Writer Wednesday – C. A. Newsome

Let’s welcome author C. A. Newsome to Writer Wednesday on the blog!! I haven’t had a chance to read any of Carol Anne’s books yet, but her mystery series is getting a lot of buzz!! It averages 4 stars out of 197 reviews on Amazon – NICE!!

Made by C. A. Newsome

I began researching brain foods after a head injury in 2001. Food has an enormous impact on your ability to concentrate, as well as your levels of energy, your mood and your health. After years of experimentation, I’ve settled on the following recipe as the best way for me to start my day. This recipe makes about one quart. You can serve it up as breakfast for two, or do what I do and have half for breakfast and half for lunch.

My main character shares many of my food quirks. Her boyfriend, Peter, prefers Pop Tarts. He refers to the following recipe as Lia’s Pond Scum Smoothie. – C.A.

Lia’s Pond Scum Smoothie
Put 1 cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen) in your blender
Add enough chopped kale to fill the rest of the blender without packing (I use pre-washed, chopped kale. Baby kale has a lovely texture and milder taste, but it’s expensive and doesn’t last as long in the fridge).
Add 12 ounces water or almond milk
Blend.
Add 1 banana and 1 avocado
Blend until smooth, adding additional water or almond milk until you reach your desired consistency.
Option: Add a Tablespoon of green powder.
Option #2: 1-3 Tablespoons ground chia seed for extra fullness, protein and Omega 3s

Green powders are a great way to supplement. Chlorella and spirulina are excellent brain foods. I make my own green powder, combining 4 ounces each cracked cell chlorella and spirulina with 2 ounces each of wheatgrass powder and barley grass powders. I put these in a glass quart jar, then close the lid and gently roll the jar around until they combine. – C.A.

I’ve been doing a green smoothie every morning in 2014 so far – yes, an actual New Year’s resolution – so I’m totally looking forward to trying Carol Anne’s recipe. Also, her main character, Lia, has “food quirks”? I think MANY of my characters could relate – LOL.

————————

A Shot in the Bark

Synopsis: Would you recognize a serial killer if you met one? Talked to one every day? Artist Lia Anderson doesn’t, and neither does anyone else who frequents the Mount Airy Dog Park.

When Lia’s boyfriend, Luthor, dies violently, Detective Peter Dourson is assigned to the case. Peter penetrates the close-knit group of dog lovers with the help of Viola, the dead man’s dog. The more he learns, the more he is convinced that someone is not who they seem. As the investigation uncovers Luthor’s secrets, Lia struggles to make sense of her feelings about Luthor and her growing attraction to Peter. Meanwhile, a killer hides in plain sight and anyone can become a target.

AMAZON – iBOOKS – BARNES & NOBLE

∞

C. A. (Carol Ann) Newsome writes the Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries, a series of fun, romantic suspense/mystery novels which are inspired by and centered around her mornings at the Mount Airy Dog Park with her trio of rescues (rowdy hooligans).

A life-long lover of fiction, Carol turned to books and audiobooks during her decade-long recovery from a head injury that occurred when she and her bike were struck by a car. Years of immersing herself in popular fiction lead to imagining the book she wanted to read, and wondering if she could actually write it.

She is also an artist with an M.F.A. from the University of Cincinnati. You’ll see portraits of some of her favorite four-footed friends on the covers of her books. She enjoys creating community-based public artworks. As an artist, she is best known for her New Leaf Global Good-Will Guerrilla Art Project.

Her other interests include astrology, raw food and all forms of psychic phenomena. She likes to sing to her dogs. The dogs are the only ones who like to listen.

Catch up with Carol Ann online at her website. Pssst, she’s been known to do LOTS of giveaways!!

Writer Wednesday – Sharon Delarose

Let’s welcome author and photographer Sharon Delarose to Writer Wednesday on the blog!! I haven’t had a chance to read any of Sharon’s books yet, but they look super cool (in that creepy, hopefully not in my backyard, sort of way – LOL).

