Alex Gordon's Blog, page 10

Chilly scenes of winter

We haven’t had a great deal of snow so far here in northeast Illinois, but the ground is covered and it does look wintry. The state park is a palette of all shades of brown, from coffee to rust and tan, beige and cream. The sun came out occasionally during this morning’s walk–the blue sky popped and everything brightened. Then the clouds would come through again, and even the sun would fade.

It’s harder to find things to photograph this time of year–no gorgeous wildflowers to snag the eye. But sometimes I run into something that calls out “Photograph me!” That’s what happened when I came upon these grass spikes. They reminded me of wheat, but I think they’re Canadian wild rye.

Pretty sure this is Canada wild rye, Elymus canadensis

Then there’s the sun behind cloud, and the tarnished silver sky and bare trees. Very Gothic.

Eerie winter sky. Moody landscape.

Good Intentions & Fresh Starts

I’m not good at New Year’s Resolutions. They’re not hard deadlines, so they’re easy to set aside. I stick to them for a little while, and then, gradually, I don’t.

Take this blog, for instance. Last year, I swore to make an effort to post once a week, but as you can tell from the dates of my posts, well, that didn’t pan out. After updating my Facebook author pages and tweeting, I was pretty much tapped out. The answer, of course, is to prioritize this space. I know I do get visitors–Google Analytics says so. If folks know that something new will be posted on a weekly basis, they’ll be more inclined to visit more often.

I have also wanted to write more short fiction. It’s not my natural length, so it’s a challenge. I’ve written a few pieces over the years, all commissioned–I haven’t sent anything out cold since the early 1990s. Maybe it’s time to take some chances again.

Barring utter disaster, I will be releasing at least one new novel in 2021. It’s entitled Echoes of War, the sixth Jani Kilian novel, short snippets of which I’ve been posting over at my Facebook author page on Sunday evenings (or sometimes Monday evenings). I’ve would also like to finish Lilith, the third Gideon Witches story, which may be either a novella or a novel. There’s also a straight suspense novel I’ve been pondering for over a year. Thing is, I’m a slow writer, so this is more than a year’s work for me already.

Cooking and baking–those are always at the top of the to-do list because if I don’t do them, I don’t eat. They’re also easy for me to write about, so I think I’ll wrap this up with a link to a recipe that’s become a favorite of mine, Persian-Style Carrots and Black-Eyed Peas. I’ve been incorporating more beans and vegetables into my diet for a while, but I wanted to find more ways to cook them besides soups and roasting. This recipe offers some flavors I don’t often employ, saffron and honey. It’s good warm or cold, as a side dish or rolled in flatbread. In fact, I cooked some black-eyed peas today to be used in a batch I’ll be making this weekend.

So, first post of the new year. It’s a start.

Hello

It has been a while.

I do have an excuse this month. I’ve been attempting NaNoWriMo again, and while I won’t hit 50K words, I have been working most every day and making progress. Barring the Inevitable Unforeseen, Echoes of War (Jani Kilian #6) should hit virtual shelves in 2021. No firm date yet, but given how this story has twisted, turned, and, well, expanded, I’m glad it’s coming out, period.

In the meantime, I hope all you US folks have the best possible Thanksgiving given the circumstances, and that you non-US folks have the best possible week.

And since I usually post a photo or two of either food or the great outdoors, well, have an Applesauce Müesli Muffin. I found the recipe on the side of the Deutsche Küche Müesli box (Aldi), and I do like the resulting muffins. I used a mix of King Arthur flours, 1 cup white whole wheat and 1/2 cup whole wheat.

Autumn Days

Leaves are changing here in the Midwest. The sugar maples are particularly lovely. All that brilliant red-orange.

Artsy autumn leaves photo

There are still a few blooms on one Rose of Sharon, and the mums are popping. But the potted begonias are straggling, and everything else is at that late summer all passion spent stage. My least favorite time of year. I will miss the flowers.

I have been working on Jani #6, Echoes of War. It’s slow but steady going, egged on by the fact that I have scheduled with Editor for January 2021. That may sound like a long ways away, but it’s three months. And given how my books are twisty things that buck me off at least once, and that I am a bit on the slow side, speed-wise, well, it ain’t that long. I have a daily word count schedule on Scrivener–I don’t always hit it, but I do so often enough that I’m not falling behind.

