Vegetable Gardening: Fresh Vegetables from Our Garden to Our Dinner Table: Zucchini Cake Recipe #vegetablegardening #zucchini #gardening

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard by JQ Rose

Rescuing a naked woman lying in a geranium bed? Investigating mysterious murders? These are not the usual calls in a Florida retirement community for volunteer first responder Jim Hart.

Click here to discover more books by JQ Rose 

on her BWL Publishing author page.  

You just need a garden and a library!

 What a special time of year for people who love fresh veggies. July and August are the prime months for harvesting vegetables from our garden. This is the time of the year when we get paid back for all that hard labor in planting and nurturing those lovely plants. 

We are reaping the rewards now.

Not only does gardening provide rewards of fresh, healthy food, but the labor also is more satisfying than going to a stinky dark gym to exercise. Planting, digging and weeding the plot is one of the best ways to keep a happy, strong heart.

Warning!! It's zucchini time. Zucchini is a prolific plant. Once it gets growing, the harvesting goes on and on and on. You'll need several recipes to have some diversity in your diet.
I'll share a zucchini cake recipe at the end of the article.

Green tomatoes. Fingers crossed we'll have a long enough season for the tomatoes to ripen.
We had a late spring. The weather was so cold and rainy, Gardener Ted thought he would never get any crops from our garden. Unfortunately, many seeds rotted in the cold ground and had to be replanted. The good news is the sun finally came out and warmed up the ground so the beans are flowering and looking healthy today! We may pick a handful by the end of the week.

I picked my first green pepper this week. I love, love, love green peppers. You too?

The potato plants are blooming. They show promise of producing tasty spuds.

Lettuce on the left. Romaine and Magenta. We have had to give lots of lettuce away to friends and family and to the local food pantry. What a rewarding experience when people smile when we hand them the fresh lettuce. Nothing like it.
I've made two batches of slaw from crisp heads of cabbage. Nothing like the sound of the crack of a head of cabbage when you split it with a sharp knife. I cut the head in halves or quarters, cut out the core, then soak it in salt water for about 15 minutes.
The salt kills any insects hiding within the layers of leaves.

I know, the black-eyed Susans are not veggies, but oh so pretty.

In my scary story, Terror on Sunshine Boulevard, the main characters are Gloria and Jim Hart from Michigan. They spend winters in a retirement community in Florida. Jim is a year-round gardener with a garden Up North and one in Florida. He grows waaaaay too many vegetables so they give them away to friends and family. Gloria is always searching for delicious ways to cook vegetables so she has a choice of dishes for their dinner table. 

Hmmm...these characters are suspiciously similar to the author and her husband. LOL...Yes, I based them on my life, but Jim and Gloria are a bit more fun and quirkier than we are!

Zucchini
Image by congerdesign from Pixabay 

Since I can't pass a zucchini through the Internet to you, I will share a great recipe with you for Zucchini cake. 

ZUCCHINI CAKE

3 c. flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Sift together these dry ingredients into a bowl and set aside. (I don't use a sifter.)

3 c. sugar 

11/2 c. vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

3 c. shredded zucchini

1 c. chopped nuts

Beat together sugar, oil, vanilla, eggs and zucchini

Mix all ingredients together. Fold in nuts.

Spray 9 x 13-inch pan with oil--do you flour your pans?

Bake at 350 degrees C  for 1 hour

Cool in pan, then sprinkle with powdered sugar or frost with cream cheese icing

Mmmmm. Good.

TIP: Use 3/4 c. applesauce and 3/4 c. oil instead of 1 1/2 c. oil to reduce fat

So I leave you with this delicious recipe. 

I hope you and your family and friends enjoy the cake.

Our Michigan garden

****

Thank you for your support of my novels and memoir over the years and for your support of BWL Publishing.

Click the links below to stay connected with JQ Rose. Thank you.

Author JQ Rose and Gardener Ted

JQ Rose's Focused on Story Blog

JQ Rose, Author Facebook Page 

TLDR: I Like Writing Strong Damsels in Distress by Vanessa C. Hawkins

 

 Vanessa Hawkins Author Page

  Hoo boy! So this month's blog post may be a tad controversial, as I aim to pick apart the reasons I enjoy writing strong female characters that have a tendancy to get in trouble and need--in some capacity-- a little help getting out of a jam. 

And I'm also a strong, independant woman!

I think the overarching reason I enjoy the much overused trope of a female in requirement of aid, is due to my increasingly larger than life laziness that is only growing exponentially each and every year. Yes. I COULD take out the trash, yes, I COULD take out the kitty litter, but its raining outside, and it's smelly and oh won't you do it for me you big strong hero because I couldn't possibly...

Even though I really, REALLY tried...

But, as my post should HOPEFULLY suggest, I am in favor of strong heroines who may need a little bit of help every now and then. I don't think that's anti-feminist--just in case some of you here are waiting to pounce on me when I'm not looking--it's realistic! We all need help here and there, and I like the idea of a strong woman who can rely on her romantic partner when all else fails. Even the strongest of us need help every now and then, whether it's with taking out the smelly cat litter that we took too long to empty... or if it's help with putting a giant raging dragon in the hurt locker!

Uhh... little help there, honey?

