Janel Gradowski's Blog, page 15

The End Is Near

The end of the school year, that is. My family had a wonderful, long holiday weekend culminating in a picnic with my son’s RC airplane club. There we were honored to spend the afternoon with military veterans, a very fitting way to spend Memorial Day.

Today the kids are back in school and a bit of panic on my part has set in. There are six school days left. My mind feels a bit like a rubber ball bouncing around the house. There are so many things I want to do, so many projects to keep on track over the summer. And we all know how distracting summer is. There is beautiful weather to enjoy, vacations to take and bored children to occupy. Sticky notes are gathering around me. If they were living creatures I would be more than a bit alarmed at the pace at which they are multiplying.

As a result, my to-do lists are constantly shifting. I use a date book faithfully to keep track of things I need to get done, but as new things pop into my mind old goals have to shift. So now I’m writing the moveable tasks onto sticky notes. Specifically on 1-1/2 x 1-1/2 inch notes with the sticky strip running along the right edge. Then I cut the note apart into strips with one task per strip. An index card acts as the “holding pen” for the tasks. Now I can add and rearrange to my obsessive heart’s content.



What are you doing to prepare for summer? Do you have any good ideas to keep on track?

Inspiration: Farmer’s Market

Early Saturday morning my husband and I took off for a little farmer’s market adventure. While we have perfectly nice markets in our area, they are of the small town variety. What I mean is, they are set up in parks or parking lots, with no permanent structures to house things like refrigerators or restaurant equipment. Farmer’s markets with buildings, especially in larger, more urban areas, are just different.

So, our first stop was the Oakland County Market in Waterford (metro Detroit). While my husband has been near the market when it wasn’t in operation, neither one of us have ever been there on a Saturday morning. I didn’t expect much, other than plants, since asparagus and rhubarb is about the only thing in season right now in Michigan. Well, there were a LOT of plants, as well as a lot of people. We decided to walk from a parking lot up the road since the main lot was gridlocked. The plant vendors outside offered some fascinating varieties of ornamental and edible plants, but I really started enjoying myself when we made our way into the building. First stop was a booth that had some luscious looking baked goods. My husband was drawn to a Creole Sweet Potato Bread. We chatted with the baker about it – a cinnamon streusel swirled through it, lightly spiced bread with a touch of paprika, an orange maple glaze – and decided to buy a loaf while we were munching on a sample of chocolate chip peanut butter cookies. As my husband paid I noticed a sign propped on the table. The woman had won one of the Cupcake Wars episodes on the Food Network! The bread was wonderful and I was so excited to meet April from The Cakeria.

At that market I also bought some fabulous, homemade baba ghanoush, a Give and Grow Mushrooms “log”, and a tasty cranberry scone. On the way out my husband and I stopped at Ned’s TravelBurger – voted the best food truck of 2013 by The Detroit Free Press. I opted for the sausage breakfast sandwich while my hubby figured it was late enough to order the Baja TravelTurkey. These burgers were so unique. Have you ever had an oblong shaped burger, served in a brioche hotdog bun? Well, I have now. . . and it was delicious!

(source)

 

Then we headed north and stopped at the Flint Farmer’s Market. This market is not in the nicest part of town, but it was packed with people too and had a nice variety of vendors. The building had everything from a meat market, to a cheese shop and mini bookstore. There we purchased freshly made tortilla chips and pico de gallo along with pitas topped with za’atar that were still warm from the oven (to go with the baba ghanoush). Outside there was a band playing, artists and even a man selling refurbished travel chests out of a vintage trailer. The scent of BBQ filled the air from two BBQ booths and the grill outside the Mexican taqueria.

Every vendor we chatted with was cheerful, some were rather eccentric and all were fascinating to me as a writer. You see, my third women’s fiction series will feature people who are vendors in a farmer’s market. So not only did I have a wonderful morning with my husband, I also came back with some inspiration for an interesting cast of characters.



Have you ever met someone at a farmer’s market who would be a great fictional character?

 

Road to the Colony Excerpt (It’s All In The Voice Blog Hop)

I am participating in the It’s All In The Voice Blog Hop & Contest hosted by Between the Sheets. Here are some of the details:

A blog hop for feedback on your opening 250 words, and then a contest! Post your opening 250 words to your blogs, hop around and give feedback to others, spiff your words up and submit them for a chance to win! The blog hop is May 16th-17th. You can find more of the entries and details HERE.

