Pies and prizes

Dean and I are coming your way this weekend, Southern California! See my events page for details. I've had many requests to extend the tour to other areas of California and other states. I wish I could! That's not in my power. It's up to my publisher where I go, and I have to limit the tours overall due to the smallish children who inhabit my house.

Please keep voting on the rapunzel's revenge book trailer contestants through Feb 25. I am so glad I don't have to select the winner myself...however, I am in the hot seat for the actor and the housewife book club contest.

This was really, really hard. So many lovely, touching, funny, and just stand out entries. The photos were great. Many groups incorporated pies into their meeting. One group served all kinds of homemade pies--shepherd's pie, pizza pie, etc., as well as a dozen different desert pies. Another made pies then in the tradition of Becky Jack, delivered them to neighbors who just might need the comfort of a homemade pie. Sweet!

One group of ladies dressed as stereotypical housewives, with hairs in curlers, cream-on-face, bathrobes, etc., and above them hung a whale made of cardboard and construction paper (a book reference -- awesome!). Another had a potluck, and the menu was typical Mormon food.
Spaghetti
Funeral Poatoes
Green Jello with carrots and without
Sprite with Sherbet
Iceberg Salad (from a bag, served with Ranch)
Fruit Pie
Fruit Crisp
Lion House Rolls
Hawaiian Bread

This had me laughing. I love it! And seriously, funeral potatoes are SO good. They're called that because after a funeral, in Mormondom, the women in the neighborhood typically make a big lunch for the extended family of the deceased, and someone always tends to bring a cheesy, saucy potato casserole. But hey folks, don't wait for a death in the family to try this at home! And I happen to be a fan of Jello, but I can't eat it with the carrot shavings. Makes me gag.

So many invented great games and ideas to get everyone talking. I was touched by the discussion accounts and feel so grateful to have such open-hearted readers who were willing to go on this book journey with me, even when it wasn't quite what they expected, or in some cases, approved of.

And now the winner...because it was impossible for me to judge the actual book group meetings, I judged on presentation alone. And the entry from kategory.org was very clever. As Becky did in the book, each lady wrote up her own information, if it had appeared in the fictional celebrity magazine Exclusive! The pictures are darling and funny, and I laughed and felt like I knew you. Email me privately and I'll get your mailing address and send you those hard-earned book prizes!

Thanks, everyone who entered! You are all darling. Now I really want some pie...

Comments

[Shannon Morris]

After a long sleepless night it was so nice to find something light and a bit whimsical to read to get my day off to a better start- thanks kategory.org!! You are lovely ladies and I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation. Shannon, thanks for sharing them!

[Jen]

Mmmm, funeral potatoes. They come in at a close second to pie for me. Thanks for hosting this fun contest. Congrats to Kategory. That was a very fun post.

[Amy N.]

Oh wow!! THANKS so much! I was one of those ladies! :) I have to say we all laughed SO much doing those write ups!

[Nadia]

The menu for the Mormon-esque meal made me laugh, although I have to admit that I have had a lot more ham and chicken cordon bleu then spaghetti at various church functions (outside of singles wards -- they always seem to serve spaghetti). I think my favorite church dinner was for a ward Christmas party and included sloppy joes, corn chips, and homemade root beer -- and of course funeral potatoes.

[Princess Loucida]

Please keep posting Shannon! I check everyday to see if you have posted something new!

[Laura]

I'm not LDS, but still know funeral potatoes. And the whole class of funeral food. Man, I love funeral food. Too bad that is always comes with the circumstances it does. 'Cause brownies with frosting? So wrong, but so tasty.

[Kylie]

AARRGGH!! I was just AT Huntington Beach!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE come to Arizona if you can- my mom's a fan, too, and we swore that if you ever came to Arizona, we are SO THERE!

[shannon hale]

Ooh, Laura, I didn't know funeral potatoes were known outside Mormondom! Good info. I'm with you if the brownies frosting is mint.

