The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "The Lost Vintage" by Ann Mah, Served with Recipe for Citron Pressé (Fresh Lemonade)

It's Friday and it's been another crazy week. I needed at least a bookish trip to the vineyards of Burgundy, France so I am happy to be a stop today on the TLC Book Tour for the new novel, The Lost Vintage by Ann Mah. Accompanying my review is (a better day-drink for me than wine) an icy cold glass of Citron Pressé, or as we know it here, fresh lemonade.

Publisher's Blurb:

Sweetbitter meets The Nightingale in this page-turning novel about a woman who returns to her family’s ancestral vineyard in Burgundy and unexpectedly uncovers a lost diary, an unknown relative, and a secret her family has been keeping since World War II.

To become one of only a few hundred certified wine experts in the world, Kate must pass the notoriously difficult Master of Wine examination. She’s failed twice before; her third attempt will be her last chance. Suddenly finding herself without a job and with the test a few months away, she travels to Burgundy to spend the fall at the vineyard estate that has belonged to her family for generations. There she can bolster her shaky knowledge of Burgundian vintages and reconnect with her cousin Nico and his wife, Heather, who now oversee day-to-day management of the grapes. The one person Kate hopes to avoid is Jean-Luc, a talented young winemaker and her first love.

At the vineyard house, Kate is eager to help her cousin clean out the enormous basement that is filled with generations of discarded and forgotten belongings. Deep inside the cellar, behind a large armoire, she discovers a hidden room containing a cot, some Resistance pamphlets, and an enormous cache of valuable wine. Piqued by the secret space, Kate begins to dig into her family’s history—a search that takes her back to the dark days of World War II and introduces her to a relative she never knew existed, a great–half aunt who was a teenager during the Nazi occupation.

As she learns more about her family, the line between resistance and collaboration blurs, driving Kate to find the answers to two crucial questions: Who, exactly, did her family aid during the difficult years of the war? And what happened to six valuable bottles of wine that seem to be missing from the cellar’s collection?

Hardcover: 384 pages  

Publisher: William Morrow (June 19, 2018)

My Review:

As you may know if you read this blog and my reviews, historical fiction, especially World War II historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. When you add a wine and food element to that, you get a book that hits all of my buttons and The Lost Vintage is that book. It takes historical fiction adds a foodie element and tells it, fairly seamlessly, within two stories or timelines--present day and the 1940s. In the present day we have Kate, a sommelier studying for her third and final attempt at the Master of Wine examination. On the advice of her mentor she heads to her family's vineyard in Burgundy to stay with her cousin Nico and his wife Heather (Kate's best friend from college), help with the upcoming harvest, and meet with local wine experts to improve her knowledge of the local grapes and wine. Kate and Heather start a huge project clearing out the basement filled with decades of their family's castaway items and Kate discovers a secret room with a collection of valuable wine and WWII French resistance pamphlets. Kate's family's reticence to talk about the past have she and Heather investigating and uncovering family secrets, including the existence of a young girl who would have been her Great-Aunt Helene and the fact that there are six bottles of an expensive 'lost vintage' that are missing from the secret room's cache of valuable wine. The second story is told through Helene's journal and covers the 1940s, right before the war starts and before the Nazis invade France, with Helene about to graduate high school and attend university to study chemistry. The war prevents Helene from escaping her life with her cold stepmother and she must stay home to care for her young stepbrothers. Back in the present, in addition to studying for her exam and trying to discover whether Helene and her family were collaborators with the Nazis or aiding the resistance, Kate contends with being being around her first love, Jean-Luc, Nico's friend and a neighboring winemaker (who seems to be well over Kate), as well as a possible romance with Walker, an American in the Côte-d'Or to do a 'stage' with Jean-Luc while studying for his Master Sommelier exam.  

I really enjoyed Ann Mah's storytelling and her vivid descriptions of the scenery, food and life in Burgundy in the 1940s and present day. Both the stories, and Kate and Helene were interesting and I found myself happy settling into each time period. As I've mentioned in previous reviews, I like WWII historicals that show me a new perspective, make me think, and have me Googling more information, facts, and details. I was very interested in this look at the French in the countryside, the resistance and the collaborators and I learned some interesting information. This is the first book of Mah's I've read--although I do happen to have her first novel, Kitchen Chinese, loaded on my Kindle and I will make it a point to get to it sooner now that I've experienced the quality of her writing. If you love historicals, WWII novels, books set in beautiful France, novels with a food/wine slant, dual timelines, family drama, romance  and secrets, definitely add The Lost Vintage to your summer reading list.


