What's Coming Up on the Veranda?

Happy New Year! I am so excited about all the possibilities and new challenges that will arise during 2013. First up is meeting all my goals and striving to achieve a higher level of writing efficiency along with more learning. Secondly, I am adding two new features to my blog which will incorporate trying new things and going to new places.

50 New Places Large or Small

Breaking Out of the Recipe Rut

Yup. This year I plan to explore my world even more closely and I want to share my adventures with you. New restaurants, new recreational parks, new museums, new everything. There is a lot to do in Alabama as well as in the surrounding states of Tennessee and Georgia and more.... I am eager to find jewels in the mines of life. Stay Tuned.

And Breaking Out of the Recipe Rut is a new challenge that I'm sure the Physicist will appreciate. I love to cook, but we all tend to turn to the tried and true when it comes to meal time. I'm more adventuresome than a lot of people, but even I get bored by my own cooking. So I've decided to try a minimum of 1 new recipe per month. I might even do more. I'm going through my recipe books and looking online for new dishes to make, then I'll make them and share the details (good, bad, and otherwise) with you.

As always I will continue sharing the fabulous Celebration Blog for Debut Authors. Can't wait to see who will cross over to the published world this year. Maybe I might have to interview myself LOL.

Occasionally, I'll post a random blog about the Linda Howard Contest and my work as its Overall Coordinator of Contest Chaos. And if a mood strikes you know I will share it with you.

First and foremost is my desire to write and write well. But then the fun begins. 

What's on your agenda for the year?

Cooking Up a Storm or Winter Weather Watch #2

We're awaiting another weather event. Snow is predicted. I am in denial. Therefore, I shall only say this: I've got a blow dryer, three snow shovels, and all hands on deck if I need them. I hope I don't need them. I really do. I'm lighting candles and sending up desperate momma pleas for no more snow.

Why? First of all, I've paid my dues on the snow front as a child, teen, young adult, and woman. I moved to Alabama. This is the south!! I want southern sultry weather. Snow does not have a place here anymore.

Second of all, I have work to do. Serious work. And I'm not just talking about writing. I'm talking about Cooking Up a Storm. One that doesn't include making allowances for weather events where fluffy white stuff falls. I am on duty as cook de jour for my husband's colleague's family.

Life happens folks. And sometimes when life happens it is pretty sucky. Like a cancer is diagnosed and a young mom is fearful for her hubby and scared for her children. And when life happens, I get cooking! I am a Church of the Holy Casserole and Crockpot kind of gal. I can't cure cancer. I can't kill mean, bad ass cells, but I can cook. Yes, I can pray. I can ask for help from the universe and I do. But I can also help in practical ways. And this is my gift that I can give to them.

Snow is not allowed to interfere. Period. The. End. I have an SUV, and I'm not afraid to deliver.

Now I'm talking about cooking on full-speed ahead mode. I'm talking 2 crockpots running at the same time and one homemade casserole ready to roll. I'm talking about packaging the food and making it easy to freeze and microwave.

Yes, I am a doer. I always have been a doer. I can't sit still and wait for answers. I don't do well with not doing something to help if I have the ability and the resources to do so. So I hear crap news? I think to myself how can I help? And this is how I help best.

I'm a cook at heart. Had I not been diagnosed with a deadly food allergy, I'd probably be a food critic or chef. I love to cook (and I love to eat). The culinary world's loss is the writing world's gain because now I cook up stories, but I digress. I just want to make healthy, nutritious, and healing food for these people.

