B.D. Hawkey's Blog, page 2

Mmmmmm...All-American Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I’m not a great cook. I confess that the majority of the cooking I undertake is more out of necessity than exploring and expanding my culinary skills. However, I have found that baking the odd chocolate brownie or fruit cake, with my adult daughter, can be a nice bonding experience, where we share gossip and confidences while we share weighing, whisking and stirring duties. If the recipe tastes great before it is cooked, so much the better as there are few guilty pleasures that evoke childhood memories as “eating out of the bowl”.

Our latest adventure in the kitchen was All-American Chocolate Chunk Cookies. They had everything I love. They were easy to make, tasted great before and after cooking, full of chunky chocolate pieces and they also had peanuts to add texture. They were a calorific indulgent treat which were so nice and easy I wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!

Ingredients

300g plain chocolate (about 55% cocoa solids)
100g bar milk chocolate
100g light muscovado sugar
85g butter, at room temperature
100g peanut butter, crunchy is best
1 medium egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
100g self-raising flour
100g large salted roasted peanuts

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4/fan 160C.Gather together and weigh all the ingredients.

Chop 200g/7oz of the plain chocolate into rough, irregular chunks. Chop the milk chocolate in the same way, but keep separate.

Break the remaining plain chocolate into a large heatproof mixing bowl. Melt in the microwave on medium for about 11⁄2 minutes (or over a pan of simmering water).

Stir the chocolate until melted, then tip in the sugar, butter, peanut butter, egg and vanilla and beat with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Stir in the flour, all the milk chocolate chunks, the nuts (no need to chop) and half the plain chocolate chunks. The mixture will feel quite soft, and drop easily from the spoon if you shake it.

Drop big spoonfuls in 12 piles on to 2 or 3 baking sheets, leaving room for them to spread (you may need to bake in batches). Stick the remaining chunks into the cookies (2-3 pieces in each).

Bake for 10-12 minutes (although we ended up cooking ours for 14) until they are tinged very slightly darker around the edges. The smell will let you know they are ready. They will be soft in the middle, but will crisp up as they cool. (Cook for longer and you’ll have crisper cookies.) Let them cool and firm up for a few minutes on the baking sheet (they’ll break if you move them while still hot), then lift off with a wide spatula on to a cooling rack. They will keep crisp in an airtight tin for 3-4 days.

Source of the recipe:-
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/17...

Giveaways and free promotion download.

The Goodread’s Giveaway of The Gossamer Trail ends on the 2nd October so if you haven’t already, please feel free to sign up for a chance to win a free print copy.

If you prefer kindle then I’m pleased to tell you that The Gossamer Trail will be free for download for five days on Amazon starting 2nd October and ending 6th October.
Happy reading everyone!

It's exposed! Do you fancy taking a peek?

Feeling rather nauseous from publication nerves, I am pleased to announce that
The Gossamer Trail has now been published!

I thought I would be less anxious with my second book, but it seems that one can still suffer from anxiety gremlins, particularly when they decide to have a tussle in your stomach.

When my début novel, Old Sins Long Shadows, was first exposed to the world I was genuinely grateful for any morsel of support or kind words. The first few months were a nail biting time. I was so lacking in confidence that the only people I told were my husband, daughter and mother. Even my closest friend of 39 years did not know I aspired to be an author. Needless to say, I was so grateful to the readers who took a chance on an unknown author, read my first book and gave their support during those first six months of publication.

As a thank you, I have written this message at the start of The Gossamer Trail as an acknowledgement to their support and kind words...

“I would also like to say a special thank you to the following strangers who were the first to read my début novel Old Sins Long Shadows, and show me their support.
Fmae123, Jennifer-Eve, Victoria, MonNdoc, Willow, A.Customer ca, Emily, Julie, Michelle, Sheena, T.William, Lisa, Sue J., Chris, Mary, Sylvia, Sue, Alice and Debbie.”

The Gossamer Trail

The Festival of Romantic Fiction & my grotesquely lopsided grin!