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Author Notes: Ann Mah is a food and travel writer based in Paris and Washington DC. She is the author of the food memoir Mastering the Art of French Eating, and a novel, Kitchen Chinese. She regularly contributes to the New York Times’ Travel section and she has written for Condé Nast Traveler, Vogue.com, BonAppetit.com, Washingtonian magazine, and other media outlets.
 
Find out more about Ann at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

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Food Inspiration: 

As Ann Mah is a food and travel writer, it is only natural that along with the wine, the food is plentiful in this novel--primarily French foods, although we get a bit of American food, "Thaitalian" fusion (made me chuckle) and Mexican food thrown in. I took two pages of food notes but here is just some of what was mentioned: Courgette (restaurant name), toast with cherry jam and yogurt, margaritas and tequila, lemonade, tea and shortbread, charcuterie, cheese and crudites, dark chocolate stuffed into a baguette, pork sausages, brownies, Comte and various French cheeses, pate, honey, pot-au-feu (beef stew), buttered tartine, roast pig, lentil salad, apple tarts, blanquette de veau (veal ragout), tapenade, pear frangipani tart, jam and pickles, avocado toast, quatre cake (French pound cake), rosemary lamb chops. vegetable terrine, potatoes and tripe stew, boeuf bourguignon, potted meat, calf's foot jelly, eggs, chicken vol-au-vents, individual beef Wellingtons and various appetizers, chocolate eclairs and raspberry tarts, sardines, poached eggs in meurette sauce, snails in garlic-parsley butter, steak frites, salad with sauteed chicken livers, Crème Brûlée, spaghetti, porridge, Lapsang souchong tea, Thaitalian artichoke lemongrass carpaccio and green papaya carbonara, a super-vegetarian taco, burrito, pasta with broccoli, garlic and chile, chilled crab and shaved white asparagus, and veal stew.
 

It's been the kind of week where I needed something simple and I needed to not be eating bread, desserts, and chocolate, so I went for lemonade as my book-inspired dish as it was mentioned a few times. I looked for traditional Citron Pressé (French lemonade) recipes, but then I saw Ina Garten's Fresh Lemonade recipe and liked the fact that it was whirled up with ice in my blender--quick, cold and refreshing--so that's what I did. Sometimes fast and simple is just what we need.

Fresh Lemonade
By Ina Garten via Barefoot Contessa at FoodNetwork.com
(Yield 1 1/2 Quarts)

1 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice (5 to 6 lemons)
1/2 to 3/4 cup superfine sugar (I used the lesser amount)
1 cup crushed ice
4 cups very cold water

Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until completely smooth. Serve over ice. 

Notes/Results: A very refreshing and tasty lemonade. I used the lower amount of the sugar and a bit more of the ice-to-water ration and liked that it retained a delicious tartness, I think the blender is perfect for both pulverizing the ice and mixing in the sugar so it will be my lemonade-making tool from now on. I will make this again. (Maybe I'll add vodka the next time!) ;-) 

Linking up this Ina Garten recipe to I Heart Cooking Clubs where it is Potluck week. Any recipe by our current or past IHCC chefs. 

I am sharing this book and food pairing with Novel Foods #33, an event celebrating food inspired by the written word and hosted by my friend Simona at Briciole. This deadline for this round of Novel Food ends Thursday, March 23rd.

 
I'm also sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

 

Note: A review copy of "The Lost Vintage" was provided to me by the author and the publisher, Harper Collins, via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.

You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and what other reviewers thought about the book here. 

 

Superfast Shrimp Gazpacho, Cold and Delicious for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

It's actually cooler here today than it has been the last couple weeks. Still, I'm in the mood for little or no cooking and this Shrimp Gazpacho from Chef Eric Ripert sounded perfect. Just some rough chopping, pureeing in a blender, and chilling--the most labor intensive part is shelling and sauteing the shrimp.

I found this recipe online at Food & Wine along with a couple of quick fish recipes that I will likely try at some point.

Shrimp Gazpacho
By Chef Eric Ripert via FoodandWine.com
(Serves 3 to 4)
 
Cut 4 tomatoes, 1 peeled cucumber, 1 red bell pepper and 1 small onion into chunks. Puree in a blender, then season with olive oil, vinegar and hot sauce; top with sautéed shrimp.

