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by Morgan Morano (Race Point Publishing, 2015)

And now for a little something different. And delicious.

Last week we spent a bit of time in Paris, so won’t you join me in Italy? It’s only a hop, skip, and a spoon away.

I’m not the only author in this family. Our cousin Morgan is a superstar in the gelato world, and her debut book holds all of her sweet secrets. She’s a traditionalist. A purist. An artist.

Forbes called her gelato the best in America, so you don’t just have to take my word for it.

Take a look.

(click to enlarge)

Morgan’s expertise and love of this art form are fingerprinted here. And for someone who just learned how to make pancakes (me!), she’s an encouraging teacher.

And it’s beautiful. Hard not to make such a confection look so lovely, but the attention to composition and warmth in these pictures is a real treat.

(click to enlarge)

We’ve been pushing the mid-90s here in southern California, but for those of you still under winter’s freeze, the thaw is coming. And it looks delicious.

You can pre-order The Art of Making Gelato here or here.

And why not pair it with Olivia Goes to Venice? Or grab one of M. Sasek’s sharp and simple classics This is Rome or This is Venice.

That’s some tasty reading!

PS: Thanks for all of the Cat Says Meow support! Congrats to our giveaway winner, Clark Haaland!

I haven’t been blogging because my malaise turned into a case of melancholy. I suppose I should have taken my vitamin C when I felt it coming on. Or maybe the emotional equivalent, that being Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. (My new mantra: “Everything happens.”)

Actually, it may not have been enough. Summer is ending, the house is a disaster, my projects aren’t done, and... well, stuff. But I do feel like I’m getting back on track. It doesn’t hurt when I see a great Yahoo header like:

Huge inflatable art piece escapes museum, wreaks havoc

A giant inflatable dog turd by American artist Paul McCarthy blew away from an exhibition in the garden of a Swiss museum, bringing down a power line and breaking a greenhouse window before... it fell back to Earth in the grounds of a children’s home.

Worldwide, things have pretty much sucked lately. The cyclone and flooding in Burma. The devastating earthquake in China. The fierce tornados in the United States. The food crisis in many, many countries around the world. It’s overwhelming in its tragedy. Then there are the racist incidents that Obama backers have faced on the campaign trail. The horrible treatment of immigrants in detention.

It’s the Pigeon anouncement! I was guessing “brother” or “cell phone,” but this makes more sense. Thanks for letting us in before the event, Mo. I was afraid I’d have to wait until evening, and that would have been too long. I’m warming up to a MotherReader announcement of my own, but taking the lead from the Mo news, today I’ll point out some odds and ends from my writer friends. Cats and

Everyone raise your glasses for today is the 49th birthday of Harry Potter film producer and director, Chris Columbus. Happy Birthday Chris! Cheers!... Read the rest of this post