TODAY’S MUSINGS:
“You’ve written the book. The hard part is over.”
Those infamous words spilled from my editor’s mouth after my final-final edits were complete — just about a year ago, on November 25, 2024. I still chuckle over that utterance weekly, often many times a week.
Finishing the book was, without question, the hardest thing I’ve ever done — mentally and emotionally. But publishing and marketing? No walk in the park either. For the past four months, I’ve been deep in the marketing stage — difficult for an entirely different reason.
It’s miles outside my comfort zone.
Seat me in a quiet room, laptop beneath my fingers, and I’m in my—if not happy—then at least comfortable place. I know what I have to do, and the only person I’m trying to please is myself.
Marketing means I’m in my uncomfortable place: shilling myself, shilling the book, blathering on about me and this memoir-cookbook thing I’ve created. I’m an introvert. I wish the book would just sell itself.
Recently, I’ve started promoting it as a guest on various podcasts. For me, podcasts feel a bit like being drunk. In the moment, you believe you’re saying the wittiest, most thought-provoking bon mots; a few hours later, you’re cringing with embarrassment, rehashing all the stupid things you said—the words you mispronounced, the stories you shouldn’t have told, the secrets you let slip. It’s horrifying.
If you’d like to listen to any of the gory results, here are a few that have recently dropped:
50 Tastes of Gray with Mathew Gray: Sweet Endings from the Two-Bit Tart
Creating the Courage to Be Fearless with Anita Mattu: Dating Disasters and Dessert
Let’s Talk Media with Vedant Akhauri: Coming Soon
That said, not all in-person events are horrifying. Talking about my book in smaller group settings can be downright lovely—especially the book club appearances I attended these past few months and a Q&A at a local bookstore. You can watch that Q&A here.
I’m trying to temper the uncomfortable shilling with the things that feel natural, and that always brings me back to baking. My kitchen and I are well acquainted, and it’s the one place where I truly feel completely comfortable in my skin.
TODAY’S RECIPE:
This is my go-to zucchini bread. I’ve been working on it for weeks trying to improve on this classic. I couldn’t. I recently brought my Farmhouse Zucchini Bread to a Book Fair to share with my fellow authors. They devoured it!
Farmhouse Zucchini Bread
This is a rich and flavorful zucchini bread made all the more delicious with a crumbly, buttery streusel topping.
Ingredients
- Streusel Topping
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts, toasted Zucchini Bread
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg white
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup shredded zucchini, slightly patted dry with a paper towel
- ½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
Directions
- In a small bowl, combine all the streusel ingredients, except nuts. Using your fingers, work in the butter until the mixture forms small clumps. Stir in nuts.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour an 8×4-inch loaf pan.
- Sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices together in a large bowl. Beat oil eggs, sugar, and vanilla together in a separate large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture and beat just until combined.
- Stir in shredded zucchini and chopped walnuts until evenly distributed. Spoon the batter into prepared pan, sprinkle with streusel topping, gently patting streusel into batter
- Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 70 to 80 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around edges to loosen. Invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