(FYI–I post Echoes snippets over on my Facebook Author Page every Sunday evening.)

Then there’s the fact that NaNoWriMo is coming up next month. I have signed up so many times, and fallen by the wayside an equal number of times. But this year, This Year, she said, voice cracking in hope, I’m going to give it a real shot. If I don’t hit 50K, that’s fine. But if I just keep pace with my Scrivener schedule, I’ll be doing way better than I have during any year since I learned there was a thing called NaNoWriMo.

So, it’s dark outside, I have words to write, and a muffin to eat. Made them yesterday, and they are a winner. My fave Simply Recipes Banana Bread recipe, with 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour, toasted pecans, diced dried figs, and three tablespoons spiced rum–the whole wheat flour takes up the extra liquid. Anyway, so good. Very moist, with a deep, rich autumn flavor.

It’s Muffin Time!

So, until next time…

Funded!

A few hours ago, the Zombies Need Brains anthology Kickstarter crossed the funding finish line. But that’s only the beginning.

First, open call for stories to fill out in the anthologies. All you writers out there–check out the submission guidelines.

Second, stretch goals. Hitting those goals means free books and stories for folks who’ve already pledged, another story for each of the current anthologies, and maybe even another anthology…or two.

So, pledge if you can. Share the guidelines with your writers group.
And finally, many thanks to folks who’ve pledged. We couldn’t have done it without you.

It’s Kickstarter Time!

The Kickstarter is underway for the latest trio of themed anthologies from Zombies Need Brains. In addition to clashing cultures and deities trying to survive dealing with humans, there will be tales of lost and abandoned ships of sea and space, entitled Derelict, and one of those tales will be mine. The anthology description is as follows:

No one can resist the mystery of the abandoned ship–whether it’s the ghost ship found afloat at sea in the Bermuda Triangle or the spaceship drifting in the depths of space a la the movie Alien. What happened to the crew? What horror forced them to abandon their vessel and flee…or are they still on board, trapped or even all dead? In this anthology, we want authors to explore all of the possibilities when one runs across…a Derelict.

And as an added bonus, I’m offering a Tuckerization in the next Jani novel for a $250 pledge.

For those who are wondering what the heck a Tuckerization is, well, I name a secondary character in Echoes of War** after you. This character is shady, and has some interactions with Niall Pierce, and is not beyond redemption, let us say. I don’t want to give too much else away.

In addition, the pledger will receive trade and ebook copies of all three anthologies, with stories by Julie Czerneda, Tanya Huff, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Esther Friesner, and, well, me, along with so many others. 

So, pledge if you can, and please share the Kickstarter on social media.

**working title

Oh well

I swore when I restarted this blog that I would try to post weekly, if not a couple of times a week.

That didn’t work out, did it?

For all I’m at home pretty much all day/every day, the time still flies. It’s already 722pm, and I feel as though it should still be midday. This, despite the fact that I walked Gaby earlier this morning, putter-weeded a bit, doomscrolled through Twitter and the usual blogs, finished up my 10k steps on the treadmill, posted some FB author page posts, had an unfortunately getting more complicated by the minute short story gel in my backbrain, and had some oat milk ice cream. With Coop’s Cold Brew Mocha Sauce.

So my birthday was a couple of weeks ago. The 4th, to be exact. Given the circumstances, no plans were made. Friends texted and emailed good wishes, and we discussed plans once normal life resumes. I tried to settle Gaby, who had been dealing with firecrackers for the better part of two weeks and was jittery despite medication and off her feed besides. But I was determined to make the best of this unsettling situation, and bake something new. I always wanted to try mug cake, but I never got around to it. What better time to attempt a single serve cake recipe than a pandemic birthday?

So I searched the cooking interwebs, and found several recipes. Thing was, reading through them made me a little sick. I mean, this is not a lot of cake we’re talking about, maybe the size of a cupcake, but the recipes I found called for 3 tablespoons of oil. That’s almost a quarter cup. It wasn’t just the calories–after all, this was a birthday cake. It was the fact that I really don’t like oily food. So I poked around a little more, and found this recipe for Low Fat Chocolate Mug Cake. No oil, just a little melted butter. Not much added sugar. I looked forward to adding the suggested chocolate chips, and maybe some gelato on the side.

