I haven’t stayed up late to finish a book in a long time, but this one really hooked me. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn starts out as the story of a Manhattanite couple who lose their jobs and relocate to the husband’s home town in Missouri to care for his ailing, aging parents. He gets a call the day of their 5th anniversary that there’s something wrong at home, and comes home to find his wife missing and signs of a struggle. The rest of this thrilling read takes you through diary entries from the missing wife and the day-by-day events after she disappears. Nothing is what it seems. This book is chilling, thrilling, and psychologically complex. It’s not your typical whodunit and you absolutely must keep reading through the first few chapters to get to where things start to become dramatically more interesting. This one kept me guessing, right down to the last page. I would love to discuss what happens with you, but you’ll thank me for not ruining any of it. Suffice it to say, the author will take you on a fascinating journey that may be hard to believe, but is still going to keep you turning pages.

You’ll identify with different characters at different times and your loyalties will swing in the wind. The book is delicious and bone-chilling, exactly what you need for a hot week at the beach. It was so good that when I finished it, I was a little bereft feeling.

I haven’t stayed up late to finish a book in a long time, but this one really hooked me. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn starts out as the story of a Manhattanite couple who lose their jobs and relocate to the husband’s home town in Missouri to care for his ailing, aging parents. He gets … Read more →

I chose this recipe for today’s Martha Mondays. I recently spent some time with the new Martha’s American Food cookbook (disclosure: the publisher sent me a copy after I requested it). This is a really great collection of regional specialties from around the country. I have marked a lot of recipes I want to try! The  blueberry crisp was very easy to put together and turned out nicely. I served it with vanilla ice cream. I modified the recipe to include cinnamon in the filling and the topping (a pinch in the topping and about 1/2 tsp in the filling) and I also increased the amount of sugar in the blueberries by about 1/3 cup. Also, as I was typing in the recipe below, it hit me that I forgot to add in the baking powder, so the recipe works even if you forget that! I loved the bit of crunch this gets from the oats. This is the perfect summer dessert. We really enjoyed this, and my in-laws whom I served it to loved it!

A note about Martha Mondays: We’re going to take a break for a couple of weeks. I was going to suggest resuming on 8/20, but Pru is taking a blogging break for August and I thought maybe everyone would like a break during the hottest part of the summer as well.  How does getting started again on Sept 3  with a pick from Megan sound?

Blueberry Crisp

For the filling:

6 cups fresh blueberries (3 pints)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp coarse salt

 

For the topping:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional – I did not use this)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp coarse salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Make the filling: Mix blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and salt. Transfer to an 8 inch square baking dish.

Make the topping: In a medium bowl stir together flour, oats, nuts, baking powder and salt. With an electric mixer on medium, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir flour mixture into butter. Using your hands, squeeze topping pieces together to form clumps.

Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Bake until filling is bubbling in center and topping is golden brown, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 30 minutes before serving. Serves 8.

 

I chose this recipe for today’s Martha Mondays. I recently spent some time with the new Martha’s American Food cookbook (disclosure: the publisher sent me a copy after I requested it). This is a really great collection of regional specialties from around the country. I have marked a lot of recipes I want to try! The … Read more →

I always read Dorothea Benton Frank’s books, even though honestly, I’m never too excited about the plots. I have a thing for the Low Country, where all of her books take place. This is also why I read Anne Rivers Siddons’ books. And I read Elin Hildebrand’s books because they take place on Nantucket and Randy Wayne White’s books about Southwest Florida. If I could just find a good author that writes about Hawaii, Seattle’s islands, or  Maine, I would be all set (suggestions welcome).

Porch Lights is about an army nurse whose firefighter husband is killed on the job, leaving her and her 10 year son in Brooklyn. They pack up and head to her mom’s house on Sullivan’s Island, North Carolina for the summer to heal and put their lives back together. There is, of course, a burgeoning romance. And then there is the matter of her separated parents who may not be done with each other. And a neighbor with a tragedy.

