Hiatus !!!

I'll be away for a few days. See you soon!

'Love Story' by Erich Segal

Erich Segal, the author of 'Love Story, passed away at the age of 72. I remember having read the book in high school. All the girls in my Freshman class (well, it was an all girls school) swooned over the romance of Oliver and Jenny. I also remember the test given by the English teacher. We all expected to have to write a essay of some sort but were surprised to find the test consisted of one question that had a very simple answer and that most (just about all) of the class got wrong. The question..."When does the author tell you that Jenny died?" Have you read 'Love Story' and can you answer that question?

Ready for an Oyster Roast?

Lowcountry Oyster Festival
**Selected By the
Southeast Tourism Society
as a Top 20 Event**

Sunday, January 31, 2010
Boone Hall Plantation,
Mt. Pleasant, SC

11:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
Gates Open at 10:30 A.M.

Oyster Stew:
50 medium oysters, such as bluepoints,
shucked (about 1 1⁄2 lbs.), with 1 cup
of the liquor reserved
12 tbsp. unsalted butter
5 tbsp. flour
4 ribs celery, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
1⁄2 cup finely chopped curly parsley
1 tbsp. kosher salt
1 1⁄2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1⁄4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream


1. Combine oyster liquor with 1 cup water in a 2-qt. saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the oysters and simmer until their edges just begin to curl, about 2 minutes. Strain oysters through a fine sieve set over a medium bowl. Reserve oysters and cooking liquid separately. Heat butter in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly, until golden brown, 3–4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; add celery, garlic, onions, parsley, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until onions and celery are very soft, about 25 minutes.


2. Stir in milk, cream, and reserved oysters with their cooking liquid and cook, stirring occasionally, until just hot, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

SERVES 6

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #115

The Secret of Everything (again)

Source

I just finished The Secret of Everything , a lovely read by Barbara O'Neal and I feel as if I have found something that for the last couple of years has been buried. This story of family, love, food, and healing touched me in a way that I have not been touched by a read in quite some time. I felt, saw and heard what I was reading. The story is not my story but the symbols are my symbols. I am familiar with the landscape in this story ... Northern New Mexico, it's beauty, it's light and it's mystery, it was easy to become absorbed. The author obviously understands the place of which she writes and has a sense of the people and what could be real.

The story is of Tessa Harlow, a tour guide leader who survives an awful accident and is searching for her identity and an explanation of the memories that have started to surface after the accident. She is drawn back to Las Ladronas where she was born on a commune and where she learns how just one day changed the lives of so many including her own.

The story is so compelling, so powerful, you will not want to put it down and when you reach the last page you will want for more.

A good day for Poetry

Ah! Sunflower
by William Blake


Ah! sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun,
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller’s journey is done;

Where the youth pined away with desire,
And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves and aspire;
Where my sunflower wishes to go.

Sulllivan's Island

Sullivan's Island has a beauty of it's own. I find I enjoy the mornings most when strolling with a hot cup of coffee and listening to the wind. Soft sand, beautiful water. There are always people on the beach no matter the time of day or year.

Though it appears to be a square, the lighthouse is actually triangular shaped. It is closed to the public except for a few occasions when the par services opens it. I did have the opportunity to tour it this fall.

Haiti: Update from Port-au-Prince

Life pictures:




It seems so indulgent to post pictures or write about my latest favorite read or recipe today after the catastrophic events in Haiti yesterday. The earthquake in Haiti is devastating to a country who regularly starts its day poor and in need. The Red Cross, as usual, is there to help. So today I share my support of the Red Cross, a worthy organization.

Haiti: Update from Port-au-Prince

Posted using ShareThis

Walking around the neighborhood!!!

Just a day around the neighborhood...

Frozen in the South!!!!

Lily Pulitzer stylized Jeep -- Only in the South!!!

My current read...

I found a new read at Barnes & Nobel this past weekend. I can't imagine where I've been that I haven't come across this author before this weekend. I'm always excited when I find a new author and I can't wait to check out her style.

The jacket entry caught my attention with several elements that I often enjoy reading about ... strong independent women, good food, great environment and healing love.

A good day for Poetry

"Spellbound
by Emily Brontë

The night is darkening round me,
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me
And I cannot, cannot go.

The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow.
And the storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.

Clouds beyond clouds above me,
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing dear can move me;
I will not, cannot go."

