Becoming Mrs. Lewis Virtual Book Tour Series
Newsletter March 24, 2020: Day Three | "Pub Day*
Dear Reader,
It is pub week for the EXPANDED edition of BECOMING MRS LEWIS and instead of being with you out there in the world, I am here with you in the world. We will celebrate this week in very different ways. You can join me on different VIRTUAL book tours and the second one is TODAY with me!
Its pub day 😘 for the expanded paperback edition—Becoming Mrs. Lewis. 🔖 I will be answering questions ALL day on my Instagram/Facebook Stories page. Join in. Send a question and I will answer! We can talk about writing, travel, Joy and Jack, the next book, life, kids — whatever you want! Ask away. Other events this week.
“How do we live our lives at home that we once lived out in the world?”
Today is DAY THREE of our author experts. I have gathered a cadre of author pals who are also experts in other fields.
I want to introduce Elana Horwich—a successful business owner, chef, author, teacher, comedian, and an expert on healthy cooking, while traveling the country teaching people how to make phenomenal food, easily. She will be providing us some culinary tips, advice for meal preparation, a recipe, and food planning ideas to help us through our days of quarantine. I will let her take it from here (see below).
Day Three
Guest Author—Elana Horwich
Elana's Tips For Cooking During Quarantine
Staying at home today is like La Resistance of the 1940’s, except we get to eat more than we can fit on a bicycle. There’s no reason our quarantine can’t be delicious. And since no one is coming over for dinner, it’s a perfect excuse to see cooking as a personal adventure. I started teaching cooking classes a decade ago when friends offered to pay me to do so after watching me easily whip up a plate of pasta from what was in the house. I had lived in Italy in my 20’s and had picked up a curiosity for cooking. I really didn’t have more than a handful of recipes at that time, but I was a school teacher and knew how to teach, so I accepted. Over the years I developed hundreds of delicious, simple recipes on my own, basically because I saw cooking as play and was willing to take risks, which I encourage you to do now too. I’ve always declared that cooking is primal and not something we can see as a luxury. Nor should it feel like a chore. We are currently in a situation where cooking is a need, and I recognize that a lot of people are stressing out about that. I see it as an opportunity to grow. It feels good to have something to offer in times like these, therefore I decided to offer live online Zoom cooking classes to help people learn to cook intuitively from what’s in the house, in a community-oriented way. One of the best things to cook up right now is soup. The warmth and ingredients of a good soup tend to be anti-viral. Soups can be made in large quantities and frozen, which is ideal for home quarantine. And mostly, soups can be made from almost anything you have in the house. Elana's 5 Tips For Cooking During Quarantine
In my book, Meal and a Spiel: How to Be a Badass in the Kitchen I explain “The International language of Soups.” All soups basically start out in the exact same way and follow the exact same process. It’s easy!
In short, soups start with what the Italians call a soffritto or the french call a mire-poix. It’s a simple sauteeing of chopped onion - which can include any member of the onion family like leeks, green onions, shallots, etc- usually along with chopped carrot and celery too.
Then just add your main ingredient (lentils or other beans, sweet potatoes or squash, or a mixture of veggies you have on hand.) Top it with preferably homemade or boxed broth, add salt and pepper, let it cook over a slow flame for a long time, puree it if you wish, and voila`! Soup!
*Expert advice: if your soup lacks flavor, you probably didn’t include enough kosher salt. And try a drizzle of olive oil to finish it off.