Thursday, December 31, 2015

Blessed, Photo on Book Cover & Mom's Best Banana Bread

"You will be blessed the moment you realize you already are" ~Bryant McGill

 The book events turned out fun. I went to Chatham, Sandwich, Mashpee, Osterville, West Falmouth and Worcester. I met a lot of beautiful people, shared samples of some of my favorite recipes and signed books.
In Worcester, I offered a poem and pie workshop and we wrote about favorite food memories while a pie was baking nearby in the oven.
In West Falmouth, I shared the story of how my book came about. It was well attended and I loved that a few people told me how much they share my deep love for baking. I spoke a little about the photographs on the cover-- the recipe for cranberry biscotti and white chocolate and the image of one of my favorite beach walks on the Cape.
I want to mention something about this particular photo that is also on the cover of my book that I didn't get a chance to share at my talk. I took this photo in the summer of 2014. I had a ton of fresh tomatoes just picked from the garden. I was making a baked cod pasta dish and added the fresh tomatoes last minute. We decided to eat dinner on our back patio because it was a perfect summer evening. The bugs were few, the breeze was gentle and my kids were hungry.

When I set the meal on the table I realized I had not yet taken the photograph of my seafood fettuccini. I grabbed my camera and shot the image above. I loved the mix of colors from the blue and white dish and the red of the tomatoes. The fish looked fresh and scrumptious. It wasn't until much later that I  realized the photo was slightly different than the recipe I shared. The version in my book is delicious too and when cooking it's always OK to be a little creative and add extra items to your taste and liking. The image above is basically the same as in the book except with a slight variation.

 My collection is intended as a reflection of some of the things we enjoy eating and making while living on Cape Cod year round and a starting off point for you in your kitchen.

People have asked me if I prefer cooking or baking and I find that is a hard question to answer. I love both for different reasons. Baking brings me pure meditative joy. I love that it's like a science and I must tend to it just so. Cooking for me is a chance to be creative and try new variations on familiar recipes.
As the new year approaches I feel blessed for so many reasons. I will continue my daily beach walks and be creative in my kitchen as often as possible. Please feel free to send me a note if you have questions about any of the recipes.

Blessings to YOU in 2016!

PS and about mom's best banana bread--  It came to my attention that somewhere along the way the ingredient of flour is missing from my banana bread recipe-- for my banana bread use 1 1/2 cups of flour.  And do try it soon. It is so easy and yummy.