My excerpt is the beginning of one of three “loaf” size stories (novelettes) from my upcoming book, “Road to the Colony” – Volume Two in The Bartonville Series. Thank you for stopping by and letting me know what you think!

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The chunks of bread sizzled as they browned in the melted butter. Daisy poked at the cubes with a stained, partially melted plastic spatula. The utensil had been in the kitchen drawer, among the bent silverware and dull steak knives, when she moved in with Gary. It needed to be replaced. Just like their relationship, it was too messed up to work properly.

The apartment looked like he still lived there alone. Other than some clothes and a storage box full of coveted yarn hidden in the back of the closet, there wasn’t much else that belonged to her. Gary wouldn’t allow even a hint of femininity in his apartment, so she wasn’t allowed to change anything in his flop house chic decor. Hell, having a live-in girlfriend didn’t even change his dating habits. She’d lost count of the number of times he came home in the middle of the night, smelling like he’d been dipped in a vat of cheap perfume and then steeped in the smoke from a carton of cigarettes.

The comforting scent of the toasting bread overpowered the usual musty odor of the apartment. At least dinner smelled good. If Gary didn’t want to eat it, then he could go spend his own money on something he wanted, chicken nuggets, a greasy burrito, whatever. How had she gotten saddled with buying and preparing all of their food the second after she moved in with him? Because she let it happen, standing mute, like a docile pony . . .

 

Creativity Vitamins Is On The Road

My Creativity Vitamin has traveled to another blog today. (Click on the image above or HERE to go to the post.) I know I get wanderlust and the itch to travel when spring rolls around. It seems my writing has, too.

You can find your dose of Creativity Vitamin at the fabulous Friday Flash Dot Org blog today. While you’re there have a look around. If you are interested in flash fiction or just looking to connect with some fellow writers, there is a great community built around Friday Flash. Of course, there is lots of great writing, too!

For The Love Of Flatbread

I am a flatbread aficionado. There’s just something about the, often chewy, texture that I find very appealing. If given the choice, I will pick a flatbread over almost any other kind of bread. Chicken salad on whole wheat bread or a pita? I’ll take the pita version, please.

A few weeks ago I picked up a package of square, whole wheat pitas from Whole Foods. The next day I was raiding my refrigerator, looking for a snack, when a flash of snacking brilliance occurred. I toasted the pita, spread it with plain, Greek yogurt and then applied a liberal sprinkling of spicy sea salt (salt with dried chili peppers, black pepper, paprika, dehydrated garlic & onion, cumin, ginger and basil – a “spice grinder” concoction I found in the $1 area of my local grocery store, believe it or not). The warm pita combined with the cool tang of the yogurt and spicy saltiness was heavenly. It instantly became my go-to snack…and then the package of pitas was gone. I had seen pitas in my local grocery store a week earlier, but apparently the bakery hadn’t decided to make them again that week.

So what’s a hungry girl with a mighty craving to do? Make her own. Luckily, fate was kind and I had just found a recipe for Yogurt Flatbread from the Little House by the Dunes blog. They are a cross between pita and naan, with a toothsome texture and slight tang from the yogurt in the dough. In a word, scrumptious! I served them for dinner the day I made them with sauteed chicken and vegetables. My whole family loved them, even my picky eater. He is very fussy about food, so it says a lot that he really liked this flatbread. The recipe makes plenty so I had leftovers to make my beloved spicy yogurt treats the next day.

Another great flatbread option is Tibetan Flatbread. This recipe was posted by the husband of my friend, Belle, several years ago. I have made it many times, adding different spices and vegetables to the batter. Instead of a lot of flat, individual rounds this recipe makes a thicker “cake” that can be cut into wedges. Quick, easy and very tasty.

There are all kinds of flatbreads. In fact, I have a book dedicated to that specific food, “Flatbreads & Flavors” by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. The authors take you on a culinary tour around the world, exploring flatbreads and their traditional accompaniments in many different cultures. It’s a fascinating book by two of my favorite cookbook authors. The recipes take my flatbread obsession to a whole new level!



