Errata Sheet, Or Oops! I Made a Few Typos
This may make me sound kinda dumb, but until December 10 when Dave said the fateful words, I’d never heard the term “errata sheet.” I was holding a proof copy of Well Fed in my hands. We’d already enjoyed the joyous flip through its pages with my parents, and I was up to my elbows in chopped spinach because I was making Meat & Spinach Muffins for our book release party. You cannot imagine the horror I felt as I read the instructions for the Muffins on page 105 and realized that, although the headnotes show the baking time, I’d neglected to include the words “Bake for 40 minutes” in the instructions. I was disheartened, but Dave shrugged and said, “It’s OK. We’ll do an errata sheet later. It happens all the time with technical books. It’s OK.”
And that’s when the words “errata” and “sheet” became two of my least favorite words because they represent the physical proof of my human-ness. Grrrr!
Our review team for Well Fed included two copyeditors, a professional proofreader, and three amateur copyeditors/reviewers/proofers, and we all missed a few things in the text. I’m so pleased that none of them were showstoppers — the recipes still work — but in the interest of giving you the best cookbook I can, a list of the errors/confusing things I’ve found in Well Fed is below. I’ve also made a cute PDF you can download to print out and put into your book — download it now!
Thank you to Well Fed readers who kindly let me know they were confused by some of the recipes. I appreciate your feedback and your gentleness.
Well Fed Corrections
Page 19 – The Weekly Cookup
Under the heading 6. Prep Your Vegetables, there’s a typo that could totally deny you your fair share of vegetables. The paragraph that begins, “Based on the idea…” should read:
Based on the idea that each of your meals will include at least two different vegetables and that your snacks will also include about one or two cups of veggies each, you need about eight cups of veggies per person per day.
Page 22 – Other Pantry Essentials
The description of coconut oil, should recommend organic, UNrefined coconut oil for optimal health benefits.
Page 73 – Chocolate Chili
In the instructions, I neglected to specify that the chili should simmer UNcovered for at least 2 hours.
Page 91 – Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)
The instructions told you to remove the foil twice. Here’s what it should say:
Remove the pork from the marinade and place on the rack, then cover the entire pan with aluminum foil, crimping the edges to form a seal. Roast the pork for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and roast an additional 40-45 minutes – watch for the edges to begin to turn a lovely brown.
Increase the oven temperature to 500 F and roast for 8-12 minutes more, until it’s evenly browned. Carefully remove the pork from the oven and brush the tops and sides of the pieces with half the sauce. You want complete coverage with a thin layer so the sauce forms a glaze in the oven. As my dad would say, “Put it on like you’re taking it off.”
Page 99 – Bora Bora Fireballs
Here’s a better description of how to deal with the canned pineapple:
Drain the can of pineapple in a sieve placed over a bowl to catch the juice. You’re going to use the juice later, so save it! Press the pineapple pulp against the sieve with a wooden spoon to extract the excess moisture. Place 1 cup of the drained pineapple in a large mixing bowl. (Save any leftover pineapple for dessert later.)
Also: When adding the seasonings to the pineapple in step 3, add the 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper listed in the ingredients, too.
Page 105 – Meat & Spinach Muffins
The headnotes include the baking time, but the instructions do not. Dang it! The last step of the instructions should read:
Place muffin papers in a 12-count muffin pan; they prevent sticking. Pack the batter into a 1/2-cup measurer, then transfer it to the muffin pan, using your hands to pack the spinach tightly into the muffin paper. It should be slightly mounded on top – the muffins puff a bit when they bake, then slightly deflate when cool. Bake for 40 minutes until the tops are lightly browned. Remove the muffins from the pan, cool, and store covered, in the refrigerator.
Page 117 – Greek Broccoli
The ingredients list tomato paste, but the tomato paste is missing from the instructions. Try this!
Dry the pan and heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, tomatoes, parsley, and oregano. Sauté until the onions are translucent and the tomatoes begin to pop. Add the broccoli, tomato paste, paprika, salt, and pepper; stir well to combine. Simmer 5-7 minutes until heated through. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Page 133 – Zucchini Noodles Aglio Et Olio
I forgot to mention you need a julienne peeler to make the noodles. I recommend the OXO.
Page 149 – Berries and Whipped Coconut Cream
I’ve got some additional advice for making the coconut whipped cream. Here are more detailed instructions.
When the coconut milk is cold, flip it upside down and open the bottom with a can opener. Pour off any liquid that’s separated and scoop the thickened coconut milk into the chilled mixing bowl; add the almond extract. Whip on your mixer’s highest setting until the milk is fluffy and has taken on the texture of whipped cream, about 5-7 minutes. Marvel at the creaminess!
