Cranberry-Orange Relish

My mother always made a raw Cranberry-Orange Relish for Thanksgiving. She cooked a whole-berry cranberry sauce, and we'd also have jellied cranberry sauce. Everyone had their favorite - I loved them all.

Husband and I are having a quiet Thanksgiving dinner, with all the traditional dishes. I made the Cranberry-Orange Relish Sunday, so the flavors would have a chance to meld by Thanksgiving.

I used my new zester, which makes long, thin strips or wider strips, and made the relish in my food processor. In previous years I've made it in the blender; this was much faster and easier!

Cranberry-Orange Relish

1 bag fresh cranberries, rinsed, dried, and picked through (I toss the mushy cranberries)
2 navel oranges, zested, rind removed, and cut into chunks
1/4 sugar, or more to taste if the oranges are not sweet and juicy
1 t salt

Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender. Pulse until everything is combined; you can make it as chunky or as finely chopped as you prefer.

Store in airtight container, stirring daily. The sugar and salt should draw out moisture from the orange and cranberries, making the relish a little saucy.

I've posted the raw ingredients before processing; I'll post another photo next week of the finished product.

This is terrific on turkey, alongside turkey, or stirred into mayo for turkey sandwiches :)

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Happy Thanksgiving!

As always, I'm blogging here on Wednesday--Thanksgiving Eve!

Also as always for Thanksgiving these days, we're having a small celebration.  It'll consist of a dinner with my husband, younger son and his girlfriend and me.  We'll have only one begging dog on the floor near us, but Mystie's doing a good job of begging these days on her own.  No Lexie around to take control on that front any longer. 

I recently completed the major revisions to one of my manuscripts as well as another small project I took on temporarily, so now I'm back to writing my new Harlequin Romantic Suspense story--and it's deadline is starting to loom closer.  But I'm hopeful of getting it done on time. Not sure how much time I'll get to spend writing on Thanksgiving, but I might be able to get in a little bit.

Meanwhile, I'll be at an event this Saturday at Mystery Ink in Huntington Beach signing UNLUCKY CHARMS, my third Superstition Mystery.  It promises to be a lucky event!

So--I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope your celebration is a fun one.  And you?  What are you up to this Thanksgiving?

Happy Thanksgiving

Yep, it's that time again.  Tomorrow is the big day. 

I mentioned last year that my Thanksgiving then would be a small event.  This year it's even smaller.  The neighbor who'd joined us last year has moved away, so this year it will just be my husband, younger son and I together on Thanksgiving.  Well, the dogs, too, but they don't sit at the table with us.  They stay on the floor and beg.  No human food for them, though, since both have health issues that mostly relegate them to doggy food and treats. 

But this Thanksgiving is a harbinger of things to come.  Lots of relatives will be with us soon, starting right around Christmas and continuing into January.  They include in-laws and our older son and his family--our d-i-l and two grandkids.  Plus, our d-i-l's delightful parents will be visiting for a short while, too!  It helps that we live in California while they all live in the Midwest.  No big El Nino presence here yet, but even if it arrives it's hopefully easier to live with than lots of cold and snow. 

So, there are lots of things to be thankful for tomorrow and beyond.  Meantime, I'm also thankful for a fun and fruitful writing year--three books published plus one e-published so far in 2015:  BITE THE BISCUIT, my first Barkery & Biscuits Mystery, CANADIAN WOLF, my seventh Alpha Force paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne, and KNOCK ON WOOD, my second Superstition Mystery, plus the Kindle version of ONCE A CAVALIER, a time travel romance. 

I'm working on my next book under deadline, a Harlequin Romantic Suspense, and will then head into the next Barkery book.  Next year is likely to be busy, too--another year to be thankful for. 

And you?  What are you up to this Thanksgiving?

Creating Abundance

“Abundance is about being rich, with or without money.”— Suze Orman

Happy Thanksgiving!

Depending on your perspective, the holidays can either be a joyful time shared with family and friends or a dismal demonstration of unrealized expectations. The choice is yours. Abundance is everywhere, if you choose to look for it.

On this day of feasting and family, I'd like to share with you some quotes, breath practices, and meditations that can help you find abundance in your own life.