Do you like flatbread? If you do, what are your favorite kinds?

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads

Creativity Vitamin: Exercise

How many times have you seen the advice to take a walk when you need some creative inspiration? It’s a common “device” used by many writers and artists. While your body is occupied getting some much-needed exercise your brain is free to play with plots, color combinations or choosing the right fiber to knit the new scarf with. Exercise even improves your brain health. Check out this article on that subject from The New York Times.

I’m all for keeping my brain happy and healthy, but knowing how good exercise is for my entire body doesn’t mean it’s easy to do. It does involve putting down the laptop, getting up from the desk, setting aside a project, etc. and moving. And if you don’t move often, there will be some degree of pain added to that equation. Even the low-stress, and loved by many writers and artists,  exercise of walking can bring about some uncomfortable results – especially when you first start doing it. Blisters, sore muscles, bug bites, sunburn – I know I’ve gotten all of those things from walks in the park. For me, the key to sticking with an exercise routine is constantly reminding myself that the benefits outweigh the negatives. I write “Exercise” in my date book and try to incorporate exercising into my daily routine, so it becomes a habit like brushing my teeth or cooking dinner.

Another key to sticking with exercise is finding a routine that works for you. I am not into exercising in public, so classes are not my thing. Walking the dog at the park is a fine way to fit in some cardio, but that involves getting dressed in socially acceptable clothes (I am a writer. Sweat pants and raggedy t-shirts are my standard uniform.) and then driving to the park. It takes times and sometimes I’m not willing to stop writing that long. So, recently, I’ve turned to exercise “breaks”. Instead of getting all of my exercise done in one, thirty-minute time slot I’ve been doing several short routines. Whenever my brain is feeling sluggish or my shoulders are aching from being hunched over my keyboard, I get up and do a burst of exercise. I often do free video routines that I’ve found on YouTube and I love them. In fact, I’ve found that many of the exercises are double or triple-duty, meaning they work several muscle groups at the same time. I’ve noticed that my heart rate is higher and I sweat more (which is a good thing…really) after doing these short routines than when I do a longer, less intense routine.

Here is a list of 10-minute routines I found on the Fitness magazine website. We have a Wii video game system and I can broadcast YouTube videos on my television through the Wii, so it’s just like watching a fitness DVD. There are some fabulous workout videos on YouTube, something I had never really looked into before because I had to watch the videos on my computer. If you’re interested, here is a link to my 10-15 Minute Workouts playlist on YouTube. I have close to 60 different videos listed there and I add more as I discover them. By the way, my favorite videos are by Jessica Smith. She even has a playlist off all of the 10-minute workouts she has produced. By the way, I’m not affiliated with her, I just love her workout routines!



Do you think exercise improves your creativity? What is your favorite form of exercise?

 

Crop Dusters & Minor Characters

Warm weather has finally arrived here in Michigan and that means the mosquitoes are hatching. The pesky insects are emerging in swarms and Mosquito Control has taken to the skies, using crop duster planes to distribute a form of a bacterium that kills mosquito larvae. Since I live near an airport, in an agricultural area, I often get glimpses of crop dusters. Right now they are spraying for mosquitoes, but all summer long they can often be seen spraying fields. The planes’ powerful engines have a very distinctive sound that is instantly recognizable. The skill of the pilots as they fly just above the treetops and then execute stomach churning, banked turns amazes me. When I hear the engines I’ll often take a break from whatever I’m doing to watch the aerial acrobatic show for a while.

This weekend, as I waited for my coffee maker to brew my first mug of caffeinated elixir, I watched one of the planes spraying the area behind my house. Since we have a small pond in our backyard and there is a wet, swampy area in our neighbor’s backyard the plane passed directly over our house. When it was spraying our backyard I could actually see the pilot in the cockpit. That’s when inspiration struck.

I am plotting the first book in the Pine Lake series and I have a minor character that has been pretty indistinct. He’s a lawyer, but that’s about all I had figured out…until I saw the crop duster pilot. That minor character is going to be an airplane pilot. Probably not a crop duster, but that could be an interesting side job. I could also put an even twistier spin on this pilot idea and have him flying radio-controlled model airplanes instead. My son flies RC planes and it is a very interesting hobby. Like many hobbies, if you  aren’t involved in it you really have no idea how diverse it is. I haven’t figured out everything about this character, yet, but I sure am glad I took a few minutes to watch that crop duster a few days ago. Inspiration can come at any time and you just never know what will provide it.

