Jane Heller

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

  • About
    • Bio
    • FAQ
  • Publications
    • Books
      • Romantic Comedies
      • Caregiving
      • Baseball
      • TV Tie-In
    • Articles
  • Blogs
    • Mainly Jane
    • Confessions of a She-Fan
  • Media
    • Videos
    • Audio
    • Press
    • Press Materials/Three Blonde Mice
  • Speaking
  • Contact

The “Three Blonde Mice” Book Launch = Fun!

August 12, 2016

Dessert display

James Arena, the talented pastry chef at Litchfield County’s Arethusa al tavolo, the scene of my book signing on Saturday, August 6th, not only created a Dark Chocolate Marquise dessert especially for Three Blonde Mice (yes, the recipe is in the book), but he assembled a beautiful display of the dessert for everyone to drool over. It’s a “farm to table” dessert in that its ingredients include both chocolate and beets, and there were also strawberries and pistachios on the plate on Saturday. It was truly to die for.

Here are some guests sampling their desserts. (Notice the pic of the cow on the wall – Arethusa’s dairy products come from their magnificent cows, after all.)

Eaters

For another look at the dessert, along with the book and Arethusa Farm napkins, behold.

Book and dessert plus napkins Jane_Heller_Book_Promo_8-6-16-13

As for the signing itself, it was a thrill, even after 16 books, to see copies of Three Blonde Mice lined up on the signing table ready for me to personalize for guests. Thanks to Fran Keilty, owner of Hickory Stick Bookshop, for providing the books and being part of the fun.

Books signing flat

And guests we had – lots of them – even though the iffy weather forecast had forced us to abandon the restaurant’s lovely outdoor patio for their private room upstairs. I was so excited to see friends I hadn’t seen in awhile, and to meet and chat with those who were there simply to buy a book. I hope everyone who came gets a kick out of the story – a little light reading for late summer/early fall. To those who couldn’t make it up to CT for the book launch, you were there in spirit!

Filed Under: Mainly Jane Tagged With: Arethusa al tavolo, Connecticut, Dark Chocolate Marquise dessert, Hickory Stick Bookshop, Litchfield County, pastry chef James Arena, Three Blonde Mice

The “Three Blonde Mice” Dessert Can Be Yours

July 16, 2016

dessert

With some people already receiving their pre-ordered copies of my new novel, Three Blonde Mice, I’m counting down to the book’s actual publication day, August 2nd, and getting excited! And on August 6th at 2:30 ET, my book launch party will be underway at Arethusa al tavolo, one of the best farm-to-table restaurants not only in Litchfield County, Connecticut but in the entire state. I hope anyone in the CT area will stop by for an afternoon of book chat and samples of the dessert that was created by Arethusa pastry chef James Arena exclusively for the novel and figures into the story. The recipe is in the Author’s Note at the end of the book, but it’ll be pretty cool to be one of the first to taste it. Here’s the official invite:

SAVE THE DATE!
Join New York Times bestselling author Jane Heller on Saturday, August 6th at 2:30 p.m. to celebrate the publication of her new novel, Three Blonde Mice, and sample a very special dessert!

Set at a fictional farm resort in Litchfield, Connecticut, Three Blonde Mice is a comedy featuring three best friends who take a “haycation” together, learning how to milk a cow, make cheese, forage for wild edibles and take cooking classes with a famous farm-to-table chef….only to discover that one of their classmates is out to murder the chef.

A big part of Jane’s research was spending time at Litchfield County’s own Arethusa, both the dairy farm and the restaurant. Figuring into the plot is a chocolate-and-beets dessert created especially for the book by Arethusa al tavolo’s pastry chef, James Arena (recipe included!).

Dan Magill, Arethusa al tavolo’s executive chef and James Beard semi-finalist, and pastry chef James Arena will be on hand to offer samples of the dessert and answer any questions, and the Hickory Stick Bookshop will provide copies of the book for purchase and for Jane to sign.

