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Hey folks! I thought I’d drag you along with me on a brief tour of Carlisle Printing in Walnut Creek, Ohio, where my cookbooks are printed! I took a flying trip up there a few weeks ago to do press checks on the first print runs of Convenient Food, my new cookbook (which is being released in 2-3 weeks, so don’t miss out on pre-ordering at a stellar price! #shamelessplug). It was great to see everyone at Carlisle again, roam the production facility and smell the fresh ink and paper, meet up with my designers Abi + Grace, and reconnect with some extended family who live in the area! Also ice cream at Walnut Creek Cheese conveniently located right next to the print shop, but more about that later.
I went up to Carlisle to do press checks, which basically means that I boss the press man around and point out any incorrect color casts (real or imagined) on the huge printed paper sheets so he (well, they, since there are two press men) can make notes of the densities of colors and such so as to properly recreate said colors on future printings of Convenient Food. We’re all about consistency. And I don’t boss too much. Above you can see the area right behind the offset press where we do the press checks. The press guy is back there all day, constantly pulling sheets of paper and testing them to make sure the ink levels are staying consistent. The offset press uses four ink colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. These are laid on at different densities to create the full color photographs in my cookbooks! Pretty amazing.
PS – Did y’all know that women can generally see color better than men? True story. The press guy said that if he’s having trouble nailing down the color on a particular project, he’ll call one of the lady designers out to help him look things over and balance the colors better.
Don’t miss out on pre-order!
By the way, I finally have a book preview to show y’all if you’re interested in seeing what you’ll be getting in Convenient Food. 😉 You can see the indices and how the book is laid out. Don’t worry – there are lots of pages missing, including some of the front matter and most of the recipes, so don’t be too alarmed if it seems…incomplete. Just buy the book and you’ll get to see ALL of it very shortly!
Click here to see the preview!
(I apologize for the strange sepia color cast on the preview file. I’m not sure why it’s doing that….)
Paper at a printing company comes in very large packages. For my cookbooks, 14 book pages are printed on each side of a sheet of paper, so that’s 28 pages per sheet of paper!
The production line:
The huge sheets of paper are folded in the right order, then cut to form cookbook pages.
The following are just some pictures out of a proof copy I had lying around. This is the last section of the book:
Some shake recipes…. (Recipes that aren’t available on my website already have been blurred out in the following pictures. Don’t worry; they won’t be like that in the book!)
Full of toothsome quotes, as always.
One of my personal favorite recipes: Lemon Cheesecake Delight!
There are lots of side dish recipes!
Frozen Key Lime Pie….
Ah, some food. I went to Walnut Creek Cheese for lunch to meet people two days in a row and got a “stack” both times. It’s basically the Amish/Mennonite version of Chipotle. I layered my toppings on lettuce for extra veggies, skipped the rice entirely, and got a few beans. Possibly a crossover. Totally amazing.
And this was downright F for FAIL – but it was a delicious fail. I may have to recreate this in a healthier form sometime. I think it was black raspberry ice cream with a chocolate ripple?
That moment when you know lots of people in the area know you by your healthy food, so you hurriedly sneak out of the store with your ice cream in hand and chow down while hiding in the car….
Now watch someone comment and say, “I THOUGHT I saw you eating ice cream at WCC the other week!”
Before driving back to the airport, I grabbed one of these yummy cheese and meat snack packs from…where else? Walnut Creek Cheese.
I hope you enjoyed seeing the behind-the-scenes pictures! I can’t wait until you can see the book itself! Pages are all printed and stacked, ready to go, but we’re just waiting on the hard covers to come in. They should be coming in around the end of this week, then assembly can happen! I’ll keep ya posted!
Click here to pre-order!
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Jen says
I’ve just started THM & discovered your great blog & recipes. Will be offering a deal for both books after the new release?
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
I may do that for a holiday sale sometime. 🙂
Carmella King says
Super excited about this cookbook! Thanks for all your hard work….congratulations!
Carmella King says
Super excited about this cookbook! Thanks for all your hard work….congratulations!
becky says
That was really fascinating! I had no idea what the process was for printing a book like that. Neato!
Charlotte says
Hopefully it’s not too late to fix the photo of you and Ryan with the stethoscope. Ryan has a double collar….must have been some photo editing going on. ☺
Briana Thomas says
No, not a mistake, actually. Just a white dress shirt with his white coat on top.
Sarah says
I just ordered mine. Squeal! I can’t wait for it to arrive! I loved your first book and know this one wont disappoint. You chose a beautiful verse for the from cover. I hope you have verses and quotes scattered throughout this book as well. I is something that makes me smile all the time when I pull out Necessary Food.
Congratulations on your second book!
Briana Thomas says
Thanks so much, Sarah! Yes, there are lots of verses and quotes throughout the book! I believe God wants us to feed the soul as well as the stomach. 🙂
Jeanne Rah says
The new cookbook looks lovely! I can’t wait to try it out. Love the photography! And the charming story that opens the book…Thanks for sharing your life with us!!
Shirley Moore says
So exciting to see it all come together! I need to place an order for some THM specific ingredients…is there anything I need to especially stock up on so I’ll be ready for the cookbook? 🙂
Briana Thomas says
The ingredients to make my baking mix, a good sweetener (I like to use THM Super Sweet Blend, THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder, and xylitol in ice cream), vegetable glycerin for ice cream, xanthan gum, glucomannan, protein powder, and collagen are the main special ingredients I use. 🙂
Deann H says
I’m so excited for your second book and can’t wait for it to be ready to ship! Thanks for the preview and sharing a bit of how the book is created. That’s fun to learn 🙂
Abigail says
Thanks for the behind the scenes tour! The cookbook looks great. I am eagerly looking forward to receiving my copy!
Mary Gingerich says
I am SO excited about your new cookbook- especially now that I got to see the preview! It’s beautiful and I think just the thing I’ve been needing for fresh inspiration. Eagerly awaiting its arrival!