LOOK WHAT'S COOKING

​I like to say that I have three passions: nursing, cooking, and writing. My nursing career reached its peak, what was at the tip of my pen was finally published with my first novel, Pinnacle Lust, and now is the time to fold my third passion into the mix.
 
As a relatively new author, I know how difficult it is to break into a new market—I’ve been there. After spending 25 years in nursing, with a long list of accomplishments and credentials behind me, I dared to step into the competitive industry of publishing with my steamy novel, Pinnacle Lust. Yikes, there are still days when I wipe sweat from my brow. 

So can you believe it? Here I go again. After two years, my dream is coming true—Pinnacle Lust unfolds into a cookbook. 

​Only a few months after Pinnacle Lust was published I had the thought of writing a cookbook. But with an industry saturated with cookbooks and the Internet offering endless, free recipes, I pushed the thought aside…not for long though. The idea kept nagging at me.
 
I knew I had to come up with a unique concept for the cookbook, as well as bring some related credibility to the project to ensure success. As soon as I created the concept I considered how to add the credentialing part—clearly I needed a professional chef. 

​I reached out to Chef Johannes Klapdohr, a world class and Michelin star trained chef, and the co-owner of the Library Kitchen and Bar in Sapphire, North Carolina, and prayed he would agree. What a dream that would be! Imagine the dishes and ideas we could cultivate, an author and a chef working side-by-side. Chef Johannes didn’t hesitate to say, “I’m in”. In fact, he was excited about it and entered into a partnership with me. 
 
For the last few months, Johannes and I have been hard at work, creating, sampling, testing, and enjoying delicious dishes to share with you. We plan to design a project with a bounty of colors and tastes. While this cookbook is a companion book to the novel, Pinnacle Lust, it will have its own unique presentation. Our first priority is to create a cookbook with a variety of dishes that appeal to many palates, and range from easy-to-create to more complex dishes. Johannes and I hope that everyone will find something in this book, which we plan to publish before Thanksgiving 2017. 

Check out my future blogs for more information on Chef Johannes, his background, and our collaboration—and you may even get a peak at some featured recipes.
 
Bon appétit! Or, as Chef Johannes would say in his native German, Guten Appetit !
 
Michelle