Suzanne Elizabeth Anderson's Blog, page 33

Front Garden: Before and After

Last week I wrote about the sad state of the garden in the front of the house. This weekend, I decided to do something about it. 



 There's nothing that twelve bags of mulch and a handful of flowers can't fix.





Especially when you're starting with something that desperately needed some care and garden love.





Because our summers can be quite dry, I opted to continue with the theme started by the former homeowners, and chose drought tolerant evergreens.





 By the time I'd finished, this sad picture was transformed...





into this.



P.S. I'm also hoping all this hard work will translate into a slimmer figure for the gardener.

Henry's Heart-shaped Bacon Peanut Butter Doggie Cookies

Henry loves doggie cookies. And I love to indulge him. However, buying doggie cookies at the supermarket can cost from $3.50 to 6.00 a box and given Henry's generous appetite for doggie treats, I quickly needed to find an alternative.



Luckily, there a plethora of simple recipes for dog biscuits that allow you to use everyday ingredients to create treats your dog will love.



For instance, to make Henry's Heart-Shaped Bacon Peanut Butter Doggie Cookies, I found a basic recipe for bacon dog biscuits and then added a few twists to make them even better.



The recipe includes:





3 cups of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
two eggs
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1/4 cup bacon grease
ten slices fried bacon, chopped








Frying bacon with a dog whose head comes up over the counter means that you will have an avid audience.



Luckily, frying bacon is the most difficult part of the entire process.



The rest of the recipe simply means combining all the ingredients, letting them cool for 30 minutes in the 'fridge. Then rolling out the dough and using a cookie cutter of choice to form the cookies.



Bake the cookies at 350 for 30 minutes. Then turn off the oven and let the cookies remain in the oven to dry out as the oven cools.







Don't worry, you'll be amazed at how patient your dog will be when he knows something yummy is coming his way.



Not only does Henry like these homemade cookies better than the store bought variety, Miss Coco my very finicky yorkie who normally turns up her nose at dog biscuits, loves them too!

Garden? Gardening? Gardener?

Spring is finally on its way.





After a very dry winter, the past few weeks have brought us rain showers and bouts of snow. All of which are dearly needed and have the wonderful effect of causing the bulbs that were planted last year to begin to grow.





I've been told that they are lilies. And that I'm supposed to clear out that dead grass surrounding them from last summer.





And then I really should think about filling out this mass of scraggly bushes and pulling that one bunch of dead branches that used to be a bush of some sort. (Are you impressed by my sophisticated knowledge of plant types?)





Here's another perspective of the planting beds that need to pruned and filled out and tended to.





While they are making the best of growing despite my neglect, I feel that I should try to help them along with a little plant food, some water, some mulch and maybe some new plants to keep them company.







On the other hand, if you recall what happened to the herb garden I planted last summer, perhaps I should just leave them alone.

SNOW DAY - May 11 - 12 2011

At this time of year I get excited with each snowfall wondering if this will be the last one of the season.





Last year, I recorded the last snowfall as May 12th. I guess the coincidence of snow on the same day this year should be notable.





Especially since our winter was so dry this year that I didn't hold out much hope after we received a light dusting on April 30th.





But Mother Nature is not one to second guessed.





For the last two days we've enjoyed snow showers that have put six inches of big wet sloppy snow on the ground.





It's lovely and dramatic.





It covers the branches of the trees and the lilies in the front garden that were just beginning to make their entrance.





Of course, some of us are less than thrilled.





And stick to the pathways created by the car's tires.





Mr. Bear steadfastly holds his 'welcome' sign despite the indignity of a snow covered head.





And the UPS man may have a challenge reaching the front door.





But we're celebrating the beauty of the snowfall even as we wonder if this will be the last of the season.

McQuestionable Musings: Help a book out: 10 things you can do to spread the word

McQuestionable Musings: Help a book out: 10 things you can do to spread the word

How to Create an Ebook Cover From a Digital Photo

This afternoon I decided that I wanted to try out a new cover for my novel, Mrs. Tuesday's Departure. I've actually been toying with this idea for quite some time because I'm one of those readers who really does judge a book by its cover and have had a long love affair with beautiful or compelling cover art. 







