Moira Sanders Author of The Harrow Fair cookbook

After being a stay at home mom for eight years Moira Sanders took her love of food and writing and turned it into her lifelong dream of creating a cook book. The Harrow Fair Cookbook was released in August 2010 and is based on the traditions of one of the most popular agricultural fairs in Canada. Read Moira’s inspirational story of how determination and focus helped her reach her dream!

1. What inspired you to write your book?

After leaving the working world behind to raise my children (Gavin 8 and Ellen 5), I was always dreaming up ways of using my skills and passion for food in a way that made sense for both myself and my family. I had been writing a blog for over two years and I felt that I was on the right track. With some coaching and encouragement (and sometimes outright hand-holding!), I was able to shift gears and start on what had been a lifelong dream. I have always loved cookbooks and with my background in cooking and food, I loved everything about the idea.

2. How did you make it work with your kids/family?

It must be said that I am a procrastinator and I definitely needed help focusing on the book and my family. At the point that the book was taking on the shape of a full-time job, my daughter had just started JK. This meant that I had 2-3 days to myself each week. I worked those days to the fullest, avoiding anything that wasn’t a top priority. I also signed an agreement with my sister and cousin (my co-authors) that I would get a certain amount of work done each week. If I wasn’t able to complete the work in my “office hours”, I had to work in the evenings and the very early mornings. The girls had fun coming up with my consequences for not getting the work done and I’m happy to say that they didn’t actually have to implement anything!

3. What was your biggest obstacle?

Probably not believing that we could do it. After being a stay-at-home-mom for almost 8 years, it was hard to believe that we could actually get a book published. Particularly near the beginning of the project, there was often a nagging voice saying, Why Us? Because we were working on the book together, we were able to remind each other – Why not us?!

4. What did you learn?

I learned that I can do anything – with hard work and perseverance. Sounds like a cliché, but it’s so true. I also learned that there is no shame in accepting help from people who know more than you. If it wouldn’t have been for our cousin, Beth, the book probably would still be just an idea. She had the knowledge on how to go from A to B and without that support we most likely would have floundered.

Please visit www.theharrowfaircookbook.com and www.moirasanders.com
to learn about Moira’s cook book and blog.