{"id":446,"date":"2011-08-22T20:45:03","date_gmt":"2011-08-23T00:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/?p=446"},"modified":"2011-08-23T01:42:37","modified_gmt":"2011-08-23T05:42:37","slug":"cookbook-author-reading-in-berkeley-with-romney-steele-of-plum-gorgeous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/?p=446","title":{"rendered":"Cookbook author reading in Berkeley with Romney Steele of Plum Gorgeous"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The beautiful new Plum Gorgeous: Recipes and Memories from the Orchard -- Credits: Andrews McMeel Publishing.<\/p><\/div>\n

Talented Bay Area author Romney Steele published her new cookbook, \u201cPlum Gorgeous: Recipes and Memories from the Orchard,\u201d on July 19, 2011 and she\u2019s giving a reading on August 23 in Berkeley to celebrate.<\/p>\n

Oakland resident Steele is the featured presenter at this unique evening, a monthly event coordinated by the \u201cCooks\u2019 Book Club of Fourth Street<\/a>\u201d in collaboration with retail shop Books Inc. and venues Caf\u00e9 Rouge and The Pasta Shop. The event begins at 6pm at The Pasta Shop (1786 4th<\/sup> Street) with food created from cookbook recipes, plus conversation between Steele and Rachel Saunders, author of the fabulous Blue Chair Jam Cookbook. They will be discussing \u201ctheir love of all things fruit.\u201d There will also be a panel discussion around the corner at Books Inc. (1760 Fourth Street) led by food blogger Sarah Henry.<\/p>\n

“Plum Gorgeous” follows Steele\u2019s successful 2009 cookbook-memoir “My Nepenthe,” which received praise from food visionaries such as Michael Pollan and Deborah Madison. As the granddaughter of the creators of renowned Nepenthe Restaurant in Big Sur, the author grew up at the family business and opened Caf\u00e9 Kevah, located on the grounds of Nepenthe. Steele\u2019s new book has 60 seasonally inspired recipes; some of these recall the year the author spent living in a Big Sur orchard. Savory recipes include Coriander Steak with Blackberry Vinaigrette, Blueberry Lemon Thyme Risotto, Fig Relish and Ham Sandwiches, and Kumquat Couscous Salad with Fried Haloumi Cheese. Sweet concoctions include Passionfruit Chocolate Truffles, Lemon Almond Cake, and Plum Soup with Basil Ice Cream. The beautiful book also features vivid color photographs by Sara Remington.<\/p>\n

Something that Steele mentions in the introduction is her approach to recipes, which is refreshing. She encourages readers: \u201cUse your imagination; feel free to substitute one fruit for another.\u201d For example, she suggests making Pink Grapefruit Cassis Granita with blood orange juice, or switching blackberries for plums in a tart recipe. That is the best kind of cookbook, one that teaches and offers guidance while simultaneously offering flexibility and provoking creativity.<\/p>\n

Monthly Cooks\u2019 Book Club events occur on the fourth Tuesday of each month and rotate between three locations: Books Inc. and venues Caf\u00e9 Rouge and The Pasta Shop. Wine and food are served, and attendees enjoy conversation with the authors plus recipes. Books and ingredients are always available for purchase. For more information, call (510) 250-6055.<\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t make this appearance, Steele will be at Readers\u2019 Books<\/a> in Sonoma on Saturday, August 27 at 2:30 pm. Learn more about Steele at her web site, http:\/\/www.romneysteele.com\/.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Follow me on Twitter @santacruzfoodie<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Talented Bay Area author Romney Steele published her new cookbook, \u201cPlum Gorgeous: Recipes and Memories from the Orchard,\u201d on July 19, 2011 and she\u2019s giving a reading on August 23 in Berkeley to celebrate. Oakland resident Steele is the featured … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,33],"tags":[199,198,197,42,104,200],"class_list":["post-446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cooking-chefs","category-events","tag-berkeley","tag-book-readings","tag-cookbook","tag-cooking","tag-free","tag-fruit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=446"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":453,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446\/revisions\/453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}