October Backers Update: Herb: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis

Hi Backers! I just wanted to let you know that advance copies of the book have arrived at Inkshares, and we are launching the book on schedule on November 10th.

You can order the ebook right now, from the Inkshares page, and in the future you'll be able to buy it on Amazon along with the printed edition - a great Christmas gift idea!

I asked the team at Inkshares about the book, and they tell me it looks beautiful and feels great to hold - I made them send me a snap of it sitting on a table:


I can't wait till you're all holding a copy in your hands!

Thanks again for your support!

Lucas Young

The Stoner's Cookbook

August Backers Update: Herb: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis 

Hi Backers! 

This is only going to be a short update - the good news is that the book is done! Written, photographed, edited, designed and laid out. Now it's just a waiting game as the book is prepared for print, and printed! Copies are being sent to reviewers, and it's even available for pre-order on Amazon

We couldn't have done this without you, and we know you're going to love the finished product.

Stay tuned as I'll be back in September with more news...

Lucas Young

The Stoner's Cookbook

July Backers Update: Herb: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis 

Hello Backers! 

Wow, July already! That's OK, because it brings the book launch another month closer. I've got great news: yesterday, we finished the final review of the book's content. It's now in the hands of the copy editor. 

All of the photos, recipes and text have been delivered. Thanks to the tireless work of the team at Girl Friday Productions, Inkshares, and of course our star chefs and photographer, we're set to deliver HERB: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis on schedule! 

If I wasn't writing this from New Zealand (hurry up Kiwis, make cannabis legal!) I'd be able to celebrate with a few of these... Triple Bomb Brownies 


While you wait, we're partway through publishing a video series on Ayahuasca, so check out our Backers Video page at http://www.thestonerscookbook.com/backer_videos.php to learn more about this hallucinogenic shamanic drug, and don't forget to visit The Stoner's Cookbook Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TheStonersCookbook for a few laughs. 

Thanks again backers, and I'll be back in August! 

Lucas Young

June Backers Update: Herb: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis 

Hello Backers! 

May was a milestone month for us - our tireless chefs delivered all 100 recipes on time! The photography is starting to come in as well and it's looking amazing. 

June is when the editors get to work. Copyediting, reviews, cover design, interior layout design.. it's all on! Meghan, Leslie and the team at Girl Friday Productions are working flat out to ensure you not only get the highest quality cookbook possible, but that it gets into the hands of the printers in time to meet our deadlines! 

Here's another shot from our photographer... Chicken Panzanella... 


Once again, we're so grateful for your support and patience - we're at an exciting stage, where the content is complete and the book is starting to come together. 

Don't forget to check out your Backers Video page at http://www.thestonerscookbook.com/backer_videos.php and The Stoner's Cookbook Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TheStonersCookbook

Hope you all have a wonderful June! I'll be back with another update in July... 

Lucas Young

May Backers Update: Herb: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis

Hello Backers!

April was a busy month for us - not only were our chefs flat out preparing an amazing range of dishes and producing some beautiful photography, they were also busy making appearances and providing their services as part of 4/20... a date that has become synonymous with cannabis.

Girl Friday Productions joined the team as our editors, and they're pushing us all to meet not only their internal deadlines, but the deadlines of our printers and distributors.

Some of the recipes flying past my desk over the last month have been mouth-watering! Seared Sirloin with Aged Balsamic Vinegar and Medicated Bread Pudding... Garlic Shrimp... Roasted Cod on Arugula Puree...

Check out this shot I stole from our photographer while he wasn't looking... Wild mushroom Pappardelle with Peas & Goat Cheese!

We're so grateful for your support and patience - crafting a book, especially a cookbook, is a slow and painstaking process.

I hope you've had a chance to check out our exclusive Backers Video page at http://www.thestonerscookbook.com/backer_videos.php 

We have a range of videos for you from introductory cannabis cooking guides, to interviews with our CEO, and even a new video series featuring medicine hunter Chris Kilham as he explores the mysterious world of Ayahuasca in Amazonian Peru! Each week I'll post another video for you.

We're planning to have our CEO Matt Gray answer questions from our fans and backers on video in the coming weeks - if you'd like to submit a cannabis or Herb Kitchen related question, drop me a line at video@thestonerscookbook.com 

Our Facebook page is also a great place to drop by for cannabis news and humor - check out https://www.facebook.com/TheStonersCookbook

Have a wonderful month! I'll be back in June with more updates!

Lucas Young

April Backers Update: Herb: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis

Hello Backers! 

Lucas here again, with your monthly update. 

It's been a busy month for us here as we prepare Herb: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis. We've brought on our two celebrity chefs - Melissa Parks and Laurie Wolf, as well as Laurie's partner and amazing photographer Bruce Wolf. They're hard at work preparing, shooting and documenting recipes for the book, and I'm busy writing articles and content. 

We're also working with our design team to come up with an amazing and modern look for the book. Cover design, typography, layout... there's a lot to consider!

In the meantime, we need to keep you, our backers, entertained and occupied! So we hope you are keeping an eye our Backers Video page at http://www.thestonerscookbook.com/backer_videos.php as we are constantly adding new videos. 

Next month I hope to steal one of the recipes from the book from under the chef's noses so I can give you a taste (haha) of what we're working on... stay tuned!

As always if you need to get in touch, my email is lucas@thestonerscookbook.com

March Backers Update: Herb: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis

Hello Backers!

My name is Lucas Young and I co-founded The Stoner’s Cookbook way back in 2006 with my business partner Daniel Crothers.

I’ve taken on the role of bringing you Herb: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis and I have some exciting updates for you this month.

