Lyn Cote's Blog, page 47

6 Authors, 6 Summer Hearts & Slow Roasted Pork!

This is something new for me. I’m hosting 6 authors today! First, Carol Malone shares a recipe from the Summer Hearts compilation. This sounds like a very fun collection of clean sweet novellas. So here’s the recipe and the scoop on these six great romances! (And learn how you might win one!)

Recipe from Summer Holiday,

Carol Malone’s sweet summer novella in the Summer Hearts compilation.

In Summer Holiday, Lizzy’s grandma cooked pork sandwiches for the farmers who volunteered to help cut the hay for the season. She had to feed a large army of hungry men. This recipe I found on http://www.everydaydutchoven.com/…/fa...… is much the same as her recipe.

I cooked a 3 lb. roast in my 12 inch dutch oven with 10 coals in a ring around the bottom and 16-18 in a ring around the outside of the lid with 4-6 spaced evenly in the middle. I changed the coals three times, cooking the roast for a total of 3 1/2 hours. It is extremely tender, you can slice it or pull it apart with a couple of forks. The best part is the wonderful sauce that forms in the bottom of your dutch oven, light and sweetened with apple and brown sugar, add some salt to it if you like but be sure to drown the juicy meat in the delicious drippings.

Fall Apart Tender Slow Roasted Pork

1 pork butt roast (3-4 lbs.)

1/4 to 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup apple juice

1/2 tsp salt

Lightly oil or spray Dutch oven.

Place pork in large bowl.

Sprinkle the roast on all sides with Worcestershire sauce.

Press brown sugar into pork, coating all sides evenly.

Carefully place in prepared dutch oven.

Pour apple juice around pork roast, being sure not to drizzle it on crusted meat.

Roast at 300 degrees for 3-3 1/2 hours, replenishing coals hourly.

Pull the meat apart.

Stir the salt into the juices remaining in Dutch oven.

Serve immediately on hot, homemade bread with mustard or the drippings from the pork roast.

If you’d like more recipes like this, the source of this one is from booksbylyncote.com.

Author Milinda Jay & I REMEMBER MAMA (Book Giveaway)

I’ve never hosted author Milinda Jay before. She shares another touching story, I REMEMBER MAMA. BTW, she will be offering a copy of her latest book HER ROMAN PROTECTOR to one commenter so don’t miss THE QUESTION. Here’s Milinda:

I Remember Mama

My mother is 89 and has dementia. Some days she recognizes me. Other days, she stares vacantly into space. But memories of her beloved mother linger.

“Tell me about your mama,” I said when I visited her yesterday.

She looked out beyond the shade of the old oak tree. Her watery blue eyes focused on something I couldn’t see. She was quiet for a while, battling nothingness.

When she spoke, her sentences were garbled, but I said her words back to her, as if they made sense. Eventually, a story evolved.

“When I was in elementary school, my friend and I practiced twirling our batons on the same field as the senior high majorettes. One day, we hid behind azalea bushes, and copied everything they did. I asked Mama if she thought it would be ok if we kept on doing this. She said she believed so. We practiced their every move. The new routine was hard, different from anything we’d ever dared to do.  But after a few weeks, we got it.

I nearly dropped my baton one day when the captain turned to us and said over the azalea bushes, “Would you like perform our routine with us Friday night?”

“You mean at the football game in front of everybody?”

“Yes,” the captain said. “I believe you are ready.”

“And we did.” Mama’s faded blue eyes brightened for a moment. “We were so happy.”

Then she turned to me, “Remember that, Milinda. Always be ready to change and learn something new. You will find joy.”

And then my sweet mama went back inside of herself, gazing at something I couldn’t see.