"Whatever we are waiting for -- peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance -- it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart.”—Sarah Ban Breathnach

Breath Practice:

1. Lengthen your inhale and exhale, making them approximately equal.
2. Remain at that lengthened breath for several minutes. With each inhale, imagine abundance in all its forms entering your heart. With every exhale, imagine those same qualities flowing through your body and taking root in every cell.
3. After several minutes, return your breath to a normal rhythm. Carry the energy of this breath practice to meditation.

Meditation Question: How can I invite abundance into my life, regardless of my material wealth?

“The universe operates through dynamic exchange…giving and receiving are different aspects of the flow of energy in the universe. And in our willingness to give that which we seek, we keep the abundance of the universe circulating in our lives.”— Deepak Chopra

Breath Practice:

1. Lengthen your inhale and exhale, making them approximately equal.
2. After six breaths at that lengthened breath, add a two second pause after both the inhale and the exhale.
3. Remain at this breath for several minutes. With each inhale, imagine abundance in all its forms entering your heart. In the pause after inhale, imagine abundance completely filling you. With every exhale, offer abundance back to the world. In the pause after exhale, imagine abundance both within and around you.
4. After several minutes, release the pauses, but continue breathing with a lengthened inhale and exhale.
5. After several more breaths, return your breath to a normal rhythm. Carry the energy of this breath practice to meditation.

Meditation Question: How can I create abundance in the lives of those around me?

The prosperity hens pictured above symbolize prosperity in Indian culture, because any family fortunate enough to own a hen has a continual source of nourishment. Find your own symbol of abundance and keep it near as you get caught up in busy-ness of the holiday season.  Allow it to remind you of all that is truly important.

Namaste

Tracy Weber

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about her  yoga and dog-related mystery series, the Downward Dog Mysteries.

Thanksgivukkah

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day.  It's also the first full day of Hanukkah, and it's a very rare occurrence to have these two holidays meet.  Some theorize it won't happen again for tens of thousands of years. 

In any event, I'll be cooking a Thanksgiving turkey and more for my husband and younger son, plus a couple of neighbors who don't have local families.  Over the years, we've gotten into the fun habit of inviting others whenever possible.  We've welcomed family, yes, but also friends and neighbors, and it's always been fun. 

And, yes, I'm cooking.  I'm anything but a gourmet cook, but I do know how to stuff and roast a turkey plus put together standard kinds of trimmings. 

It'll be a day when my writing will have to take second place to food preparation, serving and eating, but I've been planning for it--despite my looming December 1 manuscript deadline.  If I get an opportunity while things are cooking, I'll head for the computer.  If my pups let me.  They may be driven crazy by the aroma of foods cooking all day, so they'll demand more attention.  As if they don't already demand attention nearly every moment of the day!

So...I hope you and your family--human and fur-friends--have a wonderful holiday.  Happy Thanksgiving.  Happy Hanukkah.  And Happy Thanksgivukkah!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dictated to "Lila Dare", by Grace Ann Terhune, star of Wave Good-Bye: A Southern Beauty Shop Mystery (March/2013/Berkley)

Just because she's married, and has two kids, my sister Alice Rose thinks she's the queen of the world. I think she should stick her crown where the sun doesn't shine. I invited her over to my apartment for pizza and beer to discuss what we were doing on Thanksgiving. Otherwise, she would have planned the whole shootin' match and sent me a memo. For the most part our negotiations were going well, until I explained to her about my dietary limitations.

"Look," I said, "I'm not telling you not to cook a turkey. I'm just saying that I won't be taking any turkey leftovers home, so don't go hog-wild."

"Why not?" she asked, all huffy. "Are you insinuating there's something wrong with my turkey-cooking ability? Honest to heck, Grace Ann Terhune, my white meat is moist, my skin crackles to perfection, and Wade even says I cook a better bird than his mama, and that's going some."

Brother. She had to go drag Wade into it. That was dragging out the big guns. It was the sort of "You might be older, Grace Ann, but I have a husband sort of nastiness" I expected from her.

"Calm down," I said, making placating motions with my hands. "Ever since Sam. I. Am. came into my life, I've quit eating poultry,"

She squinted at me. She's got our mother's blue eyes and platinum blond hair, whereas I have to put highlights in mine or risk being called "dirty blond." After a good long, squint, she said, "Are you telling me that out of deference to a parakeet, you no longer eat poultry? Is that really what you said?"

