C.D. Hersh's Blog, page 55
March 14, 2022
Tell Again Tuesday What’s your brand?
5 Questions to Ask Yourself to Create a Stronger Author BrandBy Penny Sansevieri
We hear the term author branding a lot, and truthfully it always feels a bit nebulous. Creating an author brand feels hard. But it doesn’t have to be. Let’s start first with the elements that make up a great brand: . . .
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March 10, 2022
Friday Feature I Blame Uncle Steve
My obsession with cooking is his fault. No denying it. He was a carpenter until the Army sent him an invitation to join their illustrious ranks. He did and was made a cook. Go figure. Until then he had no clue about kitchen work, but he soon learned and loved his job. Fast forward to me age five. This quiet mountain of a man sat me in a chair close to the stove where he created magic with the merest of supplies. He was patient and answered every dumb question I asked while he encouraged me to toss in a handful of chives, parsley, or whatever else was available. He made cooking interesting and fun. Watching and working with my favorite uncle was a wonderful experience I cherish.
Time passed and I setup my own household. No longer did I have the ease of single dish prep. I had to concoct the entire meal and was expected to cook many entire meals. Fear struck so I beelined to the store and stocked up on cookbooks. And that led to frustration. All those delicious sounding recipes left it up to me to decide what to serve with them. Beans or peas? Fried or boiled potatoes? To salad or not. You get the idea. We’re not talking Haute cuisine, but a clue or two from those big-buck chefs, whose books I paid dearly for, would sure have helped. And that’s why I took matters into my own hands and wrote a cookbook, Date Night Dinners available on Amazon, with full menus minus desserts. I don’t bake and my family is grateful since my creations are horrible.
Back to hands, I use mine for most meal prep instead of spoons and spatulas. Therefore, I work with big pots, pans, and bowls. That means more washing by hand, but everything stays in the container, and I have room to work comfortably with the ingredients instead of them flying all over the counter.
We’re cooking here not baking, so no need to be precise. Change measurements to suit your taste. You love garlic – toss in more. Pepper isn’t your thing – leave it out. Make these recipes your own. Side dishes and beverages are suggestions not a rule of thumb. Those recipes are found in the Veggies section or Salads, Sauces, Sides, & Extras section at the back of my cookbooks.
So, grab your partners and don your aprons. Crack open a bottle of your favorite wine! Let’s take a giant step forward to ease the burden of overworked women and bring romance back into our lives with meals to make together for a romantic evening.
May you enjoy all the days of your life filled with good friends, laughter, and seated around a well-laden table!
Sloane
Sloane Taylor is an Award-Winning romance author with a passion that consumes her day and night. She is an avid cook and posts new recipes on her blog every Wednesday. The recipes are user friendly, meaning easy.
To learn more about Taylor go to her website. Stay in touch on Blogger, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Taylor’s cookbooks, Date Night Dinners, Date Night Dinners Italian Style, Sizzling Summer, and Recipes to Create Holidays Extraordinaire are released by Toque & Dagger Publishing and available on Amazon.
March 8, 2022
Wednesday Special Spotlight Cupcake Fantasy
who brings us an award winning cupcake recipe with a story.
The day was perfect; one of those low humidity, blue sky, breeze-off-the-lake days that made tourists flock to central Florida. Green and yellow tents filled the park and costumes were the attire of choice. Dogs in costumes, babies in costumes, teens in costumes, turtles in costumes; every life form Andi encountered wore a costume.
Her own costume was her usual jeans and boots, topped by a red tank and a red cap to match the red linen covering the platter of cupcakes in her hands. This year the cupcakes were salted caramel apple. The recipe was new and the friends who’d taste-tested had raved over them. They were sinfully delicious and should easily be the best cupcakes in the park.
She’d still baked three batches before she was satisfied. Competition in the Cupcake Wars at the annual Cooter Festival was always fierce.
She signed in, took her number, and walked to the table at the end of the tent. To get to her assigned spot, she had to step around a lumbering turtle. The damp lettuce leaf draped over its shell was only partly a costume. The real reason for the decoration was that the turtles—or cooters as the locals called them—were well cared for and the festival organizers were making sure this one stayed cool.
Andi put the cupcakes and her bag on the table and took her place beside a leggy teen. The girl had crafted sugar lily pads, fairy wings, and miniature frogs to go with her mint and chocolate cupcakes. With their pink frosting and blue polka dots, the cupcakes seemed ready for an impish tea party as she positioned them on a miniature tree-shaped stand.