When: Saturday, August 6th, 2:30 p.m.
Where: Arethusa al tavolo, 828 Bantam Road, Bantam, CT 06750 www.arethusaaltavolo.com
What: Book signing for Jane Heller, author of Three Blonde Mice (Diversion Books/August/$13.99) www.janeheller.com
How: Hickory Stick Bookshop www.hickorystickbookshop.com
Media Contact: Deborah Broide, Deborah Broide Publicity, DeborahPub@aol.com

And now there’s more from Arethusa al tavolo. The restaurant has agreed to make Chef Arena’s “Three Blonde Mice” dessert an off-the-menu “special” during the month of August. In other words, you can order it and indulge in its deliciousness any night of the week during August! I’ve heard of entrees being named after celebrities (I think Nora Ephron had a meat loaf named after her and I know there are tons of famous names attached to various deli sandwiches), but I believe this the first time a dessert will be named after a book. So come and enjoy!

Filed Under: Mainly Jane Tagged With: Arethusa al tavolo, Bantam Connecticut, book party, Connecticut, Dan Magill, Farm-to-table dessert, fiction, Hickory Stick Bookshop, James Arena, Litchfield County, Three Blonde Mice

A Series Sweep and a Birthday – Not Too Shabby

May 4, 2015

Arethusa birthday

Yes, I ate that chocolate confection on Saturday night – that and much, much more. After the Yankees edged the Red Sox in Game 2 at Fenway, I celebrated my first birthday on the East Coast in years. Michael and I and our two good friends, my old boss in publishing and his partner, dined at Litchfield County’s #1 destination spot, Arethusa al tavolo in Bantam. Readers of my Mainly Jane blog may remember that I wrote about Arethusa last summer when I was researching my new novel in which my three heroines take cooking classes at a farm resort in CT. (My agent is sending out the manuscript to editors this week.) As part of my research, I interviewed Arethusa’s Executive Chef Dan Magill, who, it turns out, is not only a brilliant chef and all-around nice guy but an avid Yankees fan. When he found out I wrote this blog, he dubbed me “Bronx Bad Ass,” hence the inscription on Saturday night’s birthday dessert (the dessert before the other desserts, I should add; we all ate so much amazing food our stomachs were bulging and we vowed to fast for the next century).

Back to the Yankees, they’re on quite a roll. Their road record is staggeringly good. And while the Red Sox aren’t the formidable team they used to be, the Yanks have gotten their defense together. Their pitching has been stellar, both starters and relievers. And they’re getting clutch hits.

The most talked about clutch hit, of course, was A-Rod’s milestone pinch hit homer against Tazawa in Game 2. What to make of this guy? (A-Rod, not Tazawa.) He’s being such a good boy doing and saying all the right things. It’s as if he’s been taking Jeter pills. (“I just want to help the team win games.”) Cashman finally came out and admitted the Yankees don’t intend to pay him for the “Willie Mays” homer, so it’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out. But if A-Rod keeps contributing, stays healthy and plays clean, they may have to acknowledge his achievements after all.

As for last night’s game, even Beltran was a hitting star. Tex has been a revelation with all those homers this early in the season. Gardner and Ellsbury have been huge for us. Everybody (well, almost everybody) has contributed. And Adam Warren has turned out to be a much better solution in the rotation than I expected. The idiotic “retaliation” pitch that landed on Ellsbury’s butt for an earlier Hanley Ramirez hit-by-pitch was mildly entertaining and put some spice into the rivalry, which hasn’t been much of one lately. We’ll see if there’s a carry-over the next time the teams face off. If CC’s pitching, it could happen. He seems to get fired up about those things.

Anyhow, a great birthday weekend for me and a great road trip for the Yankees. I hope everyone enjoyed the nice spring weather here in the Northeast too.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: A-Rod, Adam Warren, Arethusa al tavolo, Bantam, CT, Dan Magill, Red Sox, Yankees

When Research Is a Pleasure, Part 7

August 2, 2014

Photo: CT Magazine
Photo: CT Magazine

In Part 2 of my farm-to-table food journey for research, I wrote about Arethusa Dairy Farm in Litchfield County and how ridiculously delicious the milk, cheese and butter that come from Arethusa’s prized cows are. It only made sense for Arethusa’s owners, the brains behind Manolo Blahnik stilettos, to launch a restaurant adjacent to the dairy and to recruit a chef who would best utilize their products. Arethusa al tavolo opened last summer and was an immediate hit – a fine dining eatery that offered the freshest, highest quality ingredients in innovate menu items but without the pretentiousness and stuffiness of “fancy” places. I became a fan from my first bite of the lobster and avocado appetizer.

