Emilie Richards's Blog, page 80

Sunday Inspiration: The Small, Happy Life

One of life’s great challenges is how to find your own special gift and then share that gift with others.

In a column last week David Brooks wrote about “The Small, Happy Life.”  He asked readers to send essays on what their purpose for living was and how they had discovered it.

To Brooks’ surprise, he learned that many people did not have grand, earth-shaking expectations  but simply wanted to live the small, happy life. They wanted to enjoy life and appreciate their blessings.

Late in life a doctor moved from wanting to save patients’ lives to being present for those who needed her, listening to their concerns and responding with compassion. Another reader said, “I have always admired these goal-oriented, successful, stubborn, determined individuals; they make things happen and the world would be lost without them.” But his own life has revolved around a “small-font purpose,” enjoying his family, friends and job and the everyday satisfaction of being alive.

I do believe the quote on this photo, wherever you are and in whatever you are doing, whether you’re the president or the hardworking street cleaner. Find your gift. Give it away. And what a joy to do so.

What is your purpose, and how do you live it out? Are you living the small, happy life? Has it brought you meaning?

**Today’s post was written by Reverend Michael McGee, Emilie’s husband.

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When All Else Fails? Tacos!

If all goes as expected, just about the time you’re opening this blog I should be walking into my summer cottage in Chautauqua, NY, to get ready for the upcoming season. I’m sure I’ll be tired from a long trip, and I’m not sure my internet will be on. Today just happens to be Cinco de Mayo. So in honor of that, I thought I would share one of my favorite recipes with you and all the paraphernalia that comes with making it.

But boy, is it worth it.

Do you love tacos? I’m not talking about tacos with the crunchy shells from your supermarket shelves or stale packaged tortillas that taste vaguely like glue. I’ll confess until I began to make my own tortillas, I ate tacos under protest. But now this is one of my very favorite meals.

So let’s start with the basics. And please remember tacos are not part of my ethnic heritage. Let’s not pretend I’m sharing grandma’s authentic recipe. My own grandmas were more likely to make pork and sauerkraut or beef stew with lots of potatoes. So this is just me making tacos the way I like them.

If you live near a restaurant, restaurant supplier, or Mexican grocer, you may be able to get fresh corn tortillas locally. If you can, the taco goddess is with you. But if you can’t, making your own isn’t nearly as hard as you might think. And let me say that fresh tortillas make this meal. I’ve yet to find any at a regular grocery store that taste even half as good.

First you need masa (instant corn masa flour.) I’ve pictured the brand I buy. It lasts forever.

Next to make this easy, a tortilla press. There are several brands. I have a larger and a smaller one. The smaller is less expensive and works perfectly because corn tortillas are small anyway. For the record if you’re making flour tortillas, a tortilla press is not the best way to go–although I’ve done it. (Homemade flour tortillas are yummy, but I tend to buy mine at the store because mine aren’t that much better.)

Amazon sells this press, which I own and like. It’s $25.97, but it wasn’t when I bought it. Yikes. I’m going to take very good care of mine. There are cheaper models, but I’ll confess I’m a fan of the cast iron variety.

Getting the dough the right consistency takes a little practice. I end up using almost a 1/1 mixture, half water, half masa. I plan on one-half cup of masa for each person balanced with about 1/3 cup of water to start. There are rarely leftovers. I normally forget to add salt, but a little is a good thing. Start with a pinch.

I use the Chef’s Design Ultimate Griddle that covers two burners. I like mine because I can use it on both gas and electric glasstop ranges. Again, I bought this at Amazon and since buying the first one the price has skyrocketed. Just follow the instructions and do NOT heat this baby above medium or it won’t last and you’ll be shopping again soon.

While my griddle is heating I cut a plastic bag in half along the folds so I have two identical sides. You don’t need fancy slider bags. I use the bread bags that come with wire ties. I like them better for refrigerator storage anyway because they’re so flexible. Open the press and cover each side with half the bag. Then take a chunk of dough about golf ball size, which should not be sticky or crumbly. Roll it around a bit and place it on the bottom of the press–on top of the bag–make sure the other half is covered with its half of the bag, then close the press. I usually press twice. Once, then I open it, turn the tortilla around holding on to the bags which are now flat against both sides of the tortilla, and press again.

Carefully peel off the top plastic square. Then flip and balance the tortilla in your non-dominant hand–plastic still intact. Carefully peel off the remaining  square of plastic.