Mexicali Chicken & Rice

I hate handling raw chicken. The ever-present threat of salmonella turns me into a raging germophobe whenever I have to deal with any kind of poultry. I spray everything in my kitchen that was in the vicinity of the chicken with disinfectant spray and then wipe it off with antibacterial cleaning wipes. It takes awhile for the smell of the cooking chicken to overpower the cleaner fumes.

But I love chicken. It’s tasty and healthy. To avoid contact with the raw version of one of my favorite meats I tend to buy several pounds at a time and cook it all at once. Baking is a favorite cooking method, as is the slow cooker. The chicken breast I used in this was cooked in the slow cooker, covered in spicy Rotel tomatoes. On the first day I shredded it and used it for taco filling. The next day I came up with this recipe.

Skillet meals like this are quick and easy. My dish is a great way to combine leftovers with common pantry ingredients to make a delicious meal. This one received rave reviews from my family. Raid the refrigerator for toppings and everybody can customize their rice with cheese, salsa, avocado, etc.

By the way, I wrote a little “truffle” sized bonus story featuring this recipe for my Bartonville series. I’ve set it up as an exclusive reward for liking my new Facebook page. If you’re interested in reading it, you can find my Facebook page here or by clicking on the icon in the sidebar.  Just “Like” the page and then click on the Free Story tab. If you read it, stop back here and let me know what you think – and thank you for liking my page!

Print
Mexicali Chicken & Rice


Author: Janel Gradowski (http://www.janelgradowski.com)
Recipe type: Main Dish



Serves: 4-6
 

This is a quick and easy way to turned leftover chicken into a tasty meal. It also makes a great taco or burrito filling.

Ingredients

2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
1 – 10 oz. can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
1 tablespoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 – 5.25 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
½ cup frozen corn, thawed
1 – 2.25 oz. can sliced black olives, drained
¼ cup chopped cilantro




Instructions

In a large skillet combine chicken and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the cilantro. Lower heat to medium and cook until everything is heated through, stirring frequently. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with any of the following: salsa, shredded cheese, diced avocado, sour cream or plain yogurt, diced onion, fresh or pickled jalapeno slices



3.2.1230

This post is linked to Tasty Thursdays, Foodie Friday and Weekend Cooking

What Ingredient Would You Add? (With Excerpt)

Would you like to help me with my next book? I am developing recipes for the second book in the Bartonville series, “Road to the Colony”. In one of the novelettes (the book has three), I mention a vegetable soup and I would like to include the recipe for it. I’ve listed within the story a few ingredients that I want to include (see excerpt below), but I need more.



What are your favorite ingredients to add to vegetable soup? Would you care to share with me? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!



Excerpt from “Road to the Colony” (coming summer 2013)

The kitchen smelled heavenly when Emma walked into the room. Open shelves lined the walls, filled with mismatched plates, bowls and coffee mugs. The counter tops were made of stainless steel, giving the place a funky, industrial feel. Carson was standing in front of the large stove, stirring the contents of a sizzling frying pan. The auburn-haired, human alarm clock was chopping broccoli on the butcher block topped island. “Hello again,” she said. “My name is Avery.”

“Hi. I’m Emma, but I guess you already know that.”

Carson turned and smiled. “Welcome back to the real world, Sleeping Beauty. I’m making my famous Mega Veggie Soup. Even if you’re a carnivore, I guarantee you’ll love it.”

“That’s a lofty claim.”

“I’m a very confident man.”

“I’m sure you are. Not everybody can pull off green hair.”

“Wait until tomorrow. You’ll think a unicorn puked rainbow hair dye on the crowd.” Carson handed her a bowl of tomatoes and a serrated knife. He winked. “I’ll start you chopping up the vegetables that don’t resemble fingers, just in case you’re still tired. Could you seed these and then cut them into big chunks?”

Emma nodded. “I’m not feeling too bad after my nap. I think I can handle carrots, too, if you need them.”