That's all there is to it. I used a tarragon vinegar for a little extra flavor. I also kept out a little of the cucumber, red pepper and tomato to dice and top the soup with. For the shrimp, I shelled and deveined some good large shrimp and tossed them with a bit of olive oil and a mix of dried thyme, smoked paprika, celery seed, Aleppo pepper, salt and pepper. Then I sauteed them until cooked through.

Notes/Results:  Fast, simple and good. Use fresh, good vegetables so they have plenty of flavor. You can adapt it to your tastes with hot sauce or herbs and spices, I used Aleppo pepper to spice up my shrimp so I didn't add hot sauce to the soup and think that with the tarragon vinegar, salt and black pepper, it tasted great--with the vegetables really coming through. I really enjoyed it as a light lunch--the shrimp make it satisfying enough for a light meal. I would happily make this one again.

Linking this full-of-fresh-veggies-and-shrimp-soup to I Heart Cooking Clubs where this weeks theme is From the Farm. 

 
Now let's look in the Souper Sundays kitchen and see who is here.

Debra of Eliot's Eats shared her book-inspired Potato Salad with Kombu and said, "Since there was a Fourth of July picnic for the residents, I decided to focus on a potato salad, something that might have been served at that picnic and something perhaps that Fin might have prepared for one of his wooing sessions on the beach with Cecibel. This salad was delicious and perfectly paired with the rest of the Blue Apron meal of Blackened Ginger Pork Burgers and a Napa Cabbage Slaw.

 
The Hungry Mountaineer made Sweet Potato and Kale Soup with Roasted Garlic and said, "After a morning of chasing the pups up and down the lake, a healthy soup like this one chock full of sweet potatoes and kale tastes amazing! And as you are cooking, you can even give the sweet potato skins to your favorite pooch!"

 
Tina of Squirrel Head Manor tested out a new cookbook Vineyard Chicken and Corn Chowder and said, "One thinks of chowder as being made exclusively with seafood but that's not always the case.  Since getting this cool book from Thrift Books I have been planning lots of soup and chowders for our work week lunches. ... This was very easy to prepare and gave us a couple of lunches and one starter course."

 
Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog made Instant Pot Mushroom Soup and said, "I love mushroom soup, but I prefer mine broth-like and not creamy. This wonderful Asian style recipe can be cooked in 8 minutes in the Instant Pot and will not disappoint. (Of course experienced Instant Pot users know that it requires a little time to heat up and release steam as well as cook). If you don't have an Instant Pot it can cook on the stove top covered for about an hour." 

 
Mahalo to everyone who joined in with Souper Sundays this week!

About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.) 

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up her in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to it on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a happy, healthy week!
 

Cold Cucumber Soup with Yogurt and Dill for Souper (Soup, Salad, & Sammie) Sundays

If you read this blog regularly you know that I'm a person who eats hot soup almost all year-round living in a tropical climate. And while I'll happily slurp a bowl of soupy noodles or a good thick chowder on a warm and humid day, it's the cooking of the soup that I dislike in hotter weather. That's when I pull out the recipes for cold soups that I have been pinning throughout the year. A little time chopping and blending and several hours chilling, result in a cool and refreshing starter or light lunch or dinner.

Cold soups with cucumber and yogurt are especially cooling and perfect for a summery day. I have several of them on the blog (just look under the 'cold soups' tab) and I have been meaning to try Andrew Zimmerman's from Food & Wine Magazine. I liked the description of the dill, tarragon and parsley combination of herbs and the brightness from the lemon and tangy yogurt. 

Cold Cucumber Soup with Yogurt and Dill
Recipe by Andrew Zimmerman via Food & Wine Magazine, June 2013
(Makes About 5 Cups)

2 large European cucumbers (2 1/4 pounds), halved and seeded—1/2 cup finely diced, the rest coarsely chopped

1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt

3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 small shallot, chopped

1 garlic clove

1/3 cup loosely packed dill

1/4 cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley leaves

2 Tbsp loosely packed tarragon leaves

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling

salt

fresh ground white pepper

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

In a blender, combine the chopped cucumber with the yogurt, lemon juice, shallot, garlic, dill, parsley, tarragon and the 1/4 cup of olive oil. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and white pepper, cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Season the soup again just before serving. Pour the soup into bowls. Garnish with the finely diced cucumber, red onion and a drizzle of olive oil and serve.

