Robbie Cheadle's Blog, page 54

Behind Closed Doors – Book Review

Thank you to talented poet and blogger, Lauren Scott, for this wonderful review of Behind Closed Doors. For me, the strong resonation of my words and connection to my ideas with another lover of poetry is why I write and share my poems. Lauren has a lovely blog where she posts her poetry and stories of her hiking adventures with her husband. Do take a look around while you are there.

Baydreamer

Today, I have the pleasure of introducing you to Robbie Cheadle, a wonderful poet and author of children’s books, paranormal historical, and supernatural fantasy. She is also a prolific baker of delicious cakes that she includes in her books and blog posts.I thoroughly enjoyed her poetry book, Behind Closed Doors.

Behind Closed Doors by Robbie Cheadle is a collection of various style poems such as freeform, tanka, haiku, and limerick. Robbie touches on many aspects of life evoking a myriad of emotions. She writes beautifully with strong convictions about marriage, motherhood, dreams, her struggles of working in the corporate world, living in lockdown during the pandemic, and about social issues she finds distressing. Whether her words speak of joy or anguish, they are fiercely passionate.

I personally connected to “Contrasting Colors” because of my strong marriage and relationship with my husband. Robbie creates a lovely metaphorical comparison between…

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Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from around the world: Chilli con carne

My family, especially my husband, are fond of food with a bit of a bite but not to much. It is a balancing act to please them all and to ensure Michael doesn’t get a stomach ache from food that is to hot and spicy. They all loved this delicious chilli con carne recipe which I adapted from a recipe in Taste magazine here: https://taste.co.za/recipes/chilli-con-carne/

Ingredients

250 grams of back bacon, chopped;

1 kilogram of good quality minced meat;

2 medium onions, peeled and chopped;

Olive oil for frying;

1 tablespoon (Tbspn) ground cumin;

1 Tbspn ground coriander;

2 teaspoons (tspn) paprika;

1 tspn cayenne pepper;

1 tspn cinnamon;

2 tspn chilli flakes;

1 Tbspn garlic flakes;

1 bay leaf;

1 tspn salt;

1 tspn black pepper;

2 x 400 gram chopped tomatoes;

350 ml beef stock; and

2 x 400 gram red kidney beans.

Method

In a large pot, brown the minced meat using approximately 2 Tbspns of olive oil. Remove the meat from the pot. Add two table spoons of boiling water and some more oil to loosen any bits of meat. Fry the chopped bacon and the chopped onion for about 5 minutes. Add all the spices, the garlic and the bay leaf. Add the mince to the spice mixture and cook for 5 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer with the lid off for 20 minutes until the fluid has reduced by 1/3. Add the stock and combine. Simmer for 1 hour, checking occasionally that the stock hasn’t boiled away. If it does, add a little more stock.

Drain the red kidney beans and add to the meat, simmer for another 30 minutes. If possible, leave overnight in the fridge and re-heat the following evening. Serve with rice.

Treasuring Poetry – Meet poet and artist, Smitha Vishwanath

Today, I am hosting poet and artist, Smitha Vishwanath, as my Treasuring Poetry guest. Do come over and read her favourite poems and thoughts about poetry. Thank you for hosting us Kaye Lynne Booth.

Writing to be Read

Which of your own poems is your favorite?

There are quite a few poems I like – some for the flow, some for the imagery and some for the memories they bring back with them, there’s one poem that has stood the test of time. It’s a poem I penned when my girls were one and three respectively. Seventeen years later, the girls have grown – each into young ladies with a distinct personality, but it’s beautiful how the description of them in the poem still holds true. It’s special because this poem is one thing that the girls agree about.

Tender Moments

I sneak silently into the room
A quick peak I take of my budding blooms
Their breathing soft – rises and falls, a melodious rhapsody
To the soothing sound of a Spanish symphony

Their countenance silken smooth; serene
Tugs my heart, an enticing scene
Each distinctly different…

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Welcome to Day 2 of the CALLING ALL GRANDMAS Blog Tour featuring author, Harriet Hodgson @healthmn1 @4WillsPub @4WP11 @RRBC_Org @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA

Giveaway

(2) $5 Amazon gift cards

One Writer’s Affirmations

Writing is my chosen career, but it can be difficult at times. As a health and wellness writer, I know attribution is important. But research is time-consuming and ever-changing. I spend hours researching a topic online, play email tag with people, and leave phone messages. Sometimes these things payoff and sometimes they don’t.

