Boston Food Bloggers Raid Harvard Common Press

A couple of Sunday’s ago I had the immense pleasure of joining 40 other food bloggers as Harvard Common Press opened their doors to us and welcomed us in with open arms. It was such a fun time. They made two cocktail punches along with a wonderful spread of brunch foods, all of which came from their own cookbooks.

When I first arrived I spent at least a half hour perusing their shipping room, which held a wide inventory of their books. My stomach was growling before I even smelled the delicious food they were making. I made sure to take plenty of photos of the ones I wanted so that I would remember to get them later, or perhaps receive as a Christmas gift…

Then we were invited to wander around the entire office. This was such a treat as their office is housed in an old piano warehouse down in the South End, and it is decorated so beautifully. I felt as though I’d walked into someone’s gorgeous, cozy, comfortable, and inviting home. There were colorful rugs lining the walkways, which Bruce Shaw, HCPs publisher, bought specifically for the office years ago while he was down in Mexico. His love of Mexican art is also evident as it’s scattered throughout the office as well. The pieces were awe inspiring and added such a fun element to the space.

After we ate brunch, we were treated to talks by the Adam Salamone, Associate Publisher, and Nancy Mahoney, the Marketing Director. They discussed all aspects of publishing their cookbooks from how a book gets published (which I of course enjoyed having been in the book publishing industry for 8 years myself!), to what they are looking for in cookbook authors, and how they market the books.

Before we left we all were treated to choose a book to take home with us. Everyone had a hard time deciding, but I ultimately settled on a casserole book, Not Your Mother’s Casseroles. I love me a good casserole and with the winter ahead of us still I figured this would be awesome to have. And I was right… I have already made a delicious dish, which I’ll be posting tomorrow…so stay tuned!