My Sixth Rodeo

Borderlands is here, and my life is about to get crazy

Book six is here. Wow. When I think about the 14 years that have elapsed since my first book, Hunt, Gather, Cook, came out in 2011, it feels like a gulf of eons. I older and grayer, but also stronger and feeling oddly younger than in past book tour years.

Put simply: I’m stoked for this.

I feel like I did before big races in college: Fluttery stomach, waves of anxiousness that I know mean that my body is preparing for action, a heightened sense of urgency and eagerness to get started. In current parlance, it’s that shout of: let’s gooooo!

Borderlands: Recipes and Stories from the Rio Grande to the Pacific, is a half-step departure from all my other work. It is not, strictly speaking, a fish and game book. But there is lots of fish and game in it. It is not a wild edible plants and mushrooms book. But there are lots of wild plants and mushrooms in it. It is also not a vegetarian book, but I surprised myself by discovering that it just so happened that there are tons of meatless recipes in it.

This book has the potential to be my biggest: The food of northern Mexico and our border states is rich, varied and accessible. You don’t need to be a hunter, angler or forager to enjoy this book. You can get most of the ingredients even in small supermarkets.

What’s more, Borderlands takes you on a journey, a very personal one that, hopefully, transports you to the region, with all its colorful characters, stunning landscapes, deep traditions, and yes, esoteric foods — because I gotta be me.

It includes a series of essays that put all of this in context, celebrating la frontera in a way that I hope opens eyes and hearts to the people on both sides of the line.

Behind the Scenes

Some of you know that after two books produced by legacy publishers, Ten Speed and Rodale, I struck out on my own in 2015 to publish my books. It began with a Kickstarter that raised enough money to produce a beautiful cookbook in Buck, Buck, Moose, and it’s been a go ever since. Borderlands is my fourth book printed by the company I founded, H&H Books.

But producing a quality cookbook in the United States (not China!) costs a ton of money, and that’s just the easy part: Marketing and selling a book is far more difficult.

And that’s where we are now.

For those of you who have already ordered your copy, they’ve begun shipping; some of you already have them! I hope you like what you get, and if you do, the absolute best things you can do to help me out are:

1. Tell your friends. Word of mouth is huge for a book like this.

2. Post something on social media, with a pic of the book, or once you make a recipe. That’s personal word of mouth magnified.

3. Post a review on Amazon.com. I am pretty sure that it will let you, even if you bought the book directly from me.

My days lately have been spent scrambling to set up a real book tour, the likes of which I haven’t done since the 2018 release of Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail; Covid crushed the tour for Hook, Line, and Supper, my fish cookbook.

Comin’ at Ya!

I start touring in my home of the Twin Cities in a couple weeks, and will be on and off the road pretty much constantly until Christmas. I’ll start close to home, then hit Northern California, then the Eastern Seaboard, then Wisconsin, the Pacific Northwest before Labor Day. Maybe also Denver and Salt Lake City, too.

After Labor Day, I know I’ll be in Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Chicago, and maybe a few other spots. October I start basically camping in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. I’d love to put together some SoCal dates, too.

And while I have no set plans to hit the South, chances are I’ll get there in fall. So stay tuned.

Why tour? In a word: connection.

I want to see you again, frankly. It’s been too long for so many of you, and for many others, it’ll be the first chance to say hi in person — and each tour I’ve met readers who have become fast friends. That’s exciting to me, because it is us as a collective that makes us all smarter. You learn from me, I learn from you.

Most of the events you’ll see below are designed for us to chat and maybe hoist a beer or two. Many are full, coursed dinners. Many more are casual drop-ins, with tickets mostly to let me know how many books to bring and how much food to cook.

Here are the events that are set, with links for tickets or reservations where I have them:

• June 19, Minneapolis, Fulton Brewing

• June 25, Fargo, Luna Cafe

• June 30, Minneapolis, Chilango

• July 9, Roseville, CA, Nixtaco

• July 10, San Francsico, Omnivore Books

• July 12, Sonoma, Passalacqua Winery

• July 17, Tysons Corners, VA, Ometeo

• July 18, special fishing trip on the Potomac

• July 19, St. Leonard, MD, CCA fundraiser

• July 23, Boston, The Smoke Shop

• July 27, Portsmouth, NH, Vida Cantina

• August 1, Cedarburg, WI, The Fermentorium

• August, 2, Paoli, WI, Seven Acres Dairy

• August 12, Phoenix, OR, Clyde’s Corner

• August 13, Portland, OR, Grand Fir Brewing

• August 14, Portland, OR, The Royal Coachman

After that, things are looser. If you don’t see an event near you, bookmark my book tour page and check it once in a while — I update it almost daily.

A Special Thank You

As a reader of To the Bone, I want to give you a special discount on all my books, shirts, hoodies and stickers. You can find the whole collection here, and here is the direct link to Borderlands.

Use the code TOTHEBONE at checkout and you’ll get 15 percent off your whole order.

Thank you for your support, and your help spreading the word about the book and the tour — hope to see you in person or online soon!

~ Hank