The Party's Over

Hi Reader,

Well, I just finished sweeping up and clearing all those red Solo cups that were littering the place.  It's been great fun being a part of the Beach Book Blast, and I hope you had a great time as well.

Even more importantly, I hope you enjoy St. Anne's Day.  If you haven't picked up your copy yet, check out the links to the right.  Also, thanks to all (and there were way more than I expected) who have purchased the book.  If you like it, please post a review, and let me know that you did because I'd like to mail you out a St. Anne's Day magnet in appreciation.

Also, be sure to check out this blog to keep up-to-date on the latest fun and publishing news.

Now on to the goodies.

Denise Z. won the St. Anne's Day T-shirt.  Try not to be too envious of her good fortune.

I'm still endeavoring to learn the name of the lucky person who won the $25 Red Lobster certificate on the main BBB site.

Susan Catherine Mahoney won the highly coveted "Pittsburghese" mug from the FB party.  She will soon be speaking like a native "Picksburgher" before yinz can say Stillers.

Have a happy Sunday and be sure to keep in touch.  I love hearing from you.

Janice

Happy St. Anne's Day Everyone!

Well, it's finally July 26, St. Anne's Day!

I hope you enjoyed our journey to this big day and to the launch of the book. 


A big thank you to all of you who have helped me along the way from critique partners, beta readers to friends, family and neighbors.  The reviews are starting to roll in, and they've been terrific!  Thank God and St. Anne! 

Now let's get the party started!

In France, especially the Brittany region, they whoop it up on St. Anne's Day, making special foods like Creme Sainte-Anne and Gateau Sainte-Anne.   

I found a really great website called CatholicCuisine.com, which gives recipes appropriate for many of the Saints' Feast Days and Church Holidays.  The site also features some very interesting cookbooks.   When you get a chance, check their site out.

If we could party together in person, I would serve you this--their fabulous creation:  Creme Sainte-Anne. 

Crème Sainte-Anne (St. Anne's Cream) 

1/2 c. sugar 

2 Tbsp. water 

1 Tbsp. butter, unsalted 

1/4 c. macaroons, crushed 

1 1/14 c. milk 

1 egg 

3 egg yolks 

Butter 4 ramekins. Put half the sugar in a pan and moisten with 2 tablespoons water. Bring to a boil and cook to amber caramel. 

Pour the caramel into 4 ramekins, to make a thin layer in each, and allow to set. (I don't think I cooked the sugar quite long enough since it never turned to a caramel color -- next time I think I may try cooking it longer or reduce the water. Any suggestions??) 

Place a thin slice of butter on the caramel in each ramekin and sprinkle each with the chopped macaroons. Heat the milk to the simmering point. Whisk the egg, egg yolks and remaining sugar until creamy. Beat in the hot milk and pour into the prepared ramekins. The macaroons will float to the top. 

 Stand the ramekins in a tray of simmering water that comes halfway up their sides. Bake in a moderate oven at 325°F (160°C) for 20 to 25 minutes until set. Allow to cool, loosen edges and turn out onto a plate. (I baked mine for 28 minutes and it could have still used a few more minutes... I am sure this varies depending on your oven, but mine usually tends to bake hotter/ quicker so you may need to increase the baking time.) 

Serves 4. 

Also, in France they celebrate St. Anne's Day by eating seafood because Brittany is a peninsular region on the northwestern coast of the country.  That is why the grand prize is a $50 Gift Certificate to Red Lobster. If you can't go to France to get your lobster, I thought this is the next best thing!  

Be sure to enter the Sweepstakes before the deadline.  Tomorrow the lucky winner will be announced.  Good luck, Anne Fans! 

Finally, it wouldn't be a party unless everyone got some swell swag to take home.  Therefore, I'm offering St. Anne's Day for FREE until July 28.  

All you need do is go to Smashwords by clicking here.  Enter this code at checkout:  BC74F to get your FREE copy!

Unfortunately, Amazon Kindle does not permit authors to offer their books for free.  However, they do have a downloadable Kindle app on the site that you can install on your laptop, phone, etc. that allows you to read St. Anne's Day from Smashwords.  The paperback will be available very soon too.  I'll be sure to let you know when. 

Please remind your friends to get their copy before the price reverts back to $2.99.  All I ask is if you liked the book, to please post a review about it on Amazon or Smashwords and to spread the word that St. Anne's Day is available.  Word of mouth is the best publicity!

If you didn't like the book, then I'm asking you to invoke the Thumper Rule from Bambi:  If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nothin' at all! ; )

Please sign up for my emails so that I can keep you up-to-date on the lastest news.  Also feel free to email me with any comments or questions.

Happy St. Anne's Day!

Enjoy the book!