Smitten Kitchen Book Event

The snow has been slow to let go of its release this year.  On the day that Deb Perelman, author and blogger of Smitten Kitchen, was scheduled to appear in Minneapolis, we got yet another snowstorm (March 5th).  Luckily she was still able to make it into town and a great (big!) group of hearty Minnesotans gathered to support her.
 

These were the scenes on my journey from my workplace to the Minneapolis library where the event was held.  You might think these are black and white shots, but that is just the way winter looks around here.  The winter palette is full of shades of grey.

I thought the turnout wouldn't be so big since the weather was bad enough that schools were closed and a lot of people worked from home.  Luckily, the friends I went with were wise and suggested we get in line early.

The central Minneapolis library is a beautiful building, full of light and air.

Since we were in line so early, we got primo seats.  The turnout did not suffer.  The main room was filled and there were overflow rooms as well!  The evening consisted of Deb sharing the backstories of how she came to be a blogger and how the book came to be.  Most of the evening was spent in a Q & A format where we learned that she considers herself to be "gluten-ful" and thus not a great resource for gluten-free cooks/bakers.  Although she comes across as self-depracating when it comes to her photography and writing, she did own up to being meticulous about recipe-writing and testing.
 

I've had the Smitten Kitchen book since Christmas, but have just recently started trying out some of the recipes.  My overall feeling about it is that this is not the book I will turn to when I crave a healthy, nourishing recipe.  It is the book I will turn to when I want something indulgent and fabulous.  I think it is good to have both sorts of books on hand :)