Showing posts with label #WesternRomance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #WesternRomance. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Why Does Writing a Novel Remind Me of Pizza? By Connie Vines #BWLAuthorBlog,

My creation!
Like most writers, I get excited about beginning a new project.

I select my favorite pens, a fresh college line notebook, 3 x 5 lined cards, and my 'new favorite coffee mug. I even set up my playlist for the main characters (music he/she like listening to).  I might even have a rough draft of my book trailer in place.

Then I sit down at my laptop (yes, I'm still a hardcore PC person), however, my laptop has a dictation feature which seems to work well for free-flow thought.

Why do I think about pizza 🍕?

You begin with a blank computer screen white piece of paper. And as I stated in my opening paragraph I have everything in order.




To begin your pizza dough you arrange your ingredients: Yeast, Water, Flour, Oil, Sugar, Salt, and Cornmeal (for dusting the bottom of the crust). You may even wish to add garlic or Italian seasoning to the flour.

You will have your favorite bowl handy. 

Like a novel, pizza dough will require kneading, resting, and kneading again.

Your pizza dough should be shaggy and lumpy, to begin with, but if you've kneaded it for a while it should be slightly tacky to the touch. If your dough doesn't ooze or sag when you hold it up, it's another sign it is well kneaded.

It's not unusual for my plot and opening scene to be a little lumpy at the beginning. However, with work, an unending supply of hot coffee, and pacing, my story takes shape. 

I may take a day or two off to let the ideas rise to the surface. Then I'm back at the computer again.

A couple of chapters later I realized my story may need a bit of extra seasoning, and several new toppings or I may need to toss out the pie and start again.

But hopefully, like the glutamate in pizza toppings, my stories cause my readers' brains to get excited--and crave more of my novels!


Happy Reading and "gustare la pizza",

Connie




https://bookswelove.net/vines-connie/

My books are on SALE until March 3rd (at Smashwords) click the link above :-)






Friday, May 28, 2021

It's (Almost) National Kitchen Klutzes Day--Let's Celebrate! by Connie Vines

(The actual date is June 13th--but I blog on the 28th of each month, so this gives you ample time to celebrate!)

Even those who know her/his way around the kitchen, are able to relate to the occasional--or daily kitchen mishaps.  


Writing, Painting/Drawing, Music, and Cooking are classified as the 'Arts".  I find creative people are usually gifted, to some degree, in all of the Arts. (I'm also inclined to include gardening under the Arts umbrella, however, that's another blog post.)

Culinary Arts, in which culinary means "related to cooking", are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking, and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals.

I must admit most of my 'heroines/heroes" are able to cook.  However, as in real-life, there are Kitchen Klutzes in my novels, too.  I must also confess, I routinely have more than my share of kitchen mishaps.  Especially, since we have all been spending a great deal of time cooking family meals these past couple of months.

June 13th honors those who would like to cook and be in the kitchen, but it just doesn’t seem to work well for them. After all, it is National Kitchen Klutzes of America Day.

Klutz:  most commonly referred to as a clumsy person.


Kitchen Klutzes are the people who set out with the intentions of being like Ree Drummond, Molly Yeh, Gordon Ramsey, or even the great Julia Child as they open up the cookbook.   Mixing bowl or Kitchen Aide mixer and ingredients on the counter, they imagine knife cuts as swift as Wolfgang Puck or Bobby Flay. However, reality quickly dissolves all those dreams as smoke billows from the oven, skillets erupt in flames, and salt is mistaken for sugar. Those knife cuts turn bloody, cookies and fingers are burnt, cakes go flat. The Kitchen Klutz has struck, and visions of spilled milk are pitifully cried over.

It may be necessary to keep a first aid kit and fire extinguisher handy when Kitchen Klutzes are around. Eat a sandwich before going over to dinner. Be ready to call 911 and have your favorite take out restaurant on speed-dial if things don't go well.

HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalKitchenKlutzesDay

There several ways to celebrate this humorous holiday.

Laugh at yourself. Share your mortifying stories of kitchen failure over a slice of microwave pizza.

Give your favorite Kitchen Klutz the gift of cooking classes. Or, better yet, offer to cook.

Watch your favorite cooking flops show.

Don’t forget to share your stories and celebrations using #NationalKitchenKlutzesDay on social media.

Or try a few of these never fail meals.

Walking Tacos

Heat a can of chili in the microwave (in anticipation of stove top misadventures).

Take smaller single-serving packs of Fritos and then slice them open on the side, then serve the chili right inside the packets of Fritos. Add in additional toppings of cheese, diced onions and minced jalapeños. You just hand everyone a fork and they each have their own individual servings of Frito Chili. It makes for an easy cleanup too!

Crab Fondue (For that Romantic Evening Meal)



Nobody really needs a reason to eat more cheese, but this crab fondue recipe is a good one. Crab meat (or imitation crab) and packaged cheese, this fridge and pantry meal is easy yet satisfying.

8 ounces cream cheese, cubed and softened

1 pound processed cheese, like Velveeta

1 cup dry white wine

12 ounces canned crab meat

1 dash of Old Bay seasoning, or to taste

In a fondue pot, slowly melt the cheeses in the dry white wine.