Notes/Results: A simple soup to put together but complex in flavor and really refreshing--especially when served very cold--so definitely give it plenty of time to chill, so the flavors meld. I forgot to get a red onion for the top, so I subbed in another shallot for garnish along with the chopped cucumber. (BTW--I almost never seed my English/European cucumbers--I like the flavor and it doesn't matter when it's blended up anyway.) You can make this soup vegan by using a thick vegan dairy-free plain Greek-style yogurt--I recommend a coconut milk-based yogurt. I ate a bowl of this soup as a light lunch today and it would also be perfect paired with a salad or as a starter for a grilled meal of any kind. I will happily make this again.
 

My pal Tina is with me in  the Souper Sundays kitchen this week--let's take a look!

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared her Greek Salad saying, "This was meant to hook up with Deb's Souper Sunday but I was  supremely unmotivated and thick-headed on Sunday so.........yeah.   Didn't happen. I'm not saying we did sit on the patio until late drinking Chardonnay, talking and listening to the rain patter on the metal roof......but it would explain why a perfectly good post with photos already uploaded didn't make the linkup :-) Better late than never.  Having salad with pizza presumably enables me to eat less pizza.  A big fat salad and two slices of tomato, mushroom and spinach pizza was enough.  Otherwise, I eat three slices.  Every time. Heavy on the feta cheese, red onion, lots of black olives for me and fewer for Doug, banana peppers and tomato is such a great accompaniment for pizza night."

Mahalo Tina!

About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.)

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up her in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to it on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a happy, healthy week!
 

Anthony Bourdain's Spaghetti with Garlic, Anchovies, and Parsley {#ForAFriend #ForAnthonyBourdain}

It's hard to believe that it's just been a week since the news that Anthony Bourdain died awoke me. I still am so sad every time I think about him. Last week, I dedicated my Friday dinner recipe to him, and this week I am doing it again as part of a tribute at I Heart Cooking Clubs. We are currently cooking along with Chef Eric Ripert, one of Bourdain's best friends and making any recipe we want from any chef and #forafriend. 

I was at the library picking up a hold last weekend and I grabbed Appetites: A Cookbook by Anthony Bourdain. I had checked it out when it came out in 2016, choosing not to buy it because Bourdain is the epitome of a carnivore, and I am not. ;-) It's a very entertaining cookbook (be forewarned there is much cursing of course) and made me laugh and tear up in turns. I knew that there were some fish and veggie dishes in it and I quickly found a simple pantry pasta recipe to make. (I think was pulled to the pasta chapter by the picture of Chef Ripert.)

Bourdain said, "This is a super easy pasta that, with a well-stocked pantry and fridge, you should be able to start and finish inside of fifteen minutes."  (Since it is hazy, humid, and hot for Hawaii today--fifteen minutes or less is about the maximum time I wanted to spend in the kitchen.)

Deb says--OK, don't be afraid of the anchovies here--they melt into the sauce, don't taste at all fishy, and add a delicious umami to the dish.

Spaghetti with Garlic, Anchovies, and Parsley
From Appetites by Anthony Bourdain 
(Serves 4 to 6)

1/2 cup best-quality, extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to taste
6 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
8 oil-packed anchovy fillets, rinsed, drained, and patted dry (I just used my entire tin)
1 lb dry spaghetti
1 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves
salt to taste (I added freshly ground black pepper)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more to taste (I used Pecorina-Romano)

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, bring salted water to a boil.

In a medium-large sauce pan, warm the oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic, pepper flakes, and anchovies. Make sure to watch they are well distributed so that everything is in the oil, and cook slowly, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the garlic is fragrant and the anchovies are melting into the oil. Monitor the heat carefully, you don't want burned or even browned garlic here. 

Once the water is boiling, add the spaghetti and cook according to the package directions until just al dente. Just before taking the pasta from the water, add the parsley to the saute pan and toss gently. Remove the pasta from the water with tongs and add it directly to the pan--the water that clings to it will help form the sauce. Toss the pasta with the pan ingredients, increasing the heat to medium. Add a small splash each of oil and pasta water to keep everything slick. Taste a strand of pasta and season with salt if necessary.

