Soup and Bread: The Cookbook

So, you may have heard mutterings, some months ago, about a cookbook. About soup, and perhaps also bread.

Well, it’s true. My friend Sheila Sachs and I are putting together a self-published book of recipes from the 2009 soup season. We are hoping to have it out by early December, in order to make the rounds of holiday craft sales and then have it on hand for the 2010 run of S&B, which is scheduled to start January 6.

The Soup and Bread cookbook will be small — probably 6″ x 8″? — and spiral-bound, with original illustrations by Paul Dolan and a handsome letterpress cover. We are printing only 1,000 copies, so there’s little chance of us getting rich off this. In fact, after we cover expenses we are planning to donate some, if not all, of the profits to the Food Depository.

But, still, we will have expenses — and we would prefer not to get any poorer. So, in an uncharacteristically Web 2.0 move, we’ve launched a Kickstarter page in the hope of raising money to cover our print costs. Please check it out and, if you are so moved, consider donating $20. There’s more info about the book there as well, so, heck, check it out even if you are curious but have no interest in opening your wallet. (And, if you are curious about Kickstarter — essentially a microlending/investment strategy for funding creative projects — this NYT article gives a pretty good overview. It’s sort of like pledging to public radio, but with less annoying programming.)

It does feel a little weird and dirty, this e-money e-grubbing — but apparently this is the new world order. And, hey, all the kids are doing it!

We thank you for your consideration.