From sweet childhood remembrances to fanciful solutions of family dramas to
romantic relationships that begin--or end--during the holidays, SECOND
HELPINGS is an anthology of stories and memories, but most especially of
recipes. Our end-of-the-year celebrations are occasions that bring reunions
with unforgettable feasts and that one special, treasured dish. At the end of
each story, vignette, reminiscence, you'll find a recipe or collection of
recipes that will make your next holiday memorable as well.
SECOND HELPING - A collection of short stories and recipes contains my
short story, "Danny's Secret," which tells the plight of a sister
whose brother died in the Gulf in 1990. Danny had a family heirloom as a good
luck charm, a pearl ring, that was never returned with his personal effects. It
had been carried by his great grandfather in World War I, his grandfather
in World War II, and his father in the Vietnam War. Twenty years later, Kay
Holland is still searching for answers to its disappearance, especially since
her mother is dying and requesting to see it.
SECOND HELPINGS has a series of tasty recipes, including my recipe
for molasses cookies. Pick up a copy and read what a pearl ring and molasses
cookies have in common. It's available in print and e-book formats.
Buy it now at Second Wind Publishing
or at Amazon.com
The things I think and write today in blog posts, I will keep. And when I'm old and read them. . .will I laugh or will I weep?
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Sunday, November 23, 2014
GIVING THANKS - A Poem
Giving Thanks - Author Unknown
For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,
For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,
For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,
For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home -
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!
For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,
For the cunning and strength of the workingman's hand,
For the good that our artists and poets have taught,
For the friendship that hope and affection have brought -
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!
For the homes that with purest affection are blest,
For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,
For our country extending from sea unto sea;
The land that is known as the "Land of the Free" -
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Bon Appetite - A Weekend Treat: SOUTHERN PECAN PIE
Southern Pecan Pie
4
eggs
2/3
cup sugar
l
cup light corn syrup
½
teaspoonsalt
3
tablesppons melted butter (or
margarine)
2 ½
tablespoons dark rum
1
cup (about 7 ounces) shelled
pecans
2. Beat eggs lightly in a large bowl. Stir in sugar, corn syrup,
salt and butter, mixing just to blend. (Do not overbeat.) Stir
in rum and pecans. Pour into prepared pastry shell.
3. Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees) for 40 minutes or
until filling is golden brown and firm to the light touch.
Serve at room temperature with a bowl of lightly sweetened
whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Last Chance to Win $25 Gift Certificate
This is the last chance to win a $25 Gift Certificate!
Next week, I will finish my last blog stop with Goddess Fish Promotions for my historical romance, UNDER STARRY SKIES and its Book Review Tour.
For a chance to win a $25 amazon email gift certificate, join me on November 11th at these sites:
Journey of a Book Seller - http://bkfaerie.blogspot.com
Undercover Book Reviews - http://undercoverbookreviews.blogspot.com
A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED
Next week, I will finish my last blog stop with Goddess Fish Promotions for my historical romance, UNDER STARRY SKIES and its Book Review Tour.
For a chance to win a $25 amazon email gift certificate, join me on November 11th at these sites:
Journey of a Book Seller - http://bkfaerie.blogspot.com
Undercover Book Reviews - http://undercoverbookreviews.blogspot.com
A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Bon Appetite - A Weekend Treat: PUMPKIN COOKIES
This is the time of the year when everyone thinks autumn and the harvest season as leaves change from green to gold, vermillion, and orange. It's the time of pumpkins-- pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream and coffee. . .and pumpkin cookies with that distinctive cinnamon flavor. Here's a recipe for moist, sweet pumpkin cookies with a simple confectioner's sugar glaze.
PUMPKIN
COOKIES
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup sugar
½ cup shortening or salad oil
1 egg beaten
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup nuts - optional
1 cup chocolate chips – optional
Combine pumpkin, sugar, shortening and egg. Shift flour, baking powder,
cinnamon and salt together; add to pumpkin mixture alternately with soda
dissolved in milk. Add vanilla—and if desired: nuts and chocolate chips. Drop
by teaspoonful on greased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees.
Yield: 4 dozen
Glaze: If you desire a glaze, use a simple confectioner's sugar glaze with a dash of vanilla and enough hot milk added to make it spreadable.
Saturday, October 18, 2014
GODDESS FISH BLURB BLITZ TOUR: "Key to Love" - Sign Up to Win $25.00 Gift Certificate
I am delighted to announce that Goddess Fish Promotions will host KEY TO
LOVE, my contemporary romantic suspense novel, on a nineteen-day Virtual Book
Tour from October 13 to October 31st.
During the month of October, KEY TO LOVE, is priced at $0.99 for
digital/eBook readers. Also during the tour, I will be awarding a $25.00 Amazon Gift Certificate to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter.
Below is the list of dates and websites
where the blurb blitz will happen. Please stop by, leave a comment, and sign up with rafflecopter.