But it is a give and take. I'm all for the dashing champions coming to help out a dame at her lowest hour, but lets face it, we can't--and probably shouldn't--always rely on those hapless yet huggable heroes. A strong woman should be allowed to shine. Help out those big lugs. And just to be clear, though I am calling these nameless characters heros, the heroine is just as much, if not more, a protagonist as her romantic counterpart!

It actually bothers me nowadays how many female characters are infallible. Yes, many are bada$$ bit%^es that look fine as heck in a leather leotard, but c'mon! They must need help every now and then! Don't put the bar so high that I can't even see it, Hollywood! Because I can't even do a chin up now, let alone find the darn bar so I can keep up with the strength of your females. 

I'm still strong and independant, gosh-darnit!

 But yes. I like damsels in distress. I like Princess Peach--who is so often being captured by Bowser that people are beginning to suspect there is a relationship there *AHEM* Koopa Kids *AHEM* I like Princess Leia and Fiona, who were strong women in their own right, and totally kicked some serious a$$, as well as my own character, Scarlet Fortune, who is a vampire detective in the 20's but also quite capable of screwing up and needing a bit of help from her short statured beau. 

Even George R. R. Martin, who has yet to release his long... 

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG awaited book Winds of Winter, has quite a few kickbutt female characters who need a bit of a pick up along the way. Damsels in distress? Yes. But also damsels doing damage!

   

And sometimes damsels doing too much damage... right, Daenerys?

When Goals Come Between You and Your Passion

 

Lao Tzu

The idea for this blog came when one of my fellow authors asked me, “What are your goals for the next five years?”

This should have been an easy question to answer. In my previous profession as a business owner, I lived on a steady diet of goals: annual targets, monthly objectives and even daily goals. There was no way around it. Businesses need goals and without them, become directionless. I felt a constant need to compare myself  to my past achievements and to others in the industry. Indeed, a business without goals is one destined to die.

Several years ago, I sold the business and became a writer. Just as with a new business venture, I planned what books and how many I would write over a given time period. I tied everything together with timelines and spreadsheets. In other words, I brought exactly the wrong mentality to the writing world.

Not long into my first book, I realized that my plans were holding me back. Constantly checking back to where I was “supposed” to be became demoralizing. Worrying about plans interfered with the creative process. Ideas don’t magically appear on schedule nor does the imagination heel to spreadsheets. They take their sweet time and, in my experience, usually blossom outside the time spent at the keyboard---during evening walks or drives in the car.

I concluded that writing success should be measured by how satisfied I am by what I put on paper, rather than by writing a certain number of pages per day. The passion and engagement that I pour into my work give my story more impetus than any number of tick marks on a to-do list.

Is this an argument for anarchy? Of course not. I use planning devices to help me maintain the arc of the story or to chart the progress of my characters. But in the actual process of writing, it is better to remain in the moment and let feelings and emotions flow freely from the imagination to the page. And, if well written, the reader shares in this engagement and passion.

Lao Tzu wrote 'A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.' I find this to be the correct approach to writing: to take joy in the process. It made me a better writer.

Mohan Ashtakala is the author of "The Yoga Zapper," a fantasy, and "Karma Nation," a literary romance. Please check him out at www.mohanashtakala.com. Published by Books We love: www.bookswelove.com.

Author Events

To paraphrase Forrest Gump, you never know what you’re going to get. This is the lesson I have learned in doing author events, such as book signings or readings. And each event is valuable in its own way, regardless of the number of books distributed.

Book table

            My fantasy novel, The Yoga Zapper, is based on the authentic mythological narratives common with Hinduism and Buddhism, as relating to the origins, transmission, diminution and rebirth of the teachings of yoga. As such, I identified several audiences for the book: readers of fantasy, yoga practitioners and ethnic East Indians.

            Keeping this in mind, I have spent my efforts to reach these audiences in attending author events. An obvious venue is the yoga studio, where I have found very receptive audiences. Many yoga studios have community events, usually annually, where members of their studios as well as the general public are invited for get-togethers. In Calgary, I have done three yoga studios, and at each one I have found eager audiences. Yoga students and teachers were intrigued by my concept, and several remarked that my book opened up an aspect of yoga that they were unfamiliar with.

            I also attended a couple of ethnic events, and received a very good response from one and a poor one from another, which I attribute to its not being set up properly to meet authors. It is important for an opportunity and space to speak with and personally connect to guests exists. It is crucial to have a pitch, of not more than a couple of minutes, which should inform, intrigue and finally, convince the guest to buy the book.

At Yoga event with customer

            I have also done a couple of bookstores, again with mixed results. The key, in my experience, is the support one receives from the bookstore. If the bookstore takes interest, such as sending notice of the event to its mailing list, or putting up posters, one can expect a decent turnout.

            Sometimes, unexpected benefits arise: many yoga studios have a bookshelf where they sell books related to yoga. I have had success selling books to studios for their stores, and also had bookstores order the novel for their shelves. From ethnic events attended, contacts with other organizations arose, leading to further invitations.

            Regardless of the number of books sold (my range has been from none to seventeen per event,) I believe it is important for authors to present their work at events. Social media marketing is a must for writers, but speaking face to face with readers is an invaluable opportunity to learn what readers are looking for, to spot new areas of interest, and finally, to get away from the computer and speak to real live persons!

Mohan Ashtakala is the author of The Yoga Zapper, published by Books We Love, Ltd. He lives in Calgary, Canada. www.yogazapper.com