[Frogster]

On the funeral potatoes bit--yes, variations are known outside Mormondom! In our churches (at least in the area where I live) they're called scriptural potatoes, because it's jokingly considered "unscriptual" to not have them at potlucks, funerals, etc. Do Mormon funeral potatoes include hashbrowns? It's a key ingredient in our scriptural potatoes.

[Laura Z M]

Congratulations, Kate, et al. What a fun party!

Yes, Mormon funeral potatoes might include hash browns. Or maybe fresh potatoes. I've even seen them made with tater tots. But, in my opinion, it's the cheesy sauce that makes the dish. And the crunchy bit of whatever-it-is on top. Serious comfort food.

And as for Jello with shredded carrots, I haven't seen a dish like that served (except as a joke) in the past three decades. Does anybody really still make that?

[shannon hale]

My grandma used to make it for us as a kid. My mom used to put mayonnaise on top of our jello. This was a REPEAT offense.

[Sandra]

Another popular variation on the carrots is crushed pineapple. The newest fad, of course, would be dump salad where you mix the jello dry into a tub of cool whip and a tub of cottage cheese with various complimentary fruits. But mayonnaise on jello? I am so sorry you had to eat that.

[Laura Z M]

Oh, yes. I remember the Mayo-Jello (but my mom was more of a Miracle Whip gal).

[Shannon Morris]

Totally off the subjuect- but I finally got my hot little hands on Calamity Jack!!! I am the first one to check it out from the Murray Library and have been waiting eagerly. My daughter and I are racing through it to see who can get done first- but I am secretly taking my time and relishing every picture and word bubbble. Truth be told, I think she is too, but will never admit it. What do you think they ate at funeral in Jack's day? Maybe Jack's mom invented Mormon funeral potatoes.....

[Nadia]

All of my friends who are not LDS love funeral potatoes. My husband used to work with a guy from West Virginia who helped us with some moving, so we feed him dinner: bone-in ham with cheesy potatoes. He was in heaven. He said the ham reminded him of home and the potatoes were so good they should be outlawed. Quick and delicious comfort food recipes make the rounds no matter what religion you belong to. :)

[Rinna-Girl]

Now I want funeral potatoes. . .

[Nadia]

. . .and bone-in ham. . .I can almost smell it cooking. *sigh*

[Victoria McDaniel]

I'm so happy I happened to stop by today... (I mentioned you in my blog today and wanted to link to your website) but I see that you are going to be doing a booksigning nearby! I am so excited! Totally coming to see you in Irvine on Tuesday.

[Chantal]

I'm delighting in some of the similarities typical Mormon food and typical Irish Catholic food. We put things in our jello too!! I usually devote a great deal of time toward picking them all out, but maybe this means that jello tendencies at religious gatherings are fairly universal?

[Rachel Danielle]

Shannon Hale- you know what you need? Some sight seeing. Colorado is a lovely place. And conveniently where I happen to live. :D Someday, someday I shall see you at a book signing.

[Princess Loucida]

Hey! My family is Mennonnite and we eat jello with Carrot all the time. Actually we eat it with bannana's too. I prefer the carrots. But I havn't ever had the mayo. (Praise God for that!)

[Princess Loucida]

You know I think you should come visit the blizzard beaten plains of Minnesota. You would put a ray of light in our otherwise freezing state.

[Christen]

Congrats to the winners!! :D

And Jello with mayonaisse? Bluh. I thought my mom's oatmeal with chunks of orange peel in it was bad.

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[NFL Jerseys]

Oh wow!! THANKS so much! I was one of those ladies! :) I have to say we all laughed SO much doing those write ups!

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I'm delighting in some of the similarities typical Mormon food and typical Irish Catholic food. We put things in our jello too!

[anylve]

And Jello with mayonaisse? Bluh. I thought my mom's oatmeal with chunks of orange peel in it was bad.

[Ruth]

I loooooooooooove this book. My goal for the end of the year is to get 15 friends to read this book. I have read the Actor and the Housewife as many times as Becky watched Rattled Cages. Trust me. I almost have it memorized. If I read it one more time my parents will probably make me read it in another language. BRILLIANT BOOK!!!!!!!

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I feel so much happier now I understand all this. Thknas!

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