Elaine Hamilton is a wallflower. She’s shy, awkward, and desperately doesn’t want to go to her mother’s alma matar Dartmouth. What she does want is to quietly perfect every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, attend Smith College, and eventually study at the Cordon Bleu in Paris — just like her hero Julia Child. A lofty set of ambitions to say the least, but Elaine’s mother, a consummate feminist and politician, thinks Elaine is absurd for wanting to “stay at home and slave over a burner.” Undeterred, Elaine continues to churn out mouthwatering and complex dishes on a daily basis for her parents and five rambunctious brothers.

Until Elaine meets the notorious Lucida Sans (yes, like the font) her only real excitement stemmed from writing unsent letters to Julia documenting her cooking missteps and accomplishments, and marketing trips to local specialty food stores for Parail de Brebis and glacéed fruit.  But where Lucida goes, drama and mayhem inevitably follow. Soon Elaine has more adventure in her life than she can possibly handle, including rescuing her eclectic friend from the treacherous clutches of a gorgeous bully, and undertaking the task of auditioning for a televised cooking show.

Coming out of her comfort zone does wonders for Elaine and this charming young adult novel culminates in a very whirlwind and whimsical way that I found quite satisfying. I absolutely loved the detailed cooking scenes throughout the book. Admittedly, it did take me a few chapters to warm up to Elaine’s verbose manner but eventually I found myself heartily rooting for her to stand up to her overbearing mother, break out of her shell, and succeed at her culinary dreams.

Dear Julia by Amy Bronwen Zemser will be released on October 14, 2008.

As I mentioned previously my good friend Meghan is having a baby girl next month. Last weekend I attended her baby shower and I have to say I agonized over what to get her. I knew she would receive oodles of pretty pastel clothes, blankets, and toys so my goal was to find gifts for her that were unique, functional, and hopefully memorable. In the end I decided on the following items:

I fell in love with these adorable MooMe bibs, packaged to resemble baby food jars, and had such a hard time deciding between the fruit and veggie versions that I ended up just buying both. In addition to being so darn cute the bibs also made of 100% organic cotton.

Future foodie babies need to start young so I couldn’t resist stocking baby Emily’s bookshelf with two timeless food filled storybooks: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Pickles to Pittsburgh.

Feeding Meghan’s baby is obviously my ultimate goal, and until she’s old enough to enjoy ice cream sandwiches and Pistachio Rocket Pops, her mom will be able to whip up healthy and wholesome meals for her with the assistance of the So Easy Baby Food kit and the First Meals cookbook. All of this undoubtedly delicious food can than be served on a whimsical La Mer ocean themed dinnerware set. Finally, just for fun, I included this ingenious Baby Owner’s Starter Kit, which comes with: The Baby Owner’s Manual, a growth chart with stickers for marking baby’s progress, a diaper changing Instructional poster (I could use this since I’ve honestly never changed a diaper in my life), a babysitter’s memo pad, and a decorative magnet.

Now we just have to wait for Baby Emily to make her grand debut so we can all begin her foodie education.

If you’re my age (shh…27) and you grew up watching Nickelodeon when it had something other than Sponge Bob Square Pants and Rugrats reruns then you probably remember a fab little show called Clarissa Explains it All. Melissa Joan Hart portrayed a precocious teenager with a funky fashion sense and a suitably bizarre family.  And don’t even try to convince me that you didn’t totally have a huge crush on her best friend Sam.  I loved it!

Well now Clarissa is all grown up, just like the rest of us, and according to Ecorazzi she’s teaming up with Lifetime Movie of the Week phenomenon Kellie Martin (aka Becca Thacher or Lucy Knight depending on if you’re a Life Goes On Fan or an ER junkie) to open a resturant.   What theme could these ladies possibly come up with?  I’m seriously dying to know.  I really just hope that there’s some Sabrina the Teenage Witch paraphenial on the walls, and maybe some framed photos of Kellie Martin as “Christy.”  Sort of like a nostaligc 90s teenage girl version of TGI Fridays.  Maybe they could provide diners with complimentary “Girl Talk” boardgames too?!  Sounds like my idea of good time.