I remember my mama’s words. The heroine of my novel, Her Roman Protector, must change and learn a new way of life after her husband forces her out of her home, remarries, and tries to have their infant exposed to the slave traders. I would love for you to join her in her fight to regain her children, and meet the man who makes it possible.”–Milinda

To purchase, click here. Her Roman Protector (Love Inspired Historical)

A Mother’s Mission

When her baby is stolen out of her arms, noblewoman Annia will do anything to find her—even brave the treacherous back alleys of Rome to search for her. Desperate to be reunited with her daughter, Annia finds herself up against a fierce Roman soldier who insists her baby is safe. Dare she trust him?

Rugged war hero Marcus Sergius rescues abandoned babies for his mother’s villa orphanage. When he witnesses Annia’s courageous fight for her child, he remembers that some things are worth fighting for. Helping Annia means giving up his future…unless love is truly possible for a battle-hardened Roman legionary.

Thanks for sharing that tender story, Milinda. Remember one commenter will win a copy of this book in this week’s drawing.

Now here’s the QUESTION: Have you ever had to deal with a loved one suffering from dementia? How did you handle it?–Lyn

PS-Lillian won Missy Tippens book! Congrats!

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Author Annslee Urban & WALNUT FUDGE BROWNIES!!

 

When I read author Annslee Urban’s title, my mouth began to water for 

Walnut Fudge Brownies

1 cup flour ¼ teas. baking powder

¼ teas. Salt 1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar 1 teas. vanilla

12 Tablespoon cocoa 1 cup chopped nuts

4 eggs

Preheat oven 325. Grease 10” x 12” pan. Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in small bowl. In larger bowl beat butter, sugar, eggs until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and blend in dry ingredients, and then add nuts. Spread evenly in pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

This is one of our family’s favorite recipes, one that I have used for over 30 years. I was fortunate to be born into a family that loved to cook. From my earliest memories, I remember my Sicilian Grandmother, Delicia Preci in the kitchen, whipping up delicious meals and desserts. Even now, I can recall the cozy, welcoming scent of her home. Everything she made was from scratch. A tradition passed down to my mother and me and now my daughters.

This recipe, Walnut Fudge Brownies, is a recipe I tweaked some, but have used over and over again for years. And often I get asked for the recipe whenever I bring it to a function or give as a gift.

Bon Appetit!–Annslee

I Remember Mom

Holidays were always special at my home. Once December hit, we started baking cookies, making crafts and pulling out decorations. In no time our small ranch home turned into a magical wonderland. We hung homemade streamers and mistletoe, streamed colorful lights on our tree and set up a hand-painted manager. But, the one thing that made our Christmas complete was a red brick, nearly life size cardboard fireplace, complete with flickering embers.

Fireplaces were few and far between in the Arizona desert at the time I was growing up, but my Midwestern raised mother knew the cozy feeling of a holiday fire. So, we improvised, and although our little brick fireplace was made of cardboard, it added a spirit of snuggly warmth to our home and our memories.

I will always keep those memories close. And even today, holidays are looked forward to, especially Christmas, where we gather to celebrate the birth of our Savior, laugh and enjoy each other’s company in a home filled with love and the warm of a crackling fire.

a wonderful way to bond and relax

Sharing a meal with family or friends is a wonderful way to bond and relax. What’s better then  great food and great conversation? In my recent novel, Broken Silence, even the simple act of sitting down together to eat stir warm and painful memories of the life Patrick Wiley and Amber Talbot once shared.”–Annslee

To purchase, booksbylyncote.com.

Author Magdalena Scott & Her Creative Mom

It’s my pleasure to host Magdalena Scott, a new friend of mine and a creative author! Here’s Magdalena’s memory of her creative mom:

“If I were to choose one word to describe my mother, it would be “creative.” She was an artist who preferred oil paint or pastels over watercolors, she designed and sewed her own clothes and mine, as well as gifts for others. She knitted and crocheted, refinished and upholstered furniture. (She was “upcycling” decades before the term was coined.) She even cut, colored, and styled her own hair.