I'm cooking up a storm tomorrow. I know I can't use tomato bases in my recipes because of the acid (thanks to a nurse/friend's advice). So here's what is cooking at my house tomorrow:

Christine's Crockpot Chicken

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in half

12 or so new potatoes, cleaned with skin on and halved

1 pound carrots peeled and cut into large pieces

1 bag frozen pearl onions or frozen onions or 1 fresh onion chopped

1 cup white wine

1 cup light chicken broth, no MSG and low sodium

garlic powder

dried whole rosemary

fresh ground pepper

salt (optional)

Penzey's Tuscan Sunset (salt free) or Salt free Italian Seasoning

Spray a crock pot with Pam cooking spray. Layer potatoes, onions, carrots, and onions. Then add cut up chicken breasts. Combine wine and broth. Pour over the mixture. Sprinkle all spices on top of the mixture to taste or to coat. (I never measure this). Cover. Cook on low for 6-8 hours in crock pot. Avoid stirring the ingredients if you can till the very end. Serve with hot rolls. The broth is excellent. The whole house smells like a wonderful, aromatic Italian trattoria. :-)

From Fix It & Forget It Lightly/with some adjustments

Gone All Day Casserole 

Submitted By Beatrice Orgish

1 cup uncooked wild rice (I use a brown and wild rice mix) rinsed and drained

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

2, 4 oz cans mushroom stems and pieces, drained

1 large onion, chopped (I'm using frozen chopped onion)

1 clove garlic minced

1/2 cup slivered almonds (I'm omitting due to small children & possible allergies)

2-3 pounds boneless round steak, cut into cubes

2 Tbsp. oil (I'll use olive)
3 cups low salt beef broth

 Place ingredients in crock pot in order listed. Cover. Salt and pepper beef, brown in skillet, transfer to Pam coated crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours till rice is tender. Stir before serving (or putting in freezer containers). Enjoy!

Martha Stewart's Great Food Fast'sHomemade Macaroni and Cheese (with minor adjustments)

1 pound elbow macaroni

4 tbsp butter

1 small onion, chopped

1/4 cup all purpose flour, spooned and leveled

4 cups milk (I've made this with skim, but am using whole for the recipe)

1/8 tsp. cayenne (I'm NOT adding this for others, but do for my family)

1 1/4 cups yellow cheddar cheese, shredded

 1 1/4 cups white cheddar cheese, shredded (I am doing 2  1/2 cups yellow/orange cheese)

coarse salt

fresh ground pepper

8 oz ham, diced into pieces

bread crumbs (I make my own & freeze), but store bought is fine

Preheat oven to 375 (in this case I will not cause I'm prepping for my friend). Prepare pasta, drain, and reserve. In a 5 quart heavy pot, melt butter. Add onion, cook till soft. Whisk in flour to coat onion. Add milk in a steady stream and whisk till no lumps. Cook, whisking often till mixture is thick and bubbly and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Stir in cayenne (not in this case). Add cup each of cheddar cheese (I'll add two cups yellow/orange). Season with salt and pepper. Toss pasta with mixture, fold in ham. Transfer to baking pan. Set aside. Mix the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup cheese. Top pasta with bread crumbs and bake till top is golden. About 30 minutes.

I'm sending it ready to bake, with crumb mixture. 

I hope you try these recipes. They're yummy. and the next time you see people who might need a helping hand, maybe these recipes will come in handy!

Secret Recipe Revealed

Ah, Christmas time is the season of blustery cold winds and bustling elves in the kitchen at the Glover house. This weekend we made Oreo Truffles, Praline Pecans, Mini Eggnog Muffins and loaves, Spicy Pecans, and *drum roll* my favorite cookie recipe: Chocolate Sambuca Cookies.

Oh let the yumminess begin.

Early morning Christmas Baking Elf

Darling Teen had a function to attend on Saturday so we got up early to work on the truffles. We had many truffles to make because she gives them away to her friends. The list grows yearly. I may have to take orders next year. We made over 100 truffles. In addition to the truffles, I made Praline Pecans and Spicy Pecans as well as the batter for the Chocolate Sambuca Cookies. The batter is runny and has to set up overnight before you can make the cookies.

The cute mini loaf pan. It has Christmas Imprints in it.

On Sunday morning Darling Teen and I had to buy new pants for Church choir and so off to Kohls we went despite the biting cold winds and unusually freezing temperature. Frankly, if this is what global warming feels like, I'm not impressed. Brrr! We found the dreaded khakis (who looks good in these pants? No one but the dudes in the advertisements), a few more presents for her Dad, and then we hurried home. DT had more musical stuff to head to in the afternoon, Darling Husband had football to watch, and I had cookies and muffins to bake. As you can see there is quite a lot to do when one is making the mini eggnog loaves. I love my new mixing bowls from my DT and DH which are brightly colored and they don't slip on the counter when you mix the batter. And they seem to do well in the dishwasher, too. Whew. Cause I don't relish washing them by hand. 