As lovely as this original cover is/was, I felt that it had a few flaws. One aspect of the shortcomings are simply due to the constraints of publishing as an ebook, where the picture of the cover is limited in size and by the graphic arts capabilities of yours truly. With my original cover, I loved the art work but felt that it might have been too dark given the small size and complexity of the picture. Then there was font that I used for the title and author's name...as pretty as they are, they are also difficult to read in the size presented on Amazon's website.

And of course, there's simply the fact that I love to tinker.









To start, I wanted to find new cover art. I considered using royalty free stock art and visited a few sites. Since I didn't find anything that immediately drew my interest, I began looking through my own digital photos. Which is when I came across this picture I took last winter.



The picture of the bird in winter ties in nicely with a compelling scene in the book and as a bit of esoterica, I will share that the original title of the book, during its first draft, was The Bird Feeder.









Once I'd chosen the photo, I went to my favorite site for fooling around with photos: www.fotoflexer.com and started working. I cropped the photo, sharpened the focus, and then added the title and author's name.









Then, thinking again of size, I made another version of the same cover increasing the size of the title and changing the color. I then uploaded the new cover to my book's page, replacing the original cover.



What is of greatest interest is whether the change of cover will have any impact on sales of the book. While the new cover may not be as 'pretty' as the original, I wonder if the larger photo subject and fonts will make it more compelling to browsers.



Of course, I change my mind again next week...it's very easy to create another cover or a variation of the original. Stay tuned.

Getting Things Done

I've written a lot about productivity lately because it's something I've struggled with and because I know how much better I feel when I've actually gotten work done.



Today was a wonderful example. Before I got up this morning, I made a mental list of the most important things I wanted to work on today. Then I started with the item that offered the biggest pay-off in feelings of accomplishment. For me, this would be to spend an hour editing my second novel MAP.



Funny enough, two hours later I finally got up from my desk with a wonderful sense of satisfaction. Not only had I doubled the amount of time I'd set out to work on my new project, I got further along than I thought and now have a much better sense of the novel in its entirety. Best of all, I can't wait to get back to it tomorrow.



This positive feeling provided me with the energy to tackle some less glamorous tasks for the rest of the afternoon, such as vacuuming and mopping, clearing out a planter in the front of the house, and taking the dogs for a mile walk.



Now I'm looking forward to the rest of the week!

An Unconventional Book Review: Gourmet Rhapsody

Can I seduce you into reading a book by stringing together some memorable excerpts from the book?



In the case of a book like GOURMET RHAPSODY it might just work because the book itself is not so much a story as a meditation on what we value in life. Or in the case of the main character, 'the world's greatest food critic', a desperate search for the most meaningful taste memory of his life. Recollections of family and friends merely get in his way as he scrolls through a lifetime of sensory memories in a race against time.



Perhaps it is this cold, gimlet-eyed view of human relationships that had left so many readers feeling quite lukewarm about this book, especially those readers who came to this book after reading THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG (also written by Muriel Barbery) which has enjoyed such popularity both in the United States and in Europe.



As I mentioned above the plot of GOURMET is rather thin. We meet the protagonist as he lays in his bed having just been informed that he has 48 hours to live. We spend those remaining hours by his side (he never does leave the bed, except in his imagination) as participants in his recollections. Interspersed between these chapters, like a Greek chorus, are brief, often bitter, soliloquies by those who have attempted to love the old bastard throughout his life only to find that the only thing he is capable of loving is himself....and his genius at critiquing food.



Given this unpleasant protagonist and lack of plot, what redeeming qualities would entice one to read this book?



The book's true delight comes through the delicious descriptions of food and memories of food written by Muriel Barbery. So, if you're like me, and enjoy talented food writers such as MFK Fisher and Laurie Colwin, give consideration to GOURMET RHAPSODY.



And this is where I will leave you, with the author's words...



On tomatoes: "In her dirty hand, deformed by work in the fields, there it sat: crimson in its taut silken finery, undulating with the occasional more tender hollow, with a communicable cheerfulness about it like a plumpish woman in her party dress hoping to compensate for the inconvenience of her extra pounds by means of a disarming chubbiness evoking an irresistible desire to bite into her flesh."