"Yes, ma'am. You heard me right."

"Fine," she slapped my table top. "Then you better cook a lot of veggies you like, because you know my boys won't eat veggies, and so I don't make them!"

That was true. Logan and Owen's idea of a vegetable was a bottle of ketchup.

"Got it!" and after that, the rest of our conversation went swimmingly, probably because I opened a Budweiser for her, and since she doesn't usually drink much, she got pretty schnockered.

Of course, my veggies were so good the boys had to have seconds. Don't you know I relished every minute of that! (Pun intended!):

Grace Ann Terhune's Squished Squash

1. Peel one butternut squash and cut into small chunks. Toss with olive oil and bake in 350 degree oven until soft. Some parts will be crispy. That's great!

2. Chop up one Vidalia sweet onion. Cook it slowly until it's translucent. Add equal portions of maple syrup and apple cider vinegar. Continue to cook until mushy.

3. Combine squash and sweet onion mixture. Serve on toasted slices of French bread.

From our house to yours, have a Happy Thanksgiving and don't let the turkeys get you down!

Television Interview, Thanksgiving

Well, that was interesting. Two men came over to our apartment with two good-size cases. In one was a television camera, in the other was a big rectangular light. I wore a lavender blouse, my new purple shawl, and my new lavender straw hat – I know, I know, it’s after Labor Day and straw is over. But I just love that hat, so I wore it anyway.

They set up in our living room, in front of our floor-to-ceiling shelves of books, and for forty-five minutes I was thrown some very nice “softball” questions about my writing. Did I ever use real people in my books? Did I like my covers? Who is my favorite character? It was very pleasurable.

Then we did a segment on my hats. I tried on several hats and they took brief videos of them. I put some hats on the dining room table and they panned across them. That was fun.

Then came the bad news: All this is going to be severely cut into a five-minute presentation! I’m looking forward with some trepidation to the result.

But then came the good news: This is going to be put up on Face Book. Yay! I can’t wait.

We’re going to do something this Thanksgiving I’ve never done in my life: eat out. Oh, okay, while I was in the Navy I ate in the mess hall. But that is not the same thing. At all. We’re going to brunch at my sister-in-law’s house which will probably last until noon or close to it, then at five we’re going to a nice restaurant for a turkey dinner. It felt really strange when I went grocery shopping yesterday and walked past the bins of frozen turkeys and the canned-good shelves of sweet potatoes and kidney beans (I make a killer kidney bean salad just twice a year, at Easter and Thanksgiving) and didn’t even take a good look. But a friend at water aerobics said I was going to love dining out. She’s been doing it for years and wouldn’t have it any other way. So I wonder if this isn’t the start of a new tradition.

I remember many years ago I was working a stressful job and wasn’t looking forward to the annual gathering of my family for Thanksgiving – my five siblings had young, noisy children and were often rubbing up against one another in unhappy ways. So I did a very selfish thing: I didn’t go. I stayed in my small, quiet apartment. I cooked half a turkey breast, made a salad, and watched “Miracle on 34th Street” on commercial-free public television, just me and the cat. It was heaven, a gentle, refreshing break I needed badly.

What’s your Thanksgiving tradition? What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish? What’s your favorite Thanksgiving memory?

Cooking Up Laughs for Thanksgiving

Note: I'm thankful for the many wonderful friends I've made in this business, and Barb Goffman is one of them! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Joanna

By Barb Goffman

It seems appropriate to have my contribution to today’s Killer Hobbies blog be about my own hobby, writing. And, in case you work for the IRS, by hobby I mean an activity I spend a lot of time on, from which I’m trying to make a profit . I promise! Now back to our normal programming.

My hobb ... errrr ... non-day job is writing. But not just any kind of writing. I write mystery short stories. And just to get a little more specialized, I particularly enjoy writing funny mystery short stories.

Nothing like putting a little pressure on myself. Don’t just write a good story, with strong characters, a developed setting, and an interesting plot. No. I tell myself to try to make the darn story funny, too.

Thankfully, I’m easily inspired. Take a call for stories that came out this summer. The publisher Untreed Reads wanted to put out an anthology of humorous mysteries, each focusing on a traditional Thanksgiving food. Baby, I was off and running.