None of that matters much to me because I mostly read the book to read about the ocean, the sand, the dunes, the sea grass, the Low Country humidity, the southern way of life, and of course, glass after glass of sweet tea served with crabs, peaches, tomatoes, and flounder. This one has the added bonus of a pimiento cheese ball being made in the book (super exciting!).  I fall into the book and suddenly I’m staying in a cottage on the beach with the sea air blowing the white eyelet curtains on my window. I’m sitting on a porch watching the waves or I’m walking the beach, finding driftwood. Frank’s books are like a mini-vacation for me. I usually end up skimming when I get to the predictable happy endings but I can’t put them down. And I anxiously await the next one.

What I’m reading next: Wife22 by Melanie Gideon.

I always read Dorothea Benton Frank’s books, even though honestly, I’m never too excited about the plots. I have a thing for the Low Country, where all of her books take place. This is also why I read Anne Rivers Siddons’ books. And I read Elin Hildebrand’s books because they take place on Nantucket and … Read more →

I was given a review copy of this beautiful ebook, Wellfleet: An Insider’s Guide to Cape Cod’s Trendiest Town by the author, Alexandra Grabbe and I wanted to share it with my readers.

I’ve driven through Wellfleet and must admit I didn’t understand the treasures to be found there. Now that I have Grabbe’s guide, I will definitely go back and this time I will stop. Grabbe is an innkeeper in this beautiful Cape Cod town and her personal experience creates the perfect guidebook. I loved the thoughtfully written history of the town and a resident’s view of the festivals and events, as well as the month-by-month guide of what to expect. Where the book really shines though is in the detailed descriptions of the beaches, ponds, restaurants and shops. There are all sorts of fun places to go, including a flea market, yoga classes, seal watching, paragliding and mushroom-picking – things I don’t remember reading about in the guides I used when I visted the Cape. Wellfleet looks and sounds like such a fun place to visit that I really am planning to return.

Here are the insider’s secrets that will make your stay the best it can be. I really appreciated the lists of things to do at the beach, with or without kids. The restaurant reviews are extremely personal and share details of the meals Grabbe enjoyed at each location. The photographs are stunning and after years of relying on Frommer’s and Fodor’s guides, I am shocked by what a difference they make. Instead of having that moment where you drive up to a restaurant and realize it might not be the place for you, you can see photos ahead of time which, coupled with the detailed descriptions of the destinations, really help you make an educated decision about where you want to spend your time and your money.

If you are planning a trip to the Cape, this is exactly the guide you want.

You can visit the Facebook page for the ebook here: https://www.facebook.com/WellfleetGuide

I was given a review copy of this beautiful ebook, Wellfleet: An Insider’s Guide to Cape Cod’s Trendiest Town by the author, Alexandra Grabbe and I wanted to share it with my readers. I’ve driven through Wellfleet and must admit I didn’t understand the treasures to be found there. Now that I have Grabbe’s guide, … Read more →

Ok, I’m coming out. I sometimes watch the TLC show Sister Wives. And I just read (ok, skimmed) their book. Not familiar? Here’s the deal. The reality show follows the life of one fundamentalist Mormon (NOT part of a Warren Jefs cult, but definitely much more mainstream in lifestyle) and his 4 wives and their too-many-to-count kids. I tuned in to find out what their lives were like and to watch the drama unfold as they left Utah because they were worried about prosecution, married the 4th wife, had a baby, and had to move into separate homes since they couldn’t find one big enough. I also got a kick out of it when the wives all joined a gym together to lose weight (see the one on the right side of the photo – her waist has been 100% photoshopped in which I find ridiculous: let her be a plus-size woman for goodness sake!). I also couldn’t stop watching because I was trying to figure out what was so fantastic about this guy that 4 women would all want to share him (I don’t have an answer to that yet. He seems ok, but I don’t know what’s so amazing). It was also interesting to see how they all lived in one big house that had separate apartments for each wife when they were in Utah. Now things have settled down a bit  and the show is a bit boring and I don’t watch as often.

