"The creative process is a process of surrender, not control" - Julia Cameron, writer

What does raw food bring to mind? Freshness, health, holism, life and energy, elements of earth and water, and all things green. What does a great food memory include? Good company, inspired conversation, perhaps a sense of discovery. How about dessert? Look but don't touch, or the best part of the evening?

Early this summer a rustic cottage was filled with a combination of all these sentiments in order to create a book that many people would connect to. Everyday Raw Desserts is the next in a growing line of cookbooks due to hit the shelves spring 2010.

The process behind the shoot was intensive, and the stage was set with all the elements necessary to invoke a natural and cozy sense of imagery. Together we pieced together sweet delights from nostalgic recipes twisting and converting favorites both old and new. The experience, as is the norm with raw food was alchemistic.

Unassumingly basic ingredients transformed in our blenders, processors and dehydrators into whimsical variations of traditional and modern classics. The project was complimented with a talented and creative photographer, and our challenge as a team was to explore and highlight how beautiful raw desserts could be.

Rule of thumb - keep it real, what you see is what you get. Each picture was to be the exact recipe with no fillers or fluff. As one would expect time and temperature weren't always working on the same side. The challenge of shooting living food dishes are all the natural side effects that come with the territory. Pure ingredients being unrefined or stabilized weep and melt - they practically ask to be eaten often before the shoot is complete. We worked quickly and embraced all the poetically perfect imperfections. Unexpectedly, some of the best shoots were the ones that ended up improvised. We all ended up most pleasantly surprised when we surrendered, simplified and allowed the light of the creation shine through.

These sweet results led me to consider how manufactured our visual modern experience is, and how deeply conditioned we can be to associate beauty with engineered perfection. This stands for the human form, as well as the food we put into it.

The project was blessed with the right environment and team for a concept people can connect to on an everyday basis. There is something for cozy snack, or some more creative entertaining (look for en entire chapter on raw chocolate.) It's designed to demystify the most exciting side raw food. These are the creations you pass around to win over the skeptics. The recipes taste as good as they look. They are simple and what will eventually grace the pages of ERD is tangible in your kitchen (or cottage.) The images will show how wonderful the final results really were, and hopefully the inspiration that was in that cottage early this summer will be felt long after its over.

Vladimir Horowitz "Perfection itself is imperfection"

"Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification." Martin H. Fischer

"The crucial variable in the process of turning knowledge into value is creativity." John Kao