Beth Cato's Blog, page 115

Signing at Metro Center B&N on Saturday

I’ll be at the Metro Center Phoenix Barnes & Noble location this Saturday December 6th from 1-3pm. If you’re in the area, please drop by! I’ll sign copies of The Clockwork Dagger (or any of my anthologies or zines or Chicken Soups) that you bring in or buy there.

Plus, you know me… there will be baked goods. I’m making Biscoff Fluffernutter Bars, plus a Betty Crocker mix for gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.

Books! Cookies! Add a cuddly cat*, and you’ll set for the day.

 

[*cat not included in booksigning.]

 

Nifty Things

It’s December. How weird is that? This has been the fastest year of my life. I had a great trip to California for Thanksgiving and now I’m home and gearing up for Christmas, even as I work toward a major writing project deadline. (I’m so used to setting my own deadlines. That’s been one of the weirdest things about making this transition to “pro”–new projects and contracts with due dates that are not far off.)

There’s also other news ‘n stuff!

My poem “Bird Girl,” published earlier this year at Niteblade, was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Wow.

A new publication: a poem called “Sorry” in Mobius: The Journal of Social Change.

A recipe for Spicy Mexican Fudge over at the Holy Taco Church.

I’ve been invited to participate in the Tucson Festival of Books this coming March! I’ll be there on March 15th (yeah, Ides!) to take part in a panel called I Spy a Dead Guy: Spies and Detectives in Paranormal Worlds. That sounds like the kind of panel I’d love to attend as an audience member, so it will be really cool to take part as an author.

Bready or Not: Gingerbread Cookie Dough Fudge (Microwave)

Bust out the elastic-banded pants! It’s fudge season!

This particular fudge is especially appropriate for the holidays, too, as it tastes like gingerbread cookie dough. Yes, really. No worries about raw eggs or taking the time to bake.

I love microwave fudge recipes. They are so easy, taste as great as the candy thermometer fudge, and aren’t anywhere near as finicky. It’s pretty much a matter of melt, combine, chill. EAT.

Next week’s Bready or Not will be another microwave fudge. Consider yourself warned.

Modified from Lauren’s Latest.

PrintBready or Not: Gingerbread Cookie Dough Fudge (Microwave)

Ingredients

1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
4 ounces white chocolate
2 tablespoons molasses (or honey, though it will be mild)
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2 cups all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves

Instructions

Prepare an 8x8 glass dish by lining it with parchment or aluminum foil and greasing the surface.
In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients and set aside.
In a large microwave-safe bowl, place the sweetened condensed milk, white chocolate and molasses. Microwave on high for about 2 minutes total, but do so in 20-30 second chunks. Stir well between each time until the chocolate is melted into the milk.
Pour the dry ingredients into the warm mix. Stir until smooth. Pour the fudge into the prepared dish. Chill it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before cutting fudge into small pieces to serve.
The gingerbread fudge will keep well in the fridge, covered, for upwards of a week, maybe longer.
OM NOM NOM.
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Sunday Quote hits the road

“The story is always better than your ability to write it.” ~Robin McKinley

Bready or Not: Maple Pecan Pepitas Cookies

Maple, maple, maple. I love maple. It’s only right to transition with a cookie that is perfectly fall or Christmas–both its flavor and appearance.

Have you ever had Pecan Sandies from the grocery store? These are kinda like that, but better. They boast a strong, clean maple flavor. I loved the combination of pecan bits and pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds); they both crunch, but in different ways.

Plus, look at the red and green colors! Perfect!

These are fridge cookies. That means you roll them into logs, like so, then keep them in the fridge for a day or two, or freeze them.

When it’s time to bake them, just slice. Sometimes the dough crumbles a bit because of the nuts. That’s okay. Just mush it together again.

As shortbread-style cookies, these will also keep exceptionally well–days, and probably for over a week, if you can make them last that long. I’d bet they are great for mailing as gifts, too.

The gift of maple-flavored things is the gift of happiness and love.

Recipe modified from Jo Ann Kurtz’s Maple Pecan Refrigerator Cookies recipe, as featured in Relish Magazine (December 9th 2012).

Print
Bready or Not: Maple Pecan Pepitas Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tb real maple syrup
1 large egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon maple flavor
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup pepitas

Instructions

Beat the butter for several minutes, until creamy. Slowly add the sugar. Add syrup, egg yolk, and extracts. Stir in the flour and nuts.
Divide dough in half. On plastic wrap, shape the dough into long log shapes about 1 1/2 inches or so high. Completely wrap the logs and stash in fridge until firm, at least two hours. They can also be frozen.
Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
Slice logs into 1/2 inch thick rounds and set on parchment papered or greased baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until cookies are set and just barely tinted with color.
OM NOM NOM.
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Sunday Quote is excited about Thanksgiving

“Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” ~William Faulkner

I love librarians. My hometown librarians took good care ...

