Friday, October 3, 2014

Bon Appetite - A Weekend Treat: CRACKER PUDDING


My contemporary novel, KEY TO LOVE, is currently on sale for $0.99 for the entire month of October. In the novel, Lucas Fisher, the main hero, is trying to get custody of his little nephew, Todd Fisher, now orphaned because of his father’s death in a car accident. Todd loves eating animal crackers. This recipe is a great one—but you must use “oyster crackers.”

 
CRACKER PUDDING
 

1 qt. milk
½ cup flour
½ to ¾ cup sugar
½ tsp salt
1 egg
½ cup coconut
1 cup crushed oyster crackers

Let milk come to a boil. Mix flour, sugar, salt
and egg into a batter. Add the batter, coconut
and crackers to the milk and cook until thick.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Bon Appetite - A Weekend Treat: CAJUN SHRIMP

This is a favorite of everyone when we have get-togethers. It gives shrimp an entirely different taste. All you need is the infectious beat of an accordion and fiddle to make it truly Cajun!



         
  









CAJUN SHRIMP

1 Lb. Shelled Deveined Shrimp
2 Tsp. Paprika
1 Tsp. Thyme
1 Tsp. Seafood Seasoning***
½ Tsp. Seasoned Salt
½ Tsp. Red & Black Pepper
¼ Tsp. Nutmeg
¼ Tsp. Garlic Powder
¼ Tsp. Old Bay Seasoning

Combine seasonings.  Heat
3 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet.
Add seasonings and stir about
30 seconds till bubbling.  Add
shrimp and stir till all coated.
Over medium heat, cook 3
minutes covered.  Remove
cover, stir and cook 2 minutes,
stir and cook 1 minute.  Serve
with or without cocktail sauce.

*** Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Seafood Magic is good
 

Friday, September 12, 2014

Bon Appetite - A Weekend Treat: NOBBY APPLE CAKE


Every Friday I'll be sharing a favorite recipe. With autumn sneaking up on us in Central Pennsylvania, I'm featuring an apple treat. This is an old recipe I copied from my mother's handwritten notebook of her most loved recipes.


Nobby Apple Cake                                                           

 6 TBSP butter or margarine 
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups sifted flour
6 cups diced apples
½ cup chopped nuts
2 tsp vanilla

Cream margarine, sugar and eggs;
Sift dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture
Stir in diced apples, nuts and vanilla
Pour into greased pan.
Bake: 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes

I prefer to lightly ice my cake with just a plain thin layer of vanilla frosting. 
Great with ice cream or whipped cream or plain.

Friday, August 29, 2014

TOMATOES: The Beauties of a Fall Harvest


This is the time of the year when the fall harvest begins. For gardeners, anxious to taste the first tomatoes of the season, this is the time when the fruit swells on the vines and everyone scurries to find ways to store the pretty red or yellow beauties for future use. There are more than 4,000 varieties of tomatoes in our world, ranging from the small, marble-size cherry tomato to the giant Ponderosa that weights more than three pounds.

Tomatoes can be cooked, eaten raw, canned, frozen and used in a variety of sauces. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans eat more than 22 pounds of tomatoes every year. More than half this amount is eaten in the form of ketchup and tomato sauce.

Technically, a tomato is a fruit, since it is the ripened ovary of a plant. In 1893, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of “Nix vs. Hedden” that tomatoes were to be considered vegetables.

The word "tomato" comes from the Spanish tomate, and is member of the deadly nightshade family. Tomatoes were not cultivated in North America until the 1700s, and then only in home gardens since many people thought them to be poisonous. By 1782, Thomas Jefferson was raising tomatoes on his plantation. But it took until the 1900s for them to may their way into American cookbooks.

The H. J. Heinz Company, also known as the Heinz Company, and commonly known as Heinz, is a food processing company and is worldwide famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan and its ketchup. Its world headquarters is in Pittsburgh, PA. Henry Heinz picked the number 57 at random because of its sound after he rode an elevated train in New York City and spied an advertisement for a shoe store boasting “21 styles.”

Whether your eating pizza sauce, tomato soup, ketchup on your fries, or a simple BLT (Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato) sandwich, the tomato is now a common ingredient in most people’s diets. Let the fall harvest begin!

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Today in History

Do you read a daily newspaper? In our small town, we get our local newspaper, The Progress, still delivered to our door by a paper girl. After a busy day at the computer or working in the yard and around the house, I enjoy sitting down with a cup of coffee and the local paper. I even have our newspaper held when we’re on vacation, or sent to us if we plan to be away for a long period of time at one particular place.

I know many people now read all their news online, but I still love the newspaper in its original form—a somewhat flimsy, drab ecru, non-glare news print that allows you to touch, browse, flip from news to sports to comics to Dear Abby in seconds. You can easily lay it aside if you get interrupted, but quickly return to your favorite spot minutes later. And no one cares if you fold, bend, or wrinkle it—or later reuse it to wash your windows or catch the water and mud from your dirty boots!

There is one particular section of the newspaper I particularly like. It’s called, “Today in History;” and for a writer, it has a wealth of information. For example, on Tuesday, August 5th in 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal was laid on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor. In 1914, what is believed to be the first electric traffic light system was installed in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1924, the comic strip “Little Orphan Annie” by Harold Gray made its debut. And in 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe, 36, was found dead in her Los Angeles home, her death ruled a probable suicide.

Along with an important event on a selected same date in time, “Today in History,” also includes birthdays of important people and a “Thought for Today.” As a writer, we are always looking for those rare tidbits of information to squeeze into a historical novel or to give us a spurt of creative energy, a springboard leading to other similar ideas. Right now, I’m curious to learn about the behind-the-scenes preparation and work for erecting the Statue of Liberty. But of course, when today’s paper arrives, I may be led astray to yet another topic.

We all have ways to jump start our imaginations as writers, artists, musicians, dreamers, and people who enjoy toying with the creative muse. What are some of your catalysts for creativity?

To be fair to my favorite Progress column, I can’t end without sharing my favorite “Thought for Today,” taken from the August 4, 2014 edition: 

        “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”—Anne Frank (1929-1945).