Piper J. Drake's Blog, page 6

Chocolate Fudge cupcakes with Cookie Dough Filling Topped with Sea Salt Caramel

More stress baking happened this weekend. The result? Chocolate fudge cupcakes with cookie dough filling topped with chocolate frosting and caramel drizzle finished with a tiny sprinkle of sea salt.

This is more of a concept set of directions rather than a step-by-step recipe. I got the idea from multiple photos on Pinterest.

For now though, I’ll share with you the simple tricks of these great cupcakes.

Ingredients:

1 14oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk

Batch of favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Batch of favorite Chocolate Cupcake Batter

Batch of favorite icing

Sea Salt, to taste

Preparation:

Remove label from unopened can of condensed milk. Fill a deep medium saucepan with water. Bring to the boil. Carefully place the can in the saucepan. Simmer, uncovered for 3 hours ensuring the level of water is always covering the can. Carefully remove can from heat and allow to cool completely before opening to use the caramel.

Meanwhile, prepare favorite cookie dough recipe. Refrigerate cookie dough for about an hour, until easy to work with and not sticky. Roll cookie dough into 24 small 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls. Freeze these for at least 30 min, longer if you want the cookie dough more raw in the center.

*Note: The more raw you want your cookie dough in the center, it is recommended you use an egg-free recipe. Since my cupcakes come out with the cookie dough baked as opposed to raw, I don’t worry about this as much.

Heat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit or temperature recommended for cupcake batter recipe. Prepare two 12 cupcake tins with cupcake liners.

Prepare favorite cupcake batter recipe.

Fill each cupcake cup approximately three quarters of the way full.

Remove cookie dough balls from freezer and carefully place one ball into each cup of batter. Allow to sit on top if you’d like the dough to be more in the center of the cupcake or press gently to the bottom of the cup.

Bake for the recommended time of the cupcake batter directions. Test with a toothpick for doneness (toothpick comes out clean when done).

Allow to cool thoroughly.

Top with your favorite chocolate icing, then carefully pipe or drizzle the caramel over the cupcakes. Finish with a fine sprinkle of sea salt.

 

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Khao Mun Gai (ข้าวมันไก่)

Khao Mun Gai was my go-to dish when ordering food for friends traveling with me in Thailand, or my younger siblings when they were very small. It’s tender chicken served over fragrant jasmine rice richly cooked in chicken broth and served with a pop of flavor in the form of a soy-based sauce. Often this dish was served with cool cucumbers. Easy on the travel-weary stomach and very comforting, the subtle flavors of this dish always hit the spot.

Growing up, my parents used to steam the chicken and use the resulting chicken drippings to cook the rice. I’ve taken this dish and added quite a few cooking twists of my own so this may have evolved a bit from the traditional street food you might find in Thailand today.

Recommendation: I make a lot of the components to this dish in parallel. Read through the entire set of instructions before trying to make this or you might find yourself in the kitchen far longer than necessary.

Ingredients:
Chicken:

1 whole chicken, raw and defrosted if it was frozen

chicken boullion, for 2 cups broth

1 oz fresh ginger root, washed and sliced

2 to 4 spring onions, washed

4 to 6 cloves garlic, peeled

Salt (to taste)

Rice:

3 measuring cups Thai Jasmine Rice, uncooked

a standard Japanese rice cooker measuring cup is 3/4 cup of a English standard measuring cup, so this is actually 2 1/4 standard cups of rice

3 3/4 cups stock from cooking chicken, give or take a few tablespoons

1 to 2 oz fresh ginger root

4 to 6 cloves garlic

1 shallot

reserved skin from chicken or 2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Sauce:

¼ cup stock from cooking chicken

¼ cup light soy sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp sesame oil

Soup:

Remaining stock from cooking chicken

2 to 3 cups winter melon, peeled and cut in 1″ pieces

Can substitute chayote or firm cucumber, if desired

Salt or fish sauce, to taste

Pepper, to taste

a sprinkle of sugar, to taste

Garnish (optional)

1 cucumber

fresh bunch of coriander

Instructions:

Place 2 cups chicken broth (or boullion with 2 cps water) in a large soup pot and bring to a simmer. Add an additional 4 cups water and bring to a boil.

While the stock is coming to a boil, prepare the chicken:

Remove the giblets, wash them, and add them to the soup pot to enhance the stock.
Rinse the whole chicken inside and out in cool water.
Trim off excess fat from the chicken neck and lower cavity, setting the skin aside for later use.
Sprinkle salt (I use sea salt) both in the cavity of the chicken and over the outside, gently patting into the skin.
Stuff ginger slices and spring onions into the cavity and close with toothpicks.

