Well, if you follow me on twitter, you may have noticed me tweeting about some random recipe assignment and not really known what I was talking about.
I think it was Tuesday that my favorite author (who I follow on Twitter and quote a lot everywhere) tweeted a link to her blog calling for recipe testers for her upcoming book.
I have been looking forward to this book (which is her first cookbook-ish book with recipes) since I knew she was working on it and of course I jumped at the chance to participate. Also: I say "cookbook-ish" it will also include Shauna's essays and stories that I have come to love this author for. Most of the recipes I believe will share a story around them. Anyway, I found out yesterday that I get to be one of the testers (here is how Shauna chose them)! I didn't make a request for a special type of recipe, though I did her assistant know I'm a total newb when it comes to cooking meat. I think that is why she sent me a recipe for meat:)......a recipe for pork tenderloin that sounds amazing. And, though I fear I may mess it up, I am so excited to give feedback on the recipe and to hopefully have a yummy meal to share and enjoy!
I won't include the specific recipe title or the recipe because I want to respect Shauna's work and the book is not due out until April of next year, but I will link to the pre-order of the book here!
I was first introduced to Shauna Niequist by Megan who blogs at Casita Cory. Megan was actually also the first person to introduce me to Donald Miller, another one of my favorite authors, in a Tribe Cheerleading small group my freshman year. When I was in graduate school, Megan (who was working in Williamsburg and a part-time fitness instructor at the Rec) started another small group with some fitness instructors and undergrad girls. We read Shauna's first book, Cold Tangerines, together and discussed it every Wednesday over Trader Joe's snacks and coffee. In the craziness of graduate school, something about Shauna's writing healed me and gave me a place to think about what really mattered and to ask myself the hard questions without needing to find immediate answers to them. Shauna's writing is described as this on her website: "Shauna writes about the beautiful and broken moments of everyday life--friendship, family, faith, food, marriage, love, babies, books, celebration, heartache, and all the other things that shape us, delight us, and reveal to us the heart of God." Unlike any style of writing I've ever experienced before, her voice is extremely genuine, comforting, and honest. Her books always re-center me whenever I'm feeling out of balance.
This past Christmas, when my sister asked what I wanted for Christmas, Shauna's 2nd book, Bittersweet, was what I asked for. It has been a slower read than Cold Tangerines mostly because a lot of it is about motherhood, but I still read it whenever I need a self-care moment and, when I am done with it, I may go back and reread Cold Tangerines.
I will leave you with one of my favorite essays from Shauna in her book Bittersweet called Twenty-Five:
http://www.iamaxis.org/twenty-five/
Weekend is so close!
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