White Bean and Chicken Chili

One of the first types of soup can be dated to 6000BC. source

Save Time with Slow Cooker Chicken: White Bean and Chicken Chili

This is just so delicious you just have to try it. Serve with a fresh salad and some french bread and you have a delightful light and healthy dinner. I found this recipe on MyRecipe.com which is a favorite recipe site. One of the best features is the recipe file. Once you sign up as a member user, you can file your recipes within the website and access them when ever your in need of one. It's a perfect way for me to stay organized and eliminate the clutter of handwritten cards with food spills and liquid stains on them.

High Cotton Contest

High Cotton - Having done well; from the notion that when the cotton crop is high, one does not have to bend to collect it; prospering.

The gals at Peach and Love blog are having a "HIGH COTTON" contest. Check it out at Peach and Love ... Pass it on!!!!

My Morning Cuppa...

Coffee, regarded as a Muslim drink, was prohibited by Ethiopian orthodox Christians as late as 1889; it is now considered a national drink of Ethiopian people of all faiths.

This past holiday, my dear friend who always seems to be in sync with what I enjoy most, gave me a wonderful tasting coffee from Baby's Coffee in Breaux Bridge, LA. Billed as having an "elegantly nutty flavor", LaBelle Pecan is a delicious, aromatic blend suitable for any time of day or occasion. I have been enjoying a cuppa each morning and I plan to try some of their other offerings soon.

Paranormal Grit Lit--REALLY??

PARANORMAL GRIT LIT--REALLY??

I’m known for writing ‘grit lit’—Southern women’s fiction. My books are recognized not only by their Southern setting and characters, but also by their emotional intensity. From my very first book (a time-travel historical published in 2000), that has been my trademark and what my readers look for in all of the books I write. And believe me, an author doesn’t ever want to mess with reader’s expectations!

So when I proposed the idea for THE HOUSE ON TRADD STREET to my agent, she was a little leery at first—especially after I told her that I planned to make this into a series. She couldn’t have been too surprised, though. In the last nine years I’ve published eleven books: a time-travel historical, a gothic romance ala Victoria Holt, two contemporary romance/mainstream fiction novels, five “grit-lit” books, and two “paranormal/grit-lit” novels. I’m not one for sticking to the tried and true, I guess!

In this series (THE GIRL ON LEGARE STREET is the second book, and was published in November, 20009), I’ve blended my favorite elements of ‘grit-lit’ but threw in my passion for old houses, the city of Charleston, a lot of history, mystery, and ghosts. The main characters are multi-layered with a lot of emotional baggage (ala Karen White books), but their dialogue is lighter, and snarkier, than my readers are probably used to. And, yes, my protagonist, Melanie Middleton, sees dead people.

So, how did I sell this idea as a marketable proposal to not only myself but to my agent and editor? After all, isn’t the publishing industry married to the ‘tried and true’ despite their insistence that they want something ‘fresh and new’? I made a deal with the devil (figuratively, of course). I promised my editor that I could still do a ‘grit lit’ novel every year—if I could just be allowed to sneak in these cool women’s fiction/paranormal mystery books in between. Seeing as how my books are usually around 120,000+ words, it was no mean feat promising two in a single calendar year. But I believed in this project and I signed the deal. It didn’t hurt that I live with two teenagers so that the need to escape to my “happy place” of writing is an almost constant one. J

I am blessed with a really wonderful editor who likes what I write and trusts me a great deal. I think all of us (me, my agent and my editor) were holding our collective breaths as I worked on the book, hoping it would live up to its promise of being a book that my current readers would enjoy as well as one that would attract new readers. After all, I’ve always had a dash of the paranormal as well as a mystery in all of my books—this one just had a little more.

I’ll admit that I had a lot of fun writing THE HOUSE ON TRADD STREET and THE GIRL ON LEGARE STREET. They’re a little lighter in tone than my previous books, and the dialogue between the two protagonists, Melanie and Jack, was the most fun I’ve had between the pages of a book in a long time. With ‘bated breath, I turned in the book and waited.

Luckily for me, my agent and editor loved the book as much as I did and they reinforced the decision to keep my name for this series because it was definitely a ‘Karen White’ book—recognizable by not only the southern setting but by likeable but flawed characters who have to work through internal and external conflicts—including a ghostly presence who’s not all that nice.

