Mother-Son Double Book Launch: Heartland Masala; Extremely Happy Holidays

Event guidelines:

• All attendees are strongly encouraged to wear a face mask at all times.
• Tickets are limited to restrict capacity at our store, and each ticket will include either a copy of the featured books or a $10 Books Are Magic gift card.
• Additional copies of the books will be available for purchase at the event.
• A signing will follow the talk.
• Home address is collected for contact tracing purposes; it will not be used otherwise.
• The event will also be livestreamed for free here: https://youtube.com/live/F0FU77Wwvls
• As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event, even if you have a ticket; email us and we'll work it out.

If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request accessibility accommodations, please contact [email protected].

Heartland Masala:

Heartland Masala pairs 99 recipes from Indian cooking instructor Jyoti Mukharji with cultural and historical essays by her son Auyon Mukharji. An effervescent celebration of Indian cuisine and the American immigrant experience, this beautiful cookbook is playful, informative, and utterly original.

"Heartland Masala is a joyful, inspiring cookbook that shows off the dazzling culinary inventiveness of an appealing mother-son cooking duo."—Foreword Reviews, Starred Review

Filled with rich storytelling, stunning visuals, and a blend of modern and traditional dishes, this book is both a heartfelt portrait of one Midwestern family and a practical guide to cooking incredible Indian meals at home.

Jyoti Mukharji is a chef, teacher, and retired physician. She immigrated to the US from India in the late 1970s, and she began teaching weekly Indian cooking classes out of her home in Prairie Village, KS in 2010. Jyoti has since welcomed several thousand students into her kitchen, and her writing and teaching have been celebrated in press and radio outlets across the Midwest. Jyoti's team includes her husband Jhulan (art director), her eldest son Arnob (grocery shopping deputy), her middle son Auyon (musical guest), and her youngest son Aroop (copy editor).

Auyon Mukharji is a musician, writer, and culinary historian who spends most of his time thinking about food. He studied biology at Williams College and was awarded a Watson Fellowship in 2007 to study self-expression in folk music. Since 2009, Auyon has toured with, and cooked for, the acclaimed indie-folk band Darlingside. He otherwise finds time to work in and around kitchens (and farms) in both his hometown of Kansas City and his adopted state-of-residence of Massachusetts.

Extremely Happy Holidays:

It's the most wonderful time of the year, namely COCKTAIL TIME!

What better way to honor and enjoy all the holidays of a year than to toast each one with a fabulous new cocktail? This exuberant little book takes you from New Year's Day all the way to New Year's Eve, with stops along the way at the other festive holidays of the year: Groundhog Day, Super Bowl Sunday, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, April Fools’ Day, Easter, Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day, Talk Like a Pirate Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas. McEwan's original creations are truly wonderful, and he is a droll and delightful guide through the tools and techniques the reader will need to make all these snazzy cocktails and mocktails at home. The book is designed and illustrated by the inimitable Sandra Boynton, who happens to be the author's mother.

Devin C.B. McEwan will do just about anything to avoid getting a proper grown-up job. Since 2001, he's been splish-splashing down the world's rivers as a member of the U.S. Canoe & Kayak Team (and 2016 Olympic Team). An avid amateur mixologist, McEwan was recently told by a drinking buddy, "You should write a book! And I'll do the illustrations!" While such drunken ramblings are usually best ignored, in this case the drinking buddy in question was Sandra Boynton, internationally celebrated cartoonist and, incidentally, McEwan's mother—so how could he say no?

Sandra Boynton is the author's mother. When she's not busy taste-testing cocktails, Boynton writes/illustrates books and writes/produces music. She's worked with B.B. King, Yo-Yo Ma, Alison Krauss, Lyle Lovett, Patti LuPone, Brian Wilson, Kacey Musgraves, Ben Folds, Stanley Tucci, Meryl Streep, "Weird Al" Yankovic and Kate Winslet (a duet), Darius Rucker, Zooey Deschanel, Dwight Yoakam, Patrick Warburton, and others. But Devin is her favorite collaborator because NOT ONE of those other people ever even OFFERED to make her a cocktail.

Host or Publisher Books Are Magic