Yet I have one thing going for me—experience. I’ve been a freelancer for 43 years and they have taught me patience. Pacing myself is also something from experience. Self-affirmation is the most important thing I’ve learned.

When I was a new writer, I felt every word was important, and was hurt when an editor wanted to change a word. Now I focus on the quality of the product and changing words or sequence is fine with me.

I work hard and have learned to trust my instincts. That isn’t to say I don’t have moments of doubt. I do. When I’m discouraged or get rejected by a publisher, I review my writer’s affirmations.   

I have writing skills and strive to be better.

I have research skills and use them wisely.

I know how to distill information.

I love writing so much I write in my sleep.

I am grateful for outstanding reviews.

I know RRBC and RWISA members care about me, and I care about them. Those are my writer’s affirmations. What are yours? If you haven’t thought about them, I suggest you do. Affirming ourselves and our work can keep you going.

Presenting The Grandma Force by Harriet HodgsonBlurb

Becoming the grandmother of twins changed Harriet Hodgson and altered her life course. According to Hodgson, we live in a fast-paced, complex time, a time when too many grandchildren are victims of bullying, Internet scams, and sexual abuse. Hodgson believes that grandmothers are needed today more than any other time in history.

Purchase links

Amazon US eBook  https://amzn.to/2X1dr4c

Amazon US Paperback  https://amzn.to/2JPDIDm

Author bio

Harriet Hodgson has been making books since she was eight years old. In her 43-year career as a freelancer, she has written 44 books and thousands of print/internet articles. Major publishers, such as Warner Books, John Wiley & Sons, and Hazelden, have published her work. Harriet loves writing so much she writes in her sleep.

Social media links

Twitter

Book trailerBefore you go

To follow along with the rest of the tour, please visit the author’s tour page on the 4WillsPublishing site.  If you’d like to book your own blog tour and have your book promoted in similar grand fashion, please click HERE. Thanks for supporting this author and her work!

Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from around the world: South African lamb stew with red wine

South Africans are very fond of lamb and there are literally dozens of recipes to chose from for stews and potjiekos (a stew cooked over a live fire in a three legged pot). I elected to made a recipe that used a heavy bottomed pot and lamb cutlets. I am not sharing the original recipe because I changed it so much it doesn’t closely resemble the original.

Ingredients

Olive oil to cook 3 – 4 Tbsp

1.5 kilograms of lamb knuckles

5 peeled and chopped carrots

5 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into large pieces

1 onion, chopped

3 Tbsp cold water

1 Tbsp garlic flakes

1/2 cup good red wine

70 gram tin tomato puree

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp mustard powder

300 ml plain white flour

Salt and pepper to taste

6 cups beef stock

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Method

Put the lamb knuckles in a bowl and coat with flour, salt, pepper and mustard. Heat olive oil in a pot and brown the cutlets. Place the knuckles aside.

Add more oil to the pot plus 3 Tbsp cold water. This will remove any left over flour mixture from the bottom of the saucepan. Sauté the onions and the garlic. Add the tomato paste, thyme, and then the red wine. Cook for a few minutes.

Add the beef stock, carrots, and the Worcestershire sauce. Add the meat and simmer for 25 minutes. Add the potatoes and simmer for a further 40 minutes until the potato is soft. If you want, you can add 250 ml of mixed peas, beans and carrots 7 minutes before serving with rice.

Robbie’s Inspiration – The Winds of Morning (Donovan Family Saga Prequel)

What Goodreads says

1848: the third year the potato crop failed in Ireland. The Protestant landlords have absconded back to Britain, leaving the Catholic peasants to fend for themselves, while the English government allowed the export of tens of thousands of tons of Irish food daily.