Page 151 – Peach Almond Crisp
This is the one recipe that is not approved for enjoyment during a Whole30. Although the ingredients are all Whole30 compliant, this dessert isn’t in keeping with the sugar-demon-slaying spirit of the Whole30 – but it’s a delicious treat after your 30 days.
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61 Responses to “Errata Sheet, Or Oops! I Made a Few Typos”
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Wow. I am absolutely impressed. I don’t know many authors who would go to this length to help out their readers.
Thank you.
Thank YOU for being so thoughtful.
I printed them out an put them in the book. Thank you. I write a food column for a small newspaper and one time I forgot to put in a major ingredient in the pumpkin flans. I was aghast! What if I ruined all my readers Thanksgiving desserts?? As it turned out, it was a happy mistake and they were even better without the cream. whew.
Thanks for sharing your little gaffe… it happens. And it’s fun when the “error” turns out to not matter so much.
Thanks!! I made your spinach & meat muffins last week. This week I am pairing your czech meatballs with your ethiopian cabbage recipe. Your recipes are to die for!!
Love the errata sheet! Such a cute and clever way to make corrections. Thank you!
Okay. CrossFit yesterday and fixing typos today. You are re-hooking this CrossFitting, fine-print reading corporate attorney.
YAY! I aim to please… especially when it involves messing something up
Just wanted to say, that I bought your cookbook recently and LOVE it. The chocolate chili was ah-mazing. Thank you so much for putting it together. I am currently on a 40 day Paleo challenge at my crossfit gym and I love that your recipes are so flavorful and delicious. It is the one and only cookbook I use. My family (who are now on a forced Paelo diet thanks to my gym) have loved everything I’ve made so far (and that includes 3 children who are picky eaters!). So thanks again!
Congratulations on tackling 40 days of clean eating… that’s awesome! So glad to know Well Fed is helping you and your family with the transition. Best wishes to you for an awesome experience!
Question: The Italian sausage seasoning: Am I not supposed to grind the fennel seeds?
Also, what’s in your Herbes de Provence? I thought it was always the same but then I bought some here in the UK and was really disappointed (“What no lavender? What is this, the dark ages?”)
PS Sorry for the double colon in the above text.
You can grind the fennel seeds if you like — totally a personal preference. Some people like the flavor but not the texture, so grinding is good in that case. Or you can leave them out completely.
I think I have Penzeys Herbes de Provence (rosemary, cracked fennel, thyme, savory, basil, tarragon, dill weed, Turkish oregano, lavender, chervil and marjoram. ) — but blends vary, depending on the manufacturer. You should definitely storm the manufacturer of yours with pitchforks and flaming torches!
Hi Mel,
I did a (somewhat haphazard) metric conversion of the book. Link here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TwcD3ZVq-MAPOs4CHczt_UgGEyEQo1vHCmaLmz1hgGE/edit or http://goo.gl/xKt8u
There you go, again: confirming how TOTALLY AWESOME you are. Do you mind if I plop it into a Well Fed template and make a PDF available?
Will the corrected PDFs be available anytime soon? Thanks.
Working on it! We need to finalize all the copy and then make two new versions.
Thanks for this! I’m especially excited to try the coconut whipped cream again
And don’t worry about mistakes. True character is not in the mistake, but how you deal with it. And you handled it with grace. Keep your head up! Your cookbook still kicks ass.
You are very kind. Thank you!
Thank you! We are making the Char Siu today, and I had my husband read the recipe twice with me to see if I was missing something! And, as others have said, true to who you are, you published the corrections just yesterday. Wonderful. Can’t wait to “remove the foil only once!” and enjoy. All the dishes we have tried from Well Fed have been superb…and the weekly cook-off has been a God-send for me! Thank you!
Did you eat your Char Siu yet? What did you think?
Funny, I read the recipe for the zucchini noodles and didn’t think anything was amiss. Not being much of a cook, I did wonder how to julienne the zucchini but I was just going google it.
I read about a newspaper that got sued because they misprinted a recipe for churros. Apparently the temp. in the recipe was too high and the oil exploded when people put the churros in. :/ Hopefully your typos aren’t the injury iducing kind.
Here’s a link: http://www.foodista.com/blog/2011/12/27/newspaper-loses-lawsuit-over-crappy-recipe#
No injuries, here. Just a little confusion.
I remember when that story hit. So terrible! For the record, I tested all of my recipes at least three times
I just got your cookbook on Wednesday (it was an amazon recommendation for me) and found the blog from there. The cookbook is so inspiring and beautifully photographed…that Dave knows what he’s doing
. I have a couple of Paleo cookbooks but always felt so overwhelmed by all the chopping, cooking, repeating so THANK YOU for the weekly cook-off idea. Had my ipod blasting, husband and daughter as sous chefs, and made chili with chocolate, roasted chicken thighs, roasted a squash, chopped a canteloupe, boiled eggs AND made olive oil mayo all in 2 hours. I feel so prepared for the week now. And everyone loved the chili…even my 4 year old. Did I mention I actually made my own mayo???
