Good morning, Everyone. After a brief treat of unseasonable warmth, brisk temperatures remind me that is November and winter is coming. I hope all is well in your world. Pour yourself a cup of coffee. Let’s catch up.
If we were having coffee together, I would report that it has been a rollercoaster week. My husband, Matt, got a brand new left knee on Tuesday to match the right one he received last November. Within 24 hours after surgery, I took him home. Yes, it was a quick turnaround, and sidelined my plans to get a few chores completed uninterrupted, but it seemed that the hospital was anticipating a return of the COVID-19 nightmare. Matt was much safer at home. Daily physical therapy and Matt’s diligence is paying off, though. His walking improves every day (he got up and down the basement stairs yesterday), and the pain is dissipating. Amazing!
If we were having coffee together, I would tell you that I have also been helping my mom settle and rearrange household business since my dad’s passing. Each little task erases Dad’s name from the roles and his hand in the daily comings and goings. It physically aches.
We are scrambling to figure out how my family can celebrate the holidays with our grief still raw, COVID-19 surging, and restrictions keeping us apart when we really need to be together. For Thanksgiving, my sisters and I decided to rent a smaller tent than the one we had for my dad’s memorial and a few outside heaters. We have enough folding tables and chairs between us so that our immediate family pod can sit at the table together outside.
If we were having coffee together, I would report an upside to the rollercoaster week. TADA! This is the cover of Daily Bread’s companion cookbook, Becoming America’s Food Stories: a collection of reminiscences and recipes. How do you like it? The book will be ready to go to print next week. Stay tuned.
Here is the link to view the upcoming Book Talk interview at the Tenement Museum on December 8th (SO excited)!
Also, Stephanie Larkin at Red Penguin Books, Daily Bread’s publisher, and I are setting up a Jr. Bookworm Book Club Zoom event with a group of kids within the next week or thereabout. It will be aired on the Red Penguin Books broadcast schedule. We are hammering out the details to share very soon.
Well, that’s it, Everyone. Big thank yous go out to Eclectic Ali for keeping the Weekend Coffee Share up and running.
If you had purchased a paperback or ebook Daily Bread—Thank you!
Take a picture of you with Daily Bread, and I’ll send you Reader’s Swag and add you to the Daily Bread Reader slideshow. Kid pics are welcomed with parent or guardian permission. Please email me for details. Don’t forget to leave a rating and quick comment on Amazon and/or Goodreads.
Have a good week, Everyone. Make it great.
Be well. Be safe.
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Daily Bread is set in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, 1911. The story follows nine-year-old Lily, an American-born child of Sicilian immigrants, who wants to prove she is not a little kid. To be a big kid in the crowded tenement neighborhoods, she must tackle bigotry, bullies, disasters, dotty bakers, and learn to cross the street by herself.
Stories Served 
Congratulations to your writing successes! That is a bright light right now. I imagine the holiday season is going to be very different this year. In our region they force the recommendations to be to only spend them with your family that you are currently living in the same house as. Thank you for the coffee, I pray that your coming week is a good one.
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We are all trying so hard. Big parties when the vaccine is available to all.
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Hi, Antoinette – The cover for your companion cookbook to Daily Bread is very appealing. I love the use of the black and white photograph.
Congratulations on your hard work and success with this.
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Thank you, Donna. This one was a joy to write.
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This is going to be a very different and difficult holiday season for many, but you have some extra sadness to deal with. I’m sorry about that. Enjoy your family as much as you can.
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Thank you for the kind words.
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Hi Antoinette, Thanks again for your enthusiasm for the global coffee share zoom meeting. I’m getting good feedback from our gang and think we have more than enough to make it a good time. Only one has begged off with what I believe is concern about never having used Zoom before. It should be a good time. I’m going to let a few more days go by before I try to solve the schedule but suspect that it is already so late in the year that due to the h9lidays, we might be best advised to wait until Jan. 2021.
Congrats again on your success with Daily Bread. I hope it proves to be the best seller it deserves to be.
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Antoinette, Congrats on your writing achievements! It’s a very nice book cover. I’m glad to hear your husband is doing well after his knee surgery and you’ve figured out a safe way to celebrate Thanksgiving with your family. Have a great week!
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