Go for it, buy yourself a present
Happy Friday, friends! It's been a few weeks since I sent a newsletter, I've been in the writing plus working full time trenches, trying to get The Proposal all ready for publication (out September 4th! Preorder links all here!) and also work on the first draft of what will hopefully be Jasmine Book 3. I have a bunch of fun events coming up around the country in the next few weeks, and I hope I get to see lots of you! First, next Saturday, May 19th, I'll be in Reno for the RT Convention, and will be at the Giant Book Fair at 11 am! If you come to see me, I will be either hyped up or groggy or both from getting up in the wee hours of the morning to watch Harry and Meghan's wedding earlier that day, so that should be a treat. (I will also almost certainly still be wearing my fascinator). Then, in San Francisco, on May 22nd at 6 pm, I'll be at the SF Public Library to chat with library patrons and whoever else wants to come, so please, San Franciscans, come say hi!
And then, East Coast time! If you're a publishing person, I'll be signing at BEA in New York on Thursday, May 31st, at 9:30 am, so please find me and say hi! On Saturday, June 2nd at noon, I'll be at Turn The Page bookstore in Boonsboro, Maryland, doing a signing with a whole lot of amazing authors, and I very much hope to see some friendly faces there. And then on Sunday, June 3rd, I'll be back in New York, on a panel at The Book Con talking about toxic male syndrome with some great people. Finally (for this swing), I'll head up to Cambridge, to do this very fun event with Harvard Bookstore, and you can buy tickets at that link!
And quickly, before I get to the recommendations, since we were talking about the royal wedding up above there, I wrote this fun little fairy tale for Cosmopolitan about a black princess falling in love with a commoner.
Woo, okay, Now, most of you have probably been inundated with Mother's Day emails and gift guides and advertisements etc. for the past few weeks. Here's the thing about Mother's Day stuff as I've gotten older: so many of the gift suggestions are just things I want to buy for myself. I know Mother's Day can be a hard day for many people, and whether it's a day you spend with your mom or your kids or by yourself or just another day, I say you also buy yourself something fun, especially if it's a hard day for you. And now, my next suggestion may or may not be your idea of fun (I can already tell who of my friends are going to make fun of me for this), but my mom gave this to me for Christmas, and I'm in turn giving one to her for Mother's Day, because I love it just that much: The Shhhhower Cap! (If you know my mom, please don't tell her what she's getting for Mother's Day!) I know, I know, it's a $40 dollar shower cap, you can get them 2 for $5 at Target, what the hell are you talking about, Jasmine? First of all, this is a treat yourself option, okay? But secondly, I love this shower cap. I only wash my hair about once or twice a week, but I shower every day, so I use a shower cap most days, and have gone through many of those 2 for $5 shower caps, and let me tell you, this one is amazing. It fits ALL my hair easily, even if my hair is in a topknot, the elastic is high quality and it doesn't get stretched out or break, it's not made out of thin plastic like the cheap ones, so it doesn't tear, and it's super comfortable to wear. Buy it for yourself, your mom, or any person in your life who has a lot of hair.
And if you want to do something good for other people this Mother's Day weekend, you can give to the National Bail Out, to help some moms get to see their kids on Mother's Day. I have too many friends who won't ever be able to spend a Mother's Day with their mom again, and I want these moms and kids to be able to do so.
As I've been struggling my way through this first draft of Book 3, I've been thinking a lot about some recent interviews of authors of the wonderful books An American Marriage and Far From The Tree, Tayari Jones and Robin Benway, respectively. Both of them have talked about how incredibly hard those books were for them to write, and both of them have said they struggled so much with writing these books that they thought their writing careers were over. And then what came from all of that struggle were these beautiful, wonderful books, that so many people have loved and have been such hits in so many ways. And this isn't to say that every book or creative endeavor that is difficult is going to be the Big Book Of Your Career or whatever, but reading over those interviews in the past few months has been so reassuring to me. It helps to know that these incredible authors, both of whom had written really great books before these two, went through so much, and had so many doubts, and managed to come through it on the other side. I'm thinking especially about this wonderful profile of Tayari by Bim Adewunmi, and this great podcast interview with Robin by Sarah Enni. Read and listen, and then read their books, if you haven't already! (And if you have, they make great gifts!)
My grandma requested Strawberry Shortcake for Mother's Day dessert, so that's what I'm going to make. I find it a lot easier to make individual strawberry shortcakes; the big ones make more of a splash, but they're a pain to cut into and serve, and the little ones are both cuter and more delicious. I use Alice Waters' Cream Biscuits for the shortcake, and the rest is easy. The recipe is below, but it's easily doubled (which I will likely do).
Individual Strawberry Shortcakes
For the biscuits:
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup heavy cream (separate out 1 tablespoon of the cream)
For the filling:
2 pints strawberries
2 pints heavy cream
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
For the biscuits:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients in a big bowl. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it's well combined and the mixture looks like small peas. Add all of the heavy cream, minus the reserved tablespoon, and stir until it's just combined. Lightly knead in the bowl, and then turn out the dough onto a lightly floured board and roll it out to about 3/4 of an inch thick. Cut out biscuits, place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and brush the tops with the reserved cream. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until golden.(You can do this hours before you're planning to serve; let the biscuits cool all the way, then wrap them up well to keep them fresh)
For the strawberries:
While the biscuits are baking and/or cooling, cut the strawberries into halves or quarters, depending on the size of the strawberries. Toss with about 1/4 cup of sugar (a little less or more depending on your taste or the sweetness of the strawberries), and set aside to let macerate for 15 minutes.
For the cream:
Whip the cream, adding a tablespoon or two of sugar if you like.
For assembly:
Cut the biscuits lengthwise and fill with a layer of cream, and then a scoop of strawberries. Serve the extra strawberries and cream alongside the biscuits. Enjoy!
Have a great weekend!
Jasmine
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