On a ham sandwich: "Two thin slices of raw smoked ham, silky and supple along languid folds, some salted butter, a hunk of bread. A vigorous taste and smooth texture: improbable but delectable."



On one's hosts: "The food was simple and delicious, but what I really devoured-to the point of relegating oysters, ham, asparagus and chicken to the rank of secondary accompaniments-I feasted on their words [..] the sort of words that, at time, delight one much more than the pleasures of the flesh."

How to Effectively Procrastinate - or - And So It Begins...Again

photo credit: National Geographic News



I'd planned to post a recipe today and later in the week do a book review, but then I finally got around to starting something I've only avoided for the past two months and decided to share a bit of that instead.

This morning after all sorts of nonsensical preparation I finally started editing my second novel, A MAP OF HEAVEN. 

I want to savor that announcement for a moment, so let's review the nonsensical preparation for a moment before discussing the work. 

First I couldn't begin until I got settled in the new house, which would surely included unpacking all my boxes of books and the multiple versions that this novel has taken over the past fifteen years. 

Actually, I didn't even intend to work on this novel. Last winter, I'd thought of writing something along the lines of the many historical romance novels I've been reading. But unpacking all those earlier versions of MAP and then a chance conversation with a former student on Facebook during which he asked me about MAP, made the decision for me.

That conversation was in February.

Because... I decided that before I began editing I should get myself back into the habit of writing by embarking upon my Forty Days of Writing During Lent experiment, which I wrote about in the 15 Minute Challenge post.

Then I decided that I really couldn't begin until I sorted through my previous drafts of MAP and decided which one to work with during the revision process...only to discover that I only had one version on my hard drive, which coincidently didn't match any of the versions I had in print. Which needless to say required me to take that version to the local copy shop to be printed out and spiral bound so that I could refer to it and the other versions on equal footing.

That was last week. You'd assume that I'd run out of excuses and would now get down to work. You'd assume wrong.

No. No. 

I surely needed to practice writing in my journal for another week. Then I must take the weekend off to read all those books I'd checked out of the library and which would be due sometime in May. After all, I'd checked out three different translations of Tolstoy's War and Peace and really needed to decide which translation I favored. (Truly, I did spend an entire evening on this particular chase down the rabbit hole.)

And then finally. Finally. This morning I sat down at my computer and began. I opened the file. I typed the Table of Contents. I typed the Prologue. And I am on my way. The two versions I'm working with, along with the revisions I will make, will put the book at around 80,000 to 90,000 words and I hope to be done in two months. Let's say the end of June? 

But here's the delicious irony. As I sat working this morning I realized that I was the happiest I'd been in months and that when they tell you to do what you love....this is it. 

Whole Wheat Pie Crust, Self-Reliance, and a Quiche

The other day, Mom watched an episode of Paula Deen making quiche. Mom then decided that we should make a quiche since we had swiss cheese, bacon, and eggs in the fridge. However, we didn't have a frozen pie shell which is what we usually put the aforementioned ingredients in when we make a quiche.



Then I remembered something Brother John said to me years ago: "Necessity is the mother of invention". Which is another way of saying, 'don't be afraid to do something new, especially when a) it doesn't cost anything, and b) you can do it yourself instead of relying on someone else', two of my brother's favorite maxims.



Which led me to the internet to find a recipe for whole wheat pie crust (since whole wheat was the only flour we had in the cupboard).





I've never made a pie crust before, but the ingredients couldn't be simpler. Flour, butter, and water. I added a few spices since this would be a savory dish.





Add a 1 1/4 cups of flour and a pinch of salt to the food processor.





Add 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) of cold butter.





Pulse until the butter is incorporated and forms little balls.





Add approximately 1/4 cup cold water by tablespoons, while continuing to pulse, until the dough forms a ball.





Wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap and put into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.





Chop green onions.





Assemble ingredients: eggs, half and half, bacon, cheese, and green onions.





Carefully press the rolled out pie crust into the bottom of the pie plate.





Put the cheese, bacon, and green onions in the bottom of the pie crust.





Pour the egg custard into the shell and bake at 375 for one hour.





And here it it is!



By the way....yes, the pie crust was just as dry as it looks....I believe next time I will use a whole wheat pastry flour as the recipe called for, but which I did not have on hand. Sometimes the mother of invention just has to punt.