Patricia Sands

Author

self-publishing

La Fête Des Mères

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

In Canada and the U.S.A, this Sunday, the second Sunday in May, is Mother’s Day. Well, officially it’s Mother’s Day … we all know in reality every day is Mother’s Day. Where would we be without them?

Mother’s Day in France this year is June 3.

The date is fixed to the last Sunday of May, except in the case of Pentecost Sunday  and then the festival is postponed until that date.

France’s tradition was inaugurated by Napoleon and made official in 1920.

As you might expect in the foodalicious culture of that country. Special cakes are often created for this day.

Many of them are in floral designs such as these on the left … almost too beautiful to eat!

As I was looking up information for this post … um, you wonder (???) why my current WIP still  isn’t finished … there are distractions like blogging!

Okay, where was I …

I happened upon the wonderful blog of Myriam, an Australian writer who also shares fabulous posts on France … another fine example of the global melting pot of information in this amazing blogosphere of ours. You are going to love her site!

This is a cake she made while in France  a couple of years ago celebrating La Fête with her mother and grandmother. Magnifique, oui?  Now if you are like me … I suck at baking baking is not my forté … with the exception of my Christmas shortbread cookies which I have to admit are delicious (based on the rapid disappearance of any batch left unattended) and I have my dear long-departed Gram to thank for that recipe.

But I digress … as I often do …

This cake is from a very famous Paris bakery and comes in a kit! Woohoo! I can do kits!

Myriam has shared all of the necessary ingredients from this kit and how-to photos on her blog. Click here to see how for yourself. Even baking-challenged moi can whip up this impressive delight!

If you are looking for something different to prepare for your mom this weekend, this might be just the ticket. (Don’t you love that plate too?)

While you are planning the rest of your celebration for Mother’s Day, here are a few quotes to ponder.

L’avenir d’un enfant est l’oeuvre de sa mere-The future of a child is the work of his mother. -Napoleon Bonaparte.

Le coeur d’une mere est un abîme au fond duquel se trouve toujours le pardon.-The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.-Honore de Balzac, a 19th century French novelist and playwright.

Une maman formidable donne toujours une grand-mere exceptionnelle.-A great mother always makes an exceptional grandmother.-Jean Gastaldi, French writer.

A little historical note: the United Kingdom was the first country to begin celebrating mothers in the 1600’s. Mothering Sunday occurs on the fourth Sunday in Lent so the date changes from year to year.

My dear mom died 6 years ago at the age of 92 (with a better memory than mine right to the end!). We will honour her on Sunday, as I will be feted by  my children and grandchildren, and as I will honour our daughters and daughters-in-law. Amazing mothers all.  Whether the mothers you honour are present or live on in your heart, whatever you do, celebrate with that attitude of gratitude! 

Awesome chocolate cake recipe!Better late than never…

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If you are looking for another post about France, it will be here on Friday. I’ve decided that until the end of September, every Friday will feature the “If it’s Friday, it must be France” post. `A vendredi!

Now this post is WAY overdue! Last November we held the launch party for The Bridge Club at the funky Gladstone Hotel in the artsy Queen Street East district of Toronto. It was a blast! Not only did we have great music by the awesome jazz band, The Fabulous Quitters, but to my surprise Nicole Lachapelle, cakebaker extraordinaire, made this work of art. She replicated every last detail of the book cover, enlisted the help of our son Sasha (her boyfriend) to help with some of the heavy labour, and even created a look down the sides that resembled pages. Very impressive!

Favourite Chocolate Layer Cake

1 cup butter, softened

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

2  eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup cocoa powder

1 tsp each baking powder and baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 ½ cups buttermilk

CHOCOLATE ICING:

1 ½ cups butter, softened

½ cup whipping cream

1 tbsp vanilla

3 cups icing sugar

6 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped, melted and cooled

In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time; beat in vanilla. In separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir into butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of buttermilk.

Spoon into 2 greased then parchment paper-lined 9-inch round metal cake pans. Bake in centre of 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until cake tester inserted in centre come out clean. Let cool on rack for 20 minutes. Remove from pans; let cool completely on racks. Cut each cake horizontally into 2 layers.

CHOCOLATE ICING: In a bowl, beat butter until fluffy; gradually beat in cream. Beat in vanilla. Beat in sugar, about 1 cup at a time. Beat in chocolate until fluffy.

Place 1 layer, cut side up, on cake plate. Slide strips of waxed paper between cake and plate. Spread cut side with about ¾ cup of the icing; cover with remaining half. Cut side down. Spread top with another ¾ cup of the icing. Repeat with remaining layers.

Spread remaining icing over the side and top. Remove paper strips. ( Make-ahead: cover loosely and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Let come to room temperature before serving.) Makes 16 to 20 servings.

Nicole doubled the recipe to make this amazing replica of my novel and every last crumb was devoured. DELICIOUS. Thanks Nic! With her permission I am sharing the recipe here and definitely recommend it to all lovers of things chocolate.

The writing community as I see it

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One of the best parts of being involved with the writing community is meeting the engaging and dedicated people who participate in and contribute to it – both online and off.  Experienced or novice, young or not so young, every genre imaginable from steampunk to romance to whatever, everyone is in the mix. Honestly, the amount and variety of information-sharing is impossible to categorize or quantify. It is simply amazing. The same might be said for the people themselves. One thing I have found is that the great majority are good-humoured (downright zany, in some wonderful cases), bright, energetic, and interested in sharing experiences and knowledge. Information overload is a chronic condition of the writer while sorting, storing, and retrieving take time away from the precious moments we actually find to write. The learning curve is steep for those of us just beginning to test the waters. It’s a journey I wouldn’t want to have missed!

One example of the type of person to which I refer is Kathy Scott, creator of an impressive website. Click here to read the Q&A about The Bridge Club on Me and My 1000 Girlfriends, That’s Who!

ForeWord 2010 Book Of The Year finalist

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Last week I was honoured to receive the following news:

iUniverse would like to congratulate you on a job well done.  ForeWord has announced the 2010 Book of the Year Award Finalists.  There were more than 1,400 books entered into 56 different categories. These finalists represent some of the best work coming from today’s independent press community.  So once again, Congratulations!

For more information on the Foreword Book of the Year Awards, please see the e-mail below.

2010 Book of the Year Award Finalist – General Fiction – The Bridge Club, Patricia Sands

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Announcing the 2010 Book of the Year Award Finalists!
ForeWord Reviews is pleased to announce the 2010 Book of the Year Awards list of finalists. Representing more than 350 publishers, the finalists were selected from 1400 entries in 56 categories. These books are examples of independent publishing at its finest!

For a full list of the finalists, searchable by genre, visit: http://www.bookoftheyearawards.com/finalists/2010/

Winners will be determined by a panel of librarians and booksellers selected from our readership. Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners, as well as Editor’s Choice Prizes for Fiction and Nonfiction will be announced at a special program at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans this June. The winners of the two Editor’s Choice Prizes will be awarded $1,500 each and ForeWord’s Independent Publisher of the Year will also be announced. The ceremony is open to all ALA attendees and exhibiting publishers.

ForeWord‘s Book of the Year Awards program was created to spotlight distinctive books from independent publishers. What sets the awards apart from others is that final selections are made by real judges–working librarians and booksellers–based on their experiences with patrons and customers.