So, did I pull it off? Did I manage to merge women’s fiction with a paranormal romance? I think so, and judging by readers’ reactions, they agree. Nobody really knows what to call this series—and that’s okay because I don’t know either. Maybe my books will be the beginning of a whole new genre! My publisher was pleased with the response and asked me to write two more books for this series--so there will be two more to follow THE GIRL ON LEGARE STREET. It’s not too much of a hardship for me since Charleston is one of my favorite cities. From the first time I visited about twelve years ago, I knew it had a special place in my heart and I look forward to each trip I make from Atlanta to “research.”

Regardless of what genre people call my books, I’d like to believe that with each and every one of them I have achieved the goal that I set for myself every time I sit down to write: to create characters readers will care about, and put them in a story that will make my readers feel every emotion, want to turn the pages, and give them a sigh of satisfaction when they get to the end. And that’s really what it’s all about in the end, isn’t it?

Writing...a labor of love

split infinitive -- an infinitive verb form with an element,
usually an adverb, interposed between to and a verb form as in to boldly go. Source

Yesterday I had to prepare a writing sample for a potential contract. I've only had to do so one other time and I don't find it to be an enjoyable exercise. I prefer writing for fun and my own enjoyment. Writing to be judged how I would handle a specific situation is another story because one does not know if they are interested in your execution of the situation or your style of writing. I did my best to address both. This particular exercise had me writing conversation scripts between an upset employee and a manager...Oh my!!! The difficulty for me is not in creating the conversation but in essentially guessing which conversation they are expecting.
It is hard to write knowing you'll be judged by someone for something. One just has to look at the comments left on blogs and websites to see how people can be quite heartless in their judgements. It is one of the reason, I enjoy reading blogs and websites for content and ideas, not to note if the writer has used a split infinitive.

Green Chili Chicen Stew

Green chili is a important ingredient in New Mexican cuisine. The town of Hatch, NM has been the leader in chili growing and is known as the "Chili Capital of the World"

World Famous Salsa & Green Chile Sauce - El Pinto
It's exceptionally cold today where I am and I'm having fond memories of yummy Green Chili Chicken Stew with warm tortillas. Quite difficult to get the green chili's here so I have to use prepared sauce. There are many good chili sauces on the market, I happen to have El Pinto Green Chili Sauce available but you can make it from scratch if you have access to some good Hatch Green Chilis.

A good day for Poetry

"The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls"
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveller hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveller to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls."

Books for Beachwalker Boy by Usborne

Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of deriving meaning (reading comprehension) and/or constructing meaning. Written information is received by the retina, processed by the primary visual cortex, and interpreted in Wernicke's area. Source

It is often difficult to find appropriate books for tween boys these days. That is unless you browse the Usborne Book website or attend an Usborne home show. I recently ordered two books from my friend, Miss Tressa at The Usborne Connection that has proven to be winners for Beachwalker Boy. Conspiracy 365 January by Gabrielle Lord is out this month and will keep any child engrossed in the action packed story. Beachwalker Boy is quite a voracious reader ... thank you very much, but one can see how this story can keep the reluctant reader interested and wanting more as well. There will be twelve installments in the series, one each month which is a wonderful way to introduce a child to the joys series reading.

Moonrunner by Mark Thomason is the other title from Usborne Books. This is a well paced story of a boy trying to find his place in a new land 'Down Under' and learning lessons only a life of hardship will teach. Anyone who loves horses will love this book.

Both of these books will be enjoyed by the older reader as well as the tweens. I took the challenge presented by Miss Tressa and read Conspiracy 365 January with Beachwalker Boy, each of us taking turns reading aloud a few chapters. This is a great way to enjoy a good book and spend time with your child.

Oh Sophie!!!

tu⋅lip [too-lip, tyoo-] –noun
1. any of various plants belonging to the genus Tulipa, of the lily family, cultivated in many varieties, and having lance-shaped leaves and large, showy, usually erect, cup-shaped or
bell-shaped flowers in a variety of colors. Source

Tulips are one of my favorite flowers and I love the way Sophie Dahy Designs presents this bunch in a wire vase. They are so fresh looking; it's hard to believe they are fine silks. I recently became acquainted with the owner of Sophie Dahy Designs and it's apparent she puts her heart and soul into her flower designs. It shows in the lifelike look of her flower designs.

Red tulips in french wire vase by Sophie Dahy Designs