the SIMMER blog

virginia is for readers

Once more, I'm taking the Kitchen Daughter show on the road... I'll be appearing this weekend in Charlottesville at the Virginia Festival of the Book. So excited about this! I've never really been to a book festival on this scale, so I'm really looking forward to seeing a bunch of my author-friends, meeting readers, and generally just being in a book-celebrating atmosphere. Awesome.

If you're in the Charlottesville area or know someone who is, spread the word! I'm doing a panel on Friday about family secrets, and one on Saturday about recipe development. Details here: check 'em out.

 

words around the web

Wanted to point you toward a couple of recent pieces of mine -- not food-related, but writing-related. One's a little silly and one's more serious.

Silly first! On Intrepid Media I guessed at a few ways the TV networks might try to capitalize on the recent success of the British period drama "Downton Abbey." Click here to read: downton, shabby.

And the more serious one is the first in a series of posts for Writer Unboxed that flips around cliched writing advice to give writers a new way to think about their approach. The series is called Flip the Script and the first installment explains why sometimes "Show, don't tell" should become "Tell, Don't Show."

Enjoy!

kuchnia duchow

One of the most surprising and wonderful things about the publication process of The Kitchen Daughter has been the international editions. I had never really thought about seeing the book translated into other languages, and being sold in other countries to readers across the world. But foreign rights sold in six countries -- yay! The really funny part? It's being translated into six languages, and I don't speak a single one of them.

So I particularly enjoyed this demonstration of the Hot Hot Chocolate recipe from the book, narrated in Polish.

Hot Hot Chocolate from Kuchnia Duchow.

(And isn't it cool to see another foreign cover? They're all so different!)

wordless wednesday lviii

two weeks til Philly!

Just two weeks until my appearance in Philly with the lovely Sarah McCoy! We'll be talking about our books The Kitchen Daughter and The Baker's Daughter at The Spiral Bookcase. It's been ages since I've been to Manayunk so I'm really looking forward to the visit. Love Philadelphia.

Details here.

Refreshments, of course, will be served.

missing russ

This isn't a usual post, but this isn't a usual week. Right now I'm mourning the sudden loss of a great friend. Russ Carr was a designer, writer, family man, and not incidentally, a really awesome cook. We miss him terribly.

More about Russ.

in good company at magical musings

The very kind Marilyn Brant included The Kitchen Daughter in a recent spotlight post at Magical Musings -- thanks, Marilyn! The other two are Sarah McCoy's The Baker's Daughter and Kristina McMorris's The Bridge of Scarlet Leaves, both definitely worth checking out. In addition to our similar last names (funny, isn't it?) all three authors have something else in common -- our novels include recipes, and each of us shares a little bit about the book and a recipe in Marilyn's spotlight post.

Click here for a taste of all three novels!

the perfection of roast chicken

It may not have snowed much in our part of New York this year, but there have been some pretty darn cold days -- and nights. And on those cold nights, there's nothing I crave as much as a simple roast chicken. Piping hot, makes the house smell nice, and while it's at its best when I plan ahead and do a one-day brine and one-day let-dry-in-the-fridge, it's also great if I just oil it up, pop it in the oven, and wait.

Sides can be anything you want -- I'm fond of green beans slow-cooked with bacon, McHenry-style -- but a sweet potato cooked either in or out of the pan is a great choice, and you'll see here a mashed-up melange of potato and celery root also has its place.

The best thing about roast chicken is how it makes the house smell. The second best thing? Leftovers.

 

(Cooked down the picked-over chicken bones to make stock, added soy and hot sauce and noodles and scallions and whatnot, seasoned with ginger and garlic and star anise. Don't eat the star anise.)

wordless wednesday lvii

back to one more page!

When The Kitchen Daughter came out in hardcover last year, one of my favorite events was a Saturday afternoon visit to One More Page, a fabulous new independent bookstore in Arlington, VA. Not only do they sell an excellent collection of books there, they also offer two other things I love: really good chocolate and really good wine. Mmmmm.

So I'll be back at One More Page to celebrate the paperback release, of course! How could I resist a return trip to a heaven like that?

I'll be reading from and signing The Kitchen Daughter on Saturday, January 28, at 2pm. Here's the info on One More Page. Hope to see you DC-area fans and friends there!