Blueberry Nutmeg Cake and a ‘Ripe’ Cookbook #Giveaway

I’ve only met Cheryl Sternman Rule through Twitter, her blog’ 5 Second Rule‘ and now through her new cookbook, ‘Ripe.’  She does freelance work for several publications and she is someone whose voice I admire. Her blog posts are filled with stories and anecdotes that just work for me; a combination of warmth, humor and knowledge that I just love reading.  If you haven’t heard of Cheryl then run, don’t walk and see for yourself what I’m talking about; you will love her too!

When we discussed my reviewing her new book I was certainly excited; I expected something wonderful. But I didn’t expect this. Categorized into color sections based on the color of the produce, the photos by Paulette Phlipot are as exquisite as the recipes; each one tantalizing you and almost saying, ‘Make me, make ME!’ I had a difficult time choosing just one so I decided to choose by color. My favorite color of all time is purple. I can remember as a little girl wanting to wear all purple every day and I can not even believe my parents indulged me when moving into a new home when I was ten. They let me pick the color of the fixtures in the bathroom I would share with three siblings and purple it was! While I’m not quite that fanatical today; I still love the color so purple it was. This section actually combines purple and blue. The first recipe and photo were for blackberry-lime cornmeal shortcakes. OH YES…I was going to make those. Ah, but no blackberries. Moving on I next happened on this cake. Not a coffee cake dotted with some blueberries, no, it was a cake FILLED with them. I had just stopped by Whole Foods and picked up some gorgeous blueberries; this I could do.

I did mention to Cheryl that I was making this cake and she, in an appropriate fashion for her name, sternly warned me, ‘Don’t eat it today, make sure you save it for tomorrow.’ That had been my plan but I admit, I might have normally taken a nibble but feeling Cheryl was sitting on my shoulder watching, I waited. I was promised a moist, jammy cake and I thought, ‘Hehe, she does not know Denver.’ Still, I persevered and was so happy I did. Wrapped up and aging overnight gave me just that; seriously moist and plump with blueberries; it was divine. The nutmeg? Genius. I love cinnamon as much as the next guy but why don’t we honor nutmeg more; it was amazing.

I seriously loved this cake. When fruit is perfectly seasonal and ripe, it doesn’t need to be overplayed. This was all about the berry. I’m craving it again. I have blueberries in the fridge. They will be baking in a cake within the hour especially now that it’s 72 at noon and not 102. There was not a lot of baking going on in my home the past couple of weeks and I’m ready!

We have a Winner!

The 11th comment received was from Cathy at Nobel Pig. Congrats!

About that giveaway!

Cheryl not only provided me with a copy of her book but I’ve been given another one to give to one of my readers. Yes. YOU! You want this book. Lemons, avocados, asparagus and tangerines. Bok Choy, Tomatoes, Beets and Strawberries. And more. It’s luscious; so luscious that I’m surprised it’s not actually dripping. The book has already garnered significant media attention and has entered its fifth printing. Read the reviews, see the video trailer, and learn how to purchase your copy on ripecookbook.com.

To enter to win this sweepstakes, the only requirement is to leave a comment; it would be fun to have you tell me how pretty I am the book is but it’ s not required. For additional entries, follow Cheryl on Twitter and leave another comment letting me know you did. You won’t be sorry!

For a third and last entry, I would love it if you would share this post with your Twitter followers; let’s get the word out about this fabulous and beautiful cookbook. Tweet the following statement and let me know in an additional comment that you tweeted – I just entered to win the ‘Ripe’ cookbook from @creativculinary & @sternmanrule Enter here: http://su.pr/1xw9JL #giveaway

This giveaway is open until Friday, July 13th at midnight. US residents only. Winner will be notified via email; if no response is received within 24 hours, another winner will be chosen.

Thanks for stopping by! By the way; I might have whined just a bit to Cheryl that no one seems to think Denver is worthy of being a stop on a book tour; if you would like to see her come here, please let us know!