Tasty Tuesday: smitten kitchen Book Signing

Last Thursday, Deb Perelman came to Atlanta. If you don't know who that is, then clearly you haven't been paying attention, and we will have words after this class is over, young lady.

Deb is the incredible cook (and woman) behind smitten kitchen. Hers is not merely a food blog - it's a blog about perfect food. Deb's recipes are painstakingly tested, and then tested again and again by her family, and then posted on the internet so we can all be amazing home chefs. Whenever I need a fail-safe recipe - something that I know will be a hit - I head to smitten kitchen.

I bought myself a copy of her cookbook for Christmas - it's beautiful, just like the online version, and when you open it up, the pages stay open. It's a miracle of cookbook engineering.

Deb hosted a Q&A and book signing at Manuel's Tavern last Thursday. We were there early, but not early enough.

Very Excellent and I got Blue Moons while we waited.

You see, we weren't the only fans there.

Not by a longshot.

Standing-room only!

I was thrilled to see the Atlanta support! I'm rarely ever happy that I have to stand for an event, but I was for this.

After a fight with Buckhead traffic, Deb arrived and answered our queries for a while.

Horrible, grainy, close-up cell phone pic!

Rapt.

She was just as charming and silly in real life as she is on the internet. 

Delightfully, I ran into a couple people I knew - including an old high school friend, Lucy!

Lucy and I

She has her own corner of the interwebs - Flowers are Lovely. Stop by sometime and tell her I said hey. 

Deb and I

When Deb signed my book, I told her that her recipe for kale chips has thoroughly changed my life. She dropped some knowledge in the form of a verbal recipe for brussel sprout chips. GUYS, you KNOW how much I love brussel sprouts! I could have died! Instead, I asked for a picture while my heart fluttered. 

Crazy-eyed with the cookbook

We finished the evening with dinner in the next room - I got black bean nachos, Very Excellent got a French dip sandwich, and we switched meals halfway through. It was a very tasty night. 

Tomorrow, I'll recount my second blogging meetup from last week. Magical!