If you can’t get the tortilla off without it tearing you have probably used too much water. No problem. Throw it back with the rest of the dough, add a bit more masa, knead a moment and try again. Ditto if it feels grainy. Toss it back and add a bit more water. Practice makes perfect. I tend to use more water than I’ve specified above. But I know what works for me.

Grill the tortilla until it begins to develop darker spots on the side against the griddle. It won’t brown. Corn tortillas don’t; they dry out and look firmer. If you’re lucky they may puff a bit. I sometimes press my spatula gently against the edges and that encourages a bit of puff, but it’s just for fun. Flip and cook the other side the same way.

Having a tortilla keeper is a very good thing. And guess what? These, at least, aren’t expensive. Here’s the one I use. I line it with a paper towel, and each tortilla goes right into it as I finish it, and then the lid goes on. The keeper keeps your tortillas warm and they stay moist and flexible.

I just discovered this little miracle, though, from Imusa. Not only does it keep tortillas warm and moist, you can heat them in the microwave and it really does do a fabulous job of heating leftover tortillas and keeping them warm. A lot better than paper towels or dish towels. Now when I have company I can make my tortillas ahead of time and just run them through the microwave before we eat.

This seems like a lot of stuff to own, doesn’t it? To be clear, you can use a frying pan if you don’t have a griddle. You can roll out the tortillas, although the consistency will be different. I never saw a tortilla press on my trip to Guatemala where they seem to be patted out by hand. The tortillas were thicker, puffier and delicious. But they were tortillas.

You will need masa. And you will need something to keep the tortillas warm as you cook more, perhaps cradled between two plates, or under plastic wrap or foil? The rest is up to you.

For me making tortillas is a tradition, a hobby, relaxation all rolled into one. We eat ours with whatever we have on hand. I make the tortillas and my husband prepares the fillings. Tonight, for Cinco de Mayo, we’ll do them with leftover pork tenderloin, avocado, cilantro, tomato, red onion, grated cheddar, salsa and hot sauce. If we don’t have leftover meat we often grill shrimp, or open a can of black beans we spice up with onion and garlic. We add lettuce if we have it, or cabbage slaw, and grilled chicken is luscious. Tacos are a “do-it-yourself , clean out the fridge and freezer” kind of meal.

And don’t get me started on fish tacos. I have two dozen recipes, all of which I’m dying to try. Fish tacos are food for the Gods.

Are you on board already? What do you like to put in your own tacos? What have I missed?

**I’ve used my Amazon associate links here, but look for the best bargain on all these fun tacos things.

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Sunday Inspiration: “We must never forget…”

And we must never forget the men and women who sacrificed so much so that we may be free. I hope you will take some time this weekend to remember…

 

 

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Newspapers: What Have You Read Lately?

I’ve confessed before, but I’ll confess again. I love newspapers. This apparently makes me desperately old-fashioned. But while I also check newspaper articles online, nothing compares to sitting down in the morning with the real thing and going through it page by page. I miss the little things on the internet. The local tidbits. The letters to the editor, sometimes hysterical, sometimes maddening, sometimes moving. The classifieds? Little gold mines of ideas for novelists, as are the pithy human interest stories.

The Sarasota Herald Tribune has wonderful magazine sections. Tuesday is Health and Fitness. Wednesday: Food and Wine. Thursday is the Ticket section with more good things to do over the weekend than anyone has time for. Then Friday is Home.  I feel right at home myself since many of the articles come from the Washington Post, my last local paper.

Today’s Health section was filled with great things to share here. For instance:

Unlike other senses, smell has an immediate link to the limbic system. That’s the part of our brain that produces emotions. So when smelling something triggers a strong feeling for you? That’s your reason. In fact sometimes we have a reaction and aren’t consciously aware of the smell.
Can’t talk to your doctor about important issues like dying? A recent survey tells us why. Language and medical interpretation issues are the number one reaons, followed by religious, spiritual and cultural barriers. Sounds almost insurmountable, doesn’t it? So you’ll have to work harder if you want that conversation.
Wonder why you eat sweets when you’re under stress? Because sugar reduces cortisol, aka the stress hormone.
Mothers who nursed babies seem to have a better outcome after a breast cancer diagnosis, and less aggressive tumor types.
Teachers are among the least likely to suffer from drug or alcohol addiction. Miners are among the most.

