"Wait, wait, I'm on my way," I reply.
How cruel of me to have put a fictional female in danger and then abandoned her to the wiles of an attractive fictional male.
Sometimes the way to move a story forward seems too difficult, too tedious.
However, I am determined to get to the HEA this romance story requires. And to save the fair maiden at the same time.
Right now, my Lady Aruleius has been kidnapped and is imprisoned in a dark, musty dungeon--for her own good, of course. Or so her captor, the arrogant and insufferable Viscount Randell tells her.
Did I mention, she is a beauty and not quite the proper lady she pretends, and he is handsome and not quite the altruist he pretends? So what does he want from her, and what is she willing to give him?
Sunk into ennui, I edit and re-edit already written pages and then escape into one of my new Georgette Heyer books. But guilt clouds my pleasure.
So today, I pledge to the muse of writers, I will write one new page. Tomorrow I will confess my success or failure.
From my story to yours.
Susan
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
An overcooked chicken save
My attempt to salvage my dry pesto slathered chicken breasts worked....YAY!
I scrapped off some of the pesto and then diced them into small cubes.
And here is the dressing recipe that is the key.
6 TBS fat-free mayonnaise--okay I don't have fat free and used full fat
2 TBS fresh lemon juice (and do use fresh)
2 tsp Dijon mustard (yummy)
1/4 tsp hot sauce
1/8 tsp white pepper (black would work fine)
3 cups cooked chicken breasts
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil.
This recipe calls for 6 cups of fresh spinach as a base for the chicken salad. I used a mix of lettuces dressed with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice. And the recipe also says 1 1/2 TBS pine nuts (optional). I used walnuts.
This is my forever chicken salad recipe when there is fresh basil in my garden--probably even better with properly cooked chicken.
From my kitchen to yours.
I really have to stop cooking and start writing.
Susan
I scrapped off some of the pesto and then diced them into small cubes.
And here is the dressing recipe that is the key.
6 TBS fat-free mayonnaise--okay I don't have fat free and used full fat
2 TBS fresh lemon juice (and do use fresh)
2 tsp Dijon mustard (yummy)
1/4 tsp hot sauce
1/8 tsp white pepper (black would work fine)
3 cups cooked chicken breasts
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil.
This recipe calls for 6 cups of fresh spinach as a base for the chicken salad. I used a mix of lettuces dressed with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice. And the recipe also says 1 1/2 TBS pine nuts (optional). I used walnuts.
This is my forever chicken salad recipe when there is fresh basil in my garden--probably even better with properly cooked chicken.
From my kitchen to yours.
I really have to stop cooking and start writing.
Susan
Friday, July 22, 2011
Basil Pesto: One success-One failure
I love the herby frangrance of my basil pesto. The leftover portion from my successful use catches my eye whenever I open the refrigerator door.
Must use it. Must use it pretty soon. But for what? I'm low carbing except on Wednesdays. Pasta sauce is the logical choice, but I also have a batch of fresh tomato sauce with lots of garlic and lots of fresh basil.
Then I remembered a couple of years ago I'd slathered chicken breasts in pesto and cooked them. So I google it and get a couple of recipes with instructions. Unfortuantely the cooking time on the one I followed was way too long and they were dry. I'm pondering trying to remedy this by making a basil chicken salad with them.
The first use of my first batch of the season pesto, I used in a Rachael Ray recipe....good grief that girl can cook. Haven't tired one of her recipies yet that wasn't great.
The day I saw her do this on her TV show, I went to the food network site to get the full insturctions. Turns out it is a shortened (faster) version of a recipie she'd made before.
Here is the basic idea. You get pesto (commercial). But I made mine this time. You get Italian sausage (ground or links that you open up and take out the meat). I got mild. You get tiny mozzarella balls (they have an Italian name). I couldn't find them at the store I was in so I got a good quality mozzarella and than cut off small chuncks. Now the idea is, you encase a piece of the cheese in a portion of the meat (I think she made twelve for four servings) and form a meatball. These bake in the oven. In the meantime, you mix basil pesto into a can of tomatoes for the sauce and heat it up. She made some cheesey mashed potatoes and roasted garlicky broccoli to go with it. Me, who is low carbing and it wasn't Wed. didn't make the potatoes.
These meatballs with the sauce were delish. And one of the fastest things I every cooked. If you want the real recipe, you can find it on FN site.
And pesto slathered chicken breasts can be delish too, but not if they are overcooked.
From my stove to yours.
Susan
Must use it. Must use it pretty soon. But for what? I'm low carbing except on Wednesdays. Pasta sauce is the logical choice, but I also have a batch of fresh tomato sauce with lots of garlic and lots of fresh basil.
