I met Orangette

I had the privilege of making it to Molly Wizenberg's book reading yesterday evening. I was so impressed with her and how down to earth she is. She seems like such a sweet person, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who walked away wishing she were my BFF, who I could share recipes with and bake with on lazy Saturdays.

I must confess, at the time of the event, I hadn't yet read my copy of the book (ok, so I just bought it right before the reading!) but I am totally in love with her writing style on her blog, so I am sure I will feel the same about her book. The only thing is...the book has no pictures! Normally, I would never, ever buy a cookbook that contained no pictures. I need them. I crave them. I want them. Badly. I don't even like it when cook books only have a small little section somewhere in the middle of about eight pages of random recipe pictures. It's not enough. I need more. However, being that Molly's book is more of a memoir with recipes in between, I think I can get past the no pictures thing. Plus, there's always her blog, and she has some really great photography there to satisfy my needs. But still, it is disappointing, especially if you've ever seen the photos on her blog. They go so well with her writing, it's a shame they weren't able to work it in on this book.

I am happy to report I got my book signed and was able to get my picture taken with Molly only...well, you can see what happened there.


if you squint, you can see Molly on the left

It amazes me that people can still manage to mess up taking a picture when all they have to do is point and shoot. Ok so I do have a DSLR, which is probably intimidating to someone who's never used one, but still, it has basic point and shoot functions. I asked the person in line behind me to snap our picture and the first time Molly blinked, so we took another. It was blurry. So I kindly asked the lady to take just one more, whereupon she muttered something about not being a "professional paparazzi" and I could sense her annoyance. Because of this, I didn't ask her to take a fourth picture when the next one came out blurry, yet again. I didn't want to be rude and hold up the line any more, so I just let it be. I was happy enough to meet Molly and take part in the event.

I have since blazed through the first 70 pages or so and probably would've continued if I hadn't fallen asleep while reading. My head was literally bobbing and drooping as my eyes got heavier with each blink and I had to shake my head to wake myself back up. I didn't want to stop reading, but next thing I knew I was out. I absolutely adore books that you don't want to put down, and hers definitely fits into this category. I want to savor each page because I know I'll be sad once I reach the end. Yet I am giddy at the same time to try out many of the recipes I've read through so far. I've already got my eye on her Banana Bread with Chocolate and Crystalized Ginger. Excuse me, I just drooled a little. I might need to make that a weekend project.

If you don't have this book, or plan to have it at some point, I highly encourage you to run out to your nearest book store and buy it this weekend. You will not be disappointed.