One of my favorite articles today was about a doctor who trained in India where he treated patients suffering from “poverty, malnutrition and disease.” But surprise, surprise, when he came to the U.S. and began to treat patients who were healthier and wealthier, he discovered their level of suffering was the same. So Dr. Amit Sood began a lifelong quest to understand the scientific basis of suffering and come up with practical suggestions.

His new book is characterized as both playful and profound, and it sounds like a wonderful read. The Mayo Clinic Handbook for Happiness is available now, and Sood is the chair of the Mayo Mind Body Initiative as well as director of research at the clinic’s Complementary and Integrative Medicine program.

One of his topics? “It’s not your fault.” Our minds are hard-wired to attach the negative because that once gave us a survival advantage. He prescribes a four step, ten week program to help overcome it.

The other article I loved is about mastering our habits. Gretchen Rubin has written a new book Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives. Like Dr. Sood she concentrates on happiness. I’m intrigued by the way she divides us into categories depending on the way we respond to expectations. Then she helps each category learn how to improve their own habits, based on the way they see the world. Fascinating stuff.

And that’s just a sample.

Do you read the paper? Is reading it one of those habits Gretchen Rubin talks about? Something you do because you’re expected or? Or do you love what you find? Wallowing in bad news is one of the things Dr. Sood warns us about, so look for the good stuff in your pages.

If you find something fun to share here, please do.

**I am an Amazon Associate and the Amazon links in this email are affiliate links meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may get a commission if you make a purchase. I’m a big fan of local bookstores, too, and hope you shop there often.

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Sunday Inspiration: 10 Tips To Happiness

I’m not Catholic, but I find Pope Francis to be an inspiring religious leader and a man I respect. I especially admire that he doesn’t just speak words of compassion and justice, but he lives out those words in his everyday life. He recently spoke about these 10 Tips To Happiness, which speak to people of all faiths or none:

1. Live and let live. The Pope made headlines when he replied to a question about rights for gay people,”Who am I to judge?” Happiness comes from letting people be who they are without condemnation or prejudice.

2. Give yourself to others. We are happiest when we are giving, not receiving, aren’t we? Being generous expands and deepens our spirits and connects us with others.

3 Move quietly in the world. Use prayer and meditation to center and balance yourself.  Walk softly on the Earth.

4. Enjoy leisure. Avoid being seduced by consumerism. Be playful and take time to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

5. Take Sunday (or a day of rest) to be with your family. As Michael J. Fox said, “Family is not an important thing. It is everything.”

6. Empower young people. Give youth opportunities for jobs and honest, simple work. How can anyone be happy or have self-respect if she or he is denied a job?

7. Care for the environment. Respect nature. Don’t waste the world’s precious resources. Preserve for future generations. As the Pope says, “Isn’t humanity committing suicide with this indiscriminate and tyrannical use of nature?”

8. Let go of negative things. Don’t get stuck in the past with doubts, guilt, and regrets. Move on. Practice forgiveness as a way of letting go of grudges and anger. You will be happier.

9. Respect others opinions. Don’t push your religion on others by proselytizing. You will impress people more with compassionate acts than with preaching dogma.

10. Work for peace. The Pope repeats the words of Jesus by saying, “blessed are the peacemakers,” and he has worked hard for peace in the Mideast and other parts of the world. He calls on us to take the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount seriously, believing that peace can only be achieved through justice.

Do any of these particularly speak to you?

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The Writing Process 2015: Finding the Right Details

If you’re new to The Writing Process 2015, these posts are a chance to share my journey through my latest novel, starting right at ground zero. Today let’s talk about finding the right details for your story.

We’re about to pull our biannual house switcheroo. This means that we are entertaining a steady stream of visitors and phone calls. By visitors, I mean plumbers and security system techs and the air-conditioning service guy, not to mention our friend the pest control guru. By phone calls? Phone companies here and in New York. House minder. The guy who cuts our hair. The dermatologist who sees us regularly because we not only live in Florida, my husband and I both grew up here in pre-sunscreen days.

In the midst of the hubbub I’m still working on my book. I’m even making progress, at least a little. But the going’s been rough.

In the past two weeks I’ve moved into a new section of my story. With the move came a scene change, which will be repeated again and again before the book ends because my major characters are on the move. Suddenly I needed new details and new ways to quickly bring my readers into my setting so that they will feel they’re right there living the story along with Robin, Cecilia and Kris.

