A Visit with Dina Guillen, Michelle Lowrey and Maria Everly

At Borders Books in Folsom, California this mild summery afternoon, Dina Guillen, Michelle Lowrey and Maria Everly did a reading from their first book, The Plank Grilling Cookbook, and they had a book signing after. We will be reviewing The Plank Grilling Cookbook on this blog soon, but today we just got to visit with these passionate foodies and talk a little about their books.

When The Plank Grilling Cookbook came out in 2006 it was unique. Williams-Sonoma, Sur la Table and a hundred other gourmet equipment purveyors were selling cedar planks to cook on, and the planks generally included a slip of paper with a recipe, but that was about the limit of plank cooking. These ladies, and their fourth, Gretchen Bernsdorff, created a great collection of recipes as well as recommendations for uses for specific types of wood for particular applications. Though not in the book, they have even figured out a way to smoke-cure bacon on a cool grill using their wood planks.

If anyone deserves to have their cookbooks succeed, these ladies do. They are truly passionate about the food and about the community of dining. Their books are not books for beginners – they are complex, advanced books for people who love to cook, love to eat and love to celebrate over food with friends. We are looking forward to guest blog entries by Dina and Michelle and to their next book!