But I was interested to read the book. Each wife takes a turn telling her own story: how she became polygamist, how she got married, and what it’s like to live this way. It was slightly fascinating, if repetitive. What married woman has not thought how fantastic it would be to have a wife?  Someone else to help with child care, cooking, transportation, etc. A built-in best friend. They share their finances and have family business meetings. They support each other and function as one big family. If I just had one person here with me during the day who could let the freaking dog out sometimes I think my life would be so much better! These benefits makes it sound like a good deal. And the sister wives do talk about how they never have to miss a day of work for a sick kid and often pick up groceries for each other and act as additional parents. There’s always someone able to go to the school concert or baseball game for their kids. And their kids have built-in playmates. I love all of that. They also say they like having some space and time to themselves when the husband is with the other wives.

But, they also talk about deep personality conflicts among their marriages and lots of misunderstandings, jealousies, and hurt feelings. Basically it sounds like being in high school again on some level. I was surprised to learn that all of the wives, other than the first one, came into the marriage with little or no dating/courtship and had hardly any history with the husband before signing up with him for eternity (they believe their marriages are celestial, lasting in heaven). I don’t know how they expected it to work without getting to know each other beforehand, but their religion discourages an already married man from spending too much time courting a new wife. That seems like a screwy system to me.

They don’t talk or think about each other’s intimate relationships with their shared husband (seriously? There have to be SOME things they are just DYING to compare notes on) and are uncomfortable and jealous when he shows affection to any of the other wives. I definitely couldn’t handle sharing my husband or having him rotate through my house only every 4 days! It doesn’t sound like a great way to live at all.

The book satisfied my nosiness though – I wanted more details and this definitely offered them! If you’re interested, get it from the library if you can. It was a quick read for me, but it really did tell me a lot about their beliefs and the truth about living in a polygamist marriage. I know a lot of people are appalled by this lifestyle, but I’m pretty much a “to each his own” kind of person, so if it works for them, go for it.

Ok, I’m coming out. I sometimes watch the TLC show Sister Wives. And I just read (ok, skimmed) their book. Not familiar? Here’s the deal. The reality show follows the life of one fundamentalist Mormon (NOT part of a Warren Jefs cult, but definitely much more mainstream in lifestyle) and his 4 wives and their … Read more →

I was recently interviewed by the Buffalo News about writing your own cookbook. The piece is out today, if you’d like to take a peek. I enjoyed doing the interview, but did not enjoy the photo shoot (!)  and they ended up using art anyhow so it was a waste of time. It’s a great piece though.

Apologies to my Martha Mondays friends. I am still in the midst of a lot happening here – dealing with some health issues and a major home improvement project.

I was recently interviewed by the Buffalo News about writing your own cookbook. The piece is out today, if you’d like to take a peek. I enjoyed doing the interview, but did not enjoy the photo shoot (!)  and they ended up using art anyhow so it was a waste of time. It’s a great … Read more →

My friend Alisa Bowman recently co-authored a book called Be Fear Less. Yes, this falls outside of what I normally write about here, but I couldn’t help myself. I needed to write about it. And, yes, the publisher sent me a review copy, but I would have bought this book if they hadn’t.

Alisa is co-author with Jonathan Alpert, who is a psychoanalyst. But he’s got an entirely different take on therapy. In fact, he thinks it is kind of stupid. His point is that sitting around talking about something for years often does not help you solve the problem. I don’t know a lot about therapy, but I can tell you that when someone I know needed help dealing with a needle phobia, traditional therapy was of no help. A therapist wanted her to talk about her childhood, blah, blah, blah. Instead, she found a therapist who gave her tools to use to combat fear and she conquered her fear in 4 sessions. It really hit me that this is what Alpert is all about.