After Andi finished setting her cupcakes on the upended crystal goblets she’d brought, she walked along the exhibit table to greet the other contestants. The confections were as varied as the bakers. Classic vanilla, red velvet, peanut butter truffle, tiramisu, banana walnut, double maple, pumpkin spice—all mouthwateringly scrumptious and worthy adversaries. With luck the proud presenters would not be sore losers.
When the judging began, Andi took her assigned place and handed out samples to the judges. As her friends had proclaimed, her cupcakes got high marks for taste. But when all the votes were tallied, the leggy teen’s presentation won the blue ribbon.
Andi congratulated the young baker and admired the silky ribbon. Then she distributed the rest of the salted caramel apple cupcakes to the passers-by and packed her goblets. As she stepped past the exhibit table, she hooked her boot around the metal leg and tugged. The table tipped. The teen’s beautiful display landed in the dirt with a splat, icing-side down. The other contestants gasped. The lettuce-draped turtle moved in for a taste.
Andi settled her hat more securely over her hair so her horns wouldn’t show and elbowed her way through the crowd.
There might have been better cupcakes than hers in the park that day.
But she didn’t think so.
Batter
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon butter, softened to room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2-3 apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
¼ cup heavy cream
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Put ¼ cup apples and 1 tablespoon butter in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute at 50% power to soften. Mash with a fork (lumps are okay). Let cool.
Cream together the stick of softened butter and brown sugar. Blend eggs and vanilla into the creamed mixture. Add the mashed apples and heavy cream to the batter and mix well.
In a small bowl stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Add to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Batter will be thick.
Fold chopped apple pieces into batter.
Line a 12-muffin tin with baking cups. Spoon batter evenly into the cups.
Bake 20 minutes.
Let cupcakes rest in pan for five minutes. Transfer to baking rack to cool completely.
Frosting
1 stick of butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
¼ tsp. salt
2 cups powdered sugar
Melt butter in pot on stove over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar and heavy cream. Stir constantly until sugar is dissolved. Stir in salt.
Let mixture bubble for 2-3 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
Frost cooled cupcakes.
Caramel Sauce
1 cup white sugar
¼ cup water
¼ cup butter
2/3 cup heavy cream
Heat sugar and water in pot on stove over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture boils.
Let mixture boil without further stirring until it browns to the color of caramel. Add butter and stir until butter is melted.
Remove from heat. Add heavy cream. Stir until the bubbling stops and the sauce is smooth. Drizzle over cupcakes.
Remaining sauce can be used for other recipes.
For additional flavor, garnish cupcakes with a sprinkle of salt.
Makes 12 cupcakes
Once upon a time there was a mother/daughter author duo named Helen and Lorri, who wrote as HL Carpenter. The Carpenters worked from their studios in Carpenter Country, a magical place that, like their stories, was unreal but not untrue. Then one day Lorri left her studio to explore the land of What-if, and like others who have lost a loved one the magical place lost much of its magic. But thanks to family, plus an amazing group of wordsmiths named Authors Moving Forward (AMF), the magic is slowly returning.
Helen Carpenter loves liking and sharing blog posts from other authors. She lives in Florida with her husband of many years and appreciates every day, especially those without hurricanes.
Stay connected on her blog and Facebook .
March 7, 2022
Tell Again Tuesday Anatomy of an author page on Amazon
Checking Out Authors on AmazonBy Susan Hanniford Crowley
Today while you’re last-minute shopping, I want to tell you what there is to see on an Author’s Page on Amazon. If you love a particular author, you don’t have to hunt everywhere for every title. Just go to his or her or their page. Here’s my page so you can see what I mean. To get there, I typed into Google – Susan Hanniford Crowley Amazon Author Page.
https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B004YXOGXG
The first thing you will notice is . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:March 3, 2022
Friday Feature Excite Your Taste Buds with a New Dish
This is an easy version of a very popular dish among Armenians and Azeris called kutab which is stuffed flat bread. In a classic version, you have to make a dough from scratch. But I am making my Kutabs with soft large flour tortillas you can find in any supermarket. This is so easy to make, any novice (and any man) can do it. Plus, it’s fast and a very filling dish.
There are several different stuffings for Kutabs. The most popular is Green Stuffing, a combination of different herbs. There is also Meat Stuffing that is delicious. The recipe I’m sharing makes 10 large or 12 medium Kutabs.
