Confession: We love books. And you know what else we love? FOOD. Combine the two? HEAVEN.
So when our fave authors Sarah Jio and Camille Noe Pagan created the Facebook page Books & Bites, we just knew it would become one of favorite guilty pleasures. They take incredible books and pair them with fantastic recipes--complete awesomeness, right? RIGHT.
We're thrilled that Sarah and Camille are sharing one of their pairings with us today. Read on to see why we're so in love!
Sarah & Camille's Books & Bites
I had the privilege of reading Helene Gremillion's THE CONFIDANT months before it was published here in the U.S. Already a bestseller in France, with rights sold to other countries, her editor at Penguin reached out to my editor to see if I'd be interested in reading it. When I read about the book's plot, I said absolutely yes. First of all, it's set in France (have I mentioned that I'm a bit of a francophile?), and it's a love story rooted in history, with a plot that flips between the 1970s and 1940s.
And the romance, oh the romance. While the stories I write and tend to gravitate toward are more of the PG variety (sorry, no Fifty Shades sizzle-factor!), this book does get a little steamy (warning for anyone who's shy about love scenes!). Yes, I blushed a little, but I also found myself so engrossed with the characters and their often tragic storylines. Funnily enough, I picked up the book to read on a family trip to Disneyland, and ended up skipping the rides one afternoon so I could order room service at our hotel and finish (while my husband took the boys out to the park!).
I'm pairing this book with a classic French dessert called a clafoutis. Don't be intimidated, because it's so easy to make! I've been making clafoutis for years, and I love making them with whatever fruit is in season (I've used pears, strawberries, blueberries, apricots and plums over the years). For Valentine's Day, I thought this raspberry clafoutis from Food & Wine looked delicious (frozen raspberries can be subbed for fresh). Click here for the recipe.
Enjoy and happy reading!
Sarah Jio is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Blackberry Winter, The Bungalow, and The Violets of March, which was a Library Journal Best Book of 2011. Her fourth novel, The Last Camellia, will be out in May, and her fifth, set on a houseboat in Seattle, will be published in November. Her books have been sold for translation in 19 countries. To learn more about Sarah, visit www.sarahjio.com or find her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/sarahjioauthor.
Camille Noe Pagán is the author of the novel THE ART OF FORGETTING (Penguin) and a journalist whose work has appeared in Allure, Forbes.com, O: The Oprah Magazine, PARADE, SELF and many others. She lives in Ann Arbor.