Happy Hour on Wednesday -- For a Good Cause

Please join my friend Dean McCord of Varmint Bites tomorrow, February 10th at Fleming's Steakhouse at Crabtree Valley Mall from 5 to 7 to drink some wine, eat some appetizers, and support the Lucy Daniels Center.


Fleming's has a ”Wine Wednesdays” program that supports a different charity each month.  This month’s designated charity is the Lucy Daniels Center, the area’s largest non-profit provider of mental health services to children (Dean is on the Board).


Here’s the deal: Fleming’s will have 5 different wines available by the glass at the bar.  A glass of wine will cost you 10 bucks.  You’ll also get some complementary appetizers.  And 100% of that 10 bucks goes to the Lucy Daniels Center.  Sooo, if we get 100 people there, each buying 2 glasses of wine, we just raised a couple thousand bucks for this extraordinary organization.


Dean hopes to see you there - I unfortunately will be cooking - WISHING I  were drinking wine!  And whether you can make it or not, please spread the word!

Elisa Lorello - Faking It!

Today I have another writing friend as a guest here at Chez Mit. Elisa is such an inspiration to me. She is one of those fearless people who sets a goal - and pursues it in anyway possible. Plus, she likes my food writing. I'm happy to have her here today.

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First of all, thank you so much, Mit, for allowing me to be a guest blogger. I always enjoy reading your posts about food—your descriptions allow me to eat vicariously!

I’m in the last leg of my 30-day blog tour for FAKING IT, and it’s been a blast. The perfect summer read, FAKING IT is about Andi a 30-something writing professor, who meets Devin, a handsome, charming escort (is there another kind?), and proposes an unusual arrangement: lessons in writing in exchange for lessons in how to be a better lover. When the two break the rules of their contract that forbids each other from seeing each other socially and become friends, problems ensue. Think When Harry Met Sally meets Sex and the City. Both hilarious and heartwarming, FAKING IT is the perfect summer read and makes for a great escape by the pool, in the backyard, or at the beach.

I’m currently offering a special for book clubs. If you select FAKING IT for your book club, order four or more copies from me directly, I will not only offer a discount (including free shipping!), but also sign the books. Furthermore, if you are local to Raleigh, NC, I will attend your book club discussion (or, for those not local, join the phone via speakerphone)!

Since Mit is such a fan of food, I thought I’d devote this post to some of the foods featured in FAKING IT. The majority of novel takes place in New York. I’m from Long Island, so when I say “New York” I mean Long Island, the five boroughs, and Manhattan. (Everything else is “upstate”.) Of course, Manhattan is one of those cities where you can find cuisine of every kind, but my favorites have always been those staples that simply aren’t as good anywhere else.

Take the bagel, for example. Nowhere can you find the right combination of crispy-chewy-sweet-salty than a New York bagel. Folklore says that the Je ne sais quoi in the New York water is the secret to the bagel. But when I lived in southeastern Massachusetts and patronized the local bagel shop (named New York Bagel, incidentally), my Fall River friends would ask me if did indeed measure up to the real thing. I would inconspicuously shake my head and whisper, “Close, but not good enough. It’s the water.” One morning, the owner overheard me and, in thick New England accent, admonished me: “It’s not the watah—it’s wot you put in it!” (“it” being the bagel) “Well,” I said (in thick Long Island accent) when we left the establishment, “you’re not puttin’ somethin’ in it.”

It’s the first thing I ask for when I come home to Long Island for a visit. That and a slice of pizza. And while I’ve found some decent pizza here in North Carolina (for those who don’t know, the town Cary stands for Containment Area for Relocated Yankees, thus they set out to bring the food with ‘em – then again, I had such bad pizza in MA for so long that almost anything is an upgrade), I’ve yet to find a bagel that measures up.

And then there’s the cheesecake.

I gotta admit: southern cooking does comfort food like nobody else. In that regard, I fit right in here (although I tried grits; no thank you). I’ve tasted some fabulous red velvet cake, bread pudding, and sweet potato pie that sent me to heaven and back, but nothing beats a slice of Junior’s cheesecake.

At the time that I wrote the first draft of FAKING IT, the scene with Andi and Devin meeting at Junior’s for the first time was conjured from imagination—a wish, if you will. The only knowledge I had of Junior’s came from the movies and my Jewish friends who knew and spoke of the Brooklyn establishment with as much nostalgia as my elders spoke of the Dodgers and Ebbets Field. (I’m not trying to be stereotypical by emphasizing that said friends were Jewish, but they had a way of talking about the place, not to mention the cheesecake: Oy! Dawl! What do you know from cheesecake if you don’t know Junior's?). But three years later, when visiting a friend in Brooklyn, I asked if we could fit it into our itinerary.

Oh. My. God.

I can only hope I did the place, and the slice, justice when I revised that scene. Let’s just say that I was right on the money with Andi’s subtly orgasmic reaction. It became a symbol of pleasure in the novel. And it’s a pleasure that is most appreciated because it’s not an everyday experience. I wonder if its divinity would wear off on me if I had a slice on a regular basis. It’s a hypothesis I’d be willing to test, however.

Food is comfort, and food is pleasure. And ultimately, Devin’s lesson to Andi is to be mindful of pleasure for pleasure’s sake. I think she learns her lesson.

We can all stand to be more mindful of those pleasures in the simple foods. A biscuit. Spaghetti and meatballs. Mashed potatoes. A chocolate chip cookie. Close your eyes. Chew slowly. And think of home.

