her on my cookbook proposal. Her newsletter is just as fantastic.
The Everything Cookbooks podcast and its remarkable list of resources.
Read! Read as many quality books and cookbooks as you can. Note what you like and what you don't, and develop your own voice.
Write! Practice writing recipes. Start with something you make often, even if it’s as simple as toast with jam. Write down the quantities, steps, and indicators. Then, keep practicing.