Made by Sharon Delarose

If you’re following a low carb diet, traditional pizza becomes taboo with a typical slice of pizza being loaded with carbs. One slice of bread can hold 13-30 grams of carbs. Imagine the carbs in your pizza crust! Another series of high carb items are the tomato sauce products. A half cup of plain tomato sauce has 9 grams of carbs while a half cup of tomato paste holds a whopping 25 grams of carbs. Do you know what type of sauce they are using on your pizza Now imagine a pizza that replaces the high carb crust with a low carb lunch ham and eliminates the tomato sauce altogether. Even better, what if this pizza was loaded with flavor? Welcome to the Low Carb Pizza Casserole.

Low Carb Pizza Casserole

1 green bell pepper – chopped
1 medium onion – chopped
1 pint (10 oz.) cherry or grape tomatoes – halved
20 oz. sugar free or smoked lunch ham
24 oz. shredded pizza cheese
3.5 oz. (50 pieces) pepperoni
Spanish olives (optional)
Basil
Oregano
Thyme
Italian seasoning
2 bread loaf baking dishes (9x5x3)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using 1/4 of the ham per baking dish, cover the bottom of each baking dish with ham slices. Ideally the ham will come up about an inch around the sides. Now you can begin layering the other ingredients.

Divide the pint of cherry or grape tomatoes between the two baking dishes creating a layer of cherry tomatoes in each dish. This will use up the tomatoes.

Using 1/4 of the onions and peppers per dish, add one layer of onions and one layer of bell peppers. Liberally sprinkle with basil, oregano, thyme and Italian seasoning. This is much of your flavoring so don’t skimp.

Optionally you can add a layer of olives (about 10 uncut olives with or without pimentos) after each spice layer.

Follow up with a thick layer of cheese, using 1/4 of the cheese per baking dish. Top off each dish with 12 pepperonis and cover it up with a layer of ham, using up the rest of the ham slices. The baking dishes will look almost full and the ham should overlap the sides of each dish, folding upwards around the edges.

Divide the rest of the peppers and onions between the two baking dishes, add olives if desired, then sprinkle liberally with the four spices. Top it off with the rest of the cheese and pepperonis.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. The cheese should be tinged golden brown.

After cooking, carefully drain the juices out of each dish. This recipe makes four man-size servings or six smaller servings.

If you need to accommodate both low carb dieters and non-dieters, you can add ingredients to the second baking dish for the non-dieters. Add mushroom slices (15-20 pieces per layer), pineapple (8 small chunks per layer), and pre-cooked breakfast sausage patties (one half sausage patty per layer) on top of each onion/pepper layer.

————————

Goodness!! I think I’d be worried about the cheese as much as the bread!! But I have a feeling you’d have a line up of meat lovers out the door if you made this one!!

Sharon says, “my husband, Bear, came up with this recipe while on the Atkin’s low carb diet. We were missing out on regular pizza, so he came up with this low carb alternative. It’s absolutely delicious, and even when not on Atkin’s, we eagerly indulge in this Low Carb Pizza Casserole.”

The Wizard of Awe: An Acre of America Backyard Nature Series

You don’t need to travel to the Galapagos Islands, Hawaii, Australia, or the Amazon jungle to witness nature’s magic wand as it dances with creatures that seem to be out of this world, and plants that spawned science fiction movies.

From bright orange tree blobs to blobs that ooze across the ground, witch’s curses, Halloween legends, and insects that give grown men the heebie jeebies, Mother Nature invented the wow factor. Toaster pastry spiders, Chinese dragon caterpillars, mummies hanging from a peach tree, and mushrooms that send dogs rolling in orgasmic ecstasy are just a few of the wonders we’ve discovered in our own back yard.

Explore the creatures living right under your nose through photos and stories, facts and legends. Take a walk on the wild side in your own back yard. Be in the moment and forget the bustle of the busy world. Take a few minutes out of your week to bask in nature’s bounty. Marvel at Mother Nature’s artistry and originality. Be as a child again and you might find that there’s no place like home.

AMAZON KINDLE – AMAZON PAPERBACK – NOOK

Biography: Sharon Delarose is the author and photographer of the three-book An Acre of America Backyard Nature Series, as well as a variety of other books including non-fiction Bad Dog to Best Friend, Alien Nightmares, Ancient Aliens and the Lost Islands, and Yankee Go Home.