With two younger brothers to feed, Molly O’Brien took her father’s place on the road gang, building a road that runs from her tiny village to the river and no farther. Yet sixteen hours of labor a day would not garner enough wages to buy food for her family.

She was beyond despair. Beyond prayer. And so far beyond the tenets of her childhood, she’d decided to offer her body to the first man with the price of a loaf of bread. At that moment, a voice behind her spoke…

My review

I reviewed this book in my capacity as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team. If you would like your book reviewed, you can contact Rosie Amber here: http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.

This story is set in Ireland during the potato famine. Molly O’Brien and her two brother have been left orphans following the deaths of their parents. Molly has taken her father’s job and is working to build a road in order to try and feed her brothers. The road goes no-where, and is merely a ploy by the authorities to force the starving Irish to work for their money in accordance with the mindset of the day. Her job as a stone breaker doesn’t bring in enough money to feed them and they are all in a bad way.

In desperation, Molly is in the process of making a decision to become a prostitute in order to feed her brothers, when a young man from a wealthy family, John Patrick, sees her. He intervenes to save Molly who he believes is planning to commit suicide. Molly is incredibly attractive, despite her circumstances and starvation and John Patrick chooses to save her and her brothers by marrying her.

His choice and Molly’s decision go ahead with a marriage to a stranger she does not love, changes the paths of both of their lives.

I have read other stories about the Irish famine and found them equally compelling to this book, however, this short story really charmed me. The author writes beautifully and the story has some nice and happy parts which offer relief from the horror of this historical era.

John Patrick is an honorable and upstanding fellow and despite his actions requiring a little suspension of belief due to their selflessness, he is a delightful character.

A lovely and entertaining short story. This series has a lot of potential and I would certainly be interested in reading more about these characters.

Purchase The Winds of Morning

Amazon US

Gifford MacShane Amazon Author page

Growing Bookworms – Letting Go!

I am over at Writing to be Read with the February edition of Growing Bookworms. This month I am discussing letting go of children. Thank you to Kaye Lynne Booth for hosting me.

Writing to be Read

I’m going to start today’s post with a short, hopefully amusing, story about my taking my oldest son to get his university access card last week. By way of background, the relevant entrance for this task is on a busy street with no parking. The area is also not a good one, so hanging about on the street in front of the entrance is not particularly appealing. Another thing to note is there have been a spate of kidnappings of older teens and young men recently in South Africa.

“I think that Greg should go on his own to fetch his University card,” I say to Terence. “He won’t want his mother with him. I will embarrass him.”

“No,” Terence says with authority, “Parents go with.”

Hmmm, I think. You attended this university thirty years ago, things might have changed.

There is no arguing with this man who is…

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Robbie’s Inspiration: Recipes from around the world – English chicken pie

The final baked product

This recipe was a lot of work so don’t attempt to make it if you don’t have about three hours to spend on it.

My mother loves the traditional English food she grew up with and she made this dish one during the lockdown. It wore her out so she hasn’t attempted it again.

She has also become a little forgetful. On Friday morning, I noticed two chickens in the refrigerator. They had been taken out of the freezer the previous night and were in an advanced stage of defrosting.

“Mom, why have you taken chickens out?” I asked.

“For dinner. We can have them with roast potatoes and vegetables.”

“But the girls are coming and we are getting pizza,” I reminded her.

“Oh dear,” she looked stricken.

“Don’t worry, I use them to make that chicken pie you liked so much,” I said.

And the die was cast. My entire Saturday morning would be devoted to making pastry and chicken pie filling. Not for one pie, oh no, that would be to easy. I had two chickens thus two pies were required.

This is how I made each pie.

Step 1

Fill and boil the kettle. Remove the packaging from the chicken and take out the giblets.

Put the defrosted chicken in a large pot. Add 15 ml garlic flakes, 5 ml salt, black pepper to taste, one cup (250 ml) of semi sweet white wine, and cover with boiling water.

Raise the liquid to boiling point and then turn down to a simmer. Allow the chicken to simmer for 1 hour.

Step 2

Make the pastry. You can do it by hand as I did in this video:

Or you can make it in a Kenwood mixer [I am sure there are other brands but in my life, all mixers are Kenwood].