The first food that came to mind was gravy. Don’t ask me why. It’s not like I can cook it myself. As my friend Logan loves to remind me, I don’t actually cook anything. I warm things. From freezer to microwave to a plate on my kitchen table. She’s right. I admit it. But thankfully I don’t have to know how to actually cook food to write about it. Just like I don’t know how to commit murder to write about that. Really. I promise that, too.

So I decided to write a mystery involving gravy. Once I had that idea, my imagination went berserk. Before I knew it, I had created an entire family, headed by Dotty, a proud southern matriarch who likes things just so and whose annual Thanksgiving feast could give Martha Stewart a run for her money. Unfortunately for Dotty, her sister, Agnes, insists on making the turkey and gravy every year. And Agnes, like me, can’t cook, which drives Dotty to distraction.
That set up has humorous potential in itself. But writers are supposed to make life hard for their characters. It makes the story more interesting. So for this Thanksgiving, I decided Dotty shouldn’t simply have to put up with Agnes’s dreadful gravy. I threw in an airhead trying to marry into the family and get her paws on Dotty’s deceased mother’s engagement ring. Dotty certainly can’t let that happen, so she comes up with a plan to save the ring involving cunning, deception, and Agnes’s horrible, horrible gravy. Dotty sets her plan in motion and ... then the wheels come off the bus.

Because when is Thanksgiving ever a simple holiday where everything works smoothly?

You can read all about Dotty and Agnes and the world’s worst gravy in my newest short story “Biscuits, Carats, and Gravy,” which appears in Untreed Read’s anthology The Killer Wore Cranberry. The book has nine humorous short mysteries, each involving a Thanksgiving food.

It’s a perfect read, especially this week.

The anthology is available solely as an e-book, so you can download it right now from all the online stores onto any e-reader, or you can download it as a PDF onto your computer. And if you prefer your short stories a la carte, no problem: each story can be purchased individually, too.
So if your family becomes a little too much to bear this week, just download this book and in a couple minutes you can be laughing—and getting some ideas for making your own family’s feast more ... interesting. But keep in mind that this is all for fun and enjoyment. I’m not actually promoting any crimes. Really, I’m not. I promise!

Happy Thanksgiving!

***

Barb Goffman is a short-story mystery author whose work tends to focus on families. Twice nominated for the Agatha Award, Barb is a member of the national board of Sisters in Crime, is a co-coordinating editor of Chesapeake Crimes: They Had It Comin’ and the forthcoming Chesapeake Crimes: This Job is Murder, and is program chair of the Malice Domestic mystery convention. She lives in Virginia. You can learn more about her at http://www.barbgoffman.com.

No Turkey Day

Thanksgiving isn’t exactly a vegetarian’s best holiday. It hasn’t been a problem for the past number of years because we’ve eaten at a restaurant that had a buffet and no one could care less that all I ate was salad, vegetables and potatoes.

But this year it’s going to be different. We’re invited to my son’s future in laws. I don’t think they know I’m a vegetarian. If I tell them before hand, it comes off as if I expect them to have something special for me. The way I look at it, it’s my choice to be a vegetarian and there’s no reason why they should have different food for me. The thing is, I wouldn’t mind just eating whatever, even if it’s only salad and potatoes. But if I don’t say anything and the hostess notices I’m not eating all the food she prepared, her feelings are likely to be hurt and if I say I’m a vegetarian as a way of explaining, then she may feel upset that there isn’t anything besides salad and potatoes for me to eat.

You see my point? Either way it’s a problem. Personally, I’d rather never bring it up. Who really cares what I do or don’t eat? Well, it usually comes down to the question of what I eat for protein. The answer is I don’t worry about it. I haven’t eaten meat, fish or fowl for 27 years and seem to be doing fine. What’s the saying - the proof is in the pudding. In other words, whatever I’m eating seems to work for me. BTW, I live surrounded by carnivores and we have a truce. They don’t try to get me meat, fish or fowl, and I don’t try to get them not to.

So, I’m asking your advice for my dilemma. Is it better to say nothing and just eat whatever and hope no one notices or is it better to tell the hostess in advance that I’m a vegetarian?