Avery chuckled as she pulled a wooden cutting board out from its place on a wire shelf under the island and set it down next to her. “You can work here next to me. Carson said you’re going to Flutter Con, too. We can chat while we work as his kitchen slaves.” She winked. “I think everybody staying here tonight is going.”

The hostel was full of Flutter Con participants? She hadn’t expected that. When she selected a knife from the block in the center of the island she noticed a glimmer in Avery’s hair. Thin, silver threads twisted through her auburn curls. As Emma sliced into the first tomato she asked, “So are people going to think I’m weird for having plain, brown hair?”

“No, people won’t think you’re weird. Pretty much anything goes at these types of conventions,” Avery said. “Although if you do want to do something with your hair I could help. We can run over to the convenience store across the street and get some Kool-Aid to dye it. Grape or cherry would look fabulous.”

“Those colors would clash with my fairy outfit. It’s white and blue with lots of sparkles. Besides, I don’t think my bosses would be happy. The woman I clean offices with at night wouldn’t mind, but my manager at the gas station would probably fire me. He doesn’t even like dangly earrings.”

“Dress codes are discriminatory to creative people.” Avery winked. She grabbed a couple zucchini out of the shopping bag sitting on the counter. “So you need something temporary. How about hair tinsel and glitter spray? I can put the tinsel in tonight and I’ll let you borrow my glitter spray tomorrow morning.”

“That would be great. You have tinsel in your hair, right?”

“Yes. It’s similar to the stuff you put on a Christmas tree. You just tie it onto a few strands of hair and you can snip it out when you’re done.”

“Awesome. I’d love to try it.”

Soon more people joined the food prep brigade. As she chatted she soon found out that all of the people staying at the hostel weren’t just going to Flutter Con, they were all vendors. Some were there because they couldn’t afford other accommodations, but others were there just because they enjoyed the jovial camaraderie of sharing space with a bunch of creative people. Visiting the hostel was a tradition with many of them. When the soup was done the boisterous group settled around the long dining table that was stretched to its maximum length by using half a dozen leaves. Colorful, mismatched bowls were filled with the savory soup, a tomato-y broth loaded with a dozen different kinds of vegetables, from yukon gold potatoes to red peppers. A basket of biscuits, made by a wooden spoon artisan, was passed around. Even though she was far from where she lived Emma had never felt so much at home. As people chatted about their new projects and compared sales figures, she absorbed it all like a sponge. It had been five years since she went to art school. Leaving after only one year, when her scholarship money ran out, was devastating. Traces of the resulting depression still lingered, especially after a rough shift at work or a run-in with Michelle. Being a full-time artist had been her dream since she was fourteen years old. It seemed like that dream had floated so far out of reach she would never be able to capture it. Now the dream’s bubble was drifting so close she could almost touch it.

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads

Creativity Vitamin: Lists

I have noticed quite a few comments about making lists on my Creativity Vitamin series. Many of us use lists to keep organized or prevent forgetting things. Did you know they can also help keep your creativity levels from waning?

Have you ever been working on a project and found yourself thinking about half a dozen other things? You need to call the dentist, remember to buy milk and get the dog an appointment at the groomer. Those little thoughts distract you from your creative project…and then they start multiplying. Often you’ll soon find yourself wandering away to chase around all of the other things you need to do.

One way to ease the landslide of distracting thoughts is to write them down. Make a list. I tend to write those kinds of things down in my date book, but anything will do – from sticky notes to an iPhone app. I’m willing to bet nothing needs to be done right away. Once you’ve written down or scheduled the task, try to let it go. Erase it from your mind. It’s written down, so there is no worry of forgetting it. Free up that brain space for your creativity again.

Sometimes, those distracting thoughts aren’t tasks, but instead are forms of self-criticism. A squirrel could draw better than this. This story is as stinky as a pile of chicken droppings. Nobody in their right mind would want to buy this! We’ve all been there. The vortex of self-doubt. You can make a list to help with this, too. Write down everything that is bothering you and then…destroy it. Tear it up and flush it down the toilet. Burn it in the fire pit. Crumple it up and slam dunk it into the trash can. As you are writing down the bothersome thoughts concentrate on transferring their negative energy to the page. When the list is gone imagine that the fears and frustrations have magically evaporated. And then go back to your project.



Do you have any other creative uses for lists?