I AM A CULINARY/TRAVEL WRITER . . . A NOVELIST . . . A COOK . . . A COOKBOOK AUTHOR . . . A LOVER OF ALL THINGS FRENCH AND ITALIAN . . . A BEACH LOVER . . A SOMETIME SAILOR . . . AND ONE WHO DIVES DEEP INTO THE PAST SEARCHING FOR UNDERSTANDING! And that is just on Monday!
Many of you I have met before, as I’ve been writing a monthly newsletter since my first book, a historical novel called A Cup of Redemption, was published in 2014. But very shortly, my small but growing audience convinced me to share the recipes of all foods mentioned in the novel. Within nine months, like the birthing of a baby, I published The Companion Cookbook to A Cup of Redemption in 2015.
Oh, but it didn’t stop there. Because my novel took twelve years to research, which included trips back and forth to France, I accumulated enough interviews from French families I had the privilege of staying with, along with collecting conversations with World War II veterans while traveling together in the South of France. We were there for the celebration of the 65th and 70th anniversaries of the 2nd Landing of Allied troops on the Côte d’Azur which had originally taken place on August 15, 1944. On these two monumental trips we toured for ten days along their ‘Liberation Trail” from Nice to Strasbourg stopping at forty separate villages which threw open their doors in honor of the men who had liberated them in 1944.
Previously some of you joined me in my culinary travels by reading of my adventures and misadventures through France in the first two books in my Savoring the Olde Ways series. The books are called, Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table, Books One and Two. And, then you came along with me into Italy in the book A September to Remember: Searching for Culinary Pleasures at the Italian Table.
And during the Covid years of 2020-21, you helped me make my publishing deadline by assisting me in my ‘test kitchen’ for the recipes in the books from France and Italy. Why, at one point, more than 85 of you across the United States, in France and England stepped into your kitchens, donned your aprons, and cooked with gusto—all to help me bring the best recipes I could muster to the published page.
My books and my writing have taken me in many directions and have opened many doors I never knew existed, including onto national writers’ panels, on stage to teach a class in the craft of writing, on podcasts from England and Paris, and one of the most unique of opportunities is this:
Next September, you can join me by traveling through Italy on a ten-day tour, following my original trek in A September to Remember, beginning in Milan, and ending in Sorrento, with historical stops (and cooking classes) in Florence, the Chianti region, Rome, and three days on the Amalfi Peninsula. Want to come along? Oh, that would be marvelous!
So, come along with me on my literary treks! My next book coming up is all about Provençe! And you won’t want to miss all the fun that happens en route! And, all the stories I have to share!
Thank you, Kate! I’m simply following in your footsteps!
love this Carole. Love the vibe of your writing. So warm and upbeat:-) Can't wait to read more!