I signed stock at some more bookstores this week. Funny thing, my editor said it’s supposed to be on the Holiday table at Barnes & Noble. In the places I’ve gone to, You Better Knot Die has been on the regular shelf with my other books, or in New Mystery, and in a few stores, it’s been on the New in Fiction table. But it has never been with the holiday books. So, if by chance you’re looking for it, check all of the above places. And if you leave a comment you're name will be put in a drawing for a copy of You Better Knot Die.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hold the Turkey

Thanksgiving with it nickname of Turkey Day isn’t exactly my best holiday since I’m a vegetarian. I’ve been a one for twenty-five years and no one else in my family is a vegetarian, so long ago we realized that going to a restaurant was the best option.

The first question people usually ask is what I eat. The answer is simple. I eat everything except meat, fish or fowl. And no I’m not a bean freak or a tofu nut. I don’t worry about what I’m going to eat either. It does turn out that Thanksgiving is usually carbs on parade for me. Salad and vegetables seem to get short shift on holiday dinners.

One year we went to a restaurant that had a vegetarian option. It was located in Topanga Canyon and the outdoor tables were built into a hillside overlooking a creek. Very picturesque, but very small portions. My son ate his turkey dinner and then ate most of my not turkey dinner. I’m still hearing about that Thanksgiving.

Lately we’ve been going to a place at the beach. Yesterday they offered a buffet with turkey, shrimp, fish ham and roast beef, along with stuffing, rice, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, and caesar salad. Like I said, my dinner ends up being a carb fiesta. But who cares. The company was good and watching the sun sink into the ocean was serene. I had a great view of Catalina and was on the lookout for dolphins swimming by. I didn’t see any this time, but there were lots of pelicans swooping into the water picking up their dinner. The window next to me was open and I thought one of the sea gulls was going to step in and join us.

We took Malibu Canyon to get there. It goes from through open meadows dotted with California oaks and then between tall rocky mountains before the ocean opens in front of you. It was dark and mysterious on the way back.

I don’t have a favorite Thanksgiving recipe to share, but then by now everybody is probably fooded out anyway. Christmas/Hanukkah are my favorite food holiday. They're about cookies, holiday bread, donuts and potato pancakes with a yule log cake thrown in. If we share Christmas recipes, I'll have one to share for sure.

Quiet Holiday

This is the first Thanksgiving I can remember being so quiet. We’ve usually had both of our sons around, or at least one. But our older son is now married and lives in Chicago. He and his wife will be visiting us in December (yay!) but not for Thanksgiving this year. Our younger son is traveling out of the country. So, it’s just my husband and me as far as family goes. And the dogs, of course, but they don’t get to join in the turkey dinner fun with us--just puppy snacks.

We enjoy celebrating with other people, though, so we’ve invited our next door neighbor, who had been considering plans out of town but decided to join us instead. He’s more of a gourmet cook than I and he’s bringing some stuff. I’ll stick to basics.

I’m going to be the first Killer Hobbyist to break with this week’s traditions. No recipe from me--sorry! As I said, I stick with basics, especially with so few to cook for, so I’m not pulling out my old favorite formulas, even to pass them along.

Anyone else having as quiet a holiday as I am? I wish you all a very happy one!

Thanksgiving Memories

I am the oldest of six children, so my memories of Thanksgiving tend to be jumbles of noise and children, both from when I and my siblings were youngsters and later, when they brought their own youngsters to the feast. The sheer exuberance of those times are golden sparkles in my memory. I remember one time going to Marshall, Illinois, to have Thanksgiving with Aunt Mamie, Uncle Paul, and a set of aunts, uncle and cousins, some of whom I had never met. There must have been forty people in that house! I remember it because I got to sit at the grown ups' table, a gratifying experience, even if most of the talk was about crops and canning -- they were mostly farmers on that side of the family.

But there is one exception to those times. I was working a killer job, full of stress, and trying to go to college in the evenings as well. Thanksgiving came on the horizon and suddenly I couldn’t face the racket. I begged off and spent the day alone in my apartment half a state away from my sister Therese’s house, where the others gathered. It seemed everyone else in the building had a home to go to for their feast, so it was really quiet. I had somewhere found a half of a turkey breast, so I roasted that, and made a salad and baked a single potato. I found a great old movie on television and watched that. I read a favorite book. I was so grateful for the peace and quiet, I felt no guilt at staying away from the home gathering, and returned to work refreshed and renewed. It was and remains one of my favorite Thanksgiving memories.

