Ellen Feldman’s Paris Never Leaves You French Omelette Food plays a unique role in my novel, Paris Never Leaves You, not only for its intrinsic appeal but as an expression of Vivi’s search for her identity and the conflict between Charlotte’s past in Paris and their current life in New York. At one point, Vivi […]
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Gail Tsukiyama’s “The Color of Air” Macanese-Style Portuguese Chicken
Gail Tsukiyama’s The Color of Air Macanese-Style Portuguese Chicken The Color of Air takes place in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawai’i in 1935, brimming with the influx of workers who had immigrated to the islands from China, Japan, the Philippines, and Portugal to work on the sugar and pineapple plantations. In my Japanese […]
Natalie Jenner’s Classic Victoria Sandwich Cake
Natalie Jenner’s The Jane Austen Society Classic Victoria Sandwich This is a very classic British cake recipe from the BBC Good Food Magazine (May, 2005) which is super easy and quick to make. If you prefer, you can skip the icing filling and just spread strawberry jam between the two sponge layers. In The Jane […]
Kelly McWilliams’s Homemade Mac and Cheese and Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
Kelly McWilliams’s Homemade Mac and Cheese and Cauliflower Mac and Cheese Agnes at the End of the World is a story about the power of hope and faith to help us surmount impossible odds. Agnes begins her journey as the victim of a fundamentalist cult based in northern Arizona, where medicine and contact with […]
Ruta Sepetys’s Traditional Red Sangria and Tortilla de Patatas
Ruta Sepetys’s A Taste of Spain: Traditional Red Sangria and Tortilla de Patatas Spain is a feast of sights, sounds, and smells. As you read The Fountains of Silence, I hope you can feel Madrid in 1957. The sunshine. The passion. The fear. The silence. Spain is also a culinary capital of the world. While working […]
Mary Kay Andrews’s Hello, Summer Lemon Bars
Mary Kay Andrews’s Hello, Summer Lemon Bars Hello, Summer is set in a small, sleepy Florida town. When people think of Florida, they think of bright, sunny skies, and delicious citrus and these lemon bars are the perfect way to celebrate that! As a native Floridian, my lust for lemons—indeed any citrus, is, excuse the pun, deep-rooted. […]
Alka Joshi: The Palace Recipe for Royal Rabri from The Henna Artist
In this scene from THE HENNA ARTIST, Lakshmi, a woman who paints henna on the bodies of Jaipur’s wealthy women, is asked to meet with the Dowager Maharani for the first time. Malik, Lakshmi’s eight-year-old helper, has been told to wait outside the Maharani’s drawing room, but can’t resist sticking his head inside when the […]
Adriana Trigiani’s Mafalda’s Cotoletta alla Milanese (Breaded Veal Cutlet)
Every recipe in my family cookbook, Cooking With My Sisters, has a name, and not just the one to describe the food, but a name designated to the creator, the cook, or the person in the kitchen who took the age old instructions handed down on bits of paper and at long last, perfected the dish. […]
Jodi Picoult’s “A Spark of Light” Missisippi Mud Cake
Jodi Picoult chose a Mississippi Mud Cake to pair with a book club discussion of her novel A Spark of Light, set in Mississippi. Mississippi mud cakes and pies are thought to be named for the rich dark mud lining the banks of the Mississippi River. This cake recipe, adapted from Down Home: Treasured […]
Max’s Manhattan Cocktail Recipe from Sold on a Monday
In my latest historical novel, Sold on a Monday, I was thrilled to include a swanky New York supper club from my previous book, The Edge of Lost—along with a cameo from a certain underworld character. Hence, to celebrate the end of Prohibition, I hope your book club will love the sweet Italian twist of the […]