Kutab Green Stuffing
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch parsley1 bunch dill1-
2 bunches green onions, depends on size
1 bunch baby spinach
2 – 3 tbsp. lemon juice½ cup olive or sunflower oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
Wash and dry all herbs, then chop coarsely. Sweep them into a large bowl. Add lemon juice, oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
Beat the egg in a small bowl. Fill half of a tortilla with stuffing, leaving a little bit space at the edges. I measure it by handfuls and use 2 handfuls for each Kutab. Use a brush to apply egg to the edges. Fold tortilla in half and then press with your fingers to make the edges stick together.
Pre-heat a large skillet. Add a little oil. The classic version calls for a dry pan, but my family prefers the Kutabs fried in avocado oil. Olive oil works well, too.
Cook on medium heat until both sides are golden brown. Makes perfect lunch or dinner. We eat it with feta cheese and plain yogurt.
Kutab Meat Stuffing
1 – 1½ lb. finely ground meat
1 large onion2 – 3 garlic cloves
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup cold water
1 egg
Use a food processor mash onion and garlic. Add already ground meat. Mix well together. Add salt, pepper, and water.
Instead of greens, spread meat on half of the tortilla, seal with beaten egg, and then cook per the Green Stuffing instructions.
For meat Kutabs, you can use any sauce. Works perfect with marinara.
Enjoy!
Here is a peek at Stella’s time travel romance for your reading pleasure.
One key unlocks the love of a lifetime…but could also break her heart.
Nika Morris’s sixth sense has helped build a successful business, lovingly restoring and reselling historic homes on Florida’s Amelia Island. But there’s one forlorn, neglected relic that’s pulled at her from the moment she saw it. The century-old Coleman house.
Quite unexpectedly, the house is handed to her on a silver platter—along with a mysterious letter, postmarked 1909, yet addressed personally to Nika. Its cryptic message: Find the key. You know where it is. Hurry, for goodness sake!
The message triggers an irresistible drive to find that key. When she does, one twist in an old grandfather clock throws her back in time, straight into the arms of deliciously, devilishly handsome Elijah Coleman.
Swept up in a journey of a lifetime, Nika finds herself falling in love with Eli—and with the family and friends that inhabit a time not even her vivid imagination could have conjured. But in one desperate moment of homesickness, she makes a decision that will not only alter the course of more than one life, but break her heart.
’Til Time Do Us Part is available in Kindle and Paperback at AMAZON.
Stella May is the penname for Marina Sardarova who has a fascinating history you should read on her website.
Stella writes fantasy romance as well as time travel romance. She is the author of ‘Till Time Do Us Part, Book 1 in her Upon a Time series, and the stand-alone book Rhapsody in Dreams. Love and family are two cornerstones of her stories and life. Stella’s books are available in e-book and paperback through all major vendors.
When not writing, Stella enjoys classical music, reading, and long walks along the ocean with her husband. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida with her husband Leo of 25 years and their son George. They are her two best friends and are all partners in their family business.
Follow Stella on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
March 1, 2022
Wednesday Special Spotlight Tomatoes
Saturdays are universally hectic. Itineraries for this special day of the week are mind-boggling in their Mach-speed, complexity, and crowded activities. But it is also the time before the starting pistol shoots us into a frenzy to steal a few moments to reconnect with our loved-ones, and even with ourselves. Saturday morning renewals in my house back in the days when my kids were still at home, and admittedly when life was slower and simpler, routinely began with all of us gathering together for a sit-down breakfast. Bacon and eggs, toast, juice, and sometimes pancakes were often as not on the menu. It is easy to imagine people of today longing for those laidback weekend mornings, but nowadays convenience is a necessity and usually wins out over nostalgia.
The following low calorie, low carb, and high protein recipe that serves 4 is a good one to include in our whirlwind playbook. To meet that convenience factor, it can be made ahead of time, in 30 minutes of the evening before for instance, refrigerated, and then reheated at the appropriate time in the microwave at 50% power. For breakfast, serve it with fruit and a slice of a Keto-friendly bread or bagel slathered with cream cheese. I prefer Neufchâtel because it is lower in fat and creamier than standard cream cheese.
