A SALUTE TO NOVEMBER

November in Pennsylvania is the month of dry leaves swirling in a brisk wind. The green landscape of summer has turned to a dull brown except for the pines and hemlock dotting the hillsides. The oaks struggle to hang onto their leaves as they await the first snowfall while the bare arms of the maples shiver under cold gray skies.

This is a time of smoke curling from chimneys, wild geese winging southward, and once fertile fields stretching out barren and vacant. The last roses still cling to their stems along with the red berries of the mountain ash. Marigolds and geraniums defy the first light frosts of the season and stand proud in the chilly wind. Along sidewalks and on porches, golden pumpkins are piled in clusters or are marching in a line, showing off their many shades, shapes, and sizes. Dried corn stalks surround the lamp posts on our main street through town, and winter wood is stacked in perfect rows along buildings, awaiting fireplaces and wood burners. Deer enter the backyards now and scour the fruit trees for the last apples and pears.

November is a time for apple and pumpkin pie, nuts, hot  chocolate, a book and a cozy chair. It’s a time for reflecting on the past year and being thankful for the beauty of our world that will slowly fall to sleep under a blanket of white, yet awake again when spring’s warm breath blows across the land. 

 

                                                           ~ * ~       

                           NEW RELEASE - Finding Love in Pine Valley  

  

 

FINDING LOVE IN PINE VALLEY  

 

New Release:  

eBook/Digital - Now Only $2.99

Print - 6.99

 

LUCY ~ THE CLARINETIST - Coming October 26th

October reminds us of cool, crisp days, a rainbow of colored leaves, and Halloween. October is also National Dessert Month. With seasonal ingredients like spicy cinnamon, rich caramel, and decadent pecans, autumn is one of the best seasons for baking. Who doesn’t enjoy pumpkin pie heaped with Kool Whip? Or apple pie or crisp? How about pecan pie and the many cobblers?

This month, on October 26th, I’m releasing my last novella in the Musical Christmas Series. It’s Lucy –The Clarinetist, and like the preceding novellas, it includes a recipe that one of the main characters enjoys. This time it’s Andre Almanza who likes apple pie with a cinnamon crumb crust.

            APPLE PIE WITH CINNAMON CRUMB CRUST TOPPING

INGREDIENTS:

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg (optional)

Dash of salt

6 cups thinly sliced pared apples (McIntosh work well)

2 TBSP. butter or margarine

Deep Dish Pastry for a 9-inch pie  (You need only the bottom crust)

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare pastry or use one purchased from the store. (Frozen deep dish varieties work best.)

Stir together sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt and mix with apples. Turn into pastry-lined pan and dot with butter.

 CINNAMON CRUMB CRUST:

Mix 1 cup flour, ½ cup cold butter, 2 tsp. cinnamon, and ½ cup (packed) brown sugar. Cut dry ingredients into butter with pastry cutter until crumbly. Carefully spread the mixture on the top of the apples, packing it down around the edges.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes.

NOTE: You many need to cover topping with aluminum foil for the last ten minutes to prevent excess browning.  Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

BLURB:

A merry novella for the holiday season!

Lucy Ciaffonni wants nothing more than to start her own public relations firm, but she’s stuck at the local bank performing boring communications and advertising duties. When her best friend and computer guru, Andre Almanza, buys an area farm to create a barn theater, Lucy is pulled into the mystery of discovering where a rare, German, H.F. Kayser clarinet was hidden on the property during Prohibition.

Andre Almanza has always adored Lucy from afar. He hopes she’ll take the position of barn theater manager. When she agrees to help him renovate the barn and update and furnish his huge Victorian house, he is delighted—that is, until the entire town becomes involved in locating the missing antique instrument. To complicate matters, there are ruthless people who want to recover the expensive clarinet and cash in on its legend and value.

Will Lucy and Andre locate the clarinet and finally acknowledge the sparks of romance that have been smoldering between them for the longest time? Will it be the perfect Christmas?

       GET YOUR PRE-ORDER AND COPY OF "LUCY ~ THE CLARINETIST HERE!