This year I am celebrating Thanksgiving twice. Once today, a day early, and again tomorrow, on the actual day. The early Thanksgiving started some years back when a dear friend of mine and my husband’s complained to us that he had to go home to his raucous family, at that time full of ructions and quarrels, for Thanksgiving dinner. He asked us what we were doing, and I said I was roasting the smallest turkey I could find (we LOVE leftovers!), then lighting a fire in the fireplace and settling down with favorite books. He said immediately, “Can I come?” We changed our plans to celebrate Thanksgiving a day early so he could store up the peace and quiet before facing the noisy Thanksgiving. He liked it so much that we continued the custom even after his family stopped marking the holiday by shouting at one another across the dinner table. One year my sister-in-law called to ask if we were holding early Thanksgiving and asked if she could come. She had been caught in the middle of one of those family quarrels whose terms seemed to be, “If she’s coming, then I’m not cooking.” All Margaret wanted was a slice of turkey. We told her she was welcome. After a hiatus of several years, we’re doing it again -- we agreed to do it before we got the invitation to a regular Thanksgiving meal with my husband’s family.

This year we’ll have three guests, all seeking something quiet. We’re in our new place and we don’t have a fireplace. But I bought one of those imitation wood-burning stoves with the fake fire for my office and I may haul it out into the living room to create a little nostalgia.

One dish I’m serving is Aunt Velva’s Bean Salad, which I only make twice a year because it’s so fattening.

Two cans of dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
One small onion, chopped
Four or five little sweet gherkins, sliced into rounds
Two hard boiled eggs, chopped

Mix these ingredients in a bowl and make the dressing:

One-quarter cup cider vinegar
One-half cup sugar
One cup sour cream

Blend well and pour over the bean mixture. Stir. This tastes especially good if you make it the day before and let it marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Have a Happy, Joyous Thanksgiving

One Prayer of Gratitude and Two Recipes

# #

Here is my favorite quotation about gratitude. It's by Meister Eckhart:
If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.

I am grateful for so much and for so many people in my life. Most especially, I'm grateful for my family. The photo above is of my grand-nephew, Skyler. Babies are a constant wonderment. This little guy has awesome power because he can always make people smile!

# #

You know, when we focus on what we have, not what we want, our eyes open to our good fortune. Behavioral scientists have discovered that people overestimate the amount of happiness aquisition of any "thing" will bring them. So we move through life relentlessly trying to possess this and that, hoping we'll find elusive joy...and it's only that: elusive.


I once heard a motivational speaker tell a story about a man and his wife who had struggled to build a beautiful house on a farm. They lived there for years in contentment until a tornado destroyed the building. In the aftermath, the man and his wife walked the site, viewing the destruction. The woman was crying but the man was smiling. She asked him, "What's wrong with you? Don't you care that we've lost all this?" And he said, "I'm gladder than sadder. Gladder that I had the years of enjoyment than sadder for my loss."

This Thanksgiving, I will try to be gladder than sadder. I've lost my mother this year, and we sold the house where we raised our son. But I'm gladder that I was by my mother's side when she needed me, gladder that my sisters and I could pull together and lean on each other, gladder that I have good memories and a strong family--and as for the house? A house is just an edifice for storing good memories. I have a new home, and with every day I add a new memory to my mental album.

# #

Meanwhile, here are a couple of recipes to share--and I hope some of you will send in your recipes as well! We had such a great response last week to our Writing Clinic that all of us plan to do it again soon. So, stay tuned!





Apple Tarte Tatin





I actually attended a Cordon Bleu class when we lived in England. I kept waiting for one of the chefs to come toss me out! But no one did, so I took a lot of notes. I've made this, and it's a glorious desert. When you tell people it came from the famous Cordon Bleu, their eyes light up!





1 sheet 8 x 8 inch puff pastry thawed or pie crust rolled flat


8 apples


2 T. fresh lemon juice


1 T. butter


1 T. sugar (or more. More sugar is always better, IMHO)


4 T. water





For topping--


4 oz. sugar


2 T. butter





Roll the pastry to 1/4 inch thick.


Peel, core the apples, slice into quarters or so, toss in a bowl with lemon juice.


Place 1 T. sugar in cast iron skillet, pour in sugar in an even layer. Put on stove at medium heat. Don't touch until this turns golden brown, then stire in butter and pour all into an 8" round baking pan. Place apples tightly in pan. Brush with melted 4 0z. butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees.