Twist the wings back to ensure they don’t flop around or overcook.

Once the stock is boiling, dip the chicken into the broth gently and ladle stock over the sides of the chicken until the skin tightens. Then gently lower the chicken into the soup pot until completely covered.

Bring to a boil and boil uncovered for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 45 minutes to finish cooking.

While chicken is finishing cooking, place reserved chicken skin in a wok or large skillet over medium high heat. Cook until oil forms from the chicken fat and skin, approximately 2 Tbsp.

Note: Using chicken fat oil here is a major aspect of the flavor in the rice but you can substitute vegetable oil if desired.

Once the oil is hot, add ginger slices and garlic, sauté lightly until fragrant to infuse the oil with flavor, then quickly add the uncooked rice before the aromatics burn.

Stir fry the uncooked rice until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer the contents of the wok to a rice cooker. Add the 3 3/4 cups  stock from the cooking chicken. Start the rice cooker.

Note: Cooking rice is a bit of a science. Older rice could take more liquid. Newer rice could require less. Pre-soaking rice before cooking will help the rice cook faster but requires less liquid when actually cooking. In general, the ratio would be for every standard cup of rice, use 1 3/4 cups of liquid.
Once rice cooker signals the rice is done, open and fluff the rice. Remove the slices of ginger and discard.

Carefully take chicken out of soup pot and place in an ice water bath to cool (or place on a plate to cool).

In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup stock from cooking chicken, ¼ cup light soy sauce, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp sesame oil. Set aside to serve with main dish. A little of this goes a long way.

Bring broth in soup pot to a boil, skimming off any scum and some excess oil.

Add winter melon and boil for 10 to 15 minutes or until winter melon is cooked and tender. Season soup to taste with fish sauce, a sprinkle of sugar, and pepper. Soup should be mild, subtle and a gentle accompaniment to the chicken and rice.

Serving Khao Mun Gai

Plate the rice first, then arrange slices of the chicken on top or next to the rice. Have a small dish of the sauce next to the plate to be used as desired. Serve a bowl of the light chicken soup on the side.

 

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Reasons to Get Out of the House

Struggling with writer’s block,  I decided to get out of the house yesterday. 

I ran errands with the boyfriend to mail out ARCs of Ultimate Courage and talked about high cupcake standards with the girl working the counter at UPS. Apparently, cupcake places only last a few months in the Phoenix area and then go out of business. Why? Hmm. But we’re hoping a new place that specializes in cocktail inspired cupcakes will last.

Excellent quirky things to write into a book.

 We stopped to get the car washed and detailed. I took my diploma, from the Masters Degree I earned over 10 years ago, to be framed. Then I popped into World Market for tasty international treats and Ulta looking for the Too Faced Peanut Butter and Jelly eye shadow palette.

I didn’t find the elusive eye shadow palette. It’s sold out both in store locally and online. But I fired up a chat with two of the make up consultants as I tried on daring (for me) summer lipstick shades from Urban Decay’s Vice line.

One of the make up consultants told me he once had a client that paid him  $85 a day to do her make up for her, every Friday and Saturday. She’d moved to Florida eventually, but still flew him out to do her makeup for special events. And he stayed in her beach house when he was out there.

Whoa. Very cool. Taking mental notes because that’s a fun character idea.

Then we chatted about ill-advised things people do coming into make up stores. Like randomly using the sample make up without disinfecting it. *shudder*

PSA: people, this is seriously unhealthy and could cause infections. Just take the extra time to get a consultant to help you disinfect that lipstick or blush or eye shadow or whatever before you try it on.

And boyfriend walks in, letting us know the police have cordoned off a portion of the parking lot right outside. In addition to standard police, TAC was on site. They’d also expanded the secured area three times in the time it took me to try on two lipstick shades.

Could’ve been a bomb threat. Could’ve been a robbery. There were actually quite a few possibilities. My writer’s brain was going crazy with all the possible plot bunnies.

And for some odd reason, the Ulta suddenly got incredibly busy. The general store manager had to hop on a register with two other cashiers to handle the line. Why the influx of shoppers just yards away from a developing police investigation? 

It is a mystery. 

And mysteries, puzzlements, conundrums, are fantastic mental stimulation.

I came home with a mind full of What If? Ready to write and ready to take my story unexpected places.

All of this, because I went out to run a few errands and indulge in a bit of shopping.

