I’m sorry for the mass email but I want to quickly reach out about my cookbook Dumplings Equal Love — in my hands above — that publishes on Oct. 13th from Sasquatch Books and is now available for pre-order! It’s my first solo cookbook and I’m really proud of it and excited that people will soon be able to cook from it. It’s been a really strange and difficult time globally these past several months. I hope that you and yours are doing ok and riding the waves.
If you’re reading this you know how much I care for you. I’m reaching out about Dumplings Equal Love (I’ve never done a direct email for any of my previous books) because I believe that this fall and winter, in particular, when it is dark in more ways than one, and when we are still unable to gather, my book will bring comfort + joy + love + fun + a new kitchen project to those who use it. I’m hoping that it will be a bright spot.
Please consider pre-ordering my book from wherever you love buying books such as Powell’s Books, Broadway Books, Bookshop.org, Amazon.com, or click here for more retail options. Pre-orders are super-duper important. I really appreciate your support in this way if you want to and are able to. I promise that my dumplings will bring you comfort and love when you cook them!
Also, if you do purchase and enjoy it, online reviews on retail sites, Goodreads etc. as well as social media posts are all hugely helpful. For social media posts, please consider tagging me and using the hashtag #dumplingsequallove. Thank you!
We have a lot of great media lined up for the book including spots on KATU AM Northwest, KGW’s Tonight with Cassidy and KBOO Radio as well as features in the Oregonian, Oregon Home and more!
As far as book events go, well, they’re all virtual. I’m so lucky to get a Powell’s Books virtual book launch (I’ll be Zooming in from my kitchen — advance registration required) on Tuesday, Oct. 13th date 6-7pm PT followed by a virtual dance party (in my living room!) with my boyfriend DJ Jimbo from 7-9pm PT. I’ll be in conversation with canning superstar Marisa McClellan for that. I have a very fun event and/or series of events with Travel Portland and other fine-feathered folks that I’ll be announcing soon as well. I’m very excited about this year’s Portland Book Festival and I’ll be doing various events for that including this raffle that you can enter for a private dumpling making class with me! I’m also doing a Powell’s virtual book launch on Oct. 16th with one of my food heroes — Sandor Ellix Katz — for his newest book Fermentation as Metaphor.
I’ve included a few bullet points below, after the blurbs and press release synopsis, about Dumplings Equal Love, along with more of the book’s bright and fun photos by kick-ass photographer Dina Avila.
ADVANCE PRAISE
“Most people know me for barbecue, but I have an abiding love—make that obsession—for dumplings. Liz Crain walks you step-by-step through their preparation, bringing uncommon passion and creativity to her recipes in what may be the most charming book on dumplings ever written. I only wish she did takeout!” —Steven Raichlen, author of The Barbecue Bible cookbook series and host of Project Fire and Project Smoke on PBS
“If we are being perfectly honest here, dough scares me. Reading Dumplings Equal Love left me inspired and confident to mix, roll, and stuff some dough. Liz Crain’s easy style and gentle instruction had me convinced I could do this. Dumplings Equal Love is a recipe rich global journey with encouragement and permission to create your own rainbow of dumplings. So I did, deliciously and successfully.” —Kirsten K. Shockey, author of four fermentation books including bestselling Fermented Vegetables and award-winning Miso, Tempeh, Natto & Other Tasty Ferments
“WE LOVE THIS BOOK! It is perfect for the serious cook (like Ann) and for the nowhere cook (like Stephen). It is a simple guide to huge flavors and what feels like endless variety. The book lays out the path through the forest to a world of eating we never would have tried on our own. Thank you. Thank you. Fun. Easy. Delicious.” —Ann Tobolowsky, actor and director; Stephen Tobolowsky, actor, writer and cocreator of The Tobolowsky Files podcast
FROM THE PRESS RELEASE
Internationally, dumplings have always played the dual role of an inexpensive comfort food passed down through generations; and a ceremonial, celebratory festival treat. Whichever way you enjoy them, you can now make your own dumpling memories with Dumplings = Love. Rooted in deep cultural respect, steeped in curiosity, and fed by the traditions of families who hold these recipes dear, Liz Crain adapts dumpling recipes from all over the world.
Inside, you’ll find everything from hearty, fist-sized Norwegian komper and small, delicate Chinese shumai to Pacific Northwest morel dumplings in orange-hued, smoky pimento skins. There are also recipes for ways to experiment with vibrant powdered vegetables, fruits, and spices to add color and versatile dipping sauces for extra flavor. Three primary dough recipes—all-purpose egg, all-purpose eggless, and gluten-free rice flour—plus techniques for forming and cooking dumplings, advice on sequencing tasks, and tips and tools for streamlining your kitchen will set you up for dumpling-making success.
“If you often turn to simple kitchen projects to make things right in your world, to either soften its edges or celebrate the small stuff, you’ll find a friend in this book.” —LIZ CRAIN
SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS IN THE BOOK:
Vegan, vegetarian and pescatarian soup dumplings aka XLB (xiao long bao) that are really easy to make.
Tips for making and cooking dumplings with kids. So fun!
A celebration of foraged foods — morel sherry-cream dumplings, nettle & caramelized onion dumplings.
Loads of pantry staple recipes: sambal, chili oil, kimchi, preserved lemons, banana liqueur, chen pi (dehydrated mandarin or tangerine peel).
Instructions for steaming a soft-boiled quail egg INSIDE a dumpling (see photo below).
Half of the book’s recipes are vegetarian and more than 3/4 can be made vegan/vegetarian/pescatarian — loads of variations and substitutions.
In summary, if you are still reading ;) — dumplings are a culturally important, deeply satisfying food that you can easily make at home especially with a few tips and techniques. They’re also a really fun and empowering kitchen project for kids.
One of my primary goals with Dumplings Equal Love is to make this international comfort, and often celebratory, food easy peasy for the home cook. I include heaps of variations and substitutions to make dumpling making a fun and go-with-the-flow endeavor. Store-bought skins are a-ok, although I include plenty of dough recipes including colorful and creative art skins made with powdered fruit and vegetables, herbs, spices and seeds.
Thank you so much for reading this & much love to you and yours XOXO
Liz
