Help me publish my recipe book!
The act of baking is often full of simple
ingredients with the potential for something delectable to be shared
with
others. Likewise, fiction writing is full of characters coming together
in plot
and suspense, culminating into a story that satisfies the hunger of
readers. I wrote a recipe book called "Pavlova in a Hat Box" in honor of my 86 year old mother.
Dessert recipes with an organic twist, nurturing essays, and fine art
all in one book bursting with nostalgia and whimsical flavor.
Along with these recipes, I've written personal essays about
nostalgia, comfort, laughter, and hope so as to inspire you to celebrate
the sublime and the simple moments of life, as well as to urge you to
create your own beautiful desserts. The stories are accompanied by the whimsical and
professional illustrations of Maggie Margin, a painter,
muralist, designer, illustrator, and owner of a café and wine bar in Montour
Falls, NY. This book is not for the timid baker, but for the bold baker, and even
for the cook who declares, "I don't bake." If you know and like your way
around the kitchen, or would like to, this book should free you to make
these recipes your own.
More about me:
I am kitchen schooled and a writer who goes to the kitchen to experience the fulfillment of creating
delectable fare that gives instant gratification on many levels. These are recipes I've made my own from tried and true ones, recipes
passed down from family, and recipes I've concocted through
experimentation for our Irish dances, birthday, and life celebrations.
An excerpt about my mom from "Pavlova in a Hat Box:"
It was the spring of 1968 when Martin Luther King was assassinated,
Robert Kennedy was mortally wounded, the peace movement was in its
heyday, mini and maxi skirts were both popular, and I was on the cusp of
young womanhood. My five brothers and I lived in an idyllic village in
upstate New York with our single mother who sang the blues and baked her
way into our hearts. On a bee buzzing warm school day, I sat in home
economics class bored to tears because we had been instructed how to
make peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Who couldn't do that! I wanted
this school day to end so I could walk the three blocks home to find
out how my mother was doing. She had to go to the hospital for surgery
and an old aunt we hardly knew was at our house as our babysitter. When
school finally let out, I ran home with my brothers trailing behind me
and when we got to the porch, the front door opened. Our dear old aunt
wearing a flowered apron opened the screen door and stood there with a
big smile and a two layer chocolate cake perched on a cake stand. She
knew that every day after school, our mother had homemade cookies
waiting for us (and the neighborhood kids) to devour. And I'm certain
she desired to make us feel safe and secure while our mother was away in
the hospital. But as she stood proudly displaying the cake, our very
wide-backed dog, Wuppy, came wiggling between her legs to rush out to
greet us. The cake wobbled and fell right on Wuppy's back! And Wuppy
just waddled down the steps and onto the sidewalk carrying the cake that
was meant to shore up our anxiety with the affection and nourishment of
a luscious chocolate cake. We laughed and grabbed a few handfuls as he
paraded about with our cake, making us feel the certainty of love no
matter what happened.
This story has stayed with me all my years and has contributed, along
with my mother's baking, to a lifetime of baking to nurture others and
celebrate life. Baking can bring us back to our senses when all gets out
of whack with our lives and world.
Lemon Lavender Madelines!
Norah's Old Fashioned Marmalade Cake!
Chocolate cake wrapped in ribbons! Yes, it's edible and out of this world delicious.
"Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all" ~ Harriet Van Horne