This post is part of an original TIDBITS recipe, first seen HERE on tidbits-cami.com.

Hi!  I'm Marci's sister, Cami.

I blog.

Therefore, I write and take pictures.

A lot.

I've actually loved writing long before I ever loved blogging, or creating, or decorating, or photographing, or DIY'ing (yes, that is a word in my world).

Being super vulnerable here, but seeing my name on the cover of a book was my ultimate dream.  To be referred to as “an Author”, would be my “somebody pinch me” moment.

But to create a book with my sister Marci . . . somebody pinch me . . . 10 times.

*This post contains my affiliate links.

We are so thrilled to announce that our book – actual book! – is now for sale as pre-order with Amazon and Barnes and Noble!!  EEEEK!  While it won't be available until September, you can purchase now at a discounted price and get it as soon as it comes out!

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE ON AMAZON

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE ON BARNES AND NOBLE

Marci and I have poured our hearts and souls into making “Master the Electric Pressure Cooker” an invaluable pressure cooking resource and delicious cookbook for you.  Our goal has always been to teach you how to cook with the electric pressure cooker and discover its amazing potential through the recipes we share.

You may have already been aware of our similar ecookbook we launched about a year ago, that we made to look like this.

It includes digital downloads for 70 of our favorite recipes to make in the electric pressure cooker (aka Instant Pot, Fagor Lux Multicooker, etc.), time charts, and access to our exclusive Facebook group.

For the digital lovin' home chefs, this ebook works perfectly.  I cook from it all. the. time.  However, we always felt bad knowing that there were many who prefer a cookbook to not be on a screen, and we were completely unable to provide an affordable published option – until now!

The wonderful folks at Skyhorse Publishing caught wind of our book, and offered to make us published book Authors.

A dream come true for both of us, and we are so thrilled to share this published version.

We've listened to our readers suggestions and added around 30+ recipes, a lot which are main courses and dinner recipes.

Each and every recipe has large, full color food photography, from my very own lens (pinch me again), and includes Marci's fun stories and introductions for each food item.

We will of course share more as the book becomes available, but we wanted to be sure you knew about it and could take advantage of the pre-sale price if you desire.

Having said all that, Marci and I thought we would take a minute to share some of our thoughts about this book writing process so far and what we've felt as this dream of ours has become a reality together.

I'll share first, then I'll turn the keys over to my sis.

Thought #1:

Wanna know how all this started?  Marci taught me how to make yogurt in the Instant Pot, I decided to share it on my blog, people went baaa -zerk over it, and I casually told her one family dinner day that we should write an ecookbook to share her recipes.  That's pretty much what happened before our type A personalities went into major perfectionist mode and took over.  Marci has of course been obsessing over electric pressure cookers for years, so she brings incredible experience and know-how to the table.  Indeed, this cookbook is her brain baby, and I'm thrilled I had developed a platform to help her share what she knows.

Thought #2:

Now I knew that I could indeed get an ebook up and running with my blog.  However, we only dared to dream that we could actually get it published.  But a published cookbook was of course our greatest hope for these recipes.  I'm not much of a slap-quotes-all-over-my-walls type of decorator, but I wear the phrase, “SHE THOUGHT SHE COULD, AND SO SHE DID” all over my heart.  I knew deep down we could do it.  Eventually 😉

 

Thought #3:

Woooo-weeee, writing a book is hard work!  Just getting the ebook together last year consumed my summer and well beyond.  It was incredibly difficult to keep up the with blog and family life in the process.  I'm so grateful for Skyhorse and their expertise to step in for the published book and take a large load off our shoulders.  But through it all, it became the norm for Marci to have freezers and fridges full of test food, and our evenings were spent photographing as many dishes as we could at a time.  I'm still trying to work off those extra 5 pounds I gained during all the “food testing”.  #bestjobever

Thought #4:

Can I be honest?

