food

soup of the day: happy birthday, tree! and the schmutzy family by madelyn rosenberg (and a double giveaway)!

~ jama ~ 34 Comments

What could be better than celebrating a first book by a fellow Virginia author?

Why, celebrating TWO first books, of course, yes TWO — by our favorite guitar playin’, Bob Dylan-lovin’, popcorn eatin’ ace reporter turned fiction writer Madelyn Rosenberg!!

YAHOO!!

And this is just as it should be — since Maddie (I can call her that cause I’m older) is twice as nice, twice as smart, and twice as cute. We are thrilled to be sending out twice the ♥love♥ today for her two debut picture books, The Schmutzy Family, illustrated by Paul Meisel (Holiday House, 2012); and Happy Birthday Tree!: A Tu B’Shevat Story illustrated by Jana Christy (Albert Whitman, 2012).

Art © 2012 Paul Meisel

I hope you’re in double the partying mood cause we’ve got lots of pictures and snacks and tasty things to say about both of Ms. Rosenberg’s new books :). We’re even revealing a little-known secret: Madelyn may be a very talented writer and all-around good person, but . . . she’s a tad messy! *ssshhh* More on that later.

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sweet sweet visit to chocolate chocolate

~ jama ~ 44 Comments
AS furry residents with their favorite bon bons from the shop.

Chocolate Chocolate!

So good, you have to say it twice :).

Some of you may remember when I reviewed Chocolate Chocolate: The True Story of Two Sisters, Tons of Treats, and the Little Shop That Could (Thomas Dunne Books, 2011), and interviewed co-authors Frances Park and Ginger Park. We rhapsodized about half-moon buttercream dreams, le bouchon, chocolate covered pretzels and dark almond bark.

We learned how Frances and Ginger opened Washington, D.C.’s, first independent, high-end sweet shop featuring decadent delights from all over the world. We met some of their most memorable customers and marveled at how they launched their writing careers on a rented Selectric typewriter in the store’s tiny backroom.

Most important, we reinforced our staunch belief that writers and chocolate naturally go together — the creamy, dreamy combination seems to create magic in its wake, forging lifelong friendships, steeling sisterly bonds, and inspiring award-winning books.

You may also remember that Chocolate Chocolate was my hands-down favorite food memoir of 2011. I gave everyone I could think of a copy for Christmas, and I gave my brother’s family a copy when I visited them in Hawai’i last November.

Well. My 13-year-old niece Julia absolutely loved the book and shared it with her friends. Going to Chocolate Chocolate and meeting Frances and Ginger was at the top of her must-do list when she visited us in Virginia recently.

Julia loves reading, writing, blogging, and chocolate!!

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friday feast: julia’s recipe for love

~ jama ~ 37 Comments

“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.” ~ Julia Child

Julia with her husband Paul Child in California, 1951 (courtesy of Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University).

He was ten years older, a worldly intellect, artist, poet, photographer and connoisseur of fine wine and cuisine who spoke fluent French. He thought she was “wildly emotional” and “unfocused,” and, “brave about being an old maid.”

She was a 30-something-year-old late bloomer, six foot two (or three or four) to his five foot ten, who preferred sports and socializing to academics, a self-professed “hungry hayseed” far more comfortable wielding golf clubs and tennis racquets than knives or whisks. She was disappointed in his “light hair which is not on top, an unbecoming blond mustache and a long unbecoming nose.”

After they met working for the OSS, food brought them closer — curry luncheons forging a friendship in Ceylon, Chinese meals fanning the flames in Kunming, a French luncheon of sole meunière in Rouen sparking a lifelong passion that would ultimately instigate a food revolution in America.

Just goes to show what a good man and the right meal can do.

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julia’s cherry clafouti and a side of ham

~ jama ~ 25 Comments

“It’s fun to get together and have something good to eat at least once a day. That’s what human life is all about — enjoying things.” ~ Julia Child

Something magical happens whenever I make a Julia Child recipe that doesn’t happen with Martha, Mario, Giada or anyone else.

I hear Joooolia’s voice — cheery, chirpy, hooting and emphatic, reading aloud all the ingredients, explaining what I should do every step of the way, reminding me, “Above all, have a good time!”

“You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients.”

Making french bread on “The French Chef,” Episode 222, 1971, photo by Paul Child (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University)

Phew! I’m glad she said that, because I wasn’t planning to tackle her 15-page French Bread recipe any time soon. It’s summer, the living is easy, and Julia has just the thing for those of us clamoring for an easy sweet fix. Oui oui, clafoutis!

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lapping up minette’s feast with susanna reich and amy bates (and a giveaway!)

~ jama ~ 46 Comments

“Those early years in France were among the best of my life. They marked a crucial period of transformation in which I found my true calling, experienced an awakening of the senses, and had such fun that I hardly stopped moving long enough to catch my breath.” ~Julia Child (My Life in France, Knopf, 2006).

OOH-LA-LA and MIAO!

We’ve set out our best red-and-white checked tablecloth today in honor of special guests Susanna Reich and Amy Bates, co-creators of the delectably enchanting picture book biography, Minette’s Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat (Abrams, 2012)!

*purrrrrs*

Shortly after Julia and her husband Paul moved to Paris in 1948, they were adopted by “a mischievous, energetic poussiequette with a lovely speckled coat,” whom they named Minette Mimosa McWilliams Child. This sly, feisty feline instantly charmed her way into their hearts and became an important part of their lives, sitting on Paul’s lap during meals and stealing tidbits off his plate when she thought he wasn’t looking.

Julia with Minette, Paris, 1953 (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University)

In Minette’s Feast, we are treated to a scrumptious snapshot from those glorious, golden, transformational years of Julia’s culinary awakening through the eyes of her very first cat, who, as this story goes, adamantly preferred fresh mouse or bird to any of the future Queen of Cuisine’s offerings.

Day and night, the “luckiest cat in all of Paris . . . could smell the delicious smells of mayonnaise, hollandaise, cassoulets, cheese soufflés and duck pâtés.” C’est magnifique!

But whether Julia prepared something specially for Minette (fish heads with chicken liver custard), or presented her with tasty scraps from the day’s culinary experiments, for ravenous Mini, “there would always be mouse.”

*licks chops*

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