This tomato and egg recipe is also wonderful for brunch accompanied with cooked or fresh veggies and a chunk of a hearty bread. At times, I heat it up for dinner. Paired with a side of steamed spinach and carrots, a slice of homemade and healthy bean flour bread, a glass of a tasty bevvie, I then settle in for the rest of evening with a belly full of satisfaction.
Breakfast Tomatoes
4 lg. firm tomatoes, cut in half, scoop out pulp and seeds
Olive oil spray
1 tsp. salt – preferably kosher or sea salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried thyme
8 small eggs if available, or 8 large eggs with the excess of the whites discarded or reserved for another recipe
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 tbsp. grated parsley for garnish
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Place the hollowed-out tomatoes in a baking dish, spray them with olive oil, and then sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and thyme.
Break one egg into a small bowl or ramekin and then slide it into a tomato half. Continue this process until all 8 tomato halves are filled. Top each half with 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese.
Bake until egg whites are set, about 20 minutes. Use a large slotted spoon or spatula to scoop tomatoes onto a serving platter or into an airtight container. Garnish with parsley and serve or refrigerate.
In multi-award-winning author Linda Lee Greene’s new release, Garden of the Sprits of the Pots, A Spiritual Odyssey, ex-pat American Nicholas Plato gets lost one fateful Saturday morning in Australia’s outback and happens on a pintsized hut on a lonely plot littered with hundreds of clay pots of every size and description.
Driven by a deathly thirst, he stops. A strange little brown man materializes out of nowhere and introduces himself merely as ‘Potter,’ and welcomes Nicholas to his ‘Garden of the Spirits of the Pots.’ Although Nicholas has never laid eyes on Potter, the man seems to have expected Nicholas at his bizarre habitation and displays knowledge about him that nobody has any right to possess. Just who is this mysterious Aboriginal potter?
Although they are as mismatched as two persons can be, a strangely inevitable friendship takes hold between them. It is a relationship that can only be directed by an unseen hand bent on setting Nicholas on a mystifying voyage of self-discovery and Potter on revelations of universal certainties.
A blend of visionary and inspirational fiction, and a touch of romance, this is a tale of Nicholas’ journey into parts unknown, both within his adopted home and himself, a quest that in the end leads him to his true purpose for living.
Garden of the Sprits of the Pots, A Spiritual Odyssey is available in eBook and/or paperback.
AMAZON BUY LINK
Multi-award-winning author and artist Linda Lee Greene describes her life as a telescope that when trained on her past reveals how each piece of it, whether good or bad or in-between, was necessary in the unfoldment of her fine art and literary paths.
Greene moved from farm-girl to city-girl; dance instructor to wife, mother, and homemaker; divorcee to single-working-mom and adult-college-student; and interior designer to multi-award-winning artist and author, essayist, and blogger. It was decades of challenging life experiences and debilitating, chronic illness that gave birth to her dormant flair for art and writing. Greene was three days shy of her fifty-seventh birthday when her creative spirit took a hold of her.
She found her way to her lonely easel soon thereafter. Since then Greene has accepted commissions and displayed her artwork in shows and galleries in and around the USA. She is also a member of artist and writer associations.
February 28, 2022
Tell Again Tuesday Life while publishing
How to Launch Your Book and Still Have A LifeBy Penny Sansevieri
It’s easy to become overwhelmed when launching a new book. It can become all-consuming until the point where it seems your entire world revolves around this one book. But, fear not! It doesn’t have to be this way.
Learn from my experience and find a way to have a successful book launch, and still have a life. Your job, family commitments and whatever else in your daily life don’t have to prevent you . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:February 24, 2022
Friday Feature My Failed Plant-Based Challenge
My plan to eat completely plant-based food for thirty days lasted about seventeen days. Though I failed to eat one hundred percent plant-based, doesn’t mean I completely gorged myself on junk vegan processed foods, although I did overindulge a little. A while back Buona Beef, a local Chicago based fast food restaurant that specializes in Italian beef, debuted its Italian “beefless” sandwich.
It tasted just as I remembered how an Italian beef should. Even my omnivore neighbor couldn’t taste a difference. Italian beef sandwiches were one of my favorites once upon a time. They were more “Chicago” than hotdogs and deep-dish pizza. But vegan wise. There was nothing comparable to the real thing…until now.
