Lisa Verge Higgins is fond of friendship and food, plus a giveaway

Introduction by Tracey Meyers

***Giveaway is now closed***

Friendship is a topic that I've had a lot of conversations about over the past several months.  Specifically, how people make new friends, what I need from my friends and what they need form me, and the importance of friendship overall.

As you might imagine, a majority of these conversations between these friends and myself have been while dining or partaking in coffee (tea for me).  Sometimes there is even a snack involved.

Today, author Lisa Verge Higgins joins us to discuss her new book, Friendship Makes The Heart Grow Fonder, and her fondness for food.  Thanks to Grand Central Publishing, we have TWO copies of this novel for some lucky readers in the US and/or Canada.

Lisa Verge Higgins can be found at her website and on Facebook.

Friendship Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

Monique Franke-Reed, one of the characters in my next novel, Friendship Makes The Heart Grow Fonder, likes to whip up some of her grandmother’s Caribbean cooking in order to tempt her moody daughter to the table. Monique spends hours dicing onions, garlic and tomatoes and mixing them in with “green seasoning,” a Trinidadian combination of cilantro, lime juice, garlic, scallions, parsley, and pimiento peppers. After browning chicken thighs and adding the mix, she lets the whole pot burble until the house smells divine. She serves this up with a side of callaloo, which is chopped dasheen leaves and okra sautéed in oil, then simmered in coconut milk.

I’m getting hungry just writing about it! While researching this book, I found a bunch of traditional recipes and gave them a go in my kitchen. Even though I’m a terrible cook—and I am!—they all came out pretty darn tasty.

One of the great perks about writing is that I get to experience different lives and different adventures through my characters. In The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship, I send Kate the mother-of-three jumping out of an airplane. In One Good Friend Deserves Another, I forced Dhara the Indian-American cardiologist into an arranged marriage. Now, in Friendship Makes The Heart Go Fonder, I get to take off for Europe with two of my best buddies for a vacation that doesn’t go at all as planned. I also get to pretend that, like the young widow Monique, I’m capable of whipping up a Trinidadian feast that would draw hungry, envious neighbors to my door.

If you’re looking for a great recipe for the Trinidad callaloo, I suggest Chef Khalid Muhammad’s mouth-watering version.

 And here’s a great recipe for Trinidad Stewed Chicken, complete with instructions on how to make a version of the green seasoning, which can also be found bottled on some supermarket shelves or in bodegas.

Bon Appetit!

Thanks to Lisa for this lovely post and to Grand Central Publishing for sharing her book with our readers. To read an excerpt of Lisa's latest novel, visit her website .

How to win Friendship Makes the Heart Grow Fonder:

Please comment below with your e-mail address. (Please note: Entries without an e-mail address will NOT be counted. You can use AT and DOT to avoid spam. Or provide a link to your facebook page or blog if you can receive messages there.)

Bonus entries (can be listed all in one post):
1. Please tell us: What new recipe have you tried in the past six months?
2. Follow this blog and post a comment saying you are a follower (if you already follow, that's fine too).
3. Post this contest on Facebook or Twitter or in your blog, and leave a comment saying where you've posted it.
4. Join Chick Lit Central on Facebook. Edit settings if you don't want to receive a lot of messages at your e-mail account. Please read our posting guidelines as well. (If you're already a member, let us know that too.)
5. Add a friend to our Facebook group. (Tell us who you added.) Be sure to remind them to edit their settings.

US/Canada only. Giveaway ends March 26th at midnight EST.