Louisa Edwards's Blog, page 20

My Wish List

On some level, I feel like wish lists are cheating. Whenever I ask someone I love to tell me what he or she wants for a birthday or for Christmas, I feel guilty--shouldn't I know what my best friend/sister/parent/husband wants without being told? I get a huge charge out of flying blind and finding that perfect gift I know, without asking, will make someone happy. It's satisfying, the way I imagine deer hunting must be for some: the tension of the search, the thrill of the chase, the eureka mo...

Holiday Movies

I know I said baking was the thing that most got me into the holiday spirit, and that's true--but music and movies help, too! My family and I have a somewhat eclectic collection of Christmas classics (at least, they're classics as far as we're concerned) that we watch every year. Some of them you might watch, too--some are so weird, you might never have tried them! But all of them are fun, so I'm listing my favorites for you.
It's a Wonderful Life - Still one of the best movies ever made, and ...

Twitter Book Club: Heart Throb by Suzanne Brockmann

Are you into Twitter? I am. I find it a fun way to connect with other writers and readers, share stories and good information, make each other giggle, etc. For those of us who work at home and largely alone, Twitter is a virtual water cooler, a place to gather and gab.

And now, a place to discuss books! Some Twitter friends and I are all planning to read HEART THROB by Suzanne Brockmann, starting today, and tweet our thoughts and reactions under the hashtag #HT. Please feel free to read along ...

Bourbon Balls!

My mother's people are from Mississippi. A fine old family (which, if you're Southern, you know has nothing to do with financial status and everything to do with how loooooong your family has been in the same town) that didn't believe in drinking alcohol--but did believe in baking with it. Every December our house would fill to overflowing with Mississippi Nut Cake (aka Whiskey Cake,) bourbon and brandy-soaked fruitcakes, high test eggnog (usually with bourbon), and my childhood favorite, Bou...

Getting In the Holiday Mood

Nothing fills me with the holiday spirit quite so much as baking. Bourbon balls, whiskey cake, bourbon-soaked fruitcake (are we sensing a theme, here?) as well as lemon cranberry tea bread, gingerbread cookies, and more. In years past, I've baked most of the gifts we've given out to friends, neighbors, and officemates, not to save money but just for the love of it! Of course, this year, baking gifts feels smart for many reasons--it's something you can do to show people you care about them...

Top Chef Rehash

**SPOILER ALERT** I will be talking about what happened in last night's episode of Top Chef. If you haven't watched it yet, DON'T KEEP READING!













Now then. I assume we've all seen part one of the season finale of Top Chef, yes? Last chance to bail.

It was a tough episode for me to watch. This season is unique in that all of the final four chefs have been frontrunners at one point or another, and I actually think each of them is a talented chef who will go far in his or her career. Kevin is a swee...

Thanksgiving Yum

And now, a pictorial tour of my delicious southern Thanksgiving dinner at The Homestead in Virginia!

I started off with oyster stew--very traditional in my family, and this was an excellent version. One of the best things I ate! Creamy and luscious, the oysters tender and briny--just about perfect. Then we moved on to salads. The banquet table groaned under the weight of the many bowls of different cold side dishes, everything from divinity (the ubiquitous fruit salad with tiny marshmallows--no...

Thankful

There's a lot to be thankful for this year. My handsome husband and my immediate family top the list; without his encouragement and support, my parents' cheerleading and unconditional love, and my sister's friendship, I'd probably be an entirely different, much less interesting person.

Of course, in this year of my debut novel, I'm very thankful for my fabulous, savvy agent, Deidre Knight, and my lovely, smart editor, Rose Hilliard, and for the chance they gave me to write what I love and shar...

Foolproof Recipes

I love recipes that seem entirely impossible to screw up. The lamb hash I made last night is one of those--I originally found it in Craig Claiborne's New York Times Cookbook, but I've made it several times, several different ways, and it always turns out yummy.

Here's the original post I wrote about it, which appeared several months ago on the TKA blog:

Lamb Hash (Adapted from THE NEW YORK TIMES COOKBOOK by Craig Claiborne)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter
1 large onion, minced
2 tbsp chopped Italian...

Chicago Memories

I'm such a blog delinquent this week! Things have been a little nuts. Not too likely to calm down before Thanksgiving, though, so I guess I'd better suck it up.

Chicago was amazing; it was awesome to see my friends and to have them with us as we tasted our way through some of the world's best restaurants. No exaggeration: Charlie Trotter's, Tru, and Alinea are each, in their own ways, totally top flight and fabulous.

At Trotter's, we sat at the Chef's Table, which is an experience I highly reco...