Describing scenes we know personally isn’t easy, but it’s easier. We can visualize something we’ve seen–like closing my house for the summer, as I described above–and we can carefully reconstruct it in our minds using new similes or metaphors, new descriptive language. But as I’ve said before, at a certain point authors of multiple novels eventually run out of things we know. Or even quite possibly we find the things we know so boring we prefer to write about things we don’t.

Right now I’ve spent a lot of what writing time I can eke out (or more accurately eek! out) familiarizing myself with my new setting, then picking out details I want to share to bring my readers into the story with me.

Here’s what I look for:

Realistic details that still offer surprises.
Local color, and lots of it.
Details that use all five senses, hopefully in a new way.  How does the air smell in autumn? How does it feel? Will you taste wood smoke on your tongue, hear a barn owl hooting?
Interesting bits of history.

Here’s where I look:

Wikipedia–a good start and the best way to get quick answers
Biographies, travel guides, history–both fiction and non-fiction. Sometimes another novelist has found a treasure trove of detail–but check it for accuracy and thoroughly rewrite whatever details you use. True for all your research, of course.
Websites. This week I spent hours on local history sites, official websites for the towns I was interested in, websites for restaurants, hotels, inns.
Photos. Real estate sites often have great ones, as do personal blogs. When choosing details choose those scenes you might take a photo of yourself if you were there.
How-to books for professions or hobbies I’m using. I buy these and keep them on my desk, marking what I think I’ll need. If I can buy for my Kindle I highlight details I’ll use later.
Case histories and true life accounts.

It’s important to know what not to use, as well.

Fascinating details that have nothing to do with your story.
Details that have to be pounded into place with a sledgehammer because they don’t quite fit where you want to use them.
Details that nobody else will care about because most readers have no special interest in the subject.
Details that have to be so carefully explained the reader will fall asleep before finishing.
Details that slow the story or halt it altogether.

When I’m researching something brand new, I often give in to panic. I will never know enough to write about this. I will never be able to convey the heart of it. I will make mistakes, terrible, terrible mistakes. Then, somewhere along the way–and it depends on subject matter–I feel something thump into place inside me. No, I don’t know everything, but I can convey what I find most interesting about what I do know. And yes, mistakes are possible, but the harder I work, the fewer I’ll make.

I can find details to make the story seem real. I can find details that will make the reader want to continue reading. And that’s my job.

Do you have a novel you love that makes you feel like you’re living the story with the characters? Anybody’s novel. Want to share with us?

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Sunday Inspiration: Happy Mother’s Day!

To mothers everywhere, I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day!

 

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Novels and Wildflowers

I’ve lived in Florida now for two and a half years. Although I started life here, too, so Florida immediately felt like home again.

What do you look for when you choose a new home? Price, of course, but beyond that? In the past we’ve chosen by job and school district, but this time with no children left at home and my husband retired we had so many options. What we discovered immediately is that setting makes all the difference to us.

After searching for more than a year, we walked into our present home and knew we were home. For us, it was the view. Our house backs up to a state park, and the only separation is a narrow, marshy body of water we call our lagoon. We took a cursory look at the house, noted it had enough bedrooms and that the previous owners had upgraded almost everything. All that was a formality.  They had us at the view.

After we moved in we noticed that the plantings in the back of our house blocked sight lines. Everything was standard issue Florida and not doing that well. So little by little shrubs disappeared. Now the bed outside the lanai was ours to plant with annuals and perennials.

We settled on native wildflowers and butterfly annuals and perennials. Not everything we have fits that category, but close to it. We have milkweed, three colors of sage and bleeding heart from a favorite neighbor. The back bed is a wide expanse and we wondered how we would find the energy and time to fill it. No need to worry. This year Mother Nature decided to help. The sample plants I’d bought and put in last year, many of which hadn’t made it over the summer, had reseeded.

At first I thought I had weeds. Lots of weeds. But since I wasn’t sure, I decided to wait a bit. As time passed I noted that the plants were starting to look familiar. I know Ohio weeds. I know Virginia weeds. But I wasn’t so sure I knew Florida weeds, despite having grown up here. Good thing, because these weren’t weeds. Not even the tall rye-grass looking plants that seemed to be cropping up everywhere.

I recognized the gaillardia or blanket flower first. I had planted this for the butterflies last year, and now, there it was again. Two clumps in new places. Then half a dozen coreopsis, which developed buds quickly. The last, though? That rye-grass? Surely I needed to pull those. Except that just before I did I suddenly remembered that the year before I’d planted something similar, and just as we were about to despair and remove it, the plant put out a glorious profusion of tiny yellow flowers.

