Blog Tour: Stars So Sweet by Tara Dairman

Hello, Monday!

Yes, I can feel chipper at the start of the week because I'm taking part of something fun today - the Stars So Sweet blog tour! This middle-grade book releases tomorrow and if you've read the first two books, All Four Stars and The Stars of Summer, then you'll want to know how it all pans out for Gladys Gatsby.

And before we dip in, I just want to say that sometimes it's completely okay to judge a book by its cover because there will be certain aspects in it that just scream out to you. Bunting? Check. Macarons? Check. Madeleines? Check. Cupcakes? Check. Even a cake stand? Yup. I'm pretty sure ten-year-old Sylvia would have picked up this final book in the All Four Stars trilogy. Kids these days are so lucky that there are so many great books for them to choose from. Each geared to their own interests. That's why shows like MasterChef Junior exist, right?

Stars So Sweet
Written by Tara Dairman
Hardcover | 288 pages | Ages 8-12
ISBN 978-1-10199-648-5

Picking up from the second book, summer is winding down and Gladys Gatsby has to prepare for the next big step in her life - middle school. Will she be able to juggle classes, homework, after-school activities, and critiquing restaurants for the New York Standard? What's going on with her and Hamilton Herbertson? Why is the school newspaper reporter on her tail? At least she still has Sandy, Parm, and Charissa by her side . . . right? Her parents have limited her time in the kitchen again and then, to her complete surprise, Aunt Lydia shows up on their door step too.

What do you think? Enough for any twelve-year-old to handle as they enter a busy fall? Probably more than anyone can handle calmly, but Gladys Gatsby does it with grace and help from her friends and advice from few exceptional adults. Not only is she problem solving her own dilemmas, but she has time to organize bake sales at school to help out the after-school programs.

What I love about these books is that there's no magic miracle that comes to the rescue, every issue is figured out in a timely basis and completely plausible. Things don't just fall in place for the perfect happy ending, the characters have to try and try again. Take Sandy's challenge at earning his reputation at school. Or the fact that friendships need to take time to build - Parm and Charissa didn't start out on good terms at first, but given the chance and their friendship to Gladys, they slowly learn to accept each other.

Of course the main feature that I admire in Tara Dairman's writing is how funny the situations can become and Gladys practical commentary has me in stitches. And the food writing - spot on for any aspiring foodie. It's in the chapter titles, it's in Gladys' restaurant reviews, and in her daily metaphors and similes. Really, I give this series all four stars!

In honour of the scrumptious finale of the series, I baked up some savoury madeleines as a nod to Gladys love for French baked goods.

Cheddar and Scallion Madeleines
(Makes a dozen)

1/2 stick of salted butter
3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 tablespoons of milk
1/3 cup of grated smoked cheddar (I'm sure regular cheddar will work too)
2 tablespoons of finely chopped scallions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Brush melted butter on your madeleine pans or use a cooking spray.
2. Place the butter and oil in a microwavable glass bowl or measuring cup. Microwave on low until butter has melted. Whisk to combine and let it cool for 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, and whisk until completely blended.
4. Add milk and whisk for 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Stir in the cheese and scallions.
6. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper and whisk until the batter is fully combined.
7. Using a spoon, scoop, or teaspoon, fill the molds on the madeleine pan with the batter. Don't fill it completely, leave a sliver of space so that the madeleine can expand while baking.
8. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until the madeleines pull up and the edges are golden brown.
9. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for 2 to 3 minutes. Use a small fork or spatula to remove the madeleines from the pan.
10. Enjoy!

Just so you know, when these are baking in the oven, your kitchen will smell delicious. Howard was in the den yelling, "I smell bacon!! Give me bacon!" while I was yelling back, "I'm not making bacon!!!"

Tara Dairman is the author of the middle-grade foodie novel All Four Stars (Putnam/Penguin) which was named an Amazon Best Book of the Month and won a 2015 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award. The Stars of Summer followed in 2015, and Stars so Sweet (7/19/16) completes the series. Tara grew up in New York and holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from Dartmouth College. After surviving the world's longest honeymoon (two years, seventy-four countries!), she now lives in Colorado with her family.

Visit the other blog tour stops here:
The Daily Dahlia >> The Reading Date >> Bookish Illuminations >> Log Cabin Library >> Word Spelunking >> FWIW >> Fic Talk >> Pop Goes the Reader >> Kitchen Frolic >> Creative Spaces

Credits: Blog tour button / Kristin Rae; Book cover / Kelly Murphy

Disclaimer: An ARC of Stars So Sweet was sent to me from Putnam/Penguin for the blog tour.

Classic French Madeleines

How have you been? I know it's been quite around here, it's been quite hectic at work. Worst of all, I met my nemesis, the flu. The flu kicked me down and knocked me out for a week. I'm still fighting the after effects, but I think I am finally winning.

The wedding plans are also coming along (mostly?). I don't think there's anything left for us to do this year. All the things that need to be booked ahead of time are done (I hope, I think?), so we just wait until we're closer to the date. I'd like to think we're ahead of schedule or at least on track! I wish I could tell you more, but I'm an odd believer that I'll jinx it if I do. Some things were too good to be true and then fell through, so I'll wait until it's all over before I say any more!

I'm still loving little madeleines though. These tiny tea cakes make good afternoon snacks. I hope you all get madeleine pans this holiday and make these tasty little morsels.

