The Kasbah Chronicles from Kitty Morse; an Alsatian tea party, an Alsatian dinner, and a Kirkus review
Events in San Diego County
RESERVE YOUR SEAT TODAY!!
BRING A FRIEND!!
Local Cookbook author KITTY MORSE
WILL HOST A "GOUTER A L'ALSACIENNE"
An Alsatian tea party, chat and book signing
BASED UPON RECIPES FROM HER LATEST MEMOIR/COOKBOOK
BITTER SWEET: A WARTIME JOURNAL AND HEIRLOOM RECIPES FROM OCCUPIED FRANCE
WHEN: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19th
TIME: 2 to 4PM (reservations required by November 15, 2023)
WHERE: Isabelle Briens French Pastry Cafe (www.ibcafe.com)
127 North El Camino Real
Encinitas, CA
(in the Trader Joe's parking lot)
MENU:
Alsatian bredele shortbread cookie
Kitty's great-grandmother Blanche's Kalougat Flourless Chocolate Cake
Blanche's Alsatian Carrot Cake
Tea, Coffee, Soda
PRICE: $17.50
Reserve directly at Isabelle's Café:
TEXT BITTER SWEET AND YOUR NAME
TO (760) 310-9819 to reserve
SIGNED COPIES of Bitter Sweet will be available for sale at $35.00 each
Bring your gift list!
"Bitter Sweet is a book I couldn’t put down. " Faye Levy, author of author of 1,000 Jewish Recipes
Local reviews:
https://thecoastnews.com/old-suitcase-sends-vista-writer-on-journey-into-her-familys-past/
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/food-and-cooking/story/2023-04-19/a-bittersweet-gift-of-food-memories-kitty-morse-cookbook-memoir
Other local events:
Monday, November 13
Point Loma Library, 6:30PM
Presentation and Book signing
visit www.adventuresbythebook.com for details
Friday, December 1, 2023
Coastal Roots Farm Shabbat Dinner
Presentation and Book Signing
Information: https://coastalrootsfarm.org/contact/
Wednesday, November 29, 5PM to 8PM
call or text for menu and price
SAVE THE DATE: An Alsatian Dinner
bistrotdumarche.net
e-mail: smdiot@gmail.com
call or text to reserve: Sylvie Diot (858)551-7500
KIRKUS REVIEW
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kitty-morse/bitter-sweet-a-wartime-journal-and-heirloom-recipes-from-occupied-france/
BITTER SWEET: A WARTIME JOURNAL AND HEIRLOOM RECIPES FROM OCCUPIED FRANCE
by Kitty Morse ; photographed by Owen Morse‧
https://www.kittymorse.com
"A moving book that highlights a long-gone world."
Cooking instructor and cookbook author Kitty Morse tells of discovering her great-grandparents’ memories and recipes in this history-filled cookbook. The author was born in Casablanca, Morocco, shortly after World War II to a British aviation officer and a French administrative assistant. She knew that her maternal grandfather—her warm, gregarious pépé, Armand Darmon—came from an Algerian Sephardic family, but she knew little of her reserved, French-born mémé, Suzanne. It wasn’t until decades later, while cleaning out her deceased mother’s Oceanside, California, home, that the author came across a suitcase bearing a trove of documents bearing the mysterious title Les Archives Complètes des Familles Lévy-Neymarck. These documents told the story of her mémé’s parents—a secular Jewish doctor and his wife living in Châlons-sur-Marne at the time of the Nazi occupation. They include Dr. Prosper Lévy’s wartime diary and his wife Blanche Neymarck’s book of recipes. It was a bittersweet discovery, indeed: sweet because the author has written several cookbooks, and bitter because neither of her great-grandparents survived the occupation. With this archive, she effectively opens a window onto life in France before and during the war, elegantly tracing the familiar connections between love, grief, and food. It’s a project that was begun by her mother, Nicole, who transcribed some of the documents without ever mentioning their existence to the author: “I’d never understood what lay behind the intermittent bouts of depression that plagued my mother throughout her life,” Morse writes. “How I wished she’d shared Les Archives…with me, as difficult as that might have been.” Prosper’s diary covers the first year of the occupation, after which poor health prevented him from writing further; Blanche’s recipes are a mix of French and Alsatian dishes, from hearty stews and casseroles to wine-heavy preparations of duck, chicken, and fish. The desserts and baked goods section is the most extensive and alluring part of the book—featuring “Beignets de Carnaval” and “Alsatian Brioche”—but the entire work is richly illustrated with the author’s husband Owen Morse’s full-color photographs. "
Our Verdict
· GET IT!!
Pub Date: Feb 2023 ISBN: 9780578361642 Review Posted Online: SEPT 2023 Review Program: Kirkus Indie Categories: BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | GENERAL BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | GENERAL NONFICTION | FOOD & DRINK
Hope to see you at one of these events! Tell your friends.
Merci,
Kitty