Fold in the crab meat.

Heat through.

Serve with crusty French bread, cut into squares.


Please share a recent, or memorable meal, you prepared. You know, it's the story which is forever embedded in the family oral history.

I'll go first!

Let me share my first kitchen mishap.  I was a new bride and prepared Gumbo for dinner  (my husband is from Louisiana).

Gumbo requires a thickening agent.  I like okra (my paternal grandmother was from Texas and she prepared fried okra).  I also added ground sassafras powder.  This adds a fruit sweet flavor and also smells like root beer.  It is part of Cajun and Creole cooking--also a thickening agent.


Well, my gumbo had to be pried from the pot because it had the consistency of a paste.  Very thick, very hard paste. The rice, cornbread and pecan pie were delicious.  Not a healthy meal, for certain, but it stuck to our ribs for several days.




HAPPY NATIONAL KITCHEN KLUTZES DAY EVERYONE!


For fool-proof kitchen recipes and Cajun Romance, remember to read my latest novel: Gumbo Ya Ya!

 


Remember all of my novels features recipes, too!

Click here for BWL author site and links: bookswelove.net/vines-connie/

For my website: Social Links, Purchase Links, and more: connievines-author.com/

Happy Reading,

Connie



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Saturday, November 28, 2020

Knott's Berry Farm and Other Great Winter Adventures by Connie Vines

Today is National: French Toast Day. 

There are only 33 days remaining in 2020.  

Where I reside in southern California, we have spent a great deal of time (since mid-March) at home/working from home due to the Pandemic, Wild Fires,  Forest Fires, Air Quality, and Power Outages. 

While my eldest son is able to work from home, my youngest son is an essential worker and has little down time.

The day before Thanksgiving my youngest son, his family (which includes me) drove to Knott's Berry (Merry) Farm, in Buena Park, California for a day's outing.

Of course, we practiced social-distancing, wore a mask, and were able to travel/sit together (family bubble is the term) throughout the day.

I wanted to share a few 'happy and up-lifting' photos and little snippets of my Knott's Berry Farm Adventure to give you something to smile about.

The shops were open for purchases (thank goodness), and the park was decorated with holiday displays and lights.  We each were given a lanyard with a two-sided tasting selection list (I wore my around my neck because, after all, it was a field trip).

As everyone knows, I'm a die-hard lover of gingerbread!

And, yay, two restaurants listed gingerbread with frosting on the menu.

Turkey, of course, was in many creations: sandwiches, in soup, over tater-tots with gravy,  Fried and breaded meatballs to dip into gravy, cranberry sauce, biscuits and Knott's famous jam, etc. were also crowd-pleasers.

Eggnog, large sugar cookies peppered with Knott's candied-berries and vanilla ice-cream sandwiched between.  Well, the list goes on and on. Coffee, hot coco (with or without candy canes), and tea.

Five tastings per adult and 3 per child.  I only spent 4 (I sliced my gingerbread in 5 sections to share and my turkey sandwich in quarters).  The other 2 tastings? Knott's famous chicken noodle soup. It was so cold I had a cup when I arrived and a cup at the ice skating rink. 

No one left the park hungry :-).

All of my other grands are older, but Logan is still at the age where he enjoys "Peanuts/Snoopy", "Disneyland", and other gentle adventures. 

Logan wearing his new gloves 'cos it's cold and windy.

 

Logan and I (excuse my hoodie-hair) leaning over the fence to see the gingerbread house display.


Logan and the famous Knott's Berry Factory Truck  (Though I doubt it was berry-purple in the 1900s).

The outdoor ice-skating rink held live-entertainment and display past 'Snoopy on Ice' videos on a large screen. The Peanuts Theme blasting through the speakers while fog-machines filled the area with cold damp air!

At the end of the evening, the "lighting of the Christmas Tree" claimed everyone's attention.

It seemed strange not the hear the clickety-clack of the amusement rides tracks and the shouts of the people when they rounded a curve or entered a tunnel.

The Christmas music and the chatter of families filled the void and we had a clear view of the planet Jupiter in the dark night sky.


It was a wonderful way to spend the day; to remember past good-times- and to look forward to the future!

Speaking of the future...

I retired from education over the summer and I'm looking forward to writing full-time. 

My Snoopy-with-a-typewriter pencil cup sat on my desk and attracted more notice than I realized. Because every gift I received during my tenure in education was a "Snoopy" gift.

So, now my media/craft room displays about 50% of those collectables.




The jade green loveseat is covered by a fabric-protector and small quilt.

Note: Chanel is camera shy tonight and Gavin decided to crawl in bed early.

The room isn't that kindergarten yellow that the photo displays.  It is only a very light color.




I'll closed today's blog post with a long-awaited slice of gingerbread cake. 
Served with a cup of steaming hot coffee, of course!


I hope you and all of your loved ones are having a blessed holiday season.

A season filled with warm gingerbread and a wonderful and bright 2021! 

Connie





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