Firstly let me say how much we appreciate your support - it’s your backing that has made this book possible. It’s one of the first of its kind – a crowd-funded cannabis cookbook! It will not only contain 100 creative recipes and exquisite full colour photography, it will have one of the most comprehensive guides to dosing available in a cookbook. Our chefs have been working to determine a way to measure dosing that’s easy for even a novice cook to understand. It’s important to know how strong the effects of any cannabis-based meal are!

Speaking of chefs, let me introduce you to the two chefs who will be collaborating to bring you this revolutionary cookbook.

Melissa Parks


Melissa is a classically trained chef who has been cooking and baking professionally since 2000.  She attended Le Cordon Bleu and Johnson and Wales and obtained degrees in culinary arts, baking and pastry, and culinary nutrition.  She has worked in fine dining restaurants in Minneapolis’s theatre district, co-managed bakeries, developed products for General Mills in their New Meals/Research and development department, was a private chef for CEOs of companies in Boulder, a private chef for Grant Family Farms, created personalized wedding cakes and wedding cake displays, and now finds herself embarking on our journey of creating infused artisan edibles.

Laurie Wolf


A recent contributor to The Denver Post's new marijuana section and Cannabis Now, Laurie attended the Culinary Institute of America and worked as a chef, caterer, and food stylist in New York before moving to Portland in 2008, where she continues to work as a recipe-developer and medible specialist.
Her company Laurie & MaryJane is one of the premier medible companies in Oregon.

Book Production News

Firstly, let me apologize for the confusion some of you experienced after you backed Herb: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis. Crowd-funding for books is probably new to many of you, and many of you thought the book would be delivered as soon as the funding was complete.

The funding allowed us to commission our team and begin the development process, with the target of delivering the cookbook to you towards the end of this year.  Book production and publishing is a complex process involving many players – photographers, designers, layout artists, editors, authors, printers and so on.

Right now we are deep in the middle of preparing content and recipes and organizing food photography – developing a cookbook is a much more involved process than publishing an ordinary book – all of our recipes have to be prepared by our chefs, tested, documented and made robust enough that cooks of any level can handle the preparation. Then the recipes have to be styled, lit and photographed.

While all of this is happening I will be keeping you updated on progress and news, and you can always email me with specific questions.

My email address is:

lucas@thestonerscookbook.com

Backer Videos

To reward you for your patience - and to give you something “herbal” to do with your kitchens in the meantime - I’m delighted to be able to present you with the first of the videos promised as part of your backer’s package. There are in fact, not one, but THREE videos from one of our cookbook chefs, Melissa Parks.

As backers, you’ll be seeing these videos before anyone else on your own video page on The Stoner’s Cookbook website.

These are introductory videos on how to prepare cannabis for cooking and culminate in our first video recipe – we wanted to give you the first three all at once so you didn’t have to wait around to get to the good stuff – making your first cannabis edible!

Going forward, we’ll be aiming to release at least one video each week, and you’ll see them before the rest of the world.

Your first three videos are:

  1. How to Decarboxylate Cannabis. In this video, chef and edibles expert Melissa Parks explains how to decarboxylate your cannabis before cooking with it. "Decarbing" cannabis releases the full psychoactive effect.
  2. How to Make Cannabutter. Cannabutter - cannabis-infused butter - is easy to make and can be used in many recipes in place of butter. Chef Melissa Parks shows you how to prepare and store cannabutter for use in your recipes.
  3. How to Make Cannabis-Infused Brownies.  Pot Brownies are the edible classic and in this video, Melissa shows you how to make 24 delicious, cannabis-infused brownies that will delight the taste buds and soothe the mind...

Your backer videos are available on this page:

http://www.thestonerscookbook.com/backer_videos.php

They should play on any computer or mobile device that’s up-to-date, but let me know if you encounter issues.

That’s all from me for this month – I’ll be back in April with more book news.

Kind Regards

Lucas Young

CTO

The Stoner’s Cookbook

HERB · Author · added over 9 years ago · 11 likes

We couldn't have done it without you...

I'm thrilled to announce that with your help we were able to crowdfund our groundbreaking cookbook, HERB: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis. Not only did we hit our goal, we blew it out of the water! HERB was 164% funded by 841 backers worldwide! We can't wait to show you what we've been working on... 

So what's next? 

Inkshares, the revolutionary crowdfunding platform, will be working with us to create this incredible cookbook. Creating a cookbook is a lot of work, but we're well on our way. They have given us the following estimated timeline for the production and distribution of HERB:

  • Feb 1st - Finish draft of recipes / manuscript
  • Feb 1st - Photoshoot / Copyedit text
  • Feb 7th - Begin design / layout 
  • March 1st - Produce galleys, send to reviewers, buyers, celebs 
  • April 1st - Finalize hardcover files / start hardcover run
  • May 15th - Finalize softcover files / send galleys to reps 
  • May / June - Sell pre-orders to retailers 
  • Fall June / July - Submit softcover files for offset 
  • July - Send hardcover to backers
  • Aug / Oct - Publication dates

* Please note that these dates are subject to change based on several factors. We’re hoping the book will be ready by the end of summer, 2015.

We have some exciting cooking videos that we will be releasing to you over the next couple months. Stay tuned for those... If you ever want to get in touch please don't hesitate to email me personally at matt@thestonerscookbook.com. 

Thanks again for all your support! You're awesome!

Matt Gray

Lorena Yvette Alcazar · Reader · added over 9 years ago
Very excited to receive my copy!

Dear Backers,

BIG UPDATE – You guys did it! Five hundred and eighty-four of you have successfully funded HERB: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis!

We’re starting production ASAP and will keep you updated about our progress.  We’ll also reach out for your input along the way – we’d love to hear your thoughts about recipes, book design, and chapters.

We are incredibly grateful for you support and are insanely excited to start this project with you.

More updates soon…

Matt Gray

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