In just weeks I had three of them. Don’t judge! I’m making up for lost time. At least I found the will to steer clear of my favorite vegan ice creams – and there are many. Still, despite my affinity for all things Beyond Burgers and Daiya pizzas, I do have my limits to the amount of delicious vegan processed junk I consume on a regular basis. I enjoy many simple vegan meals that are based around foods that were grown in the ground and not in a lab. Now if those labs grown foods replace animals from being torturously slaughtered, then I’m all for it…with some consumption limitations.
Here are some of the good foods I discovered. My non vegan friends like them, too.
Avocado on toast with giardiniera relish makes a yummy veggie sandwich.
Toasted bread with avocado, sautéed mushrooms, and sliced grape tomatoes.
Pasta seasoned with olive oil, black olives, cherry tomatoes, and a sprinkling of basil.
Although I failed the challenge, I made to myself, one habit that is now permanent is not filling my freezer with all my favorite vegan junk foods – pizzas. Burger, sausages, corn dogs, and ice cream. If it’s not in my house, I can’t eat it.
Here is one of my books. I hope you enjoy it.
Alicia Joseph grew up in Westchester, Illinois. She has many works-in-progress that she hopes to finish soon. Life permitting.
When she is not writing, Alicia enjoys volunteering with animals, rooting for her favorite sports teams, and playing “awesome aunt” to her nine nieces and nephews.
Learn more about Alicia Joseph on her blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter.
February 22, 2022
Wednesday Special Spotlight Souping Up the Chicken
We’re good eggs here in Carpenter Country, and we subscribe to the waste-not philosophy of life. In our kitchen, one cooked chicken results in multiple meals, including delicious homemade chicken soup.
For this soup recipe, we began with a chicken slow cooked in the crockpot. Once the chicken was cooked and the initial chicken-and-vegetable-and-potato meal eaten, we separated the remaining meat from the bones. We used the darker chicken meat in the soup, and the white-meat portions in chicken salad, chicken potpie, and chicken sandwiches.
The we got out our soup pot and put together this stovetop soup. For extra flavor, when we filled the pot with water, we added a few spoonsful of the drippings collected in the crockpot as the chicken cooked.
Note that this recipe works exactly the same if you prefer to roast your chicken in the oven.
Here’s our souped-up video. The full recipe follows below.
CHICKEN SOUP CARPENTER STYLE
Chicken trimmings (bones and skin) from fully cooked chicken
Water (enough to cover the trimmings and fill the pot)
2-4 tbsp. pan drippings, depending on the size of your pot
2-4 cups fresh or frozen vegetables of your choice (we used frozen mixed)
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
2 tsp. garlic salt (or regular salt if you prefer)
2 tsp. minced garlic
Dash black pepper
2 cups shredded chicken meat
Add chicken trimmings to pot.
Add enough water to cover the trimmings and fill the pot.
Add pan drippings.
Simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes.
Remove chicken trimmings from pot with strainer or slotted spoon and skim off any foam from the broth.
Add vegetables, seasonings, and shredded chicken to pot. Add additional water if necessary.
Simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes.
Serve hot with bread or crackers.
TIPS and TRICKS
Add a packet of chicken bouillon with the drippings to punch up the flavor.
For a thinner broth, leave out the vegetables (or cook them until they are very soft) and reduce the amount of shredded chicken. Use the broth in other recipes or serve in mugs.
To make chicken noodle soup, add noodles or pasta of your choice along with the vegetables.
Be creative with the spices. For instance, a dash of curry powder adds a unique flavor.
Once upon a time there was a mother/daughter author duo named Helen and Lorri, who wrote as HL Carpenter. The Carpenters worked from their studios in Carpenter Country, a magical place that, like their stories, was unreal but not untrue. Then one day Lorri left her studio to explore the land of What-if, and like others who have lost a loved one the magical place lost much of its magic. But thanks to family, plus an amazing group of wordsmiths named Authors Moving Forward (AMF), the magic is slowly returning.
Helen Carpenter loves liking and sharing blog posts from other authors. She lives in Florida with her husband of many years and appreciates every day, especially those without hurricanes.
February 21, 2022
Tell Again Tuesday If you want to be a writer’s friend
Essential Skills For Writer FriendsBy Lucy Mitchell
Writer friends are special people. They share our passion for writing stories, they have trodden the same creative path as us, they can relate to our writing highs and lows and they also spent their youth getting excited about going to the library and getting English homework at school. They are there for us in the dark times and you know they are only a Twitter, Instagram or Facebook message away.
Here are the essential skills that . . .
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