It was well worth the cost of a lipstick.

I decided to get out of the house and tried on Urban Decay’s Vice lipstick in Wired. This was not the color I ultimately bought.

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Today’s Dream for Someday

It’s good to have dreams. 

There’s also a difference for me between dreams for someday in the far off future and dreams I might work to make come true with carefully defined goals right now.

Today I latched onto a dream for someday. It’s something I’ll tuck away to ponder and smile about, but won’t stress to make happen any time soon. I’m leaving it to incubate. I might do a few things to gather the necessary information or skills to make it happen in an unhurried way. For fun.

Because I have as many immediate goals as I can handle right now and I like the relief of considering something for someday…for fun and whimsy.

Moving! And why, for us, it’s not an OMG

Matthew J. Drake and I are moving from the Baltimore area in Maryland to the Phoenix area in Arizona.

My day job remains the same and so my Piper’s Travel Hijinx will continue. Perhaps because of this, the move isn’t a big deal in our minds. I’ll still be spending my days on my day job projects, 85% of the time on site. If anything, flying out of Phoenix will result in more direct flights for me and fewer connections.

The biggest changes for us will be the space. We’ll be going from a single bedroom to a bedroom and an office. It’ll be separate areas for sleep and for work and for creative content – writing, podcasting, vlogging – with no neighbors upstairs stomping around at all hours. There’ll be a bigger kitchen for my stress cooking. There’ll be a garage to park our car in and a small backyard to turn into an outdoor creative space (in the winter).

All of that at a lower cost of living.

Another factor to consider is that we’re a bit nomadic. We start to twitch if we’ve lived in a single location for more than two years. Change is good to keep our minds stimulated and our hearts inspired.

And so, for us, this move isn’t a huge moment so much as an exciting change of pace in our ever-progressing forward momentum.

It’s our next adventure.

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EMEPiper Ep 4: Time Management at Events

Why time management at events? It’s con season and for many, conventions or conferences become a blur of things to do, people to see, and it’s easy to lose the key reasons you attended when overwhelmed by the sheer craziness of it all. I love attending them, learning new things, meeting people, refreshing acquaintances. It can be intimidating and confusing. It can be an onslaught to the senses. And it can be amazing, when I manage my time to make the most of it.

Piper J Drake teaching a workshop at RT16

Attending conventions and conferences is costly, both in terms of money invested to go and time taken away from writerly things to be there. In this podcast episode, I talk about how I manage my time to prepare and attend cons to make the best use of both my money invested and my time.

Highlights

I’ve got a lot of events in 2016
Questions I ask myself before deciding to go
Planning ahead: 6 months to a year
More Planning ahead: a few months
A few weeks in advance: do my clothes fit? Where’s the schedule?
I’ve arrived! It starts in the lobby.
Set up your room for convenience and comfort

Shout-outs

RT Booklover’s Convention in Las Vegas, NV (Apr 12-17)
Barbara Vey’s Reader Appreciation Luncheon in Milwaukee, WI  (Apr 29 – May 1)
SFWA Nebula Conference in Chicago as PJ Schnyder, IL (Saturday, May 14)
2016 Out of Excuses Writing Workshop and Retreat on The Independence of the Seas (Sep 20 – 27)

Next episode

Time management at event tips once you arrive at con, before things get started…

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Play Find the PJ at the Nebula Conference 2016!

When Mary Robinette Kowal asks me to be a panelist/moderator at the Nebula Conference-a professional conference for Science Fiction and Fantasy-I’m extremely likely to say YES. Not only because I have a decades long love for the genres but also due to my deep respect for Mary herself.

She is thought-provoking. She is also considerate. She writes wonderful novels. And she demonstrates via her actions the messages she presents via her words. Mary Robinette Kowal is one of those nifty people who inspire me to strive to do great things.

And so I’ll be in Chicago for the Nebula Conference, on panel and moderating. I’ll also be attending the many other interesting panels to expand my mind.

It will be my first Nebula and I have no doubts about it being interesting.

Task Management and Kanban

Kanban is a method for managing work to be done without overloading the people doing said work. The method is applicable to writers, especially when undertaking complex projects. It allows the author to have a nice overview of what needs to be done while still having it easily organized into do-able tasks.

Kanban starts with creating a few basic categories for your work. I divide my process into Triage, Do Today, In Progress (right now), and Done. You can divide your process into categories that resonate with you and match your personal way of doing things.

