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Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life
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Dear Reader,
After reading today's guest column I'm inspired to put away my heavy coffee mugs, and get out my delicate china cups and saucers. Welcome to guest columnist, author Erica Bauermeister, the bestselling author of two previous titles, The School of Essential Ingredients and Joy for Beginners. Her new book, The Lost Art of Mixing will be released this coming January 24. Erica says she recently moved to the small town of Port Townsend, Washington and is enjoying remembering what it's like to walk everywhere, including down the middle of the street.
Send an email, say hello and Erica also has 10 advanced reading copies of The Lost Art of Mixing to give away to readers. (Be sure to include your postal address in case you're a winner.)
Email: ericabauermeister@gmail.com
Take it away Erica...
We moved house recently, to a small Victorian seaport about two hours outside of Seattle. Life has changed, in so many ways. Now there is a yellow plum tree outside my office window. Late this August, it exploded with plums, golden globes of liquid sugar, just barely contained by their skins, glowing against the green leaves. Far too many for us to eat, too full of juice to dehydrate, and there were too many moving boxes still left to unpack to even think of making jam.
So I ate dozens of plums, warm from the afternoon sun; I crushed them into a puree for smoothies and plum martinis. I gave a huge bowl to our local restaurant chef, who turned them into a luscious sauce for pork chops. I handed over bags full of fruit to a neighbor, who did have the time to make jam and one day when I returned home there was a lovely jewel of a jar sitting by my front door: "Shiro plum with lemon."
This morning I woke to sun pouring in our windows, a gift on a fall morning in the Pacific Northwest. I went downstairs and put the stovetop espresso maker on the burner, waiting for the tiny hurricane of sound that means the coffee is making its way from the base through the grounds to the top. I steamed milk and watched its color change as I added the espresso, then sprinkled sugar across the top to form a haze of sweetness. From the red and blue package in the cupboard I took out a McVities digestive, a breakfast tradition that always reminds me of a summer spent hitchhiking through Ireland in my early twenties, that glorious sense of discovery that comes with your first trip alone. Across the circle of biscuit, I spread cream cheese, and a layer of yellow jam.
It all took time, much more than simply pouring a cup of coffee from the family pot. Precious minutes that a month ago I would have sworn I needed to unpack a box or paint a room. But this morning, sitting in the quiet of a sleeping small town, a warm mug in one hand and the last golden moments of summer in the other, it seemed like those small rituals, those bits of unnecessary extravagance, are what life is all about.
In the spirit of unnecessary extravagance, my wonderful publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, is giving away 10 ARCs of The Lost Art of Mixing. To enter, send an email to ericabauermeister@gmail.com and tell me about a small ritual that makes a difference in your day.
All the best, Erica
Email Erica and enter her giveaway: ericabauermeister@gmail.com
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
www.muffinsandmayhem.com
* This month's Penguin Classics book is AN AFRICAN MILLIONAIRE by Grant Allen. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/12NovClassics
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