GOOD NEWS: Mash it up Friday with Holly Herrick

Staff reports  |  Food writer Holly Herrick’s new book, “Mashed: Beyond the Potato,” will get royal treatment  at a three-course luncheon at noon Sept. 9, the date of the book’s launch.

As part of the Blue Bicycle Books Charleston Author Series at High Cotton (199 East Bay Street, Charleston), Herrick will discuss the book over a meal with costs $31.  If you add a cost of the new book, you’ll pay $56.

According to a press release, the new cookbook is a “fresh take on classic comfort foods includes not only delicious variants on mashed potato dishes, but also gratins, soups, dips, sauces, guacamoles, pâtés, casseroles, panna cottas, and sorbets made with a plethora of vegetables, fruits, beans, grains, nuts, eggs, and even meats. Hot or cold, savory or sweet, classic or innovative, rustic or elegant, Mashed shows that mashing doesn’t need to stop at just traditional mashed potatoes.”

Herrick, a Boston College graduate who studied at Le Cordon Bleu, is a past food critic for The Post and Courier who has written several award-winning books.

• To reserve your space, click here.

In other Good News:

Hit comedy’s local premiere:  The Footlight Players will perform “Bakersfield Mist” from Sept. 9-25 at Footlight Theatre, 20 Queen St. “Bakersfield Mist,” an international hit, is the story of Maude, a 50-something unemployed bartender living in a trailer park who buys a painting for a few bucks from a thrift store. Despite almost trashing it, she’s now convinced it’s a lost masterpiece by Jackson Pollock worth millions. But when world-class art expert Lionel Percy flies over from New York and arrives at her trailer home in Bakersfield to authenticate the painting, he has no idea what he is about to discover. Inspired by true events, this hilarious and thought-provoking new comedy-drama asks vital questions about what makes art – and people – truly authentic.

Performances are 8 p.m. on Sept. 9, 10, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24 and at 3 p.m. on Sept. 11, 18 and 25. Tickets are $30 for adults, $27 for military/seniors and $20 for students. Order tickets online at footlightplayers.net or by calling the box office at 843-722-4487.”Bakersfield Mist” contains strong language and herbal cigarette smoking. It is not suitable for children.