At first, I take each of my tasks and put them in the Triage category. These should be finite, do-able tasks. If I’m drafting, this could be researching a particular detail or writing a specific scene. If I’m revising, this could be addressing a specific revision note like clarifying my order events and timeline or adding more detail to my hero’s backstory.

At the beginning of my day’s work session, I pick one or two tasks–no more than three–and put them in the Do Today category. Then when I’m ready to start working, I pick one task and put it in the In Progress category. Then I get to work.

This allows me to focus on the task at hand. And maybe I’ll finish it, so it then goes in the Done! category. Or maybe I’ll have worked on it as far as it can go before I finish other tasks, so I’ll leave it in In Progress and take the next task from Do Today.

The goal here is to not be overwhelmed by all the things floating in the Triage category. I’ve identified them. I know they’re there. I can even add more. But on a given day, I’m only focusing on the few tasks I’ve placed in Do Today. Because I’m focusing on them, I can get them done.

Kanban method can be done on paper. I have big Post-It notes on my workspace wall, actually. Or there are online web apps to let you organize. I use Trello, for example.

Using the kanban method to manage my “things to do” is effective to keep myself productive and protect myself from getting overwhelmed. It makes me feel better to have all my random, free-floating to do’s in the Triage category. It let’s me focus on the specific tasks I’ve pulled into my Do Today. It feels really good to drop a task into my Done! category.

Does this method interest you? I’d love to see examples of this method applied to other authors’ work.

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Japanese Paper Stars

I spent yesterday folding Japanese paper stars with Joyfully Reviewed as part of my gifts to the readers sitting at my table for the upcoming Barbara Vey Reader Appreciation Weekend, specifically for the big Saturday luncheon.

The ribbon these are made of is particularly fun because the writing glows in the dark. They’ll be going into the base of my table decorations at the event and hopefully go home with the readers I meet at my table. Aside from being extremely cute, there’s a story behind these stars and a cultural practice from my childhood in these.

Story Behind Origami Lucky Stars

Should we start with “once upon a time”?

There was once a little girl in Japan named Hoshi. She loved the stars in the night sky and would lie on the grass at night,staring at them. As hours went by, she would wonder how the tiny stars could shine so bright, remaining suspended in the air for so long.

One night, the stars fell out of heaven in a shower of light. So many fell, Hoshi was afraid there would be no more. Saddened, she ran to her home and found herself an empty glass jar. She took up paper and folded one paper star for each spot she’d seen fall. Within the night, the little girl folded perhaps a hundred paper stars.

And yet, she was still saddened because many more stars had fallen fro the sky and she hadn’t been able to fold a paper star for each of them.

The next night, she saw only a few stars in the night sky. She ran and knocked on all the doors in the village, asking all the little boys and girls to come out. She explained to them her worry and each of the children wanted to help. That night they made two thousand stars. Every child placed their own stars in their own jar.

As they watched the sky the following night, more stars appeared in the night sky and the children cheered. After such a magical achievement, Hoshi was inspired.

“These stars are lucky because of us. From now on, these paper stars will be called lucky stars.”

She also looked up at the stars in the night sky and said, 

“Whenever a lucky star is made, a falling star is saved.”

~ story paraphrased from Secrets Behind Japanese Origami Lucky Stars and origamiway.com.

Paper Stars and Piper’s Childhood

My grandmother taught me to fold paper stars for luck during my childhood summers in Thailand. This is a Japanese folk tale, but the practice spread to Thailand and other countries. I was taught to pick a pretty glass jar, fold stars of colored paper, and present the filled jar as a gift.

I fold them now to wish luck to those I meet and gather the tiny paper stars in a jar to give as a gift.

It’s a gesture that’s about effort and consideration, wishes for luck and thoughts of friendship. I very much hope the readers at my table will enjoy them.

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Play Find the Piper at RT16 in Las Vegas!

RT16 in Vegas is my first con as Piper J. Drake, the first of the year, and wow, it’s going to be an activity-packed week!

The RT Booklover’s Convention is an amazing event, filled with great authors and readers, and incredibly fun. I’ve attended for several years in a row now (as PJ Schnyder) and I’m looking forward to participating on several romantic suspense panels and reader events as Piper.

My True Heroes series launched in January of this year and I am super excited to go see this graphic in real-life at RT, covering one of the hotel elevators. It’s going to blow my mind!

Giveaway!

Readers attending RT: I would be so happy to see pictures of you taken next to or in front of this graphic on the elevator at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. Take a picture, post it to FB, Twitter, or Instagram and use #FindthePiper. I’ll have a special gift bag for one of you after the Giant Book Fair on Saturday!