Roll out the pastry and line the bottom of a metal pie dish. Roll out another piece of pastry for the top of the pie.

Step 3

Entice husband off the couch and into the kitchen to remove the skin and bones from the cooked chicken and flake the meat. Use whatever weapons you have at your disposal to convince hubby to do this, but don’t do it yourself. It is a mucky job. Retain the chicken stock.

Step 4

Make a sauce using the chicken stock.

Melt 150 grams of butter in a pot over a medium temperature. Reduce the temperature and mix in 150 grams of cake or plain flour, adding it slowly to prevent lumps. I use a wooden spoon. Use a whisk to add 1 litre of the chicken stock and allow to thicken, whisking continuously. Once thick, remove from the heat. Add the chicken to the sauce.

Step 5

Heat 15 ml of olive oil in a frying pan and cook 250 grams of sliced brown mushrooms with 15 ml of parsley [I used dried but you can use fresh]. Once cooked, drain and add to the sauce.

Step 6

Heat a little more oil and cook 250 grams of sliced bacon. Add to the sauce.

Step 7

Pour the chicken mixture into the pie dish. Cover the filling with the top layer of pastry. Use a knife to poke air holes in the pastry covering.

Step 8

Crack 1 egg into a cup and add a splash of milk. Whisk until mixed. Use a pastry brush to cover the top layer of pastry with the egg mixture.

Step 9

Bake the pie in an oven pre-heated to 190 degrees Celsius for between 35 and 45 minutes or until golden brown on top.

The pie filling in the pastry shell.

Robbie’s Inspiration – #TankaTuesday Weekly Poetry Challenge No. 259: #Tastetherainbow-Color Poetry

Colours of Africa

Hidden by shadows

Black and white perfection

Graze peacefully amid tall yellow-green grass

Slight movement detected

Loud snorts of warning

***

Tawny coils of muscle

Embellished with brown

The great predator of the African plains

Singles out his victim

Youth equals weakness

***

Flying hooves pound the earth

Eyes white with terror

Stampeding herd raises clouds of bronzen dust

Attack swift and deadly

Crimson red explodes

By Robbie Cheadle

You can join in the challenge here: https://wordcraftpoetry.com/2022/02/01/tankatuesday-weekly-poetry-challenge-no-xxx-tastetherainbow-color-poetry/

This is a Double Ennead as described by Colleen for her Carrot Ranch challenges here: https://carrotranch.com/2021/11/15/saddle-up-saloon-colleens-double-ennead-challenge-no-10/

Robbie’s Inspiration : Recipes from around the world – Beef bourguignon

A few weeks ago, my mom and I were paging through her old recipe book and a recipe for beef bourguignon caught her eye. she suggested I make it which was a little surprising considering the quantity of red wine involved.

I did make [with several Robbifications] it and her reaction to the result proved that she did not read the recipe . I thought it was exotically delicious.

The amount I made was enough for 2 meals.

Ingredients

2 kilograms beef cubes

3 bay leaves

2 bottles red wine

Small bunch of thyme

Black pepper

4 large carrots

2 medium onions chopped

125 ml plain flour

15 ml tomato paste

15 ml garlic flakes

15 ml salt

Method

Marinade the beef cubes overnight in the red wine with the bay leaves, thyme, and pepper to taste.

The following day, drain the meat and retain the wine mixture. Coat the cubes in the flour. In a saucepan, brown the meat in 30 ml of olive oil. Put the browned meat aside and add a little of the wine mixture to the hot saucepan to loosen any residue. Add more oil, if required, and cook the onions and the carrots for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, salt, and the garlic. Add the meat and the wine mixture to the pot and bring to the boil.

Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Pour the meat mixture into a casserole dish and place in the oven for 2 hours and thirty minutes.

To serve

Fifteen minutes before the casserole is ready, fry 250 grams chopped shallots and 250 grams chopped bacon. Set aside. Fry 500 grams of chopped onions. Stir the shallots, bacon, and mushroom into the casserole.

Serve with mashed potatoes.

The secret of this dish is that it contains no stock. The long cooking process evaporates the alcohol and turns the wine into a thick rich gravy.