'Grilled Cheese and Beer,' two American favorites

Here’s a fun cookbook for the Memorial Day Weekend, plus a nice gift idea for Father’s Day. Kevin VanBlarcum, a brewer at Keegan Ales in Kingston, N.Y., and James Edward “Eddie” Davis, a New York chef, have combined their talents for a cookbook honoring one of America’s finest pairings. “Grilled Cheese & Beer: Recipes for the Finer Things in Life” offers 50 grilled cheese sandwich recipes that range from the traditional — white bread, American cheese, tomato and bacon — to the unique — Pesto Chango with eggplant, pesto, mozzarella and red peppers on ciabatta. And each with a craft beer pairing. 

A sampling of the pun-y recipes and beer pairings include: Bacon Me Crazy paired with Stone Brewery’s Arrogant Bastard, The Nature Boy Ricotta Flair paired with Moosehead Lager, The Big Kahuna paired with Hell or High Watermelon, Dia de los Quesos paired with Modelo Especial, Johnny Apple Cheese paired with Angry Orchard, Muenster Mash paired with Stella Artois, Funky Bâtard paired with Unibroue La Fin du Monde, and Turkey in the Rye paired with Keegan Ales’ Mother’s Milk. There’s also a handy beer guide and reference section to cheeses. 

Book events for May 28-June 4

The Writers’ Guild of Acadiana will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Barnes & Noble Lafayette. This month’s speaker will be Curt Boudreaux, a retired school principal, Cajun humorist, speaker and author of “Never Kiss an Alligator on the Lips.”

Festival of Words presents “True Stories and Poetry” by Calletta Lewis and original works by The Baton Rouge Slam Team from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Chicory’s Coffee & Café, 219 E. Martin Luther King Drive in Grand Coteau. For more information, call Patrice Melnick at (337) 254-9695 or email festivalwords@gmail.com. 

Jessica B. Harris discusses and signs her memoir “My Soul Looks Back” at 6 p.m. Thursday at Garden District Book Shop of New Orleans.

The Walker Percy Weekend — with lectures, panel discussions, speakers and other writing-relating activities such as craft beer, cocktails and bourbon — will be Friday through Sunday, June 2-4, in St. Francisville. For information, visit www.walkerpercyweekend.org

It’s Family Movie Day beginning at 1 p.m. Friday at the West Ouachita Branch Library. Friday’s movie is “The Lego Movie,” appropriate for all ages. Visit www.oplib.org for more information.

Multi-published authors DiAnn Mills and Winnie Griggs present the “Second Annual Aspiring Writers Workshop” from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Bossier Parish Community College in Bossier City. Cost is $40 at the door. The event is hosted by the Louisiana chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers.

Monica Mankin, Clare Martin and Sean Munro will read their poetry at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Milton H Latter Branch of the New Orleans Public Library.

Elizabeth Schexnyder, curator of the National Hansen’s Disease Programs Museum, will share the story of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who cared for quarantined patients from 1896-2005 at what would later become the National Leprosarium at Carville, at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 4, at Lafayette’s South Regional Library.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country.” She writes Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Upcoming events for budding writers, book lovers

Want to write a book but just can’t find the time or place? How about learning the craft? Here are some upcoming events that might assist you in your goals.

How about a month of uninterrupted solitude in the heart of New Orleans? The New Orleans Writers’ Residency is taking applications until June 1 for a four-week residency July 10 through Aug. 7 in the New Marigny neighborhood just outside the French Quarter. The retreat — which will be given to several writers — will include lodging, airfare up to $500 and a stipend of $200 per week to cover food and entertainment. For more information, visit www.neworleanswritersresidency.org.

The Walker Percy Weekend — with lectures, panel discussions, speakers and other writing-relating activities such as craft beer, cocktails and bourbon — will be June 2-4 in St. Francisville. For information, visit www.walkerpercyweekend.org.

If you write Christian fiction, you don’t want to miss multi-published authors DiAnn Mills and Winnie Griggs presenting the “Second Annual Aspiring Writers Workshop” from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, June 3, at Bossier Parish Community College in Bossier City. Cost is $30 by May 26 or $40 at the door. The event is hosted by the Louisiana chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers.

