Spectacular occasion

The launch of Gather Together: Delightful Décor and Simple Recipes for Every Occasion is a dream come true for Robyn Chubey.

The release Saturday at McNally Robinson Booksellers is definitely a “pinch-me” moment for Chubey, 46, who has been wanting to write a book for the last 26 years.

Posting snippets online from a life that straddles the line between aspirational and achievable, Chubey, better known by her social media handle, @life_of_glow, has built a substantial community of followers who visit her page daily to like and comment on gardening projects, home decor ideas, simple craft activities and easy-to-make recipes.

While she’s loathe to be labelled an influencer — “I would call myself a photographer before anything else because everything I’ve done, including the book, has flowed from the fact that I was a photographer,” she says — Chubey acknowledges her substantial follower count was what led to the publication by Rock Point Books of Gather Together.

She has 242,000 followers on Instagram, 53,000 on Facebook and 16,700 on TikTok, where she has amassed 1.6 million likes on her videos.

“Yes, the publisher had seen all of my work on Instagram, but the part that played a role in me getting asked to write the book is the fact that very, very few authors who create lifestyle books do the photography themselves,” she says.

“Typically, you will have an author, a photographer and a stylist working with the photographer, so really I ended up securing this book because I do all of it; everything that is in that book is done by me.”

It’s no empty boast.

For half a year, Chubey meticulously plotted out every single aspect of the book. She kept to a tight timetable, organizing cooking, styling, photography and writing schedules to make sure she hit her deadlines.

Working visually, she drafted a checklist of the images she wanted and used it as her starting point. She banished her husband and children from her kitchen (“They were so gracious to stay out of my way,” she says, laughing) and covered every inch of her 10-foot-long kitchen countertop with camera gear, props and themed areas set up with different lighting.

“It definitely was a challenge, I’m not going to lie. The photography informed everything; my goal was to shoot everything first and then do all of the writing to go with it,” she says.

“The toughest part was the quick turnaround. I cooked first and the second it was ready, I styled it, then ran it over to the setup where I was going to shoot. You’re cooking and making and shooting and styling and doing everything all together at once. It was bonkers at the time.”

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Chubey began creating lifestyle content in 2018 after she and her husband Dan bought an acreage just outside Winnipeg, which has become Prairie Glow Acres, a boutique flower farm where she hosts gardening and photography workshops and portrait sessions.

As the couple began to transform their property, renovating the main house and landscaping their gardens, it was only natural for Chubey to document the process on her social media accounts.

Already a successful photographer with a 20,000-strong following online, Chubey admits she was worried about making the pivot from posting photographs of her family and their adventures moving around the country to documenting her DIY projects and room renovations.

It was a calculated risk that has led to her burgeoning career as author.

Alongside writing the book, Chubey also had to fulfil existing brand commitments. Then there were the 100 or so family portrait sessions booked before any sort of book deal had been signed.

She also had to maintain her social media presence throughout. A famously fickle master, the medium requires constant content feeding to remain relevant. Any lag in posting can result in a dip in engagement, a drop in followers or both.

“I was a wreck. You know how it is when you start any kind of project and you say to yourself, ‘It’s not going to take me that long,’ and then once you’re in it, there’s no way out other than to see it to fruition. In hindsight — and my kids and my husband would say the same — it was crazy,” she says.

Gather Together: Delightful Décor and Simple Recipes for Every Occasion is a beautifully shot tome full of polished and accessible ideas and themes, allowing readers to pick and choose aspects to highlight to make it more achievable to those who may not have the time or inclination go the whole hog.

“I wanted it to not have anything that was over the top. I wanted everything to feel polished and beautiful, but still doable,” she says.

The book was created and photographed between July and November 2024; Chubey roped in family and friends as she cooked up a storm in the kitchen, packing celebration days — from Christmas and Easter to Father’s Day and Halloween — into 21 weeks.

“That was a crazy five-month period, but it was really fun for my family because we had an entire year of holidays condensed. So my husband got another Father’s Day in August and we had Easter again at the end of July,” she says.

Chubey has some advice for those planning to host our own gatherings. Whether it’s for a big family lunch, a movie night with friends or a craft play date with the kids, don’t sweat the small stuff, she says.

“Aspire to have everything to be as perfect as it can be, but as it’s unfolding, leave a little breathing room,” she says. “Don’t get yourself caught up in the details; that is the thing that’s going to stop you from doing it. It is better to do it than to not do it at all.”

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PROSCIUTTO, MINT & MELON SKEWERS

Total time: 20 minutes
Yield: 16 skewers

Nothing brings the fun to an appetizer like a melon baller. As a kitchen tool, its history and origins are unclear. Legend has it that in 19th-century France, chefs graced us with the invention, and from that moment on, party appetizers were forever elevated. I imagine the first ballroom parties featuring melon balls, with exclamations of “Trop mignon!” echoing through the kitchens and halls. With the flavour and colour combination in the recipe to follow, I have a feeling your tablemates will be exclaiming, “Too cute!” once again.

1 ripe large cantaloupe
1 ripe large honeydew
8 slices prosciutto
16 bocconcini cheese balls
32 mint leaves

1. To make the melon balls: Slice the cantaloupe and honeydew melons in half and remove the seeds. Using a high-quality, sturdy metal melon baller, work from the inside of the melons. Sink the melon baller at an angle into the flesh. Once, it’s pressed in as far as it can go, twist and scoop to create the balls. Don’t worry if your melon ball isn’t perfectly round; they typically aren’t ever perfect on all sides. Simply place the imperfect side down in a bowl and no one will ever notice.

2. To make the prosciutto rosettes: Cut the prosciutto slices in half lengthwise, then fold the long strips again lengthwise, to create a smooth top edge on one side. Starting at either end of the prosciutto strip, gently roll it up to form a rosette.

3. To make the skewers: Slide the melon balls (imperfect side down) onto the skewers and alternate with prosciutto and cheese.

4. Place a fresh mint leaf on either side of each prosciutto rosette and enjoy.

Tips: Melon balls can be made up to 3 days in advance, then covered and refrigerated. You can make this a day before and cover, but wait to add the fresh mint leaves until a few hours before serving.

winnipegfreepress.com/avkitching