Entries from The Amateur Gourmet tagged with 'the book'
Paperback Out Today
For those of you who like me, but didn't like me enough to shell out $24 for me in hardcover, my book comes out today in paperback. It has a nifty new cover and is yours, on Amazon, for an incredible $10.40. For those of you wary of books by bloggers, check out this fresh review from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette which begins, "A recent addition is by a blogger whom I had never particularly enjoyed," but ends: "His enthusiasm is contagious, and like all the best food books, you'll be constantly torn between reading the next chapter or heading to your kitchen to try out one of the recipes included in the book." See, if someone who doesn't like me likes it, you're bound to like it too!...
Me in Baltimore This Weekend!
Readers: if you live near or around the Baltimore area, come hear me read from my book and watch me attempt a cooking demonstration (scary!) this weekend at The Baltimore Book Festival. I'm slated for 4 o'clock on Saturday at the Food For Thought Stage. Come say hi, taste some of the food I'm cooking, and let me sign your books. I'll even answer questions. It'll be fun and potentially hilarious--can I be sued if I burn their kitchen down? See you there!...
The Return of The Amateur Gourmet
Hi Friends, I've had a very restful (and eventful) two weeks. That's me, above, eating a Dungeness Crab on Eliza Island in the Pacific Northwest (one of the best meals of my life, but more on that next week). After a week there kayaking, playing cards and, of course, crabbing, I journeyed with Craig to Cape Cod where we enjoyed high-speed boat tubing (I chickened out), merciless games of Mafia and fantastic meals of ribs, corn, and clam chowder. I returned with 130 pictures on my camera and crashed my computer yesterday trying to edit them all at once in Photoshop (I'm pretty dumb.) Was I really able to turn my back on my site for two weeks, without monitoring or reading your comments or worrying about how the next day's post would fare? As my web guy Justin will tell you (adamantly, I'd guess): NO!!!! I tried, I really did. But I love this blog and I loved the guest posts! Didn't you? Allow me to pause for a second and thank thank thank all my guest posters: I'm so honored to have had such talented writers writing on my blog. Thank you thank you thank you for your fantastic posts which I read, secretly, on my iPhone while surrounded by glorious nature. What does nature have on Phoebe Damrosch? Or The Science of Fressing? Nothing, I tell you, nothing! Now that I'm back, my life's about to change dramatically. The big news (and only the most fervent of you must have discovered it) is that I will no longer be hosting the FN Dish (here's my farewell video) ; instead, I'm working on a brand new project for Food Network online. What is it? When will it launch? Who else is working on it? I'm sorry, but these are secrets that I can't yet reveal, but I will say that the new show is much, much, much more in the spirit of this blog--it's funny, slightly edgy, and food-obsessed. I think you're going to love it. I'm going to miss working with my FN Dish team: especially Matthew and Rachael, who I traveled the country with (to Vegas and beyond) and really enjoyed knowing as friends. But we'll stay in touch (maybe Matthew will do us another guest post?) and I encourage everyone to keep watching The FN Dish, especially since my replacement, Bruce Seidel, is a really awesome guy. So what else is in store for The Amateur Gourmet? My book comes out in paperback on September 30th. Check out the nifty new paperback cover: I'll be doing a reading (and a cooking demonstration! Yikes!) at the Baltimore Book Festival at the end of the month so more on that soon. And my trip to Baltimore fits in perfectly with this month's banner theme (clear your cache and re-load the site): crabs! Having had Dungeness crabs at the start of the month in the Pacific Northwest, I'll be able to compare them to blue crabs in Baltimore at the end of the month (though crab season might be over....) Will I finally settle the Great Crab Debate? Stay tuned... (and Baltimorites: where's the best place to get crab in Baltimore?) Hope you all had very restful and rejuvenating Labor Day weekends and that your last days of summer are happy ones. Thanks for your patience while I was gone... can't wait to get blogging again. Until next week..... Forever yours, The Amateur Gourmet...
Me at Best Cellars Today & Friday
I'll be signing books today (Tuesday, 12/11) at the Best Cellars store on the Upper East Side (1291 Lexington Ave. at 87th Street) from 5 - 7 PM and then on Friday at the Upper West Side store (2246 Broadway between 80th & 81st) at the same time. There'll be wine, food, and me--so come say hi! An autographed book makes a great holiday present....
