Episode 140: Erin Gleeson

This week, Erin Gleeson joins us to #TalkCookbooks.

What a fun episode! I packed up our recorder and microphones and headed south from San Francisco and into the woody, serene drive to Erin Gleeson’s charming cabin-esque home in the South Bay.

Just look at this enviable set-up—I wish we could record every episode here!

And Erin even prepped us a plate of lavender shortbread, which is featured in her latest cookbook, and a warm pot of coffee:

Anyway — we were at Erin’s house to talk about her latest cookbook, The Forest Feast Road Trip.

A California native, Erin spent her early career pursuing art and photography. But she was always drawn to food, and it quickly became the subject of much of her work.

When a cross-country move brought her from bustling New York to a serene cabin in the Santa Cruz Mountains, she set her focus on working on cookbooks. Before long, her content was finding an audience online, and her signature aesthetic (hybrid watercolor-photography) was born. Soon after came her first cookbook, The Forest Feast: Simple Vegetarian Recipes from My Cabin in the Woods.

To date, Erin has authored five vegetarian cookbooks. Her most recent, The Forest Feast Road Trip, is built around her family’s extensive road trip, covering more than 2,500 miles around California.

As Erin explored the state and stayed in 10 unique cabin-like places, she created recipes, art, and photography that evokes each stop, from Palm Springs to Mendocino.

In today’s show, Erin and I sit down on her deck to discuss her childhood filled with California produce, the career path that led her to Forest Feast, and about the travels that inspired her latest book. We’ve got a great chat and Erin takes a stab at our signature culinary game.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Erin.

P.S. Just as I was leaving Erin’s home in the mountains, I noticed her kids and their friends had set up a lemonade stand. For a few bucks you could grab a glass of lemonade—and, if you had enough cash on hand, a copy of The Forest Feast Road Trip. All in the family!

Bonus Content + Recipes This Week

This week, paid subscribers will receive two featured recipes from The Forest Feast: Road Trip—Walnut Enchiladas and Blender Muffins.

Later this week, we welcome back our friend Paula Forbes of Stained Page News to chat about what trends we’re seeing in this fall’s crop of new cookbooks and what to get excited about.

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