Sweet Sketches

Title Page Illustration by Lizzy Rockwell

It seems like the illustration trend is back for cookbooks. Yay! When I first started writing cookbooks ( 1996-ish) I was dying for full color photos in the books. So many people asked for a photo for each recipe. That wasn’t an option for a new author; it was really cost prohibitive. Instead, my publisher, St. Martin’s Press, connected me with Lizzy Rockwell to provide some of the sweetest illustrations for my first four cookbooks. I’ve always felt they suited the books perfectly; sweet, cozy, and homestyle, just like the recipes.

When St. Martin’s approved photography for the last two cookbooks, I became obsessed with the photography, the styling, and the props. This timing intersected with my work in Intermezzo Magazine, where I developed recipes, styled the food and the props at the shoot. I was beginning to develop recipes visually, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Years later, these drawings still have a simplicity that I adore. They put the focus onto the recipe, and the home baker’s versions. Hopefully they are just as delicious as the drawings.

Sweet Maria’s Italian Cookie Tray by Lizzy Rockwell

Bundt Cake from Sweet Maria’s Cake Kitchen by Lizzy Rockwell