Transfer pasta to individual serving bowls and top each with the grated cheese or serve it alongside.

Notes/Results: Really easy, really quick, really satisfying and really delicious. Of course even fifteen minutes in the hot kitchen had me sweating until my hair was damp, compounded by picture-taking, so I thankfully plopped myself directly in front of my fan and pretty much inhaled my bowl (probably two servings-worth if I am honest) and loved every bite--toasting Chefs Anthony and Eric with a glass of red wine. Use good-quality ingredients and your stomach and soul will be happy with this one--I'll definitely make it again.

You can join in with I Heart Cooking Clubs making a dish on your blog or posting a pic on social media. You can find the details here: For a Friend {For Anthony Bourdain}.

 
I'm also sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

 

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (And Their Muses)" by Terri-Lynne DeFino, Served with a Recipe for 3-Ingredient Pineapple-Mango "Nice" Cream

Happy Wednesday! It's a warm and humid one here so I am happy to be enjoying some cold, sweet-tart frozen goodness while reviewing The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (And Their Muses), a new novel by Terri-Lynne DeFino as a stop on the TLC Book Tour. That chilly goodness is a three-ingredient, all-fruit and non-dairy Pineapple-Mango 'Nice' Cream, inspired by my reading.

Publisher's Blurb:

A whimsical, moving novel about a retirement home for literary legends who spar, conjure up new stories, and almost magically change the lives of the people around them.

Alfonse Carducci was a literary giant who lived his life to excess—lovers, alcohol, parties, and literary rivalries. But now he’s come to the Bar Harbor Home for the Elderly to spend the remainder of his days among kindred spirits: the publishing industry’s nearly gone but never forgotten greats. Only now, at the end of his life, does he comprehend the price of appeasing every desire, and the consequences of forsaking love to pursue greatness. For Alfonse has an unshakeable case of writer’s block that distresses him much more than his precarious health.
 
Set on the water in one of New England’s most beautiful locales, the Bar Harbor Home was established specifically for elderly writers needing a place to live out their golden years—or final days—in understated luxury and surrounded by congenial literary company. A faithful staff of nurses and orderlies surround the writers, and are drawn into their orbit, as they are forced to reckon with their own life stories. 
Among them are Cecibel Bringer, a young woman who knows first-hand the cost of chasing excess. A terrible accident destroyed her face and her sister in a split-second decision that Cecibel can never forgive, though she has tried to forget. Living quietly as an orderly, refusing to risk again the cost of love, Cecibel never anticipated the impact of meeting her favorite writer, Alfonse Carducci—or the effect he would have on her existence. In Cecibel, Alfonse finds a muse who returns him to the passion he thought he lost. As the words flow from him, weaving a tale taken up by the other residents of the Pen, Cecibel is reawakened to the idea of love and forgiveness.
 
As the edges between story and reality blur, a world within a world is created. It’s a place where the old are made young, the damaged are made whole, and anything is possible….

Paperback: 336 pages  

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (June 12, 2018)

My Review:

I have a few blogger friends who refuse to read or preemptively dislike books with long titles and subtitles so they would not even pick up The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (and Their Muses), which would be a shame because it is an engaging and enjoyable book. It also has a story or book inside the book so maybe it gets a pass on the long title since it's two stories in one. ;-)

The retirement home, called the "Pen" by its staff in residents was set up by Alfonse Carducci's mentor and lover, Cornelius Traeger, as a place elderly and ailing writers could find respite in their last days. In edition to its quirky collection of authors, editors, publicists and others--some very famous, some less so, there are is a staff--a doctor/director, nurses, orderlies and a groundskeeper. Cecibel Bringer is an orderly, who hides out at the Pen--from her past and from the accident that has left half of her face and her life destroyed. Cecibel is one of Alfonse Carducci's biggest fans and her admiration for him and the hurt she carries around with her, calls to Alfonse and she becomes his muse, inspiring him to pick up his pen to write again in the limited time he has left. A few close friends and more of Alfonse are living out their days at the home and soon they are adding their own passions and skills to the story the Alfonse starts. There are secrets and revelations, a possible romance for Cecibel and  of course the passed around treasure of a notebook where the authors take turns writing from different points of view.