When she moved from Los Angeles with my dad back to his midwestern hometown a few years before I was born, she used her creativity too. My dad was among people he’d known his whole life, but my mother made her own connections as well. They were a wonderful team in projects (building or buying and rehabbing houses), in parenting (after 20 years of marriage–surprise! I arrived), and in community.

My mother died in 2001 after suffering with Alzheimer’s Disease for several years. I completed my first full-length novel that year, but she was gone before it was published.

On Mother’s Day or at any other time, it is my hope that I honor both my parents by being the person they raised me to be. Creativity is part of my inheritance–what a gift!”–Magdalena




Blurb:

Ladies of Legend: Return to Legend Boxed Set

***LIMITED TIME ONLY PROMOTIONAL PRICE*** 99 cents for the ebook collection

Includes the novellas: Crossroads by Janet Eaves, Heart to Heart by Jan Scarbrough, Second Chances by Magdalena Scott, and Star-Crossed by Maddie James

Before life-long Legendarian, Addie Bynum, dies, she knows she had some loose ends to tie up. So she bequeaths some of her worldly possessions to four special people, bringing them all back to Legend.

Sharon Clark vows there is no way she will ever return to Legend, Tennessee. But desperation has a way of changing everything….

When Jeremy Hamilton’s aunt Addie gives him a second chance, he must decide if he believes in the unbelievable and the pet psychic who teaches him about faith…and love.

Anne McClain Bradley returns to her small town roots, while Pete Garrity is looking for a fresh start. Second chances. Sometimes the hardest part is believing they exist.

When Jasmine Walker returns to Legend after a fifteen-year absence–she doesn’t expect her troubled teenage past to collide with her well-planned, professional future.

Can they all Return to Legend, and with Ms. Addie’s help, finally find love and happiness?

Magdelana, thanks so much for being my guest and sharing about your mom. I think you have succeeded in making them proud.–Lyn

BUY LINKS:

AMAZON: booksbylyncote.com.

Author Missy Tippens & Strong Women Who Forgive & Giveaway

My guest today is my friend and Love Inspired Author Missy Tippens who is going to share about:

Strong Women Who Forgive

I love celebrating strong women. And I love celebrating mothers. So this is a great month be invited to Lyn’s blog! Lyn, thank you for having me.

When I first thought of writing my new book, The Doctor’s Second Chance, I had the idea to pair up a strong, driven professional woman with a laid back, outdoorsy man who gets thrown into an unusual situation (a fish-out-of-water story). After a lot of brainstorming, I ended up writing my heroine, Violet Crenshaw, as a driven pediatrician who’s forced to help a man she doesn’t like, a man who thinks the worst of her. My hero of the story is general contractor Jake West, whose cousin leaves him with her newborn baby. And he needs Violet’s help.

Violet had a terrible falling out with her family in her late teens, forcing her to achieve her dreams of being a doctor on her own. She stood strong and worked her way through college and medical school. Now she’s bought her own small, private practice and wants to help kids in a small town setting. She never hesitates to help the sweet baby Jake has brought to her, even if it means dealing with the uncle.

Throughout the story, Violet shows strength. One of her biggest steps is to learn to forgive and to move past old hurts. Without giving away too much, I’ll just say I think you’ll enjoy watching Violet push through her problems and learn and grow. And maybe even fall in love!

QUESTION: Do you think it takes a strong woman to forgive?

I will be giving away one copy of The Doctor’s Second Chance (print or e-book) to one person who leaves a comment.”–Missy

To purchase, click cover

The Doctor’s Second Chance

BLURB:

The Bachelor’s Baby

  Jake West’s troubled cousin leaves him with a most unusual parting gift—her newborn baby girl! And now the small-town contractor is forced to seek help from the very woman he resents—the new big-city pediatrician who practically stole his uncle’s practice, Violet Crenshaw. Violet knows she shouldn’t be consorting with the enemy. But she can’t resist the adorable baby and her handsome new caretaker. Violet traded her chance at motherhood for her career years ago. But raising a family with Jake could be everything she’s ever wanted.