Remove from oven. Place puff pastry on top and tuck in around. Cook another 30 minutes. Allow to cool to room temp. Run a knife around the outside. Flip onto serving plate. Serve with ice cream.





# #





Persian Spaghetti





Tired of turkey? Or do you need a pre-holiday meal for your guests? This is an excellent way to stretch a small amount of meat. Don't let the spices scare you. The finished mix is a wonderful savory meal. A college friend who married a man from Iran dreamed this up. I find it a lovely comfort food when the cold weather approaches.





one box of spaghetti (whole wheat)


1/2 pound of hamburger


1/2 large onion


2 cloves garlic


one small can sliced mushrooms


1/4 tsp. cinnamon


1/4 tsp. tumeric


3 pinches of nutmeg


1 can of tomato paste


butter or margarine





Start water boiling for spaghetti. (I like the whole wheat pasta because it's more chewy.)


Put in pasta when water is boiling. You can try 1/2 a box and later up the amount of pasta if you wish. (It depends on the amount of "sauce" pasta ratio you prefer!)





Meanwhile, brown 1/2 pound of hamburger with 1/2 chopped large onion and drain. Add one clove of garlic, crushed, if desired. (You can do without the garlic if you're a vampire.) Add one drained small can of sliced mushrooms, if desired. Add 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. turmeric and three pinches of nutmeg. Stir in one small can of tomato paste. Mix together well. Add the hamburger and tomato paste "sauce" to the drained pasta. You want to try to coat the pasta with the mixture, but the mixture will be dry as opposed to wet sauces. Serve in a bowl with a heaping tsp. of butter on top. (Or more butter!) Yum.

Random Acts of Research

You know how they say when you’re thinking about something, things that relate to it seem to keep showing up? I’m deeply involved with writing the fourth book in the crochet series for now titled Murder and the Marshmallow Stitch and yesterday along with this morning I kept running into things in the book.

We met my son’s girlfriend’s parents for the first time yesterday over Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant. Just after we sat down, the father started talking about his possible allergy to shrimp and since he hadn’t brought an epi pen with, he was going to forgo eating any.

Epi pen, allergy? Wow two important words in my current book. My immediate reaction was to start asking questions about the single shot devices that are used in extreme allergic reactions. I know they contain something like adrenalin and are used to treat anaphylactic shock, but there is more I don’t know. I’m sure the father would know, too. Not only does he possibly have allergies, he is also a retired plastic surgeon. But I stopped myself before I asked a single question. It was Thanksgiving and we’d just met. I didn’t even know if they knew I write murder mysteries. How odd would it have been if out of nowhere I started asking questions about ways to kill people?

After dinner, my husband, son and I went to the movies. As we were watching I felt my eyes open wider as I took in the details on the screen. The action in the story was affected by heavy fog. Wow, sort of like in my book. In the movie it was San Francisco which is almost where it is in my story. Mine takes place near Monterey Bay. I studied what the thick fog shrouding the Golden Gate Bridge looked like and was glad that someone else thought a crippling fog was believable.

And then the capper. This morning when I got up and looked out the window, it was foggy here. Not the thick crippling fog of my book, but foggy enough to see what it tasted like and how it softened the details of the redwood trees in the back of the yard.

A few asides. Although I laughed a number of times, I didn’t care much for the movie we saw - Four Christmases. I thought the tone was uneven, but mostly I just didn’t like the main characters. But on a more positive note, my son is sure his girlfriend’s father would love to talk about the death stuff with me. Yay, another source.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who keeps running into things that relate to what they’re working on. What about the rest of you?

Holiday

Where did 2008 go? Here it is, Thanksgiving already--the end of the 11th month of the year.

I have a lot to be thankful about. For one thing, our older son and his new wife have joined us for the holiday. Our younger son is now on vacation in Japan. Of course we miss him, especially because of the holiday, but I’m thankful that he has communicated fairly often by e-mail, as anticipated. Mostly when he needs something.