With the story-within-a-story and the various characters--residents, staff, characters they are writing, etc., things could get confusing but DeFino manages to make it flow smoothly and wind the various bits together while secrets are unwinding. I can't decide whether I liked the chapters devoted to the present or 1999 at the Pen in Maine, or the mid-to-late 1950s where the book--a tale of star-crossed lovers take place, mostly in New Jersey. When I was reading one part I was enjoying it but found myself looking forward to getting back to the chapters in the other era. I was immediately drawn into the book and it kept me involved until the end. The characters are almost all likable and I found myself wishing the best for them and I was sorry to turn the last page although the ending satisfied. Quirky, unique, touching and engaging, The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Authors (And Their Muses) (OK, the title really is too darn long!) ;-) is a great summer read for book lovers and fans of writers and a book that's easy to escape with.

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Author Notes: Terri-Lynne DeFino was born and raised in New Jersey, but escaped to the wilds of Connecticut, where she still lives with her husband and her cats. She spends most days in her loft, in her woodland cabin along the river, writing about people she’s never met. Other days, she can be found slaying monsters with her grandchildren. If you knock on her door, she’ll most likely be wearing a tiara. She’ll also invite you in and feed you, because you can take the Italian girl out of Jersey, but you can’t take the Jersey Italian out of the girl.
 
Find out more about Terri at her website.

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Food Inspiration: 

There is some food in the book, not a lot, but certainly enough to provide inspiration.  Some of the mentions included burgers and fries, coffee, tea (chamomile, peppermint and Earl Gray specifically), a lobster bake with butter, rolls and ice cream accompanying it, hotdogs, tapioca, puddings, light cakes and sorbets, whiskey, turkey sandwiches, ice tea and chips, pancakes, Long Island Iced Teas, hors d'oeuvres, Manhattans, steak, port, pies, fried chicken, potato salad, turkey with gravy and stuffing, s'mores, malteds and egg creams, chocolate cake, cannoli, salmon properly cooked, gimlets, hot cocoa, New England clam chowder, popcorn, cookies,carrot, potatoes and beef, Russian tea cakes, champagne, chicken Parmesan and sausage and pepper sandwiches. 

With a hot day and a busy week, my thoughts went to ice cream and a sentence about the retirement home, "The Pen" and having a pattissier--"creating decadent but harmless tapiocas and puddings, light cakes and sorbets" for the elderly residents. What could be more harmless than ice cream, or "nice" cream made with frozen fruit? I had pinned a recipe for Pineapple Nice Cream from Eating Well Magazine and it sounded like a good match for the book and a perfect match for the weather.

Eating Well says, "All-fruit, dairy-free and with no added sugar—these are the hallmarks of nice cream, a healthy alternative to ice cream. This pineapple nice cream has tropical flavors, thanks to a hit of mango and lime. It takes just minutes to make this naturally sweet frozen dessert in the food processor or a blender. Enjoy it alone, or top with fresh fruit and toasted coconut." 

Pineapple Nice Cream
Carolyn Casner, Eating Well Magazine, November 2017
(6 Servings) (Let's be real--more like 3 or 4!)

1 16-ozpackage  frozen pineapple chunks
1 cup frozen mango chunks or 1 large ripe mango peeled, seeded and chopped
1 Tbsp lime juice or lemon juice 

Process pineapple, mango and lemon (or lime) juice in a food processor until smooth and creamy. (If using frozen mango, you may have to add up to 1/4 cup water.) 

For the best texture, serve immediately.

Nutritional Info: Serving size: ½ cup Per serving: 55 calories; 0 g fat(0 g sat); 2 g fiber; 14 g carbohydrates; 1 g protein; 26 mcg folate; 0 cholesterol; 11 g sugars; 0 g added sugars; 342 IU vitamin A; 47 mg vitamin C; 13 mg calcium; 0 mg iron; 1 mg sodium; 131 mg potassium

Notes/Results: I have made banana nice cream and homemade Dole Whip before and this is right up there. Although the pineapple is a bit more prominent, the mango comes through and sweetens and mellows the pineapple a bit--rounding out the flavor. Refreshing and a good combination of sweet and tangy, it's a tropical taste treat that goes together easily and tastes great. (Although our humidity did make it melt pretty quick while taking pictures--lucky my spoon is also a straw!) I will happily make it again. 

I'm sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

 

Note: A review copy of "The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (And Their Muses)" was provided to me by the author and the publisher, Harper Collins, via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.

You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and what other reviewers thought about the book here.