Thanks for being my guest, Missy. Sounds like a great book!–Lyn

Connect with Missy at www.missytippens.com and sign up for her newsletter.

Visit Missy at:

https://www.facebook.com/missy.tippens.readers

https://twitter.com/MissyTippens

booksbylyncote.com.

Happy News! National Readers Choice Award

I usually don’t blow my own horn but I’m very honored that my book HONOR IS a finalist in Oklahoma RWA’s prestigious Reader’s Choice Contest.
As you can tell from the title, this contest is judged by readers and that means a lot to me.
If you’d like to see who the other finalists are, click the link below and then scroll through the different categories and you’ll find HONOR under the Inspirational Category.-Lyn

booksbylyncote.com.

Author Dorothy Love & I REMEMBER MAMA

Last but not least, author Dorothy Love shares her I REMEMBER MAMA:

I REMEMBER MAMA

Dorothy Love

When I was a girl growing up in the country, one of my summer chores was to help Mama in our garden. Summer in the south was brutal—by nine in the morning my hair was plastered to my head, and my dress–so carefully starched and ironed— was wilted, the collar damp and scratchy against my neck. In those days we had no air conditioning and the inside of the house was not much cooler than the garden. Mama’s strategy was to get out there early, get the day’s harvest picked and get much of the cooking done before the hottest part of the day.

We had two white enamel pans large enough to hold what we needed to prepare lunch and dinner ( which we called dinner and supper) for Daddy and my brothers. In the garden just after sunrise, Mama taught me the names of her favorite varieties—Big Boy tomatoes, Mississippi  silver skin peas, Sweet Queen corn, Kentucky Wonder beans.

Back in the house, she set me to shelling peas or snapping beans at the kitchen table, the oscillating fan stirring the heat, the turquoise radio on the counter tuned to WHBQ in Memphis, ninety miles away. While she brewed a gallon of sweet tea and stirred the batter for cornbread we sang along with the Everly Brothers’ All I have to Do Is Dream, and the latest song by Elvis, our hometown boy. Tommy Edwards’  It’s all in the Game and Conway Twitty’s It’s Only Make Believe were my favorites.

In July we started “putting up” vegetables for the winter, a laborious process that involved boiling water to sterilize the glass canning jars, setting the packed jars in a pressure cooker and after the prescribed time, taking them out to cool. My bedroom was near the pantry where Mama stored her canned goods. At night, while I read books by flashlight and listened to the crickets outside the open window, I could hear the “pop” of the jar lids as they sealed in all that summer goodness.

A voracious reader, I put off my chores while I read just one more chapter. Housework seemed counterproductive–I swept the floor and cleaned the bathroom, and the next day I had to do it all over again. Often I would give my chores “a lick and a promise” so I’d have more time to read. But my leisure rarely lasted very long. Mama would send me back to finish the job with this little jingle:

If a task is once begun

Never leave it till it’s done.

Be the labor great or small,

Do it well or not at all.

Mama is eighty three now, and her gardening is limited to tending her roses. But every time I hear one of those old songs, or enjoy a glass of iced tea on a sweltering summer day, I remember those precious days in the garden with Mama, and I am grateful.”–Dorothy

BLURB:

Savannah belle Celia Browning intends to wed her childhood sEeetheart, Sutton Mackay and take her place in society as one of the city’s most influential young matrons. Just as her engagement is announced, an unsavory newspaper reporter arrives, bent on resurrecting her family’s painful past. Celia receives a bracelet imbued with a chilling message and determines to uncover long-buried family secrets that could cost her everything.

For more online:

booksbylyncote.com.

Amish Author Marta Perry & I REMEMBER MAMA

Here’s another I REMEMBER MAMA memory by Amish author Marta Perry:

I REMEMBER MAMA

By Marta Perry

When I was small, my mother and I were often together with no one else around, since my brother and sister were eight and ten years older than I.  In those times, one of the best things my mother did for me was to tell me stories. I’m quite sure that my love of story and the fact that I became a writer can be traced by to those early days of story-telling. She told me all the normal children’s stories, of course, and she read to me often. But my very favorite stories were those she told in response to my often-repeated request, “Tell me a story about when you were little.”