Thanks To My Florida Fans
A huge thanks to everyone who showed up to my Boca book signing on Sunday. It was a treat to see my whole family there, all our family friends, and--to my delight--a few Florida readers who came out just from the tiny post I did right before the event. It was great to meet you all!...
Hey Floridians
I'm doing a reading at the Boca Raton Barnes & Noble (click for info) this Sunday, the 18th, at 2 PM. Come on out and meet my entire family as they kvell and cheer and say, "He may not be our son the lawyer, but he's our son the author and that's good enough for us."...
Next Iron Chef, Episode Five
Check out my latest "Next Iron Chef" post on The Food Network site by clicking here. This is my favorite entry so far: it's a series of letters which, I think, makes it epistolary. I've always wanted to use the word epistolary and I'm glad that today I had the chance. In other news, check out this interview I did with Debonair Magazine. We had a fun meeting at the Grand Central Oyster Bar which is an awesome space, even if the fried oyster roll was a bit mushy and gritty and, really, not very good. Oh no, I just reviewed a restaurant--stop me before I kill again!...
The Book Supplement
I made an absolute effort, when writing my book, not to rehash any old material from the blog. I wanted each chapter to feature an entirely new story, a new experience that would excite loyal readers who've been reading me from the beginning as well as new readers who'd discover me in the book store. What you may not know, however, is that as I wrote the book, I would post pictures that correlated to specific chapters without revealing their ultimate destination. For example, when I did the post Farmer's Market Bounty in August 2005 you didn't know that this red and yellow tomato salad would figure prominently on pg. 34, did you? What follows, then, are links and pictures and recipes that should supplement the book for anyone who's finished reading it and is looking for more. If you haven't read the book yet, I'd advise not clicking ahead--you may ruin some surprises. Instead, I'd click here and order yourself a copy. You'll love it! Everyone else, prepare to be supplemented....
Reminder: Strand Reading TONIGHT at 7 PM
Just a reminder that I'm reading tonight, October 10th, on the 2nd floor of The Strand. I'll be sharing a stage with Susan Shapiro, Grace Schulman, and Christine Kenneally. Please come on out, should be a fun time for all....
Book Giveaway
Hey--the good people at Serious Eats are giving away five copies of my book this weekend. Just click here and share your worst culinary disaster to win. Good luck!...
Reading at The Strand
A heads up for those who missed my Brooklyn reading (which ended up being a really fun event); I'll be reading this upcoming Wednesday at The Strand along with Susan Shapiro (reading from her new book "Only As Good As Your Word: Writing Lessons From My Favorite Literary Gurus") and Christine Kenneally (reading from her book "The First Word: The Search for the Originals of Language"--she's going to be on The Daily Show soon, so you can catch her here live). The event info is here but I can sum it up as follows: October 10th from 7 to 8:30 PM. Hope to see you there!...
Virtual Book Tour Wrap-Up
I can't tell you how grateful I am to the various bloggers who hosted me during the month of September for my Virtual Book Tour. Now that it's officially over, I thought I'd do one big post with all the links in case you missed any. Thanks again to all of my hosts: it was a pleasure to spend time on your blogs. [Note: you may notice the dates jump around a bit, that's because several bloggers had to reschedule.] 9/3 Serious Eats [Q&A with Ed Levine] 9/4 Ruhlman.com [Q&A with Michael Ruhlman] 9/5 Gluten-Free Girl ["Remaining An Amateur"] 9/7 The Girl Who Ate Everything ["Eating Soybean Porridge with The Amateur Gourmet"] 9/10 Eater.com [Launches & Releases] 9/11 Cork & Knife [Q&A with Chip Griffin] 9/11 Largehearted Boy [Book Notes Essay] 9/12 MattBites [Q&A with Matt] 9/13 Gastronomie [Live Chat with Fatemeh] 9/14 Lenndevours [Q&A with Lenn Thompson] 9/17 Acme Instant Food [Video Book Tour with Kevin] 9/18 David Lebovitz [David interviews my mom] 9/19 A Finger in Every Pie ["On Arthur Avenue with The Amateur Gourmet"] 9/24 Orangette ["Start with Tomato Sauce"] 9/25 Dirty Sugar Cookies [Q&A with Ayun Halliday] 9/27 Midtown Lunch [Profile & Giveaway] 10/1 Not Martha [Book Review] 10/1 Chez Pim ["Buy Adam's Book!"]...