I took our puppy Mystie to the vet yesterday, not for the first time. I call her our nutcase, since she leaps on sunbeams and is more interested in them, and in chasing her ball, than in eating. Her tummy has some issues, and she has been in pain for some injury she can’t describe and we haven’t located. Perhaps it moves with her whims. But we know it’s there because of her frequent, but not consistent, yelps when she leaps and goes up and down stairs, and when we pick her up. She apparently has colitis, which explains some of it. I’m extremely thankful it’s not worse and that she seems to be feeling better already, and that Lexie’s health is so good (not perfect, but what ails her isn’t a big deal).

I’m thankful for my husband Fred. He’s retired and underfoot a lot, but he takes on projects to improve our home and lifestyle. And I’m thankful for my writing, which definitely keeps me occupied, especially when I work on three projects at once.

Oh, and I’m also thankful for the Internet, when it works. Our connection is currently iffy, so I hope I get this posted...

--Linda

Thanksgiving Thoughts

I’m fortunate enough to be able to post my blog for Thanksgiving Day, so I’m going to resort to the not entirely original idea of giving an accounting of some of the stuff I’m thankful for.

I’m thankful for prepared food mixes that, with some additions and embellishments, help me to make a tasty Thanksgiving meal yet have time to write and visit with family on Thanksgiving Day.

I’m a little thankful that my part-time temporary law job that looked, yesterday, as if it might move and morph, is staying as-is. Maybe it’d be better if things changed enough to get me to leave, which would increase my writing time, but I like it enough for now to hang in.

I’m thankful for writing, since it’s so much a part of who and what I am.

I’m thankful for my good friends and my fellow writers, absolutely including my co-bloggers who invited me to join them here at Killer Hobbies. You're all great!

I’m thankful for my wonderful agent Paige Wheeler of Folio Literary Management, her interest in my writing career and her support, and all her efforts to make my publishing dreams come true. I’m thankful for my publishers and their hard-working editors, at Harlequin and at Berkley Prime Crime. By the way, Kendra Ballantyne, my pet-sitter mystery protagonist, joins me in these good wishes for Berkley and everyone there. She really likes it when her stories are told and looks forward to more to come. And, yes, I'm thankful for Kendra and figure she's thankful for me, too.

And of course we're thankful for our wonderful readers!

I’m thankful for all animals, those that are wild, and those that allow us to think they’re tame. For pets of all kinds. For dogs, and for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. And at the top of that list, I’m thankful for my adorable Lexie. And Kendra says the same about her Lexie.

I’m really thankful for my family--those who remain in Pittsburgh, those who live in Phoenix, my extended in-law family in Ohio and Hawaii and here in L.A. And, most especially, I’m thankful for my two wonderful sons, Eric and Keith, and for my husband Fred, with whom I don’t always agree but I do always love.

I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful Thanksgiving. And please feel free to comment here to add the things you’re most thankful for.

--Linda

Talking Turkey

by Deb Baker

Today as I watch the wind swirl outside my writing window and see Wisconsin’s first brief snow flurry, my thoughts turn to family, Thanksgiving, and spending more time in my kitchen. So it was appropriate that yesterday I received the artwork for my third Yooper mystery, which will be out in April. I have to share the cover design with you. BTW, Gertie Johnson (woman with the gun) isn't hunting for dinner, she's after a different kind of turkey.
Anyway…
I’m dreaming of stews, soups, and anything involving mashed potatoes. My body wants to pack on pounds, store it away for the winter. I want to cook a turkey right now, not wait until later in the month. I’m scanning newspapers and magazines for new recipes and this weekend I’m doing a pre-Thanksgiving meal. Here’s the dessert I’m going to try, courtesy of local “Chef Thunder”.

SPICED PUMPKIN TIRAMISU

Italian Ladyfingers – 1 package
Frangelico – 2 Tablespoons
Mascarpone – 8 ounces
Pumpkin puree – 1 cup canned
Cinnamon – 1 teaspoon
Ginger – ½ teaspoon, ground
Mace – ¼ teaspoon
Powdered Sugar – 1 ½ cups
Orange Extract – 1 teaspoon
Heavy Whipping Cream – 2 ½ cups, whipped

Arrange ladyfingers in bottom of a 9-inch square pan. Pour Frangelico over.
In mixing bowl, blend together mascarpone and pumpkin puree. Add spices, powdered sugar and orange extract.
Fold in 1 ½ cups of whipped cream.
Pour over ladyfingers.
Spread remaining whipped cream over the top
Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
Slice and serve.
(makes 9 servings)