Hear numerous authors speak about the craft at the Reader’s Lounge Book Exhibit and Author Panel from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. July 22 at the Epps Public Library in Lake Charles. Authors scheduled to appear are Sierra J.D., Toye Morris, Dionda Fugitt, Denisha Hardeman, Jamie Mayes, Remona G. Tanner and Debreka Handy. There are a few author panel spots available; authors interested in participating should contact Sierra at Destined Eloquence Publishing LLC by visiting their website, www.destinedeloquence.com.

New Orleans Storycon will be Sept 15-17 and includes a host of authors, including special guests Charlaine Harris and Christine Feehan, plus panels, tours and book signings. Tickets are on sale now but will be non-refundable after May 15. For information, visit http://nolastorycon.com.

Found books

I recently participated in a press trip from Nacogdoches to Natchitoches along the El Camino Real, or the old Spanish road when Texas was under Spanish rule and Natchitoches was the French frontier. Along the way I discovered some interesting books and authors. At The Bosslight bookstore in Nacogdoches, owner Tim Bryant has penned several books, including the Dutch Curridge detective series. He was named one of the Top Five Texas Authors of 2014 by BookPeople in Austin. Bryant, who once lived in New Orleans while he performed in a band, has a new book coming out in November from Kensington with a character who hails from New Orleans. In Natchitoches, I met Sandra Prud’homme Haynie who has published an impressive family tome titled “Legends of Oakland Plantation: The Prud’hommes of Natchitoches Parish.” The book dates back to 1719 when Marie Catherine Messelier Picard arrived in Louisiana at the age of 14. She married Jean Pierre Philippe Prud’homme, a soldier at Natchitoches, and the rest, as they say, is Prud’homme history.

           

Bike Ride

The Iberia Parish Library Main Branch will host horticulturist Jim Forest for a guided bike tour through New Iberia from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday. Forest will discuss the ancient oak trees of New Iberia. Helmets are required and children must be accompanied by an adult. The bike ride begins at the Main Library located at 445 E. Main St. in New Iberia. Date is subject to change dependent upon weather conditions. For more information, or to register, call (337) 364-7024 or visit Iberia.Evanced.Info/SignUp. 

Tulane exhibit

The “Art of the Book” exhibit, showcasing 16 pieces including an old-fashioned radio box enclosing a Hank Williams CD collection and a set of cards depicting the lexicon of New Orleans, is on display now through May 31 at Tulane’s Howard-Tilton Memorial Library in New Orleans. The exhibit includes tunnel books, which are diorama-style artworks that create a 3-D image using cutout images placed one behind another.

Book events

Beyond Black History Month Lecture Series features historian and author Dr. LaGuana Gray of the University of Texas at San Antonio who will speak about African-American women’s lives and labors at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Main Lafayette Library.

James Nolan discusses and signs copies of “Flight Risk: Memoirs of a New Orleans Bad Boy” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Maple Street Books of New Orleans. He will also read from and sign the memoir at 7 p.m. May 25 at the East Bank Regional Library in Metairie.

The Faulkner’s Society’s Readathon will be from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 21, at the Faulkner House, 624 Pirate’s Alley in the French Quarter of New Orleans and include Nolan. Other participating authors of new novels include Brenda McClain (“One Good Mama Bone”), Johnnie Bernhard (“A Good Girl”) and Sanem Ozdural (“The Dark Shall Do What the Light Cannot”). RSVP at faulkhouse@aol.com.

-->

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country.” She writes Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Nevada Barr's latest takes on Acadia National Park

             I’m a big fan of Anna Pigeon, Nevada Barr’s National Park Service Ranger who must face a host of mysteries in her work at the nation’s parks. Anna travels to Acadia National Park in Maine in Barr’s latest mystery, “Boar Island.”

            Anna takes a temporary job as Acting Chief Ranger at the Maine park but brings along her aunt Gwen, her paraplegic friend Heath Jarrod and her daughter, Elizabeth, who’s lately been the target of cyber-bullying. Anna hopes the move will give Elizabeth time to recover from the brutal attacks and the group moves into a house on rugged Boar Island, off the Maine coast.

