featured on tdac blog

You may remember these illustrated recipes as being three of the many that I've submitted to the They Draw and Cook website over the years. I haven't had time to submit anything new to them in a long while, but even so it turns out that I have one of the biggest collections of illustrated recipes on TDAC.  I learned of this when I stumbled across their latest blog update: Top 11 Recipe Collections. What a thrill! Thanks TDAC!

illustrated recipe contest

They Draw and Cook has announced a new illustrated recipe contest that is actually open to worldwide submissions, and not just the US (believe me, this is rare). Who wants to take up the challenge? http://www.theydrawandcook.com/glad-party

holiday sweet & holiday savory

They Draw and Cook has published two delightful new collections of illustrated recipes just in time for the holidays. The first is Holiday Sweet: 40 Illustrated Holiday Recipes by Artists from Around the World. (click title to see sample pages).  It includes 40 deliciously illustrated recipes for holiday cookies, cakes, beverages and candies!  My etegami recipe for Matcha Cheesecake is included in this book! Yaaay!

The second of the two collections is Holiday Savory: 30 Illustrated Holiday Recipes by Artists from Around the World. (click title to see see sample pages.) Even if cooking isn't one of your passions, either collection makes a great coffee table book, conversation starter, or gift! Double those benefits by getting both. : )

more illustrated recipes

This is one of three illustrated recipes I've submitted to the "Eat Pretty for the Holidays" contest. Salmon (especially salmon sashimi) is my favorite fish, tied for first place in my heart with Pacific Saury. You may have noticed that those fish often feature in my etegami. The deadline for submissions to the aforementioned contest is December 4, if you care to give it a try.

I'm also thrilled that my illustrated recipe for Umeboshi Cheesecake was featured in the December issue of an American cooking magazine called "Where Women Cook." The recipe spreads over two pages and includes an interview of me. (happy dance)

Click here to see my Illustrated Recipe Calendar for 2012.

media goes wild over cookbook

It seems so long ago (at the same time it seems like just yesterday) that I first began to submit illustrated recipes to the They Draw and Cook website. It was a fun and quirky challenge, and an enormous thrill to see my etegami posted alongside some of the most delightful artwork I've ever seen. I never dreamed that one of my works would make it into TDAC's first published collection of illustrated recipes.

It seems the artists who submitted to the cookbook aren't the only ones thrilled by its quality. The media have been raving about it left and right. And for good reason. Because of its great low introductory price, I had expected an economical paperback with grainy pages. My jaw dropped when I first held it in my hands.

It's a beautifully bound hardback with a spine that allows each recipe (they spread across two adjoining pages) to lie flat without your having to use a brick to hold the pages down like you have to with lots of other cookbooks. High quality paper is used for pages. The color printing is awesome. It is thick and heavy, and exudes presence. A coffee table book rather than something to flip through while you're mixing ingredients on a messy kitchen counter. A source of unending culinary inspiration and a delight to the senses. A window into the cuisine of exotic cultures and regions, as well as dishes that are comfortably familiar. Get yourself a copy. Give someone a copy for Christmas. You won't regret it.

tdac cookbook ready for pre-order!

You know the They Draw & Cook website that I rave so much about? Last year my illustrated recipe for Grilled Pacific Saury was chosen to be among the 107 illustrated recipes to be published in their upcoming cookbook. That's the book shown in the video above. See if you can catch a glimpse of my illustrated recipe done in the etegami style as they flip through the book.

But it isn't just because my work was included that I'm so excited about this book. As a collection of art it is WONderfully fun--- and as a collection of recipes, you'll absolutely swoon if you enjoy cooking (or eating) as much as I do. The cookbook is now ready for pre-order on Amazon.com.

new etegami goals

This year has gone by soooo fast. Does it seem that way to you? One of my goals for 2010 was to do an etegami series of Japanese Proverbs, and thanks partly to my mid-year decision to combine that series with the Sketchbook Project, I managed to wrap up both goals in a way that I am satisfied with.

As I cast about for a new etegami focus for 2011, I came to realize that, somewhere deep inside, the decision had been made the moment I discovered the They Draw and Cook website. Thanks to TDAC lighting a match to this particular fire, I am now having the time of my life combining two of my passions: Etegami and Creative Cookery. I will try to complete a minimum of 50 illustrated recipes during the coming year, many of them recipes I've devised myself and were inspired by Japanese food culture.

In addition to this, and for a limited time only, I'll be accepting custom orders from people who want to preserve and display a recipe that means something special to them. The details are here on my Etsy shop.

grilled pacific saury

You may remember the illustrated recipe for Crunchy Ramen Salad Cones that I painted last July as a submission to a really cool website called "They Draw & Cook." Last month I submitted another illustrated recipe-- this one for grilled pacific saury-- and it was chosen as one of the recipes to go into a cookbook scheduled to be published very soon. Isn't that awesome!? I urge you to check out the fabulous illustrated recipes submitted by artists and illustrators from all over the world. The site's creators, Nate and Salli, have more projects in the works, so if you want to give it a try and submit an illustrated recipe of your own, it's sure to be loads of fun, and who knows what kind of adventures it will lead to! Check out They Draw & Cook.

they draw and cook

If you have been visiting this blog for a while, you probably know how much I love to cook. I used to teach cooking to Japanese children from K to Grade 3, and thoroughly enjoyed illustrating my recipes for them.

A couple of months ago, I learned of this really cool website: They Draw & Cook that was posting "recipe renderings by artists, illustrators & designers," and I was raring to participate. But being somewhat technologically challenged, it took me a while to figure out how to follow the submission instructions.

I never did get the dimensions exactly right, but I guess I was close enough, and my illustrated recipe for Crunchy Ramen Salad Cones was posted several days ago. If you have time, take a look at some of the other submissions. They are absolutely awesome.