 The imprints are super cute. There are candy canes, trees, a santa, and bells. I'll sprinkle these with powdered sugar then wrap them in cellophane before I give them away.

I had a lot of cute mini cupcake papers with Christmas themes on them so I thought I'd use them to make mini muffins.

The chocolate sambuca batter is ready to be rolled into balls.

After I made the Mini Eggnog Loaves, I used my Pampered Chef small scoop to fill the paper cups and bake the mini muffins. They are adorable! I will give them away and serve them at a gathering I'm hosting on Wednesday evening. Oh, the mini muffins do look great. And they taste even better. Yes, sampling does occur in the Glover house because we must do quality control checks. I'm considering trying out an experimental icing recipe which might incorporate the nutmeg as part of the recipe. I think topping a few with icing will be nice for the gathering. And for those of you who already have the recipe, I cooked these for 20-25 minutes which is less time than the loaves. After I cooked the mini loaves, I prepped my work station for the final recipe. 

Flour for the hands and the sugar mix ready to dip the balls into for the cookies.

The balls of cookie dough are ready to bake at 350 degrees.

Sheer Yumminess is all I can say.

After a wee break, and a bit of wine, I began making the Chocolate Sambuca Cookies. Now these aren't clean cookies. These cookies require getting your hands good and dirty in batter, flour and a concoction of icing sugar mixed with regular sugar. Not for the faint of heart. But there is something about me that enjoys the whole process--like making really yummy mud pies that we can eat afterward.

After a wee break, and a bit of wine, I began making the Chocolate Sambuca Cookies. Now these aren't clean cookies. These cookies require getting your hands good and dirty in batter, flour and a concoction of icing sugar mixed with regular sugar. Not for the faint of heart. But there is something about me that enjoys the whole process--like making really yummy mud pies that we can eat afterward. 

And now, without further ado, here is the recipe.

Just kidding. I can barely read the words myself. So here is the recipe, which I have hoarded for years, for all of my blog friends to try. 

Chocolate Sambuca Cookies 

(original recipe given to me by Lori)

12 oz. dark chocolate (I use Hersheys)

4 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup of Sambuca

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar, divided

1/3 cup icing sugar

1 cup finely ground blanched almonds

2/3 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

Melt chocolate and butter in a microwaveable bowl and set aside to cool slightly. In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, sambuca, 1/2 cup sugar. Add chocolate slowly and continue whisking till incorporated. Mix in almonds, flour and baking soda till well blended. The batter will be runny. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill overnight. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix icing sugar and regular sugar together. 

With floured hands, take one tablespoon batter and roll into a balls. Coat balls in sugar mixture and place 2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Cook for 12 minutes. Cool for 1 minute, then remove from sheet with a metal spatula. Cool on rack.

I dare you to get your hands dirty and try this recipe. It's worth the work and the effort. Ask the elves. They know.

Goodness Me It Is Goodie Making Time!

December is here! It's time to make some goodies. And I've got some retro blogs with some of my favorite receipes for the holidays in them. First up? Oreo Truffles thanks to my Heart of Dixie friends at The Writing Playground.

Next? My fabulous friend Lori's mini eggnog loaf cakes. Here is the recipe:

Lori's Eggnog Mini Loaves

2 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup eggnog

1/2 cup melted butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp rum extract (I couldn't find any so I used imitation and it was fine)

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, eggnog, butter and extracts. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until moistened. Pour into three greased 5 3/4 by 3 inch by 2 inch loaf pans (I used eight smaller cute pans with neat Christmas imprints at the bottom--and they turned out great!--planning cupcakes next). Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes till a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing and putting on wire racks.

Yield's 3 loaves, or 8 mini mini loaves.

I'd love some more fun and easy recipes. What do you make every year that gives your family happy hearts?

