Sneak Peak: Southern Plate Cookbook (Available for sale Oct. 5, 2010)

I met Christy Jordan at the end of last year.  To say I was introduced to her casually is an understatement.  My good friend Sean Kelley, avid Twitterer and online editor at the time with Health.com, left me a phone message that went something like this, "Hi Jen.  It's Sean.  I just got off the phone with a blogger from Northern Alabama.  Her site is called Southern Plate and it's really popular.  We've never met in person, but we Twitter alot... she's even sent me homemade fudge.  Apparently, she has a book deal and needs a real food photographer.  I have no other details, but I thought of you."



For those of you not in the business, this is how greatness begins: with absolutely NO DETAILS.  And, thank goodness I'm a "real" food photographer, right?!  But details were quickly revealed and the project became a reality.



Let me share some statistics about Southern Plate that will blow your mind:  In one year, this blogger from Northern Alabama is currently getting about 8 million hits per month to her blog. Christy's cookbook, initially slated to be published by HarperCollins, was moved to a larger imprint and will now be published by William Morrow, the same publisher that released The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  Within hours of announcing pre-orders of her cookbook on Amazon.com, it catapulted to the number 2 book in the "Southern" category, ahead of Paula Dean and (dare I say) Southern Living.



AND I GOT TO SHOOT IT!!



So, with this post I want to say thank you.  To Christy, a woman with boundless energy and a heart of gold who deserves every ounce of this good fortune; to HarperCollins for giving us such creative freedom; to the incredible photo team - food stylist Marian Cooper Cairns and prop stylist Jan Gautro) - for making this cookbook look fabulous!  And, of course, to Sean for making the introduction.



Now, where's my homemade fudge?!