The Recipe Club

If you’ve been actually reading these blogs you must realize we have not slowed down for more than two seconds in the last many months. We decided it was high time we had some touristy fun in a new city.

So…when in Minneapolis, what’s a girl to do? Obviously, it’s to go to the Mall of America.

We heard rumor that Sarah Palin did her campaign wardrobe shopping at one of the big stores inside the Mall of America...but when we first laid eyes on the imposing 2.5 million square feet of retail shopping space, we had to wonder: were we mavericks enough to hunt down the perfect pair of jeans?

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We were depending on the kindness of strangers, and had not rented a car. Our hotel was near the airport and far from everything else. And we had a burning need to sign books at the legendary Bookcase bookstore in Wayzata, Minnesota. Located on the placid shores of Lake Minnetonka, we’d been told it was only 11 miles away from Minneapolis as the crow flies.

As native New Yorkers, the solution was obvious: call a cab. And like magic, one appeared, along with its driver, Sam. (more…)

When we were invited to do a reading and signing at the Woman’s Club of Minneapolis, we had no idea we’d be stepping back in time into a gracious, spacious, rather bodacious Roaring Twenties landmark building!

We were informed that by entering this building, we were following in the footsteps of Thomas Friedman and Garrison Keillor, both of whom had presented lectures at The Woman's Club of Minneapolis.

But obviously it’s not all that hard to get used to palatial, 16th-century fireplace mantels and burnished mahogany bookcases. (more…)

The Recipe Club: A Tale of Food and Friendship had its name in lights for a one-night-only performance just outside Minneapolis, at the beautiful new Burnsville Performing Arts Center.

We are proud to have been invited to this new state-of-the-art performing arts center.

Produced by Joe Skelly of On-Site Authors, the event featured a reading of the play by two talented actors, Shelly Reed (Val) and Jennifer Steiskal Johnsen (Lilly), who literally gave voice to our characters–and brought them to life! (more…)

They look familiar…

We were surprised to be greeted at the Borders in the Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle by two women: ourselves.

Or rather, photos of us, front and center in the doorway of the mega bookstore.

When we entered, the book was beautifully displayed on the New Fiction table. We admired it, nostalgically remembering the days and months–and years–of dreaming this might happen.

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In preparation for our upcoming West coast book tour, we headed to upstate New York for weekend of Autumn leafing and bookstore readings and signings.

First stop: The Village Bookstore, in Pleasantville, New York. Though it was miserably gray and rainy outside, inside the store could not have been warmer and cozier. Roy and Yvonne Solomon greeted us with the most delicious homemade rugelach, made with peach jam. Yvonne told us she rescues the bruised fruit at the end of the day from the local farmer’s market, and cans as much of the stuff as she can to last her through a gloomy winter.

We were so happy to eat these tender, sweet morsels, and even happier to share Yvonne’s recipe with you! (The reading was great also, but hey, we have our priorities.) (more…)