Working with someone else is kind of hard.  You see, I've been running my own little online business by myself for years, and I'd become pretty independent.  When I wanted to work harder, I did.  When I wanted to slow down, I did.  And I only ever had to please myself.  In walks super talented sister chef, and all of a sudden we have to have meetings, and differing opinions, and schedules . . . and things got a lot more complicated.  But I'll forever be amazed at what we can accomplish together when we bring our strengths to the table.  Marci's whit, writing skills, and recipe creations seem to complement my photography and online business skills perfectly, allowing us to create this beautiful cookbook together.

Thought #5:

What now?  Oh boy.  Good question.

Marci has a bazillion more recipes to share.   I have an aching desire to get back to more home renovations, decorating, DIY'ing and other topics that fuel me.  Not to mention, we also have families that we love and desire to give more of ourselves too.  And of course, we have lovely, supportive readers who seem to love what we have to share!

Oh, and we only have 24 hours in a day. 😉

So here we both sit, at a cross roads on how to move forward together . . . if at all.  We've toyed with the idea of having her start a new food blog under the TIDBITS brand, and work sort of independently – but still together, if that makes any sense.  That seems to be the best option, but there are a whole slew of logistics that need to be worked out before all that can happen.

So this is where I would love to hear any suggestions from you!  What do you think we should do?  Does it work to have her share recipes every once in a while, do you want more home decor stuff from me, should we both expand, should we just write more books together?  Honestly, I have a whole slew of book ideas I would love to see published as well someday, and Marci could probably write 5 more cookbooks with the recipes she has created.

Decisions, decisions.

In the meantime, let's hear what Marci has to say about this book writing process.

Hey everyone!  Marci here and I have to admit, before Cami purposed this idea of a cookbook, my life was a lot less stressful.  I worked as a Nurse Practitioner 15 hours a week, and loved cooking just for the joy of it.  There was a part of me that felt like it was missing, and I couldn't quite pinpoint it.  Then, in came Cami, with her intriguing ideas, dreams, and goals, and suddenly I felt a fire light up inside.  Charged with this new excitement and passion, I took Cami's suggestion of a small, 30 or so recipe cookbook, and turned it into a full time job of testing, tasting, and testing again, until we hit 100 recipes.  I believe Cami mentioned our Type A personalities above – I blame it on/credit it to our parents 🙂

I've always loved writing but combining it with recipe creating has been a dream come true.  Something about creating recipes and writing about food brings all types of memories to life and with each recipe flowed a new story onto the page.

I love my sister more than ever.  Never has our relationship been closer or more complicated, yet I love that we've had to dig deep and endure all of this together.  It's made life richer and pushed me harder and further than I thought I ever wanted to be pushed.  I owe so much to Cami for opening up this chapter of my life.  I never would have discovered it without her.

I never dreamed of being an author.  I love to write, but previously that was only for my mother's entertainment.  Putting my writing out for the world to read wasn't a goal of mine, but it turned out to be a dream come true.

I love to cook.  Like really love to cook, and create, and experiment, etc.  Is it strange to confess that I begin each day excited about what magic I'm gonna whip up in my kitchen?  (I can sense Cami nodding at this very moment).  But I have to say, sharing it with you all makes it that much better.  The yogurt, the vanilla extract, the mason jar oats…working on them was completely thrilling knowing that I was going to be able to share them with you all.  I love hearing your experiences with them and can hardly believe that my creations are becoming a part of your own families stories.  Sigh…I love it, love it, love it.

So what now?  Cami and I have worked so hard together to create something far beyond our individual abilities.  Where to go from that?!  The future is a big, mysterious, exciting, and scary road right now.  How I wish I could have the smallest glimpse of what's to come!

So while we figure that all out, I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you!  The support and friendships that have come along this road have made life so much sweeter 🙂

We both hope you'll take a moment to check out our upcoming book, take advantage of the discounted price, and let us know what you think!!

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Thank you so very much for being here today!