October 13: Room With
Books
October 14: Dena Garson - Real... Hot... Romance
October 15: Jane Reads
October 15: Sexy Adventures Passionate Tales
October 16: Rachel Brimble Romance
October 17: Susana's Morning Room
October 20: Queen of All She Reads
October 21: Bunny's Review - review
October 22: StarAngels' Reviews
October 23: Books N Pearls - review
October 24: Books to Light Your Fire
October 24: Underneath the Covers
October 27: A. Literary Mafia
October 28: Brooke Blogs
October 28: Bea's Book Nook
October 29: SBM Book Obsession
October 30: Books Direct
October 30: Undercover Book Reviews - review
October 31: Unabridged Andra's
October 14: Dena Garson - Real... Hot... Romance
October 15: Jane Reads
October 15: Sexy Adventures Passionate Tales
October 16: Rachel Brimble Romance
October 17: Susana's Morning Room
October 20: Queen of All She Reads
October 21: Bunny's Review - review
October 22: StarAngels' Reviews
October 23: Books N Pearls - review
October 24: Books to Light Your Fire
October 24: Underneath the Covers
October 27: A. Literary Mafia
October 28: Brooke Blogs
October 28: Bea's Book Nook
October 29: SBM Book Obsession
October 30: Books Direct
October 30: Undercover Book Reviews - review
October 31: Unabridged Andra's
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
00:30 SECONDS - by Chrys Fey
Chrys Fey is my guest today with her book:
00:30 SECONDS
BLURB:
When Officer Blake Herro agreed to go undercover
in the Mob, he thought he understood the risks. But he's made mistakes and now
an innocent woman has become their target. He's determined to protect her at
all costs.
The Mob's death threat turns Dr. Dani Hart's life
upside down, but there is one danger she doesn’t anticipate. As she's dodging
bullets, she's falling in love with Blake. With danger all around them, will
she and Blake survive and have a happy ending, or will the Mob make good on
their threat?
BOOK LINKS:
The Wild Rose Press: http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=5801
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22591698-30-seconds
She panted with fear. What if they see the chest? What if we get
caught? What if my breath stinks and I’m breathing right into Officer Hottie’s
face? She shut her mouth and let oxygen flow through her nose.
Her eyesight slowly
adjusted to the darkness and she could see Officer Herro’s silhouette. His head
was turned and he was listening to the thuds of heavy boots getting louder; the
intruders were coming their way.
Then the thunder of
footsteps sounded right next to them. “There’s no one here, Red,” someone
announced.
“Look for documents,” a
man ordered, who Dani could only assume was Red. “I want the name of the person
I’m going to kill.”
A moment later, there was
a reply. “All the mail is addressed to a Dr. Hart.”
Hearing her name said
aloud by one of the men who had ransacked her place made her want to gasp. Her
mouth fell open and her breath was reversing into her lungs, but before she
could make a sound, Officer Herro lowered his lips to hers, silencing her.
Stunned, she could only lie beneath him with her eyes wide and her body tense.
She couldn’t believe he was kissing her. She wanted to push him back, but knew
if she did he might hit the inside of the chest, giving away their hiding
place. That was when she realized he was kissing her so she wouldn’t gasp.
She let her body relax.
After her initial shock faded, she was able to feel his lips. They were
comforting and caused a reaction deep inside her. She couldn’t stop her lips
from reacting to his. It was an innocent connection, a soft touch of lips.
Until his hand slid from her shoulder to her neck and the kiss deepened into
something else.
BIO:
Chrys Fey is a lover of rock music just like Dani
Hart in 30 Seconds. Whenever she's writing at her desk, headphones are always
emitting the sounds of her musical muses -especially that of her favorite band,
30 Seconds to Mars, the inspiration behind the title.
30 Seconds is her second eBook with The Wild Rose
Press. Her debut, Hurricane Crimes, is also available on Amazon.
Discover her writing tips on her blog, and connect
with her on Facebook. She loves to get to know her readers!
AUTHOR LINKS:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/chrysfey
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/ChrysFey
SOME AUTHOR TIDBITS:
Do you have a
favorite theme/genre you like to write about?
In all of my stories, whether they are thrillers or supernatural,
there is always romance. I can’t write a story without romance because it feels
empty without it. I also love to see my characters fall in love, even in
extreme situations like in 30 Seconds.
Do you listen to
music (or do something special) when you write?
I have to listen to music when I write. Music inspires me
and gives me ideas. It also gets me in the mood to write certain scenes. 30 Seconds is actually named after my
favorite band, Thirty Seconds to Mars.
What are your three favorite foods?
1. Cheese Pizza
2. Banana Bread
3. Pasta
Thank you for reading my interview with Judy! Now is your
turn to answer a question:
If the Mob was after you, what would you do and where would
you go to stay alive?
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