a family affair

behind the scenes of my new book!

Hi all!

Avid readers of this newsletter already know this, but I have a new cookbook coming out this fall. It’s called WHAT GOES WITH WHAT and it consists of twenty charts that show the basic structure of different dishes — salad dressings, stews, roasted vegetables, sheet pan dinners, etc. — with examples so you can see the structure in action (and there are recipes for each example). It will be out on October 15th! Which sounds far away but is actually exactly two months from today...ah! All preorder information (and my spiel about why preordering matters so much) is right here.

What also makes the book super special is how personal it all is. My handwriting is all over it, I wrote a few close-to-my-heart essays and included some conversations with family members, I took nearly every single photograph, and, icing on the cake, my parents designed the entire book.

So today I wanted to take you behind-the-scenes and introduce you to my mom and dad and tell you a bit about what they did to bring this new book to life and how fun it’s been to work together.

Here are my adorable parents:

One of my favorite photos ever — my parents in my mom’s studio sitting in front of a wall with pages from WGWW taken while we were figuring out the layout of the book together.

My mom, Rochelle, and my dad, Doug, met over forty years ago in the halls of Vogue magazine. They both went on to work at different magazines (sometimes together!) and then my mom spun off to do branding and marketing for big companies, while my dad ended up starting his own book design company specializing in interior design books. My mom retired a few years ago but I don’t think she ever got the memo about what ‘retired’ means because she continues to be one of the busiest people I know.

A blurry but great photo of my mom (yes we have the same hair) from 1971 when she was the art director of Vogue (she was only 27!). Isn’t it amazing that there’s no computer on her desk?! Photo by Carol Troy.

When people ask me how I got into cookbooks, I always mention that I grew up with parents who worked in publishing because I think it’s important to know that I entered the industry with my foot already in the door. While neither of my parents are cookbook authors or writers, they have both dedicated their entire professional lives to storytelling. They are aesthetically-minded, print-loving people who light up when they’re working, especially with each other. The apple doesn’t fall far and all that.

In my nearly two decades of working on cookbooks (including collaborative work with other people), I’ve talked to my parents about various book design challenges and sought their advice about photography, layout and more. But I’ve never had the opportunity to officially work with them as a design team until WHAT GOES WITH WHAT. For this book, they put together all the words and images into a cohesive whole and imbued the whole book with color and energy.

When I showed my best friend an early copy she told me this book really feels like me and I think that’s a testament to my parents’ involvement in the design.

A screenshot from one of our many FaceTime meetings.

My mom’s mind leans towards the big picture. She thinks about the strings that tie all the pages together. She likes to see everything up on one wall to make sure the flow is right. My dad is obsessed with detail. He is so decisive when it comes to selecting photos and arranging them. He pays attention to all of the little things. They take their work seriously and respect each other’s opinions and prioritize the reader (you!) at every step. And they also have so much fun.

Here they are having a chuckle (that’s me and Winky laughing in the background):

I have learned, and continue to learn, so much from my parents’ approach to work. Yes, they are invested in the end product. But the making of the thing is where they enjoy themselves the most. My mom loves getting everything ready. Clearing the wall, getting out the pushpins and tape, making the piles to sort through. She’s all about preparation. After the decisions are made, my dad collects everything and puts it into place with the help of Steve Turner, an intrepid member of his team. My dad checks everything with a fine-toothed comb. He wants to get it all right. My mom has an eagle eye over the whole thing and is unafraid to suggest a revision. My dad has incredible stamina for multiple changes. They do this back-and-forth with so much energy, as if making books were just a fun, long game of ping pong.

I have often described my parents as workaholics and used to bemoan the fact that I talked to them about work more than anything else. But the older I get, the more I have leaned into it. Work is my parents love language. I am so glad to speak it fluently with them. Getting to collaborate on this book with them meant getting to spend so much time with them and being in such close touch. It meant asking each other what we thought about things and telling each other why we believed so much in one thing or another. We got to figure out a puzzle together. We got, I believe, to all feel really seen by each other. There are a number of metrics we can use to measure the success of a book. For me, this feeling of closeness and connection with my parents is worth so much.

…but my mom would still like WHAT GOES WITH WHAT to sell a lot of copies though so if you haven’t preordered yet, please do! All pre-order info is at juliaturshen.com/wgww.

If you’d like a signed or personalized copy, I’ll be doing those as always through Oblong Books, my local independent bookstore. This is where to order from if you want me to sign a copy or to make one out specifically to you or anyone in your life. If you preorder a signed copy from Oblong, you will also get a little special something which I can’t tell you more about right now because it’s not done yet but it’s in the works and is sooooo cool and it involve my parents!

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Speaking of me and my mom…

Thanks to the incredible folks at Blancaneaux Lodge and Turtle Inn in Belize (both part of The Family Coppola Hideaways), my mom and I are headed there December 7th - 14th for a special “culinary week.” The trip has room for 14 guests and includes meals and cooking classes with me, plus a drawing class with my mom….fun! There are still a few spots open if you + yours are interested in joining us….all of the info is right here. I’m so excited to go somewhere I’ve never been with my mom who is absolutely the person who taught me to love traveling. Maybe you’ll join us?!

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And before I let you go! A quick note about my latest podcast episode which aired today!!! It’s with Gabi Dixson who has been named the 5th Worlds Strongest Woman….! As a grip specialist, she is a 7 time world record holder…wow!

Gabi is also a model, public speaker, musician, and social worker with over a decade of experience.  I absolutely LOVED getting to talk to her about her life and strength. You can listen here or wherever you get your podcasts!

Thanks for being here. xoxoxooxoxo Julia