As some of you know, my first book, Food Swap: Specialty Recipes for Bartering, Sharing and Giving was published this month. I am incredibly proud and excited to introduce this labor of love to the world. Food Swap is a joy to look at: full of beautiful photographs and charming design elements. I think the recipes are pretty terrific too. But don’t just take my word for it. Check out these reviews from The Cookbook Junkies, Cookie Madness, and more.
Food Swap offers lots of fun DIY projects, like caramels, homemade vanilla extract, and drink syrups; recipes perfect for feeding a crowd, like delicious soups and dips; and enticing edible gift ideas like Ancho Chile Pecans, Mexican Hot Chocolate truffles and infused vodka. Plus, there is a lot of information about food swaps.
I want to thank everyone who has already purchased a copy of Food Swap. Your support means so much to me. If I can ask one more favor from those of you who have bought the book: if you are able, please leave a review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble’s website, or Goodreads. Online reviews boost a book’s visibility and are extremely helpful to a new author such as myself. If you haven’t bought the book yet, well, why not?
Ancho Chile Pecans – one of the recipes from my book
I am going be appearing all over Chicago as well as traveling to other parts of the country this summer in support of Food Swap. I would love to see as many of you as possible on my travels and sign your copies of the book! Among the places I am traveling to are Washington DC, Orlando (for the American Library Association’s annual conference), San Francisco, Los Angeles and Orange County, Sacramento, Philadelphia, New York, Seattle and Portland. The best place to keep track of all my appearances is the Events and Classes page under the header. I will be adding even more events to that page as they are scheduled.
To begin with, for those of you in Chicago, look for me on WGN Midday News on June 1 at 11:50 am. I will be sharing three ideas for gourmet food ideas that you can easily make at home — all recipes from Food Swap naturally. Also, I will be appearing at the Printers Row Lit Fest on June 11 and 12.
On June 11, I will be appearing on a panel with Donna Bozzo and Heidi Stevens to talk about family fun. On June 12, I will be appearing on the Food and Dining Stage at 3:30 pm to demonstrate three recipes from Food Swap: Beet Tahini Dip, Garam Masala Spice Mix and Mexican Hot Chocolate Truffles. Printers Row Lit Fest is a free event with so many amazing authors and speakers – I hope you come out!
For my friends, family and readers in Washington DC (my hometown!), I will be doing a whole slew of events in the area the weekend of June 4 and 5. On June 4, from 9 am-1:00 pm, I will be at the Pike Central Farm Market in North Bethesda, MD signing copies of Food Swap and offering samples. From 2-6 pm on June 4, I will be at the Williams-Sonoma Bethesda Row in Bethesda, MD doing much the same thing.
On June 5, I will start my day at the Bethesda Central Market signing books from 9-10 am. Between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm, I will be signing books and sampling at my old school, Sidwell Friends, for the 2nd annual Taste of Sidwell, an event which is only open to the Sidwell community, I’m afraid. But later that day, from 2-3:30 pm, I will also be signing books and offering samples at Union Market right before the James Beard Foundation dinner, which I will also be at, mostly gawking at the chefs.
Now about those Ancho Chile Pecans: I love this recipe because these irresistibly sweet and spicy nuts are not only a great food swap item, they are also a terrific edible gift, perfect for bringing as a house gift to your summer hosts and hostesses. I think many of the recipes in Food Swap are capable of doing double duty in this way!
I hope to see many of you on my travels this summer!
Ingredients
- 4 dried ancho chiles
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups water
- 4 cups pecans
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup light molasses
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine the chiles, sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the pecans and stir to coat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes.
- Remove the pecans from the syrup and arrange in a single layer on the lined baking sheet.
- Toast pecan for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and place in a heatproof bowl.
- Add chili powder, salt and molasses and toss to coat.
- Return the pecans to the baking sheet and toast an additional 45 minutes until crisp.
- Allow pecans to cool before packing into pint jars or cellophane treat bags.