My mother had what most people today would consider a hard childhood. Her parents had a small farm, deep in the country, and seven children to feed, and my mother’s father died while she was still quite young. Looking back at it with adult eyes, I’m sure they were very hard up, but that never came through in my mother’s stories. Instead, they were all about the adventures of a little girl growing up in a big, loving family—picking berries, wading in the creek, collecting nuts, being allowed to help with the grown-up activities like canning and making my grandmother’s special homemade noodles.

I loved to sit on a small stool on the back porch on summer evenings, helping to snap beans and listening to the stories of that world, which sounded so far away in some ways and yet so familiar. And in my turn I learned to help with the canning, roll out a pie crust, and finally was considered old enough to cut the noodles before they went into the boiling chicken stock. Best of all was when my grandmother came to visit. She’d take me on her lap and tell me story after story of what life had been like—sometimes remembering the stories a bit differently than my mother had!

Now it’s my turn to be a mother and a grandmother, and when I visit my grandchildren, I hear the familiar chant, “Tell us a story about when Mommy or Daddy was small.” So I oblige, pulling out one of the long list of stories of my own children, stored away in memories as bright and sharp as if they happened yesterday.

I truly believe this need to share family stories contributes to our happiness and security. Like a quilt made of hundreds of tiny patches, the story of family goes on, bringing hope and strength to each new generation. 

It’s that love of family that I’ve tried to express in my current series of Amish books, Keepers of the Promise, in which a grandmother entrusts three granddaughters with the stories of their Amish family, and each one finds a promise for the future in the treasures of the past.”–Marta

Thanks so much, Marta. I also try to share family memories with my children and my great nieces and nephews so that they know what their heritage is.–Lyn

QUESTION: Do you share family stories with the younger members of the family?

 

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Amish Author Amy Clipston & I REMEMBER MAMA

 

SO VERY SORRY–My website server burped today and so this is posted late!–Lyn

 

I Remember Mama

By Amy Clipston

I REMEMBER MAMA and I would spend our Saturday mornings at the Hawthorne, NJ, movie theater when I was a little girl. We would pack a snack, which was usually a Ziploc bag of homemade popcorn, and two cans of soda in a large purse and head out to see the latest blockbuster. I looked forward to our Saturday morning trips. It was our special time together.

No movie genre was off limits. We enjoyed comedies, chick flicks, and action/adventure films. Mama would let me choose the film, and she even tolerated a horror movie or two in order to please me. Some of the favorite movies I recall seeing with her were “Annie,” “ET,” the “Karate Kid” series, “Beetlejuice,” “Footloose,” and the “Back to the Future” series. When I started working as a babysitter for neighbors, Mama took me to a special sneak preview for the film “Adventures in Babysitting.”

The tickets started out at $2.00 each, and then progressively increased in increments of $.25.  Soon they were $2.25 and then $2.50. By the time I graduated from high school, one matinee movie ticket was $4.50. The cost, however, never interfered with our special Saturday dates.

My mama has always been my best friend and greatest confidant. While I was growing up, I knew that she always had my back and she would listen without judgment. Even during my angst filled and confusing teenage years, I could share anything and everything with her.

Mama is still my movie buddy, and my younger son, Matthew, has also joined our small club. Every weekend, we choose a movie to download through iTunes. I enjoy sharing some “old” movies with Matt now. He has learned to appreciate some of my favorite movies, such as the “Jurassic Park” and “Terminator” films. The three of us venture out to the theater often, and occasionally, we can convince my older son, Zachary, and my husband to tag along with us.

Mama is still my best friend and I’m grateful that she lives with my family and me. I can always count on her to be there when we need her, but most importantly, I know she’ll watch any bizarre movie I choose to download.