And the next time you go to New York, have a bagel for breakfast, a slice of pizza for lunch, and Junior’s cheesecake anytime. You may find Andi and Devin sitting in a booth.

FAKING IT is currently available at Quail Ridge Books and Music in Raleigh, NC; Baker Books in N. Dartmouth, MA; Lulu.com; and on Amazon Kindle (for under two bucks!). You can also follow me on Twitter or at my blog "I'll Have What She's Having."

See you there!

Stacey Cochran & CLAWS

Today I'd like to introduce you to guest blogger Stacey Cochran. He's the moderator and organizer of Raleigh Write 2 Publish. Write 2 Publish, a monthly writing community, meets to learn about the craft and business of writing, publishing, and offer encouragement to its members. He has some exciting news about a just launched e-magazine.

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Mittany, thanks so much for having me at your place today as a guest blogger. As you know, I am in the midst of a 45-Day blog tour to promote the release of my novel CLAWS. This is the first time that I’ve ever done a blog tour, and it’s been a wild ride.

 

Today though, I’d like to talk about a new website that I’m launching, Online Book Review.

 

Online Book Review (or OBR for short) is the culmination of years of planning and development. It is essentially an online literary magazine, but I would like to utilize video and audio to liven the place up. We are looking primarily for people who will conduct interviews with authors in text or on video (via YouTube) or are willing to write reviews of books. Video book reviews are most especially welcome.

 

One of my goals with Online Book Review is to try and get the site to rank for search phrases like “Online Book Review” and “Online Book” and “Book Review” as these are some of the most popular phrases related to books. If the site ever makes it to page 1 of Google for these phrases, we’ll have a lot of traffic. But the title lends itself to the vision I have for publishing and to names like Kenyon Review or the Georgia Review… only ours is the Online Book Review.

 

For those who are familiar with my website How To Publish A Book you’ve probably seen the explosion in web traffic this past year or two. Online Book Review is my vision for the next phase of growth, and I’ll be able to publish stuff there by contributors in a way that I haven’t been able to at How To Publish A Book (due to the narrow focus of that site’s purpose).

 

So I’m really excited. It’s been an incredible summer so far, and I’ve managed to hit several bestseller lists with CLAWS. I’ve had in the back of my mind for years that once I achieved that level of success that I would launch a small press. The day has arrived.

 

I’m already considering ideas like a poetry contest, yearly anthologies of Best of OBR to distribute to bookstores, and developing “on-air” talent with all the video stuff.

 

It’s just been astonishing to me these past few years that no one has launched Book TV online in a more compelling and interesting way. My goal is to fix that!

 

So come check us out at Online Book Review.

 

Thanks so much, Mit! And thanks everyone for reading!         

It's all in a Name

I’m sure you wonder where “I H8 24” came from. Mit actually gave me this title last year in one of her blogs. Anybody who is a NASCAR fan could probably guess who I hate!!! Jeff Gordon.

When Mr. Fish and I first got interested in the sport several years ago,I’ll admit that I did not like this driver. I’m still not fond of him, but being that I have very close friends that like him, there’s little that I can do about it. I am, however a fan of Mark Martin. Being that he is a fellow Arkansan, my allegiance goes to him.

Now, how do you remain friends with the people who have gone to the track with you, ridden in the same vehicle as you, eaten meals with you and after going home will continue to talk about the race? I hate to be the party pooper and ruin friendships, but allegiance is thicker than friendship!!

This year puts me in a “pickle”, though. Mark will be a teammate of Jeff Gordon.

I cannot keep my mouth shut though and voice my opinion at the drop of a hat, and proclaim it on the back of my vehicle!! That is just my Southern upbringing, I guess. Any true Southerner knows supporting Jeff Gordon is just like making chicken salad with Miracle Whip instead of Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise, there’s just no substitution.

As always, I remain………………….

Elixer of the Gods'

Two to three times a week, IH824, will be guest blogging. She's going to give us a glimpse of life in today's rural south.

Here is her inaugural post.

~0~

You know that you may have a problem when you plan your meals around what cocktail you intend to serve. My specialty is my “Not so Guilty Margaritas”.

At our single wide on Lake Chicot, we often have gatherings on the back porch overlooking the lake. There, the problems of the world are solved. We manage to put somebody in the White House, we discuss the current agricultural situation, we talk about fishing, who has built a new house or dock on the lake, who bought a new boat this year, who had to leave their boat on the trailer ‘cause they couldn’t afford the gas to run it, who’s doing what they shouldn’t be, what their kids and mama’s have been up to, and most importantly, did Keith at the Green Top Liquor remember to order that Orange Curacao for our margaritas because they taste so much better made with it than they do with Triple Sec?!

We often sit out on that porch in the evening before the mosquitoes get too bad and chase us inside. We listen to the soft hum of the “Margarator” and can tell by the change in pitch that the frosty beverages are ready. We start licking our chops in anticipation!

There’s usually company there. We’ve had friends from Minnesota to Corpus Christi, from Amelia Island, FL, Daphne, AL, Overland Park, KS, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Mississippi, and the Carolinas, and of course, let’s not leave out the local friends who pull their boats up to the dock and yell, “You got the Margarator running?”

Good friends, conversations, food, and beverages. Life is good on the back porch and the Nectar of the Gods is so much better!

Not So Guilty Margaritas

1 tub Crystal Lite Lemonade Mix

¾ c Splenda

1 bottle Realime Juice

1 c Triple Sec (or Orange Curacao)

2 c gold tequila

Pour everything into a gallon container and finish filling with water. (Use less water for frozen margaritas.) These are also good over the rocks with a lime wedge.