SHARON’S BOOKS – SHARON ON FACEBOOK

Writer Wednesday – Michael Meyer

An introduction: I was very fortunate to have been invited into an amazing online writer’s group in the summer of 2013. At current count there are 81 members in this group, and they range from newbies to well-established hybrid and traditionally published authors. They write in every genre and form imaginable. The Kiss Anthology, in which I have a short story, The Graveyard Kiss, will also feature 30 writers from this group. The anthology is due out at the end of the month and will be available for free. Yes, the groups’ bestselling authors are contributing right along with all of us lesser knowns. And that says A LOT about the great group dynamic.

I thought you might like to meet some of these fantastic people and check out their writing. I haven’t found the time to read all of these writers, but I’m hoping you will find a few that sound interesting to you.

Plus!! Each writer is also contributing a favourite recipe. Yes, I made them ‘tithe’ to the blog. Why not??!!

So, without further ado, here is my first Writer Wednesday!

Made by Michael Meyer

Spicy Cajun Seafood Stew

1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces smoked andouille sausage, diced (1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 bell peppers, red and/or green, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
One 8-ounce bottle clam juice
One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 pound firm white fish, such as halibut, grouper or black sea bass, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp (21 to 25 shrimp)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Kosher salt
Cooked white rice, for serving

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large pot or Dutch oven. Cook the sausage until browned, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the sausage and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted and the meat is well coated, about 2 minutes. Add the Cajun seasoning, garlic, peppers and onions and continue to cook until the vegetables are softened, 5 minutes. Add the clam juice, tomatoes and 4 cups water, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot, and increase the heat to bring to a simmer.

2. Lower the heat slightly and simmer until the stew is thickened and the flavors are melded, about 30 minutes. Gently stir in the fish and shrimp. Cook, making sure the stew is not bubbling vigorously, stirring once or twice, until the shrimp and fish have just turned opaque, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Season with salt and serve over rice.

————————

OMG! This looks SO good!! I wonder if it would work without the sausage?

This was the meal that Mike and Kitty ate on their first date. Want to know more? I’m guessing you have to read The Three Kitties That Saved My Life.

AN UPLIFTING TRUE STORY OF LOVE – from love and loss to love renewed – a feel-good read

Losing loved ones is an awful fact of life; losing one’s loving spouse, one’s day-to-day partner through life, especially in the prime of life, is one of the most unbearable tolls that we humans are forced to endure. This is the true story of my journey from grieving widower, not caring if I lived or died, to the once-again happily married man I am today, a man who both loves and cherishes life. My three kitties have given me a new zest for living.

Equally inspiring and entertaining, my story begins with loss and tears, but it ends with lots of love and laughter. I think that you will find yourself moved by my journey.

BUY NOW ON AMAZON

Michael Meyers Author Photo — Author Michael Meyer

Michael Meyer is a retired English professor. He literally taught at universities throughout the world: Thailand, Saudi Arabia, the Virgin Islands, and he spent the last 25 years of his 40-year career at a California community college. He lives in Southern California wine country with his wife, Kitty, and their two adorable rescue cats.

Amazon Author Page — Facebook — Goodreads

Garbage Can Potatoes

Using vague instructions from The New Self-Sufficient Gardener by John Seymour (see page 134), two old garbage bins [well-scrubbed] and seed potatoes from Westcoast Seeds we attempted to grow our own baked potatoes this year.

We were cautioned, via instructions that came with the seed potatoes, to limit irrigation BEFORE we had growth, and I think that ultimately made us overly cautious with watering at all [to the point that we covered the seed potatoes when it rained]. So while we had lots of greenery and we built the soil up every six inches until the plants were about eight inches over the top of the bins, this was our entire haul out of one garbage bin:

The book had prepared [and excited] us for a potentially “heavy crop”. Now, true enough, we had an odd season here – a cold/wet spring followed suddenly by a hot/dry summer, so perhaps that was the limiting factor. We also weren’t too pleased with the new soil we brought in and will probably be investing in more sea soil next year, but, seeing as potatoes can grow in straw, I believe, ultimately, we didn’t water enough early on and then it was too late to reverse the lack of tuber growth.

