Sassy Southern Cooking with a French Twist

Announcements

Timely Announcements, and notices from Holly

Cookbook Writing, Marketing, and Photography Retreat with Holly Herrick and Beckie Carrico Hemmerling

Cracking the Cookbook Code – Writing, Cooking, Marketing, Photography  + Wellness Retreat with a Generous Dose of Fun

Personal chef and blogger extraordinaire, Beckie Carrico Hemmerling and I, award-winning author of nine cookbooks,  will be hosting a food/cookbook writing, marketing, and photography retreat at Folly Beach on March 29 – April 1, 2019.

Our small group (up to eight attendees) will indulge in  a few days of enlightened fun on the beach edges of Charleston, SC, eating delicious food and learning new skills. Beckie and I will teach our guests how to become better food writers, stylists, photographers, and published cookbook authors drawing from our collective reservoir of knowledge and professional experience.  One-on-one consultations,  signed copies of The New Charleston Chef’s Table, a guided tour downtown, wellness walks, and sumptuous lodging at a private beach house are just some of what our guests can expect. Non-writing friends and family are welcome to join at modified prices. Read all about it on the link below.

We hope you can join us! It’s going to be educational, fun, and delicious. And, it’s typically a beautiful time of year in Charleston.

Cracking the Cookbook Code. Writing, Cooking, Marketing, Photography + Wellness Retreat

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Introducing The New Charleston Chef’s Table

Voila! She’s Finally Here and A Cookbook Give Away

It’s been a long time since I’ve visited. It’s been a very busy and wonderful year.  In addition to a new cookbook (number nine), I have a now sixteen month-old  puppy named Rocky (Rocken Roll) and have been enjoying writing press and news for a large Charleston restaurant group.

I deem The New Charleston Chef’s Table “number nine” with some hesitation, as I’m not sure exactly what to call a new edition of an old book (the original Chef’s Table came out in 2009). Is that really a new book? But since it’s essentially an 80% new book, that is almost all of the old book was pulled and new restaurants, chefs and recipes were added, I’m going to go with number nine.

The reason so much of it is new is that Charleston went through yet another massive restaurant renaissance during the past decade. What was delicious got even more delicious and the boundaries for types of food and restaurant locations and styles got even broader. Increasingly, Charleston taste buds veered farther from formality and more towards casual ethnicity diversification, but always, always with a demand for outstanding cuisine. Because, if it was not delivered, those restaurants went away in short order.

Reluctant at first to take on such a huge task, I was glad I did, and am grateful for the opportunity from Globe Pequot Press. The New Charleston Chef’s Table truly reflects the Charleston of now, which was my intention. I pursued recipes that were less structured and more adaptable for the home cook. Some of my favorites include Leon’s Whole Grain Spoon Salad,  Fig’s Classic Arugula Salad,  Crust’s Chilled Summer Corn Soup, Lewis’ Hatch Green Chile Corn Pudding, The Ordinary’s Fish Schnitzel, and The Daily’s Buttermilk Rhubarb Fool.  In this book, more than in the original, I let the book morph with the commentary and thoughts of the chefs. For example,  Matthew Niessner at Halls Chophouse didn’t want to share just one recipe, but an entire meal catered to this audience, just as he likes to do for groups when they come to Halls. So he shared recipes for creamed corn, iceberg wedge salad with blue cheese dressing, and how to perfectly prepare a restaurant style ribeye. Meanwhile, at Mex 1 Coastal Cantina I surfed with Ryan Jones into the Baja, California peninsula and cool surfer mentality with cantina chicken tacos and stewed lima beans slow and steady with Martha Lou Gadsen of Martha Lou’s Kitchen.

The design and editing team did a beautiful job of designing the book, which is verdant and fresh with lots of green color and beautiful photography, and has an equally more casual and modern look, reflecting an ever morphing Charleston.

New Charleston Chefs Table book coverThe book was released this past week and is available at major bookstores and online now. I’m offering a signed cookbook to one of you. Just click like on this post or elsewhere where you see it  and I’ll do a randomly picked number search on June 4 and announce the winner that day.

Wishing you a beautiful and soulful Memorial Day!