Photo: Wendy Carlson/ New York Times
Photo: Wendy Carlson/ New York Times

Michael and I went back a few more times last summer, and al tavolo never disappointed. When we were in Connecticut this time around and I was determined to learn about chefs at the forefront of the farm-to-table movement, I had a perfectly good excuse to revisit the restaurant. The only catch was getting Chef Dan Magill, who makes magic in the kitchen, to sit down and talk to me. Luckily, Chef Dan was a prince among men, generous with information and recipes and philosophies of cooking. He was the opposite of the diva type you read about or see on television food competition shows but rather down-to-earth, funny and, most importantly, earnest about his craft. He doesn’t come out front to shake hands and take bows. He works the line with the other cooks, turning out perfection night after night, as does his pastry chef, April Massey. He started in the business at age 14 as a dishwasher and after putting himself through culinary school took jobs that allowed him to observe the best chefs in the food world. (He did a stint with Daniel Boulud, for example). Now, he’s come into his own at al tavolo and, despite the accolades, his head is still on straight.

Having grown up on the North Fork of Long Island and fished as a kid, he’s partial to cooking the freshest seafood around – “sea to table,” he calls what he does in the kitchen. But he’s also known for his duck and Michael raves about his lamb and beef. And he’s all about Arethusa’s dairy products, of course, and there’s not a single appetizer, entree or dessert on the menu that isn’t swoon-worthy because of those products. I mean who wouldn’t want to dive into this? We’re talking ice cream straight from the cows, people.

ice cream

I’m back in Santa Barbara now and not exactly stuck in a culinary wasteland, but the challenge will be to put together all the info I gathered in Connecticut and create an entertaining story for my novel’s characters.

Oh, did I mention that the novel will be a spin-off of Princess Charming?

final.princess charming

Yup, I’m bringing back Elaine, Jackie and Pat for another vacation together. They’re going to be “agri-tourists” in Connecticut, staying at a fictional resort on a fictional farm and getting into all sorts of trouble as they milk cows, take cooking classes, interact with the chefs and other guests and – you guessed it – solve another mystery. Who will be marked for murder in this one? Stay tuned.

 

Filed Under: Food, Mainly Jane Tagged With: agri-tourism, Arethusa al tavolo, Bantam, Chef Dan Magill, Connecticut, Litchfield, novel research, Princess Charming

Search

Archives

Food and recipes

  • Epicurious
  • Food Network
  • Seriously Simple

Hollywood

  • Company Town
  • Deadline Hollywood
  • The Bold and the Beautiful
  • The Envelope
  • The Film Geek Confidential
  • The Vulture Pages
  • The Wrap

My California Writing Buddies

  • Ciji Ware
  • Deborah Hutchison
  • Gayle Lynds
  • Jenna McCarthy
  • Laurie Burrows Grad
  • Margo Candela
  • Melodie Johnson Howe
  • Starshine Roshell

My New Connecticut Writing Buddies

  • Lauren Lipton
  • Marie Bostwick

News, politics, pop culture

  • The Daily Beast
  • The Huffington Post

Writing and publishing

  • eBookNewser
  • GalleyCat
  • Gawker
  • Publishers Lunch
  • Publishers Weekly

Follow Me!

  • Jane Heller on Goodreads
  • Jane Heller on Pinterest
  • Jane Heller on Facebook
  • Jane Heller on Twitter

Get in touch!

I’d love to hear from you! Contact me!

About Jane Heller

Jane Heller is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her fourteen breezy, witty novels of romantic comedy and suspense are now entertaining millions of readers around the world, along with her two books of nonfiction.

Copyright © 2021 Jane Heller