Then I remembered a couple of years ago I'd slathered chicken breasts in pesto and cooked them. So I google it and get a couple of recipes with instructions. Unfortuantely the cooking time on the one I followed was way too long and they were dry. I'm pondering trying to remedy this by making a basil chicken salad with them.
The first use of my first batch of the season pesto, I used in a Rachael Ray recipe....good grief that girl can cook. Haven't tired one of her recipies yet that wasn't great.
The day I saw her do this on her TV show, I went to the food network site to get the full insturctions. Turns out it is a shortened (faster) version of a recipie she'd made before.
Here is the basic idea. You get pesto (commercial). But I made mine this time. You get Italian sausage (ground or links that you open up and take out the meat). I got mild. You get tiny mozzarella balls (they have an Italian name). I couldn't find them at the store I was in so I got a good quality mozzarella and than cut off small chuncks. Now the idea is, you encase a piece of the cheese in a portion of the meat (I think she made twelve for four servings) and form a meatball. These bake in the oven. In the meantime, you mix basil pesto into a can of tomatoes for the sauce and heat it up. She made some cheesey mashed potatoes and roasted garlicky broccoli to go with it. Me, who is low carbing and it wasn't Wed. didn't make the potatoes.
These meatballs with the sauce were delish. And one of the fastest things I every cooked. If you want the real recipe, you can find it on FN site.
And pesto slathered chicken breasts can be delish too, but not if they are overcooked.
From my stove to yours.
Susan
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
RWA Conference 2011
Back home from my ninth RWA Conference. This year it was held in NYC. The conference hotel, Times Square Mariott Marquis was fab. The location is full of attractions.
This year two of my four daughters and two of my five grands came along. They had a blast. As the eight year old said when asked about the Broadway show, Mary Poppins, "Awesome."
I took it a bit easy this year. Attended the Literacy signing on Tuesday night. It was jam packed. I think the room was samll for 500 seated authors and the number of people who came to meet the authors and get signed copies of their books. But it was a hoot. Met up with fellow Avalon authors Wednesday morning and then went to the lunch. The PAN retreat took up the remainder of the afternoon and then there was a fab cocktail party for the Avalon authors at the Avalon office.
On Thursday, I attended Michael Hauge's workshops. Two hours in the morning and then two more hours in the afternoon. I had heard him speak twice before, but what he offers is so important I need it to soak in and become automatic.
Thursday night I joined my family for pizza and pasta at Johns, cheesecake from Juniors, and a seat on the red steps in Times Square. Lot of fun, lot of light, lot of noise.
This year I left the morning of the last day. Family had a huge and delicious breakfast at Juniors, then we said goodbye to one daughter and the rest of us headed for the train station and the trip back.
We got home to find another daughter and her husband here painting interior doors. When she lived with us, she got a rabbit who removed much of the paint from the bottom of several doors. Somehow she persuaded her husband to paint them. He did a super great job. They stayed for the fourth of July celebration and were joined by our oldest daughter and three grands. Hectic but fun.
Getting back to writing will take some real discipline on my part.
How lucky we are to live in the USA. Other countries have a much longer history and many splendors, but we who claim the USA as home are priviledged.
Pray for our troops. They are still putting and often giving their life to protect us from those whose desire is to destory us.
Best,
Susan
This year two of my four daughters and two of my five grands came along. They had a blast. As the eight year old said when asked about the Broadway show, Mary Poppins, "Awesome."
I took it a bit easy this year. Attended the Literacy signing on Tuesday night. It was jam packed. I think the room was samll for 500 seated authors and the number of people who came to meet the authors and get signed copies of their books. But it was a hoot. Met up with fellow Avalon authors Wednesday morning and then went to the lunch. The PAN retreat took up the remainder of the afternoon and then there was a fab cocktail party for the Avalon authors at the Avalon office.
On Thursday, I attended Michael Hauge's workshops. Two hours in the morning and then two more hours in the afternoon. I had heard him speak twice before, but what he offers is so important I need it to soak in and become automatic.
Thursday night I joined my family for pizza and pasta at Johns, cheesecake from Juniors, and a seat on the red steps in Times Square. Lot of fun, lot of light, lot of noise.
This year I left the morning of the last day. Family had a huge and delicious breakfast at Juniors, then we said goodbye to one daughter and the rest of us headed for the train station and the trip back.
We got home to find another daughter and her husband here painting interior doors. When she lived with us, she got a rabbit who removed much of the paint from the bottom of several doors. Somehow she persuaded her husband to paint them. He did a super great job. They stayed for the fourth of July celebration and were joined by our oldest daughter and three grands. Hectic but fun.
Getting back to writing will take some real discipline on my part.
How lucky we are to live in the USA. Other countries have a much longer history and many splendors, but we who claim the USA as home are priviledged.
Pray for our troops. They are still putting and often giving their life to protect us from those whose desire is to destory us.
Best,
Susan
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