 

Piper’s Scheduled Appearances on Panels and at Events:
First Timer (aka Virgin) Orientation

This convention orientation is designed for all first-time RT attendees. We’ll give you the “quickie” seminar experience. Trust us: if this is your first-ever RT Booklovers Convention, this could be the most important 60 minutes of your week! After you head to registration, get your bag of goodies and experience the initial shock and awe, you’re going to have questions. That’s where we come in. Come join us for an hour that, for some, has been a life-altering experience. We understand what it’s like — your virgin year at RT! Here is where you get your questions answered, meet other first-timers and become part of a special group like no other during convention week.

Host(s):

Kathryn Falk (RT Book Reviews, Founder)
Lynne Connolly
Piper J. Drake (aka PJ Schnyder)
Carolyn Haven
Tuesday, April 12, 12:15pm-1:15pm, Brasilia 6

Steampunk: The Diverse Punk

Steampunk is often set in Victorian London, or the Wild West, but the time period happened everywhere, and readers are hungry for other locales. Where can steampunk go to now, and what can different cultures and characters offer the genre?

Moderator:

Tee Morris

Panelist(s):

Philippa Ballantine (aka Pip Ballantine)
Piper J. Drake (aka PJ Schnyder)
Starla Huchton
Wednesday, April 13, 1:30pm-2:30pm, Palma G

Sin City Murder Mystery!

Join romantic suspense authors in a murder mystery set in Sin City. Everyone is a suspect and anything can happen. Remember if things get wild, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Come dressed to kill and be ready to win prizes throughout the hour! Goody bags for the first 100 attendees.

Host(s):

Piper J. Drake (aka PJ Schnyder)
Cherry Adair
Beth Yarnall
Heather Graham
Julie Moffett
Audra North
Paige Tyler
Starla Huchton
Tonya Burrows
Thursday, April 14, 1:30pm-2:30pm, Amazon L

Think fast. Love slow. Keeping great pace!

Join award-winning authors as we share how we keep the action fast and furious in our books then slow it down for moments that stay with you. We’ll address common pacing problems like the slow start and the abrupt ending, plus everything in between.

Moderator:

Piper J. Drake (aka PJ Schnyder)

Panelist(s):

Philippa Ballantine (aka Pip Ballantine)
Tee Morris
Linnea Sinclair
Cherry Adair
Julie Moffett
Thursday, April 14, 4:00pm-5:00pm, Tropical C

Romantic Suspense: Alpha Heroes and Kick-Ass Heroines: Romantic Suspense Characters That Make Readers Cheer

Romantic suspense is filled with super-hot alphas and kick-ass heroines, but how to craft those three-dimensional characters so readers will cheer for them until the very last page? These best-selling authors will discuss the building blocks of fan-favorite characters, the role of the heroine in romantic suspense, breaking characters stereotypes, balancing character and plot, crossing genres and more!

Moderator:

Laura Kaye

Panelist(s):

HelenKay Dimon
Piper J. Drake (aka PJ Schnyder)
Lynn Raye Harris
Friday, April 15, 10:00am-11:00am, Lambada

Memorable Themes and Settings in Romantic Suspense

From treasure hunts in the Caribbean, to the jungles of Central America, from New Orleans society and cemeteries to Key West intrigue: how to incorporate memorable themes and settings into romantic suspense.

Panelist(s):

Cherry Adair
Piper J. Drake (aka PJ Schnyder)
Heather Graham
Friday, April 15, 11:15am-12:15pm, Tropical C

Intergalactic Bar & Grille

Attention starship crew! Charge your blasters and get ready to repel the invasion of the dastardly alien space ducks as we drink, snack and indulge in sci-fi silliness at RT’s only sci-fi party. Win prizes! The first 200 crew members to report for duty get goody bags loaded with swag. Brought to you by Captain Linnea Sinclair and her trusty space commando authors!

Host(s):

Linnea Sinclair
Sabine Priestley
Cathy Clamp (aka Cat Adams)
Colby Hodge
Veronica Scott
Janet Miller (aka Cricket Starr)
Pauline Baird Jones
Isabo Kelly
Philippa Ballantine (aka Pip Ballantine)
Tee Morris
M.D. Waters
Piper J. Drake (aka PJ Schnyder)
Starla Huchton
Vijaya Schartz
Lea Kirk
Donna Frelick
Friday, April 15, 2:45pm-3:45pm, Brasilia 2

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