And yes, apparently now my Florida tickseed (another form of coreopsis) had seeded and found new homes in the mulch. The clusters of flowers waiting to be born were everywhere. And did I remove them?

Not a one.

Why did I choose to blog about this today? Does it have anything at all to do with writing?

Truth is, ideas for novels are like these wildflowers of mine. We novelists can think about what will sell, the absolute sure thing. We can cultivate a book with sales in mind, mulch and fertilize and prune every time the idea is getting out of control. We can tame it, never mind how predictable or boring it feels. We can follow trends. We can follow rules.

Or we can see what surprises come our way. We can trust the process, assume that whatever is about to flower may not be a weed but a wildflower. We can toss predictability out the window and allow surprises to take root.

I think of that every day when I look over my garden. Not many butterflies have yet discovered us. Maybe we need more butterfly specific flowers. Or maybe we’ll just wait and see. But yesterday we saw a hummingbird. And a black racer zig-zags through the garden when he thinks we aren’t looking. Bees love our flowers, too.

Most of all, so do we.

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Sunday Inspiration: Oppression and Tolerance

With all the tension around the killing of Freddie Gray by the police and the ensuing riots in Baltimore, I gravitated to these words by John Kennedy to remind me that tolerance is an active and compassionate decision to accept people for who they are and not to judge them based on what others believe.

Tolerance applies to all people, to the rioters, the police, as well as the victims of violence, but we cannot be tolerant of acts that dehumanize or persecute others. So many people are harmed by these acts, but I am inspired by all those who have peacefully refused to accept brutality.

May we always choose tolerance over persecution and hatred.

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These Are a Few of My Favorite Websites

This week I’m in California visiting family, so while I’m gone I’m going to send you on a scavenger hunt. Luckily there’s nothing to actually scavenge except fun and ideas.

Like many of you I’ve found some great ways to waste time on the web. I’ve also found some great ways to improve my writing and social media skills. Today I thought I’d share a few of my favorite sites, so that you can explore a little, too.

Book Recommendations:

This book list is from the late Father William Neenan at Boston College. I came across it doing research for The Color of Light. How many have you read?

And here’s a list from the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, possibly the oldest book club in existence. These are books that were chosen for discussion each summer from 1878 to 2014. Again, can you tally how many you’ve read? That will take some time.

From the U.K.’s Telegraph, a list of best romantic novels. Not only have I not read them all, I haven’t even heard of a few. I should change that, right?

Social Media and Blogging:

I subscribe or have subscribed to a number of newsletters with tips on blogging and/or using social media. Newsletters are a great way to stay current so that I make your experience online with me professional and fun. Amy Lynn Andrews has by far the best newsletter I’ve come across, which she calls the Useletter. Her tips are interesting, concise and helpful even if you’re not a professional. If the subject interests you I recommend subscribing to this one. To get an idea what she does, click on Contents.

PicMonkey is a great online photo editor.  I love the humor and the easy to learn skills.

Canva features simple graphic design software. I’ve used it a few times and would use it more if I had time to put all these great ideas into practice.

Just for Fun:

I just discovered Book Riot and it’s now part of my daily ritual. Lots of fun stories, videos, analysis of books here. I loved a recent look at bookish parodies from Sesame Street. If you’re a fan of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, make sure you view Game of Chairs. Sly humor for adults mixed with counting games for children. Perfect.

I just found 22 Words today, so I can’t say too much yet because I haven’t checked every entry for language or bathroom humor. But this list of ridiculous kitchen gadgets caught my eye. I actually gave one of these away on this blog several years ago. I’m not kidding, do you remember? I bought an extra for myself and still use it. The moment I start adding more Ministry is Murder novels to the collection, I am sure I’ll need to buy a few of these as giveaways. You’ll know which ones I mean when you look through the list.

Lots of Inspiration:

There are so many inspirational and thought provoking websites. I don’t mean collections of quotes particularly, but websites that have taken on the challenge of changing the world we live in. One of my favorites is Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life.  Based at the University of California at Berkeley they describe their mission this way: “The Greater Good Science Center studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being, and teaches skills that foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society.”

I hope you enjoy today’s collection. Why not share some of your own favorite websites in the comments below? More to love is never a bad idea.

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