Another reason I wanted to share this book is because Alpert said something that really hit home with me. He said that instead of experiencing fear, try to change your view about the way you are feeling. You feel sick to your stomach, you’re sweaty, you’re on edge, but instead of interpreting that as fear, interpret it as excitement. I tried this and it really helped me one day as I waiting around for a photographer to come here to do a photo shoot. The truth is the physical feelings are exactly the same so if you can put a positive spin on them, it will really help you change the way you’re thinking and experiencing. When I thought about the photo shoot as a great opportunity I was excited about, I suddenly was more positive about the entire thing.

There’s also a whole section on dealing with rejection, which is something I deal with as a writer every day. Alpert says to expect rejection as part of the process, which is so true as a writer, and to realize that each rejection just makes you stronger. And a rejection is not person, it just means you weren’t right for the project, which again is so true in writing.

I also loved the tips on dealing with fearmongers. Do you have one of these in your life? I do, and the tips were great.

Alpert talks about how to strengthen your dream list. We all have one of these and often it gets us nowhere. Alpert walks you through how to analyze and tweak what is on your list so that they become attainable.

I’m keeping this book on my bookcase to turn to when I have moments of fear – it’s a great resource.

My friend Alisa Bowman recently co-authored a book called Be Fear Less. Yes, this falls outside of what I normally write about here, but I couldn’t help myself. I needed to write about it. And, yes, the publisher sent me a review copy, but I would have bought this book if they hadn’t. Alisa is … Read more →

Congrats to Tamarsw who won a copy of The Muffin Tin Cookbook!

Congrats to Tamarsw who won a copy of The Muffin Tin Cookbook!

I’m celebrating the publication of my new book, The Muffin Tin Cookbook, which has 200 recipes for all types of dishes made in muffin tins: appetizers, entrees, sides, breakfast, desserts, mini-pies, breads, and much more, as well some muffin and cupcake recipes. Muffin tin cooking is great for portion control: one “muffin” cup is one portion, so there’s no fooling yourself into having just a little bit more.

This kind of cooking is also guaranteed to get your kids interested in new foods. Kids have been conditioned to believe that anything cooked in a muffin/cupcake tin is fun and delicious, so they are excited to try the recipes.

This makes a great Mother’s Day gift, and it’s also a great shower gift.

If you would like to enter to win, follow this link and read the table of contents (click on “search inside this book” underneath the book cover) and come back, leave a comment, and tell me which recipe you would like to try. You’ll be entered to win a copy.

You must enter by midnight ET on Sunday April 15. I’ll randomly and blindly select the winner by random number drawing (numbers assigned in order of comments here). Sorry, offer limited to U.S. addresses only and entrants age 18 and up only. One entry per person. You will not be entered to win unless you enter the name of a recipe from the book in your entry. Winners notified by email given when entering, not responsible for email transmission problems. You are responsible for notifying me of your correct mailing address if you are selected as a winner. Contest closes at midnight Eastern time on 4/15/12. Prize is nontransferable and may not be redeemed for cash. MarthaAndMe reserves the right to announce the name of the winner on the blog.

I’m celebrating the publication of my new book, The Muffin Tin Cookbook, which has 200 recipes for all types of dishes made in muffin tins: appetizers, entrees, sides, breakfast, desserts, mini-pies, breads, and much more, as well some muffin and cupcake recipes. Muffin tin cooking is great for portion control: one “muffin” cup is one … Read more →

My new cookbook, The Muffin Tin Cookbook, has just been released by Adams Media. This fun book is filled with 200 recipes for entrees, sides, appetizers, bread, desserts, breakfasts, and much more all made in muffin tins.

The creative and delicious recipes are perfect to help you maintain portion control – each cup is one portion. So easy. And kids love eating foods made in muffin tins.

I had so much fun writing this book and coming up with all of these great dishes, I hope you will enjoy it!

My new cookbook, The Muffin Tin Cookbook, has just been released by Adams Media. This fun book is filled with 200 recipes for entrees, sides, appetizers, bread, desserts, breakfasts, and much more all made in muffin tins. The creative and delicious recipes are perfect to help you maintain portion control – each cup is one … Read more →