100 pre-orders reached over the weekend!  On to 250. Don't forget to pre-order if you haven't, and even if you have why not pre-order again for a friend?  In the meantime, how about another recipe? No cocktails this time, but food (because it's usually good to have something in your stomach to soak up all that alcohol, huh?) There's a scene in the book where Susan and Edith Vale cook chicken hash together in Edith's kitchen in Pasadena. The recipe actually comes from Julia Child. Many people, when they think about Julia, think French food, of course, but Julia was born in Pasadena (this is discussed briefly in the book btw) and she died in Montecito, a short ways up the coast from Edith's house at Trancas. She also had very strong New England ties, and in her book "The Way To Cook" she includes many recipes for hearty New England fare. Like all New Englanders, Julia had a thrifty side. So if you have leftover beef, or ham or chicken, turkey, what do you do? You make hash, of course. So here's the recipe for Chicken Hash that Susan cooks (while Edie watches and smokes Parliaments and drinks her Manhattan). It's a great way to use up leftovers. It's crusty on the bottom, but tender inside. If you like, toss a poached egg on top. Enjoy!!

Chicken Hash (recipe adapted from Julia Child's "The Way To Cook"

1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked chicken, skin and bones removed

salt and fresh ground pepper

2 tbsps. olive oil

1 cup onions, finely diced

2 tbsps. butter

2 tbsps. flour

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 cups diced peeled potatoes (about 2 large Idaho)

3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

3 tbsps. chopped Italian parsley

1)  Cut the meat into a 1/4 inch dice. In a bowl season with salt and fresh ground pepper.

2)  Place potatoes in saucepan, cover with water. Add a little salt and bring to simmer. Cook, about five minutes, until potatoes are tender. Set aside.

3)  In a 10 inch skillet (non-stick is best for this) melt the butter and saute onions until tender and lightly brown, about 5 minutes. Blend in four. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes.  Add in one cup chicken stock. Bring to simmer, stirring, for another two minutes, until thickened. Season with salt and pepper. This is your hash base. Fold the potatoes, meat and the remaining stock into the base. Cover and simmer, slowly, for 10 to 15 minutes, until the hash begins to crust on the bottom. Uncover, stir the crust into the body, and if the mixture seems dry, add a little extra stock. Taste for salt and pepper. Cover and let crust on the bottom again, 10 or 15 minutes more.

4) Stir up again. Blend in the cheese and parsley and cook, 5-10 minutes more, uncovered this time, until the bottom is nicely browned and well-crusted.

5) Either flip the hash over in the pan and slide onto a platter, or remove portions and flip over onto plates so the crusty side is up. You could serve this with tomato sauce but good old ketchup works well too.  Edith Vale would insist on Heinz Ketchup and Heinz only because she's insane about this kind of stuff.

Still just a few books a way from 100 pre-orders so if any Inkshares member followers who haven't ordered and have credits to spare...!  Just saying.  Anyway, on to cocktails, always a good subject, huh?  Recipes for cocktails, I mean. I mentioned a possible recipe section at the end of the book featuring food and drink from the story. A lot of people think it's a good idea, not that it hasn't been done (see Nora Ephron's "Heartburn", for instance, for probably the best example). But I like the idea of recipes too. In "Women Like Us", the first cocktail to appear shows up in Chapter 1, and it's a daiquiri. Let's talk daiquiris for a second. Although there's certain a place for them, I'm not talking that frozen kind that's more like a slushee laced with booze. I'm talking the original classic daiquiri, which is a simple connection of rum, simple syrup and lime juice, shaken over ice but then strained. Here's a short history of the daiquiri: by all accounts the daiquiri originated in Cuba around the turn of the twentieth century. It eventually made its way from Havana to Washington DC, and if anybody else is a bit Kennedy-obsessed like I am they'd know that John and Jacqueline Kennedy liked to have evening daiquiris before going on to dinner (which is the way we all should be living). So how do you make a classic daiquiri?  Well, here ya go:

Classic Daiquiri (recipe adapted from epicurious.com)

2 ounces light rum

1 ounce, plus one teaspoon fresh squeezed lime juice (don't even think of using that bottled stuff)

1/2 ounce simple syrup (mix equal parts sugar, water, bring to boil to dissolve sugar, let cool)

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine rum, lime juice and simple syrup. Shake vigorously. Strain into cocktail glass and serve. Makes one.

Now go make yourself a daiquiri!  Or order one then next time you're out to dinner, but often you have to tell the bartender how to make the classic so bring this recipe along with you!!

Hey Readers!  Jason here with an update.  So pushing toward 100 pre-orders and that's great but if anybody is following and hasn't pre-ordered, please don't forget to click that icon! And now a question for you all. A lot of cooking goes on in "Women Like Us".  Susan is a chef after all but there are other meals centered around Edith Vale in the book as well. I have long toyed with the idea of including a recipe section at the end of the book, not just for food, but for the cocktails that are often featured as well. Good idea?  Bad idea?  Indifferent.  Love to hear people's thoughts.  Also may be working on some new cover art so stay tuned for that.  Thank you to all who have ordered, and if you haven't, how about helping me hit 100?

Okay 46 pre-orders on the books (sorry, no pun intended) and a bunch of people who promise they're going to order, but still a ways to go to hit that 250 so if anybody wants to help the cause by sharing or telling a friend, please feel free to do so.  Thanks!  

Launching pre-orders so read Chapters 1-3 and then, if you like, spread the word!