First of all, great news: All Four Stars has been named an Amazon Best Book of the Month for July! Many thanks to the editors there who selected it–I couldn’t be more thrilled. Secondly, the official All Four Stars blog tour has now begun! Hooray! The wonderful Wendy Darling of The Midnight Garden and I have been working hard together… Read more »
food
Four-star recipe: Green tea cupcakes with sesame icing
“Their flavors will send your taste buds on a trip around the world…the Chinese cake has green tea and sesame seeds…” –All Four Stars, page 268 Classy Cakes–the fictitious “dessert bistro” that Gladys is assigned to review in All Four Stars–is famous for its delicious, internationally-inspired cakes. As for how I decided to write about such cakes…well, if you… Read more »
Four-Star Recipe: Gajar ka halwa
“What’s gajar ka halwa?” Gladys was intrigued. “It’s a traditional north Indian pudding made with carrots,” Parm said. “Carrots?” “Trust me, it’s the best dessert on earth.” –All Four Stars, page 208 Parm Singh is right. Move over, carrot cake–gajar ka halwa is the tastiest sweet dish made with carrots you could possibly imagine! The first… Read more »
Four-Star Recipe: Tree-Nut Tarts
“Omigosh, wasn’t Saturday so fun? I keep thinking about that tree-nut tart. Do you think you could find a recipe for it?” –All Four Stars, page 263 Why yes, Charissa–there is such a recipe! Charissa Bentley, one of the main characters in All Four Stars, loves desserts and nuts, so it’s no surprise that this dish from Classy Cakes… Read more »
Four-Star Recipe: Bluebarb crumble
“So what’s it called?” Charissa asked. “Bluebarb crumble.” “Bluebarb?” “It’s short for blueberry-rhubarb.” “What’s rhubarb?” “Well,” Gladys began, “it looks kind of like celery, but you can’t eat it raw. It tastes sour, and it grows like a weed…” – All Four Stars, page 222 It’s spring! Rhubarb is here, and blueberries are on their way. In… Read more »
Butterbeer! Pumpkin Juice! Puking Pastilles! (What I ate at Harry Potter World)
“I’m going to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter with my cousin this month!” I spent most of January telling anyone who would listen. “Oh, that’s so nice of you,” a lot of them replied. This response baffled me at first, until I realized that they thought that my cousin was a small child whom… Read more »
A Quest for the Best Burger in L.A.
When you write books about a made-up restaurant critic, sometimes you get the urge to channel her and do a bit of critiquing yourself. Which is why my husband Andy and I decided to fly to L.A. over Martin Luther King weekend and eat as many different hamburgers as we could. 🙂 This whole crazy idea came… Read more »
Fall is here!
Here are a few things I love about fall: candy corn pumpkin and squash dishes hot chocolate stews CANDY CORN! Oops, those were all food. Well, I also like the pretty leaf colors and that it’s getting chilly enough to wear jeans and hoodies again. And the fact that fall leads up to Thanksgiving, my… Read more »