 

Book Blurb:

A Simple Prayer, Hearts of the Lancaster Grand Hotel series Book #4

Linda is no stranger to hardship. Now she dares to hope for a chance at love and a new beginning.

As the sole survivor of a buggy accident that left her orphaned at age four, Linda Zook was reluctantly raised by her Uncle Reuben. She longs to be worthy of someone, but the lasting trauma of her injuries and embittered upbringing by her uncle have destroyed her self-worth.

Aaron Ebersol left the Amish community seventeen years ago when he could no longer bear the restrictions or the constant tension with his father. Despite years of unanswered letters to his parents, and the roots he’s put down in Missouri, Aaron rushes back to the Amish community of Paradise, Pennsylvania, after receiving word of his mother’s stroke. Hesitant to get too close to the family he was once a part of, he decides to stay at the Heart of Paradise Bed & Breakfast. He soon encounters Linda, working there part-time, and the two find they have a lot in common.

Can Linda and Aaron forgive the family members who have deceived and forsaken them? And will Aaron be able to convince Linda that she is worthy of his love?”–Amy

Again, my apologies, Amy and everyone. The Internet is great when it works!–Lyn

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I Remember Mama by Author Lynne Gentry

My guest today is author Lynne Gentry who shares her memories of her mother. Here’s Lynne:

I remember Mama shaking her head and saying, “Girl, I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”

My mother was a practical woman. She loved to squeeze numbers into straight little columns and make them add up. In her opinion, everything in life was either black or white.

The hero of many make-believe battles

I, on the other hand, loved to stand on the hill overlooking our wheat fields, cram a stick into the ground, and pretend the world could hear my voice. On hot summer days, I would spend hours squirreled away in a treehouse or a fort made of hay bales. My vivid imagination converted these everyday places into castles or frontier outposts. I was the hero of many make-believe battles.

My mother and I were so different.

She worried that a girl who could sell wind in a bag might never have a productive life. I thought she considered me a disappointment. We clashed. A lot.

It wasn’t until I became a mother that I really began to understand the fragility of the mother/daughter relationship. I longed to bridge the divide with my mother and I wanted to prevent the same divide from forming with my daughter.

When parents and children don’t see eye to eye

it creates strife. Are we doomed to remain at odds?

Writing fiction has given me the opportunity to dig beneath the surface and explore unique ways to unite two very different people with the same DNA. What have I learned?

Honest conversations are a must.

 

Nine years ago my mother was diagnosed

with cancer. For two years, I flew home one week a month to care for her. My children were teenagers and I had my own parenting issues. I really didn’t have time to sit with my mother, but I did. It was during these long days of waiting for the end that we were forced to get to know each other. To ease my mother’s pain, I told her stories. To ease my pain, she showed me her well-organized pictures, family histories, and finances. A new and deep appreciation for both of our strengths emerged during this time of weakness.

We extended grace. We learned to love each other.

My mother lived to see my first book published. I remember showing it to her on my computer. She dragged her hand over the screen, smiled, and said, “Who knew that selling wind in a bag would pay off.”

I remember Mama. She taught me everything that matters.–Lynne

To purchase, click here. Healer of Carthage: A Novel (The Carthage Chronicles)

BLURB

The first in The Carthage Chronicles series, Healer of Carthage launches Dr. Lisbeth Hastings into third-century Carthage. Desperate to survive in this unknown world, Lisbeth is forced to grapple with slavery, religious persecution, and disease. Against this dark backdrop, romance, justice, and courage take center stage.

Thanks so much for sharing, Lynne. Does anybody else want to leave what they remember about their mama in a comments?–Lyn

For more online:

Website: http://lynnegentry.com/

Facebook: Author Lynne Gentry https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Lynne-Gentry/215337565176144

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lynne_Gentry

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/lynnegentry7/

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imh1AwR698Y

Simon & Schuster: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Lynne-Gentry/412732530

 

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