Dinner Simmering in the Crockpot While We Work

I love autumn. The colors, the cooler weather, the zing in the air, and the food. This time of year always brings me back to my cookbooks and recipes for the crockpot. First of all, I have a lot going on, the Darling Family is on the go all the time with school, work, and activities. I usually start some massive project in November and this year is no exception. However, as always, the Darling Family expects dinner. Quite frankly, so do I!

A lot of my friends are participating in the NaNoWriMo this year. NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. Writers all over the world like the Romance Magicians, Gwen Hernandez, and Ellen Brickley will write 50,000 words in November. I'm not actively participating because I am taking a screenwriting class with Alexandra Sokoloff. However, I'm sure I'll reach and exceed the 50,000 mark as I'm writing my next book as part of the class.

While writers are hunkering down and plunking away at their computers and laptops, other hardworking people will be getting ready for the holidays and will need a break from figuring out what to cook when they get home. And that is why someone very wise invented the crockpot. The most wondrous creation of all time. I love my crockpot. I use it a lot. And during this next few months I'm sharing my recipes. I also hope to get more recipes from my blog friends.

Today's family favorite crockpot recipe is TACO SOUP.

1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
1 onion chopped (I like to cook it a bit first in the frying pan)
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 envelope ranch dressing mix
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can hominy (if you can't find hominy then put in another can of corn or beans)
1 can rotel tomatoes with green chilies

Dump all ingredients into a large crockpot (I use a 5 quart). Cook all day on low. Serve with tortilla chips and top with grated cheese and sour cream.

I use low sodium canned products and light sour cream. You can serve over rice as well.

Yummy!

How do you plan your family meals when life gets hectic?

Christmas Cave In

Well today it officially hit me. Christmas Cave In has arrived. I have fought it valiantly. I wrote almost everyday, and I managed to juggle the chaos of preparing goodies and Christmas shopping for our family well.

Until today.

I finished the first half revise, cut, move, chop and block. I read through the rest of the MS. I am ready to roll. But more importantly, I have to squash two weeks of Christmas into one. Today I realized that something had to give or I would lose my head.

Literally.

DH is in DC and working, DD is studying for Finals and I am in aack it's Christmas already mode. I finished two more recipes (one I will share... one remains with me till... well... illegal use of ellipses I am sure... ), I shopped for DD's final scarf exchange, a birthday party, prepped for DH's trip, made pretzel rods, made chocolate cookies (sorry, not sharing), took care of silly neighborhood issues.

And I am ready to roll for the next half of the MS, but I have to do the following:

*return a gift
*buy two ornaments per tradition
*buy a gift to replace returned gift
*go to Nashville to shop for Christmas, see a friend, buy booze (hey it is cheaper there!), get goodies for FIL
*shop for FIL
*mail Christmas cards (will they ever arrive???)
*iron (bleh)
*more laundry
*cancel paper and mail
*organize packing lists
*pack
*shop for stockings
*finish cooking goodies (don't ask!)
*teacher gifts
*neighborhood gifts
*clean house (bathrooms and floors)
*wrap presents
*uh, uh uh--oh go through in box
*tell insurance my DD has her driving permit and put her on insurance
*attend winter concert
*get hair done (at long last)

Well, at least I'm not hanging out doing nothing............. (More illegal ellipses)

So. I. Must. Stop. Beating. My. Writing Head.

Okay... (just love playing with the ellipses)....

Here is the Pretzel Rod Recipe:

Pretzel Rods (1-4 bags-if you insane like me... well... 4)
2 Cups to many of chocolate morsels (white, dark, milk --I prefer dark)
Christmas Sprinkles

Melt chocolate in microwave according to the directions on the package (I melt a small bag at 2 min, 70% power and stir, add more time as needed/same power). Dip rods into the melted chocolate (please stir first!). Put dipped chocolate rods on cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Sprinkle with Christmas sprinkles (or toffee bits etc). Put into fridge to set. Boom... easy! Kids like this one!

Tomorrow? Praline Pecans.... and I hope my head stays on my neck....