Top Shelf Thursday - October 20, 2016
Thursday, October 20, 2016
I had the pleasure of chatting with Jane about what this cookbook means to her and about her upcoming trip to Rhode Island.
R- “Jane, you and I go way back. We’ve done a lot of book events together here in Rhode Island through the years. Even though we don’t see each other very often I feel very connected to you.”
J- “ We really have and going back a lot of years now. There’s history and that’s also one of the glorious things about social media. I always say it’s completely a mixed blessing and curse in equal measure. One of the blessings is that …if we were only seeing each other once a year or so we wouldn’t really know each other but when you are Facebook friends I feel like I get to keep in touch.”
R- “ Did you set out to become a bestselling author?”
J- “I feel so enormously blessed at having the career that I’ve had. I never did it because I wanted to be a bestselling author; I did it because I loved writing. “
R-“ Good Taste started out as a ‘thank you’ to your fans. How did it go from that to this gorgeous cookbook?’
J -“I have always cooked. My mother is a wonderful cook, my grandmother was a wonderful cook and I grew up perched on a stool at my mother’s kitchen table cooking with her. I would always cook for family and friends and I decided with a couple of my novels to include some recipes. I put some recipes in Promises To Keep and Saving Grace. “
(Jane’s publisher then asked her as a thank you to her fans to write down some more recipes which they would offer as an incentive for people to pre-order her next novel. Jane was asked for nine or ten recipes and she came back to her publisher with almost 70. This leaflet was offered to fans and from there the cookbook buyer from Barnes and Noble approached Jane looking for Jane Green’s cookbook. (which didn’t exist) The rest, as they say, is history. With an amazingly successful Kickstarter campaign Jane raised the money needed to self-publish the first iteration of Good Taste in just 5 days. With this extremely successful campaign, Jane’s publisher, Penguin, decided to publish Good Taste and the book has been available since October 4th. )
R- “ It’s a little known fact that you trained at the International Culinary Center.”
J- “ I describe myself as a very slightly trained chef because I actually only did that Part 1 which is a full-time 2 month course. Even though I was trained in very fine French cooking, that isn’t the food that I cook and not the food in my cookbook. The truth is I’m less interested in the food, although I love food, than I am in the experience that people have when I’m cooking for them.”
Listen to the full interview on iTunes
I love the way Jane attaches a story or memory to each recipe in Good Taste. As I read these stories I feel as though Jane herself WAS reading them to me in that glorious accent of hers. With each story and recipe Jane lets her readers into her life, her home and her heart. Jane is beloved by her readers and as Jane says, “Food is about coziness and comfort.” And that’s exactly how you’ll feel reading Good Taste.
I hope you’ll join us on October 26th for what is sure to be a memorable and cozy afternoon. Jane is known to dish not only delicious recipes but also insider scoop on what she’s working on and who knows what else. It’s always a great time when Jane is in town. Grab your girlfriends and make reservations for this unique opportunity catered by The Catering Gourmet. The ticket price of $75 includes an autographed copy of Good Taste, luncheon and dessert and a talk by Jane Green followed by Q&A.
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