Classic French Madeleines
Recipe from Madeleines: Elegant French Tea Cakes to Bake and Share
(Makes about 24 regular or 48 minis)

1 stick of unsalted butter + 4 tablespoons for the pan
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
3 large eggs
2/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon of fresh lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven at 175°C or 350°F.
2. Place the butter in a microwavable bowl and melt on lower power for about a minute. Let it cool to room temperature. Butter up with the 4 tablespoons! Make sure you brush soften butter into all the nooks and crannies of the pan for easy lift up after.
3. Using a mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together until it is light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Add in vanilla extract and lemon zest, mix for another minute until combined. Fold in the flour and baking powder. Don't over mix at this stage, the flour just needs to be incorporated completely.
5. Use a spoon or scoop to fill the pan molds until they're almost full. You can smooth out the batter if you like, but I find that it'll melt nicely into the mold in the oven's hot temperatures.
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes for regular sized madeleines and 5 to 6 for the mini sizes. They should puff up to show that signature madeleine hump and be golden in colour.
7. Remove from the oven and let the madeleines cool. Eat them right away. Seriously, they're best when they're fresh!

I'm thinking these will make great gifts this holiday at the office. I've made macarons two years in a row, it's time to switch it up!

One more thing, don't skip the lemon zest, it gives the cakes such a great boost in flavour. Not to mention, the aroma!!

Madeleines

Madeleines . . . the first time I had memorable madeleines was at Café Boulud. They were sitting in a warm nest of linen napkins, and even though I was full from the meal, I devoured them.

Little miniature tea cakes, madeleines are described as "small, shell-shaped cakes made of flour, eggs, sugar, and butter and baked in molds." I think we can all agree that we could use more madeleines in our lives, so I couldn't wait to look through a whole book about them!

Beautiful endpapers should always be acknowledged.

If I woke up to that basket of madeleines every morning, I would be happy and content. All would be right.

I quickly flipped to chapter three, dark and deluxe chocolate madeleines!

Madeleines: Elegant French Tea Cakes to Bake and Share
Written by Barbara Feldman Morse
Photographs by Steve Legato
ISBN 13: 9781594747403
ISBN 10: 1594747407
Publisher: Quirk Books
Hardcover: 224 pages

Let's give the dark chocolate espresso madeleines a try. The author mentions that this recipe was adapted from her award-winning recipe that is a mix between brownies, fudge, and dense chocolate cake.

I used a double boiler and a stand mixer to create the batter. A lot of butter, sugar, semisweet chocolate chips, espresso powder, eggs, flour, and cocoa powder went into this.

This particular batter was dark, thick, and shiny. It also doesn't rise much, so you can fill the molds to the top without worrying about overflow.

The espresso flavor really stands out, the only thing I wished was that my mold was more defined. I felt that they didn't produce enough of a shell imprint on the madeleines. So if you're on the search for madeleine pans, get ones with more defined edges!

If you're not picky on how they look, then it doesn't matter because they taste great anyways. Looking over the table of contents, I would want to try these recipes next: the classic French madeleines, lemon poppy seed, chai tea, peanut butter and jelly, sunshine, molten, peaches and cream, snowball, fresh lemon drop, browned butter pecan, gruyère and rosemary, brie-stuffed, caramelized onion and asiago, and banana foster. As you can see, there are savory and appetizer madeleines!

Disclaimer: A review copy of Madeleines was sent to me for review from Eric Smith at Quirk Books. Thank you! No incentives were used to produce a positive review of this book.

Café Boulud and Daniel Signing

Last Saturday, we found out that Daniel Boulud would be having a book launch at the Four Seasons Hotel for his new cookbook, Daniel: My French Cuisine. It's a big tome of a book and well, I knew that I would eventually want a copy for my collection, so why not have it personalized?

Since the book signing was scheduled for 2pm, Howard and I went to have lunch at Café Boulud first. We find that the service there is always impeccable. We were running late due to traffic and construction and called to let them know, they were very gracious in moving our reservation back. It was nice to not worry about rushing knowing that they were still keeping our table.

Went we arrived at Café Boulud, Daniel himself was at the front overseeing some of the preparation for the book launch. We were escorted to our table by the lovely hostess who field our phone call earlier and were promptly served with water as we browsed the menu.

Howard and I decided to get charcuterie to start. The Saucisson Lyonnais had pistachio embedded in it and was served with a potato salad and cornichon vinaigrette.

I chose a lighter fare, the Chop Chop Salad with romaine, cucumber, avocado, grapefruit, cilantro, and a sesame-ginger dressing.

Howard decided to try the Lamb Burger with eggplant, tzatziki, and sweet potato chips. There was an option for feta cheese, but Howard forgot to include it in his order. I tried a bite of it and have to say it's a very good lamb burger! I personally wouldn't add the feta if I were to order this again.

And the side of sweet potato chips? So crispy, salty, and delicious!

I really wanted dessert because I think they're stellar here, but the signing was about to begin, so we made our way down to the gift shop to purchase our copy of the book.

The cookbook was out on display for anyone to browse. As instructed, we started to form a line beside this table. I liked how organized this event was!

Daniel Boulud signing my copy of Daniel!

He was so nice and beckoned me over for a picture. :)

Not only did we get our book personalized, they also handed out little cans of madeleines with dark chocolate crispearls. This made me so happy! You don't understand, we were going to go back to Café Boulud for dessert but dessert came to me! If you've never tried the fresh madeleines from Café Boulud, I highly suggest that you do. They arrive warm in a cloth basket, you start with one and before you know it, you'll be thinking about them long after you finish eating them.

We're going to be back, because included with that gift was a card for a complimentary dessert when you order any main course. That's really difficult for me to resist, so we'll be making another visit during the holidays.