So glad you found me! Thank you for the compliments on the photography — Dave really did a great job, didn’t he?!
Good to know that the weekly cookup is helping you, and how lucky that you have extra hands in the kitchen!
Congrats on the mayo! Hope you have many more happy kitchen adventures.
Re: daily veggies. Is that 8 cups cooked or raw veggies a day? Thanks!
You can never eat too many veggies
That 8 cups is just a guideline, but generally, one cup of cooked equals 1 1/2 to 2 cups raw… That guideline is just that — a guideline — but it’s referencing cooked.
Wow! Thanks. The only one that had given me pause was the refined coconut oil. I just figured you had your reasons.
Yeah. That was a bad typo. LAME-O.
I thought it was entertaining, but it’s much harder on us to see our own typos, I know too well.
Thanks for the updates! My husband and I have been living out of your cookbook for our Whole30 and have been enjoying every minute. Umm… your carnitas? Amazing. Addictive. And didn’t last in the house nearly as long as they should have. “Crack-nitas” is dead on accurate! I’m taking my copy of Well Fed in this week to have all the pages spiral bound – this little sheet will be going with. Thanks again!
Oh, yay! Glad to know Well Fed is helping with your Whole30. Try that carnitas technique on other meats, too — works great on beef chuck and lamb shoulder, too.
Enjoy!
I am definitely trying this with the chuck roast and with lamb. I had hesitated only because I’m the only one in the house who eats pork.
I love your book! Thanks for taking the time to make these notes.
Your weekly cook-up has changed my life. I feel such a sense of accomplishment that I have a fridge full of great food for me and the man for the whole week!
The zucchini noodles are his (and mine) new favorite food!
Another weekly cookup convert, here. I have two school-aged kids, a three-month-old baby, a husband who travels for work, and have just returned to my full-time job. Coming home after work and knowing that I have 10 minutes, tops, until a yummy, healthy dinner is on the table is like getting an amazing little gift every day.
If that dinner includes the carnitas, it’s an amazing little gift WITH CRISPY NOM-LICIOUS PORK.
I bought three Well Feds … two for Christmas gifts and one for me. Have printed three of the sheets to put in the books and will send one to each of the recipients. Being a technical editor by trade, I have enormous empathy for … um … you know … the “e” word. We’re just not perfect people, you know? To put it in perspective for you, a manager I worked with once accidentally sent to the WHOLE DEPARTMENT an e-mail listing the ranking of each employee for the upcoming layoff. Naturally, Upper Management sent out an e-mail telling us all not to open his e-mail.
HA! That makes me feel so much better
Sorry for the goofy question…is the amount of salt in the chocolate chili supposed to be one teaspoon? Not trying to second guess you here, but I was not totally sure.
Yep. 1 teaspoon of salt is correct.
Why?
Most of your recipes that I’ve tried so far were fairly spicy, not hot but spicy. When I made the chili, it seemed a bit bland. (I hope that doesn’t sound awful.) I’m not saying it wasn’t good; I just wondered if two pounds of meat and two cups of onions might have needed a bit more. Sorry if this wording is awkward. I am mortified at the prospect of sounding critical of such wonderful recipes.
pamela
Mel, if I got thru just one single day without a glitch it would be nothing short of a miracle!!! You had going on at the time!! it’s a freaking amazeballs-size accomplishment you and your close-knit team did such a kick-butt job. (I used to work in magazine publishing, super small team doing everything except the actual printing… so I totally get where you’re coming from. Magazines aren’t cheap to advertise in, so I had to absolutely and TOTALLY make sure our ad team had zero errors. Yeah, um, sometimes… *sigh*, LOL)
Keep rocking the casbah sugar
HAH!! see what I mean? I totally proofread too late and realized I … wait for it… made a typo!!
**You had SO MUCH going on at the time**
{cue sound of hand slapping forehead}
I have a quick question. I have made the Bora Bora Fireballs a couple of times (RAVE reviews!!) and can’t figure out the cayenne pepper situation. The ingredient list calls for 3/4 tsp plus 1 tsp. I see that you use the 3/4 tsp to season the coconut but I cannot for the life of me figure out where the other 1 tsp should be used! Am I missing something? Thanks for fielding questions!
Oh! Thank you, Eagle Eyes! You’re right! The 1 teaspoon cayenne should be added to the pineapple, along with the other seasonings, to make the meatballs. I’m updating the errata sheet with that now. GREAT CATCH! Thank you so much!
Melissa, I absolutely love this book. I downloaded the PDF version to my iPad, but like it so much I’m also going to buy the print version for the aesthetic experience.