I love librarians. My hometown librarians took good care of me when I was young. They knew to let me know when new horse books arrived or when old favorites of mine were being discarded and sold. They helped me get my fix.

Therefore, I was really excited when the Greenville Public Library in Ohio reached out to me for an interview. It’s now up on their blog, Fourth and Sycamore.

I also have a guest post over at Milo James Fowler’s site where I discuss why I write a bit of everything.

I’ll be busy with Thanksgiving and family and loads of cooking next week, so I’ll be scarce online. Happy Turkey Day to my fellow Americans, and happy almost-winter wishes to everyone!

Bready or Not: Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Shortbread

Shortbread makes me think of autumn, so it’s only right to combine shortbread and pumpkin.

It’s been a while, but I have talked about my shortbread/autumn association before. It puts me in mind of kilts and bagpipes and happy family times.

Pumpkin lends an orange tint and a very mellow and pleasant flavor. It’s such a small amount that it doesn’t make the pieces feel tacky, either.

The original recipe called for dark chocolate. That’s just not my thing. I prefer white chocolate with pumpkin. Here, I mixed in white and semi-sweet chips. YUM.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that this uses an 8×8 pan–the shortbread is thick, so it makes a good bit. I cut it small, like I would with fudge.

Like most any shortbread, these keep very very well. I imagine it would mail well, too, if you don’t live in a place where it’s still 100-degrees in November.

Modified from Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Shortbread from The View from the Great Island.

Print
Bready or Not: Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Shortbread

Ingredients

2 sticks, (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 heaping Tbsp pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp each: cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, allspice
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup chocolate chips (white, dark, semi, whatever you want!)

Instructions

Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Prepare an 8x8 dish by lining it with aluminum foil or parchment paper and applying nonstick spray.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Beat in the vanilla, pumpkin, and spices.
Fold in the flour, and then the chocolate chips.
Spread the batter in the pan, smoothing it out evenly.
Bake for about 40-45 minutes, until the edges just start to turn gold. Set out to cool to room temperature, then use the foil or parchment to lift the shortbread out for easy cutting.
Store in a sealed container at room temperature.
OM NOM NOM!
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Wherein I share a ToC with Neil Gaiman

I LIVE.

I survived World Fantasy Con and had an absolute blast. I managed to complete a Poem-A-Day and make slow progress on my Clockwork Crown copyedits even during the con, which made me feel like a real writer. Fun fact: real writers are also sleep-deprived.

[Me working on copyedits on the flight to DC.]

The good news is that I mailed in my copyedits Sunday morning. Now I have a back log of other smaller projects to get done before I start work on a Top Secret Project that has a very tight deadline. It doesn’t look like I get to slack off for the holidays this year. I must do All the Things.

One of the nifty things about being at a convention is that you get told about good news. I knew I had a reprint story that had been requested for inclusion in Twelfth Planet Press’s Year’s Best YA Speculative Fiction 2013, but the full Table of Contents was announced the day I was mostly offline as I flew cross-country.

So I was pretty gobsmacked to find out I’m sharing the book with Neil Gaiman. And my story follows his. Gulp.

The full ToC:

Selkie Stories Are For Losers – Sofia Samatar

By Bone-Light – Juliet Marillier

The Myriad Dangers – Lavie Tidhar

Carpet – Nnedi Okorafor

I Gave You My Love by the Light of the Moon – Sarah Rees Brennan

57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides – Sam J. Miller

The Minotaur Girls – Tansy Rayner Roberts

Not With You, But With You – Miri Kim

Ghost Town – Malinda Lo

December – Neil Gaiman

An Echo in the Shell – Beth Cato

Dan’s Dreams – Eliza Victoria

As Large As Alone – Alena McNamara

Random Play All and the League of Awesome – Shane Halbach

Mah Song – Joanne Anderton

What We Ourselves Are Not – Leah Cypess

The City of Chrysanthemum – Ken Liu

Megumi’s Quest – Joyce Chng

Persimmon, Teeth, and Boys – Steve Berman

Flight – Angela Slatter

We Have Always Lived on Mars – Cecil Castellucci

—

The book should be out in just a few weeks! Pretty darn good note to end the year on, I think.

Sunday Quote needs to wrap up her holiday shopping

“You must see with eyes unclouded by hate. See the good in that which is evil, and the evil in that which is good. Pledge yourself to neither side, but vow instead to preserve the balance that exists between the two.” ~Hayao Miyazaki