This afternoon I spent 30 minutes lying on my back looking up into the face of a man half my age. Afterwards, I went home to my husband feeling rather uncomfortable with myself – and very puffy. Yes, I did mean to write “puffy” as I had just received a root canal treatment. My face was numb from the anaesthetic, I spoke like the Elephant Man (which is a great inspirational film and true story by the way) and my bank account was groaning from the cost. To top it all, I felt very very old. When were dentists allowed to qualify so young?

At home, and feeling rather sorry for myself, I checked my emails while I drank (and dribbled) my lukewarm coffee. Not a pretty sight, I can assure you.

However, emotions and moods are flexible little devils and they have a way of changing in an instant with a little help. Today, that “help” came in the form of a notification that THE GOSSAMER TRAIL has been shortlisted for the 2014 New Talent Award at the Festival of Romantic Fiction in England.

My smile may have been grotesquely lopsided and swollen, but it was as a result of the pure joy I felt inside. I have also learnt that a “happy dance” can still be done with an anaesthetised face. :)

They say life is 95% anticipation...

My second book is almost ready and I feel like I'm at the top of a roller coaster about to move forward! Let me tell you about it while I wait for the dreaded lurch forward.

It is a Victorian mystery romance set in Cornwall, England. I'm excited to say that the writing/editing stage is finished and it is almost ready to publish.

The book is called The Gossamer Trail. According to the Oxford Dictionary, gossamer is either “a fine, filmy substance consisting of cobwebs spun by small spiders, or a light, thin, and insubstantial or delicate material or substance”. Each definition refers to something that is very fragile. Memories can be fragile and if destroyed can rob a man of his past and identity. I will say no more for now as I think the ride is about to start. I can hear the wheels moving and I am about to scream. The anticipation is worse than the ride!

Book trailer for The Gossamer Trail:-

http://youtu.be/uAGcQJziTBI

Mrs Pilcher, a bottle of hair dye and me...

I have made no secret about the fact that I would like to be a film extra in the remake of Poldark. Just to be a “hag in the distance” would have been such a thrill for me.

However, understandably, authenticity overrides a middle aged woman’s dreams and, not surprisingly, I am considered unsuitable as I have a fringe and unnaturally coloured brown hair. I’m afraid I am too vain to ditch the hair dye and grow out my bangs - even for Poldark. In doing so I am sparing the world of the awful sight of my grey hair and enormous shiny forehead. I believe I am more tolerable to look at with a bit of help from a bottle of brown dye and strategically placed bangs. The world does not deserve to be so offended by my natural looks.

However, fate has many twists and turns, and my contemporary hair colour and bangs were no barrier to my first experience of being a film extra. Suddenly, out of the blue, I was asked if I would like to be an extra in a film based on a short story by Rosamunde Pilcher. Within 24 hours I found myself playing a hospital executive outside a hospital, mixing with some lovely people and watching a film crew at work. I thought it ironic, considering I had been a nurse for 25 years and suddenly found myself acting as a member of hospital staff. A newspaper photographer was on hand to record the event. I am in the group picture dressed in a white coat (third photo) staff. http://www.cornishguardian.co.uk/Germ...

So what have I learnt from this experience?

You are never too young to try something for the first time.
When one door shuts, another one opens.
I must read a Rosamunde Pilcher book – shamefully I have only recently heard of this very famous Cornish novelist, who has a big following in Germany.

However, I would like to point out that if the Poldark film crew suddenly decide they are in urgent need for a middle aged "hag in the distance” with a large forehead, who has to wear a very big hat that covers all the hair – I am still available!

That "moment" for me was...

I suspect the majority of people, who love period dramas or read historical romance/fiction, will have that “moment” in their lives when they are seduced and become a life long fan for that particular genre. A certain film may have ignited the interest, or a particular book stirred the imagination. That “moment” happened for me at the grand old age of 11, when I sat down with my mother to watch the 1970s Poldark TV series. I read the books soon after and I have had the pleasure of re-visiting them several times over the decades.

To my great excitement, Mammoth Screen has taken up the baton and is in the process of filming the remake of Poldark in England. As I write they are busy filming in various locations in Cornwall, the county where it is set. To tease me further, some of the filming is only a ten minute walk from where I live.