Me in the Window & WOR
Tonight, I went with Craig to see "Superbad"--my second time, his first--and on the way we passed the Park Slope Barnes & Noble and saw this in the window: Hey, that's me! I guess this reading is really happening. So, just another nudge: come on out tonight--Monday at 7:30 PM--and see me in the flesh as I read from my book. There's a Q&A and a signing, it'll be a blast. For everyone else--well anyone else with the internet or a radio--listen to me today on Michael Colameco's Food Talk on WOR. I'll be on from 11:30 to 11:55 AM. Let's hope my voice doesn't crack the way it did in 10th grade English.......
LIVE Book Reading this Monday in Park Slope
Mark it on your calendar: I'm reading from my book this Monday at the Park Slope Barnes & Noble at 7:30 PM. You'll get to hear the words straight from the horse's mouth, plus you'll get to meet my friends, ask me questions, and have me sign your book. It'll be tons of fun: I really hope to see all of you there!...
Speaking of pie...
I had the best day on Monday with Julie of A Finger in Every Pie who took me to Arthur Avenue for my "virtual" book tour. Click the link and read all about our adventure. Thanks, Julie, for a great day and especially for this cannoli, the best I've ever had in my life: Where did we get it? Read Julie's post!...
Book News / Life Updates
- This Monday (September 24th) I'll be reading from my book at the Park Slope Barnes and Noble at 7:30 PM. I'd love to see all of you there! This is your chance to show your support for the book in public, plus I'd love to sign your copy. And you'll get to meet Craig and all the other characters from my life you're always hearing so much about. - Guess where this reading is listed? I nearly died when I saw it: The New Yorker! Ok, I've been reading The New Yorker for the past decade quite obsessively. As I've described before, I used to sit in the Dunkin' Donuts near my apartment in Atlanta and dream about going to the restaurants listed in "Tables for Two" and read about the readings that all my favorite authors were doing. And now I'm one of those authors. It's surreal. [In the print issue, it's on pg. 78.] - Check out my Serious Eats interview with David Kamp: Part One & Part Two. Our conversation was really vibrant and interesting--I hope you'll think so too. - David Lebovitz kidnapped my mom! Seriously, today's stop on the Virtual Book Tour doesn't involve me at all, just my mom and all her celebrity friends. Thanks David for letting her visit....
Acme Instant Book Tour
When I asked Kevin of Acme Instant Food if I could visit his site on my virtual book tour, I had no idea what I was in for--neither, apparently, did my book. What follows is Kevin's video (you can read his commentary here); as you can see, he took this touring business quite literally: Thanks Kevin for a fantastic tour! My book has never been tanner....
The Wine Man
This week we end our Virtual Book Tour over at Lenndevours. So pop a cork, pour yourself a glass, and give us a read. And if you haven't bought your book yet, please do so!...
MattBites, Gastronomie
Thanks to Matt at MattBites for hosting me today on the Virtual Book Tour. Tomorrow we visit Fatemeh at Gastronomie for a LIVE CHAT. This is a chance for you, loyal reader, to ask me questions LIVE. The times for the chat are 9 to 9:30 am PST & 4 to 4:30 pm PST. I'm going to go practice my emoticons. :) :p ;)...
Corks, Knives, Hearts and Boys
Today, the Virtual Book Tour takes us on two stops. The first stop is Cork and Knife where site proprietor Chip Griffin asked me some really great questions which I enjoyed answering. His readers asked me even more questions in the comments which I'm about to answer over there, so be in the lookout for that. Stop #2 is one of my favorite music blogs, Largehearted Boy. I was deeply flattered to be asked to write a Book Notes essay--an essay in which I discuss the music that motivated the book. Instead of that, though, I shared the music I like to cook to and paired specific recipes with specific albums. Don't judge me for my show tunes....
