Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen Recipe by Kayma Vasquez
Author
Sarah Addison Allen, prolific for her captivating characters has written the first in two books (so far) about the Waverley sisters.
nbnnSarah was born in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. Growing up with two loves, the love of good food from her mother and reading, which she thanks her journalist father for.
Being surprised that she could get a diploma for doing something she loved, reading books, she said about her college experience
"I thought it was amazing that I could get a diploma just for reading fiction. It was like being able to major in eating chocolate."
She began to write seriously after graduating college, and Sarah’s first book to hit the mainstream (2007) was this month’s read, Garden Spells. It didn’t take long for it to become a New York Times Bestseller. (See below for more about the book).
With 5 years of best sellers, Sarah took tome away from writing after being diagnosed with breast cancer, she was only 39.
After a few years (2014), and in remission, ‘Lost Lake’ hit the shelves becoming another bestseller.
In 2015 Sarah went back to visit the Waverely sisters with the second book in this series, Other Birds.
Translated into over 30 languages and with millions of books now in print Sarah Addison Allen, is still bringing what she describes as ‘Southern-fried magic realism’ to readers all over the world.
Follow and find out more about Sarah Addison Allen in her instagram here, X here, Facebook here, and website here.
Sarah Addison Allen
Book
Garden Spells, the first book out of two which visits the Waverley Sisters.
The unusual mystic talents of the Waverley’s are well known amongst all the other towns folk.
Sydney, Claires sister, who after 10 years, returns to the family home in North Carolina with her 5-year-old daughter.
She joins a tree that tells the biggest event in the lives of those who eat the apples, an elderly relative (Evanelle) who has a compulsion to give meaningful gifts of exactly what others need before they need it and Claire who makes her living by catering to people of the town using edible flowers with meaning.
Tyler Hughes moves in next door, and Claire, who has always stayed away from relationships, initially acts cold towards him.
With new relationships starting for both the sisters and old ones peaking up over the window sill, the sisters deal with Sydneys violent husband who chases her across the country looking for revenge.
My Thoughts
I really enjoyed the magic of this book, letting myself loose with the unreal ‘reality’ of Claires world.
I felt the characters had just the right amount of depth to keep me interested in their journey throughout the book, and kept turning the pages to find out what was next.
Not the most original love story between Claire and Tyler ever written, but then there’s always a formular to a love story like this.
Garden Spells
by Sarah Addison Allen
.
It’s the love story between the women in the book that I felt was more important!
The growing restored relationship between the three Waverley women is something I hope to see develop in the next book.
Will it all end well and would I recommend this book to others?
I’d certainly recommend the book to others, and about the ending, read it for yourself to find out.
Because it was such an easy read with full characters, I give it a 4 egg rating and I’m already down loading the next book in the series.
I give it a 4 egg rating
Chef
Kayma Vasquez has gifted Foodie Book Club this months recipe, and I’m super pleased that she did.
Thank you Kayma
Kayma Vasquez
If, like me, you’re a fan of MasterChef Australia (and If you’ve not found it yet, go find it), you’ll know Kayma from season 14 as the one who was always joyful while she cooked her amazing food and was the first Latin to reach semi finals week, coming 4th over all.
Based in Melbourne since 2011, originally from Ciudad Guyana, lots of her dishes drew on memories from her grandparents, extended family get togethers and her beautiful children.
A great believer in her life experiences making her who she is now, as a child, Keyma loved the spotlight singing in a school choir, playing piano, ballet dancing.
She was part of a Venezuelan cultural group and still dances as a hobby as part of her wellbeing routine.
Even though food has always been a factor in her life, it wasn’t always the way she wanted to go.
Graduating with a Bachelor in Industrial Engineering in 2007, Keyma also has a diploma in strategic Management and is an entrepreneur launching two of her own online businesses.
Keyma is such a generous and beautiful soul, that she relishes helping others reach their goals.
According to Network 10, her foodie heroes include Heston Blumenthal, Clare Smyth and Gordon Ramsay, they also say that her dream would be to open her own restaurant where she would feature food with Latin, Caribbean and Australian flavours.
From her website, Keyma says:
“One of my biggest gains from participating in MasterChef Australia was understanding flavour at a deep level and finding my own style of cooking while still celebrating my beloved Latin- Caribbean flavours”
Since leaving MasterChef Australia, Keyma has spent time working hard on developing recipes that showcase and share her heritage, refining her cooking skills and collaborating with brands and restaurants.
Now, Keyma likes to spend some of her time in nature walking her greyhound, dancing, payng games with her children and husband.
Other than cooking, Keymas passion is advocating for working/returning to work mums and helping them have a healthy work-life balance while still being a success outside the home.
Find out more about Keyma on her website here, Instagram here, X (formally Twitter) here.
Kayma Vasquez with the late Jock Zonfrillo
Food
Here is the amazing recipe gifted to Foodie Book Club by Keyma. Along with the recipe, Keyma has written a little bit about why she loves this dish
“These little cakes (Bolos de Arroz) are a beloved treat in Portuguese cuisine, known for their sweet and slightly lemony taste. They're perfect for an afternoon tea or dessert and they are not too sweet. I absolutely love them so much this time of the year, you could also swap lemon for your favourite citrus fruits in this recipe.
Traditional ‘bolos de arroz’ or Portuguese rice cakes, don’t actually have any rice flour in them so I decided to develop my own recipe to honour the name, and make it gluten free using nutty and versatile Cassava flour (not starch) which can be found in specialty stores or online, and rice flour more widely available in supermarkets.
Cassava flour behaves so well in baking that it actually mimics wheat flour so well with almost imperceptible after taste, but if you can’t find it you can easily swap for your
favourite gluten free flour blend or plain flour, swap at a ratio of 1:1” Kayma
Portuguese rice cakes,
Recipe:
Portuguese Rice Cakes (Bolos de Arroz)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup (125g) granulated sugar, plus extra for topping
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 teaspoons (11g) baking powder
2 tsp lemon zest
A pinch of salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
Approximately 100ml milk (adjust as needed)
125g cassava flour
125g rice flour
Icing sugar
Juice of one lemon
Lemon slices (for garnish)
Perfect Little cakes by Kayma Vasquez
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F).
Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease it lightly with butter or cooking spray.
In a mixing bowl, cream together the room-temperature butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
Stir in the lemon zest and a pinch of salt for a burst of flavour. Then, one at a time, add the room-temperature eggs, ensuring each is fully incorporated before adding the next.
In a separate bowl, combine the cassava flour, rice flour, and baking powder. Gradually add this dry mixture to the butter-sugar mixture, alternating with small amounts of milk as needed. Continue until all ingredients are well blended, creating a smooth batter.
Fill each muffin cup with the batter until they are about two-thirds full.
Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven and bake for approximately 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Remove the Portuguese rice cakes from the oven and let them cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Create a zesty glaze by mixing the juice of one lemon with some icing sugar. Drizzle this glaze over the cooled rice cakes for an extra burst of citrusy goodness.
Perfect