I am a little confused about one thing, though, and that’s the Weekly Cookup. Do you really prepare food, including meats, for 5 days of meals and then refrigerate them? I thought that meats shouldn’t be kept for more than 2 or 3 days. And cooked vegetables don’t seem to keep for more than a couple of days, either. Or am I missing something?
So glad you’re enjoying Well Fed; thank you!
Yes, I really follow the guidelines in my book. This is my personal experience, so if you have any concerns about it, do two weekly cookups with smaller quantities. I’ve been cooking this way for almost three years and have never had a problem, but again, it’s a personal choice.
The key with the veggies is to only PARTIALLY cook them. They are just barely tender — then I cook them a second time in fat before eating.
Hope this clears up any confusion.
Thanks for that clarification. The info here: http://www.foodsafety.gov/blog/meatinrefrig.html says 3-4 days for cooked meat, so I guess I can always freeze meats for the end of the week if I continue to be squeamish about it. A mid-week cookup is not very feasible for me, unfortunately.
I’ll give the partly cooked veggies a try.
Thanks again!
Typos happen. I was preparing a dish last fall from another paleo cookbook and the directions called for three cups of basal for stuffed bell peppers. Really? That’s a lot of basal for 6 peppers. So keep your chin up. Everything I’ve tried has been amazing so far!
I just got Well Fed, my quandary is deciding what to cook first! Thanks for the clarifications on the typos…not that I had noticed; but honey, this cookbook reads like a wet dream.
YAY! Hope you have lots of fun cooking — and eating! — with Well Fed.
Just received your cookbook and wondered what i had paid $30 for and then i opened to the first page and i was hooked. i have already made two fabulous meals…loving everything about it and so is my family – the recipes, how approachable the book is, the recipe variations, etc. etc.
Anyway, i wanted to point out an error – on pg 103, you list under taste greats with – Turkish Chopped Salad and you have it listed as being at page 151 when, in fact, it is at 141..small detail but i know you want your book to be as perfect as it can be…
Thanks, eagle eye!
I’ve bought at least 6 copies of the cookbook as gifts for family and friends and recommended it to at least a dozen other people. My parents are eating things they have never tried before and loving all of it (as are we)! I have all the paleo cookbooks and while they are all great, yours is the one I use the most. So much in fact that the binding fell apart pretty quickly… I put each page in a sheet protector in a binder and I love using it that way even more. No splatters on the pages and it’s so much easier to just take out the pages you need. (I didn’t want to print the PDF and not use the book…) Very much appreciate the error corrections – once again you go beyond the expected.
Liz, I’m glad the failed binding turned into a positive for you. And thanks for sharing! I feel terrible that some of our bindings are faulty, but there’s nothing I can do about it right now. BOO!
Hi,
Love the book, it’s my new favorite paleo cookbook – I’ve made the Cinnamon Beef Stew twice, it’s awesome! Even better on the second and third day, when all the flavors are really melded together.
I agree! I like to make stews and chili and put them in the back of the fridge for 2-3 days before eating them!
I love your cookbook! I’m constantly reading it to figure out what I want to make next. Your Italian Sausage seasoning might have saved my life.
Quick question: maybe I keep skimming over it, but in the Rogan Josh recipe, if I sear the meat in batches (which I did), when do I add all the meat back to the pan? Before adding the onions? I just took out all the meat when it was done, added the onions, then the spices, then added the meat back in to coat in the spices before adding the liquid. It came out great. I think this recipe would also work great in a slow-cooker.
You’ve got it right: the onions, meat, and spices all go back into the pot before adding the liquid.
I just bought your cookbook and I have already read through it from front to back in a single sitting!! Um…I NEVER do that!!! Your recipes, advice and pictures are so alluring, informative and tempting, I just couldn’t put it down! I was far too enthusiastic to notice any…well…oversights. I’ve owned it all of 2 days and have already tried 4 recipes. YUMM!! Every single one so far has just the right amount of balance between simple and flavorful. THANK YOU!
One happy customer (and my family is pretty happy, too!).
Oh, yay! Thank you for letting me know — it’s delightful to think of nice people like you reading the book like a book. YAY!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipes. Wishing you many more happy, healthy meals from its pages.
I absolutely love your cookbook and it’s become our household staple. The work you put into it, and the corrections (love that you did that) really show in the end product – the FOOD! Everything we’ve made is delicious and we stopped dog-earring our favorites because, well, it’s every dang one of ‘em!
My daughter added her own recipe to your spinach and meat muffins: whipped cauliflower topping (piped on in a swirl, just like frosting) and grated carrot “sprinkles.” Fabulous. Like little mini meatloaf delights.
We now refer to most of our meals and “Mel Meals.”
-Karrie and family