             The group has barely arrived when new cyber-attacks happen, making them realize the stalker has followed them to Maine. Then a murder occurs, which calls for Anna’s attention. By the end of the story, the two tales conclude in a dramatic conclusion, with some pieces intertwining.

            The novel brings to light the devastating impact cyber-bullying can cause, especially on vulnerable young people. One of the reasons the group moves to the remote island is because Heath found her daughter attempting suicide. There’s also a corresponding thread of two identical twins finding one another.

            Barr, who lives in New Orleans, has worked as a ranger for the National Park Service and brings that experience to her novels. A travel writer when not penning this book column, I love her books because she sets each one in a new park, using the setting as if it was another character. I was excited that she had set this one in Acadia National Park, one of the most popular parks in the system but one I had never visited. I was disappointed the park wasn’t used as prominent as in her other books. The two parallel story threads also became tiring until the action sped up in the second half of the book.

            Barr will sign “Boar Island” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, at Octavia Books of New Orleans.

Discovering authors

            An ardent science fiction fan and native of Lafayette, Michael Moreau has written several book series, including “The Futureman Adventures,” “Rocket Riders of the 27th Century” and as co-creator of “The Robert Carson Files.” His latest books are “Future Tales and Other Such Rubbish” and “Sherlock Holmes: Monster Hunter.” Moreau is founder of the small publisher Outworld Press as well as being a photographer, filmmaker, costume designer, prop builder and artist. For more information, visit www.mmoreau.net.

            Louisiana’s Rhonda R. Dennis started out in emergency medical care but after graduating college as a non-traditional student felt compelled to write a short story. She has since written several novels and short stories, including “The Green Bayou” series, and has released a romantic comedy titled “Magnolia Blossoms” and a contemporary romance “Yours Always.” She was a nominee in multiple categories for the 2013 Indie Romance Convention Readers’ Choice Awards. For more information, visit www.rhondadennis.net.

Louisiana native Jackie Shemwell earned a degree in French and maintains a love of Francophone Cajun folklore. She weaves personal experience and family history into her short stories, poetry and her first novel, a circa-1957 Southern Gothic suspense tale titled “The Devil in Canaan Parish.”

Elizabeth Sinclair hails from Florida but she sets her paranormal time-traveling novel, “Garden of the Moon,” at a Louisiana plantation named Harrogate that her main character Sara Wade has inherited. Lauren Faulkenberry is also not a native but her latest novel, “Bayou My Love,” is set in “Bayou Sabine, Louisiana,” where 30-year-old Enza Parker is attempting to flip a house she inherited from her estranged grandmother. When she arrives, she finds the house occupied by a cute firefighter who agrees to help with repairs.

All of these books are available online as ebooks.

Facebook discoveries

Just read on Facebook — where I get my news because people have forgotten what email is — that UL’s Ernest J. Gaines Center will host a one-month interdisciplinary NEH Summer Institute on the work of Ernest J. Gaines, titled “Ernest J. Gaines and the Southern Experience.” This program will be Monday through June 24 on the UL campus and is open to any collegiate faculty and graduate students across the country. For information, visit http://ernestgaines.louisiana.edu.

P.S. If you want to be in this column, which reaches thousands, drop me an email.

Walker Percy Weekend

The third annual Walker Percy Weekend, celebrating the life and work of one of Louisiana’s most acclaimed writers, is Friday through Sunday in St. Francisville. There will be panel discussions, scholar presentations, an art exhibition of photographs of Percy and a series of social and culinary events inspired by the author’s most famous works. In addition, there will be special events such as bourbon tastings and crawfish and craft beer in Parker Park. For more information, visit www.walkerpercyweekend.org.

Book events

            An Author Book Rally with several authors in attendance will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 4, at The Thensted Center in Grand Coteau.

            The Writers Guild of Acadiana meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, at Barnes & Noble Lafayette. The speaker will be WGA Vice President Greg Foshee, author of “A Crown of Jewels,” “A Crown of Thorns” and “Boudreaux’s Revenge.” The meeting is free and open to the public.

The Bayou Writers Group meets at 10 a.m. the first Saturday of each month at the Carnegie Memorial Library in Lake Charles. Sharyn Schmitz will speak on “Outlining and Publishing.” For information, visit http://bayouwritersgroup.com/.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country.” She writes Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.