Mind you, these potatoes tossed in a little olive oil and sea salt, roasted for 30 minutes in a 425°F oven and served with generous application of butter and sour cream were DELICIOUS!

We will be planting more garbage cans next year!

[super easy and super tasty] Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Roasted Butternut Soup Recipe

1 kg squash (approx) [I used one large and one small butternut.]

¼ cup butter

1 onion, large, chopped

4 cups stock [I used homemade turkey, but usually use chicken from The Stock Market.]

salt & pepper

1 cup cream

Cooking Instructions:

Roast squash – slice in half, dig out guts and seeds, brush with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, place cut side down on baking sheet and bake in a 350° oven for approx. 30 – 40 minutes [until tender and scoopable].

Cool until touchable. Scoop out and reserve flesh.

Melt butter in large pan, cook onion until soft [approx 10-15 minutes].

Add reserved squash flesh. Saute for approx. 1 – 2 minutes.

Add stock. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Cool slightly.

Process in batches in blender until smooth and try to not burn yourself with the hot liquid while doing so. Return to pan.

[no picture sorry, but I am serious about not burning yourself. Hot stuff has a tendency to pop the lid during blending.]

Heat over low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir in cream. Do not boil. Stir until heated through.

[again no picture. I add a fair bit of salt and pepper – would recommend you under add and then taste right before serving.]

Serve.

*Note: I prefer to use Avalon cream and butter – expensive, but local and so, so extra tasty! In my opinion, of course.

More apples equals Applesauce.

I supposed this is odd for someone who has been baking as long as I have, but this is the first time I’ve attempted to make applesauce.

I used a super simple recipe from my very well worn copy of Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (mine is a soft cover – printed in 1989). I used 9 McIntosh apples (see blog post below) and a 2/3 cup of sugar (which, personally, was a little sweet). I also opted for the ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon, and blended the sauce rather than mashing it.

We enjoyed this served over vanilla ice cream, warm and cold. Though I thought I had enough to make some Apple Spice Cupcakes, I didn’t act quickly enough and all the sauce was consumed (with or without the ice cream). Oh, well, there is always next time…

Perogies #FAIL

So… I made an attempt at whole wheat perogies last evening… perogies are something I had been craving but, given my white flour sensitivity (as in I can’t seem to digest it without a lot of pain and suffering), I haven’t had them in years. Ah, cottage cheese and onion perogies… boiled then fried with onions – yum! Perogies were a dinner mainstay during university (introduced to me by Mr. Barefoot I believe). Anyway, craving… yes. So I sourced a bunch of recipes and then pretty much made up my own based on what ingredients I had in the house and what I was craving (i.e. I mashed the potatoes with a ¼ cup of sour cream). Also, I didn’t have any cottage cheese so I went with cheddar. I even took a picture right before I got started (in a false sense of anticipated success?):

So I make the dough, make the filling, roll the dough (perhaps a bit too thickly?), then fill, crimp and boil the perogies. To finish them off, I fry them up with an onion, try them and I am not pleased… they are doughy enough that some bits stick to my teeth. Michael suggests frying them until they are almost burnt (in fact the onions were unsalvageable by the time he finished frying)… I attempt another taste with sour cream… nope, the filling rocks (enough that Michael opted to take the remainder of it, cold, for lunch today), but I am not happy with the dough part.

Too much work, not enough pay off, to attempt again I think… Michael now has lunch for all next week – he thought they were tasty, of course.

Not everything is #failing around here. We are getting ready to launch the trailer for SiftingRealities on Monday and the seeds I planted last Saturday are starting to wake up:

Schizanthus aka Poor Man’s Orchid seem very happy in their jiffy pellets even though I was skeptical about germinating them in “complete darkness”, but thousands-of-year-of-gardeners know better than I! These were supposed to be for the hanging baskets, which I have also decided to fill with strawberries, so something has to give. I suspect (if they germinate… I see no evidence of that this morning) that the strawberries will win and the Poor Man’s Orchid will be relegated to another part of the garden.