Holly

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Charleston Farmers Market Tour and Cooking with Holly

I am pleased to announce the first in a series of farmers market tours and cooking classes I will be conducting throughout the year at Charleston’s downtown farmers market. We’ll begin at the market early on Saturday mornings and come to my kitchen to cook from what’s inspired me and a group of just six students and finish up the day with a delicious three course meal at my table.

The fruits of summer season on display at Charleston Farmers Market.

The fruits of summer season on display at Charleston Farmers Market.

More details and registration information are provided in this link from yesterday’s post at The Permanent Tourist Charleston.

http://charleston.thepermanenttourist.com/new-farmers-market-tour-with-me-the-permanent-tourist-charleston/

Please feel free to follow me directly there and on facebook at facebook.com/tptcharleston and twitter:@tptcharleston

Happy cooking!

Holly

 

 

 

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A Real Book Page Turner

Thank you to The Times and Democrat for a nice  article about me and my books as well as the other two authors participating in next week’s sixth annual Page Turner event, the newspaper’s biggest annual fund-raiser. I enjoyed speaking with reporter Dionne Gleaton. To read the entire story, click on the link below.

http://thetandd.com/entertainment/books-and-literature/page-turner-authors-to-bring-eclectic-mix-of-romance-mystery/article_012d59de-9b50-11e3-a74f-001a4bcf887a.html

Otherwise, here’s a short except and quotes from yours truly:

She  said her first cookbook was based on a newspaper column she had written about shopping at farmer’s markets.

“It really hasn’t stopped since then. It’s been fun. I still love going to farmers’ markets or a beautiful grocery and finding something spectacular. It’s about sharing the knowledge and love of cooking and doing it in such a way that everybody will love and enjoy it,” Herrick said. “The goal is to make it inspirational and fun.”

Herrick said perseverance is a critical to the art of writing.

“You just have to do it. Dreaming doesn’t get it done. The actual art of any kind of writing is to be attuned with what is going on around you all the time. The key is to be very observant and to try to be a good listener. Try to get the undertones as much as possible because that sensitivity will come back through your writing,” she said.

She said food writing is as much an art as novel or poetry writing.

“I think of the myriad of examples of experts in food writing like James Beard and Julia Child. They’re all people who described food and had a poetry of their own. I went to one of the biggest cooking schools in the world, but I learn something new every day even in my own kitchen,” Herrick said.

France, French cooking and her current book series are among the topics which she said she will touch on at the Page Turner Luncheon.

“I’m sort of between two cultures right now, but there are similarities between Southern cooking and French cooking, which most people think of as fancy and impractical. But French cooking actually stems from frugality and freshness,” Herrick said, adding, “I promise to make it fun.”

Here’s more specific information about the event on March 4. I hope to see you there!

pageturnerpromo

 

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Merci Bonjour Colorado and Holiday Tidings

 

Thank you to Maribeth Clemenete at Bonjour Colorado for taking the time to talk with me about The French Cook: Cream Puffs and Eclairs, making pastry, France and Charleston’s dynamic restaurant scene. You can listen to the full 30 minute link here:

http://bonjourcolorado.com/2013/12/sweet-and-savory-holiday-baking-with-holly-herrick/

It’s hard to believe Christmas is just two weeks away!

CHRISTMASTREEIf you’re still looking for that special something for the cookbook lover in your life, please consider one of my cookbooks. If you’re interested in a signed copy (copies) mailed directly to you, please message me here with the best contact information for me to reach you, and we’ll make it happen.

The French Cook: Sauces and The French Cook: Cream Puffs and Eclairs are beautiful together as a gift for lovers of French cooking in particular. I sell the pair at a 15% discount price of $42 for both plus shipping.

The French Cook: Cream Puffs & Eclairs

The French Cook: Cream Puffs & Eclairs a new release, October 1, 2013 (Gibbs Smith)

The French Cook: Sauces (Gibbes Smith, March 1, 2013) by Holly Herrick

The French Cook: Sauces (Gibbes Smith, March 1, 2013) by Holly Herrick

They would look beautiful under the tree and yield many happy and delicious returns for years to come.  Wishing you and yours a beautiful, delicious, safe and happy holiday season and a fabulous 2014.

Warmly,

Holly

 

 

 

 

 

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