So why did Poldark grab my imagination at the tender age of 11? I was too young to fall in love with the hero, Ross Poldark (played by Robin Ellis). To my horror at how fast time flies, I am now old enough to be the mother of the new Ross Poldark (played by Aiden Turner). No, it had nothing to do with the “swoon factor” for me. Strangely it was the character of Demelza that drew me in. She was a young girl from humble beginnings, who battled with her own insecurities to fit into the world of the man she adored. She made mistakes, but she kept her sense of humour and blossomed as she grew into a woman. With each challenge she grew stronger and a greater support to her husband.

At the time the original series was aired, I was a young girl who was just starting her education at a large, boisterous comprehensive school. It was a very different experience to the small quiet village school where I had come from. It was a case of “fitting in” with a lot of strangers from different walks of life while hiding any insecurity I had. To me, at that time, the character of Demelza was quite inspirational and touched a nerve with me. Of course, watching the drama unfold in the countryside I knew well was the icing on the cake.

Now that I am older, I am used to mixing with strangers - and boy have I met some strange people in my time. However, even with age and experience I will always have affection for the character, Demelza, as I think there is a little bit of Demelza in us all.

I wish Mammoth Screen the best of luck with their production, and if the photos they have released so far are anything to go by, I think we are in for a treat when it finally hits our screens.

Change is as good as... books that match

The cover of Old Sins Long Shadows has changed.

I’m highlighting this alteration as I would hate for anyone to buy Old Sins thinking it was my second book (which is due for release this summer). I would not want anyone to feel cheated in anyway by buying it by mistake. I have made the mistake of buying a book twice as I have not realised that the cover was the only difference. However, I am sure most other readers are far better at recognising titles than I am.

The reason I have done this is that I think the cover will compliment my second book called The Gossamer Trail. Although they are not a series, as each book is a complete story, I do think that now the covers have a similar theme they will make a great “set” to have displayed on a book shelf.

Those who have a print copy with the original book cover Old Sins Long Shadows now own a limited edition! :)

The Gossamer Trail will be released this summer.

I'm excited and it's not just because the sun is shining.

I’m starting to feel excited. After a short period of enforced rest (thanks to an emergency operation) things are starting to look brighter – and it’s not just because the sun has decided to shine in England.

What is the reason for my excitement? My second book has taken its first shallow breaths! No, it’s not published yet, but hopefully it will be this summer. Over the past few months it has been forming on my laptop. Perhaps it would be a bit melodramatic to compare it to a baby growing and developing in a womb, but seeing it come together and starting to resemble a book rather than numerous character profiles, timelines and story threads does remind me of a foetus forming to look like a little human being. Forgive me for the comparison, but if a writer can’t get all poetic and melodramatic - who can?

I’m now at the stage of proof reading it, which will take time, but the cover is complete and the book trailer is almost done. It will be a few more weeks before it is ready to make its first brave steps into the wide world, but it now seems achievable.

I’m really pleased with the cover. It is colourful and meaningful (when you have read the book), as was the cover for my debut novel Old Sins Long Shadows. I look forward to sharing the title with you in the coming weeks!

A daughter with a plan and a can of condensed milk

Sitting in your favourite chair, with a good book and something sweet to nibble on can calm fractious nerves and relieve stress. Yes, a little bit of indulgence can certainly go a long way and help recharge those batteries.

With this in mind, I wanted to share this quick and easy recipe. I may not be able to provide you with your favourite chair, and opinions on what makes a good book differ, but I can provide a great recipe for something sweet to nibble on. Luckily for me, my daughter made me some and I hope you like it as much as I did. Like I said, a little bit of indulgence can go a long way and puts me in a relaxed mood – which is probably why I ended up allowing her to borrow our car for a road trip.

Creamy Smooth Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients:
50g unsalted butter
400g chocolate (white or dark or milk – not cooking chocolate)
397g tin of sweetened condensed milk

Method
Place butter and condensed milk into microwaveable bowl and microwave for 2 mins

Stir until butter is melted, stir in chocolate broken into pieces until melted.

Cover a baking tray in greaseproof paper and pour into tray and place in refrigerator for 2 hours to set.

Cut into small squares and keep in fridge.