Those plans fell through when, as I poked through the cupboard for the flour etc, I found signs that a mouse had infiltrated the premises. Instead of eating cake and watching “Captain Marvel,” I spent my birthday evening cleaning out the cupboard, hunting for mousetraps, and calming Gaby.

I’ve had better birthdays.

Matters improved. I caught the mouse that evening. The fireworks stopped eventually. And, about a week later, I made mug cake. I tweaked the recipe, because I always do. I paid homage to Aarón Sánchez’ Mexican Brownies by adding cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne pepper. I also added half a teaspoon of instant espresso powder to boost the chocolate flavor. I opted for the oven method, and wound up with what I felt was a decent, light, not too sweet dark chocolate cake. A few days late, I made it again, this time in the microwave. My microwave is wonky, so instead of 45-50 seconds, it actually took 80-90 seconds for the center of the cake to set. That left the outer edge a little dry. I think next time I will stick with the oven.

Now that I’ve made mug cake twice, I will play a bit. I think I could replace the butter with peanut butter, add chopped nuts, or substitute oat flour for some of the wheat flour for a nuttier taste. If I’d had Chambord, I’d have added a bit–I love chocolate and raspberry.

In closing, it occurs to me that I was remiss in not photographing either of those mug cakes. So in keeping with both the usual subjects of this blog, here are some flowers. All the photos taken by Yours Truly.

A bee visiting my Kalm’s St. John’s WortNative wild bergamot at the state parkJewel weed along the bike trailCommelina communis, the Asiatic dayflower (aka “mouse ears)

Recipes

So yesterday, in the quest for the manual for the kitchen timer/temperature probe, I hunted through the file folder in which I stash All The Manuals. I found it, along with some things that didn’t belong in there, namely some of my grandmother’s recipes. They came tucked in a yellowed sheet of paper containing her handwritten recipe for fastnachts–her added note referred to them as “Pennsylvania Dutch doughnuts.” It’s a lengthy recipe, a page and a half of faded red ink, written in her crabbed hand, capped off by a sentence written in dark blue or faded black.

Some of the recipes are cut from newspapers. They’re mostly all for baked goods, doughnuts, or relishes of some sort. All the newspaper is yellowed and brittle. One recipe for “Mrs. Hoak’s Fastnacht Kuechles” is backed by ads for a couple of stores. The phone number for Kiddie Koop Children’s Wear starts with two letters, while the women’s clothing store features a shift dress “For the Mother-to-Be” for $12.95.

Unfortunately, the last part of the recipe was continued on another page, and that part is missing. But I do have Grandma’s handwritten version. The list of ingredients is different, but I am guessing that there are as many fastnacht recipes as there are folks lined up to scarf them down.

A typewritten recipe for Danish Pastry is dated “Sept. 1962.” What looks like a chutney recipe, made with green tomatoes, sweet green peppers, and “hot” red onions. The only one containing meat is one for “Liver Dumplings.” Now, I like liver, but I don’t know if I will try those.

Sour cream coffee cake. Spaetzle. White bread. Tapioca pudding. Chili sauce, in handwriting I don’t recognize, written on note paper advertising the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, nicknamed The Nickel Plate Road.

I will fold these carefully and tuck them inside one of my cookbooks. Then I need to hunt down my mom’s recipes. I know I have one for her sour cream coffee cake, which she got from her mom and for which she was rightly famous. I never cared for it when I was little, but it is the sort of baked good I would love now. Not too sweet, and lovely if lightly toasted.

Keeping Busy—New Recipes

I feel like I just posted about April flowers, and it’s already May. I hope you’re all well. I’ve been writing, cooking, baking, reading, and listening to a lot of webinars on a number of subjects: COVID-19, the writing business, nature and gardening.

Also drinking a lot of coffee and possibly wearing the same shirt a day or two longer than advisable.

I do not look like Baby Yoda. Yet.

One thing I did on the cooking front was try new recipes—did you know you can make “ice cream” out of bananas? Just freeze them, then whip them into a mousse in a food processor or blender. Add chocolate, instant coffee powder, cardamom, or a shot of spiced rum, and you have a pretty decent dessert. Is it a substitute for really good gelato? No. But if you’re watching your sugar or fat intake or need to add more fruit to your diet or, like me, you just really like bananas, it’s a pretty good thing to have in the freezer.

Banana freeze with a sprinkle of powdered chocolate

One of my favorite chili recipes is Ree Drummond’s (The Pioneer Woman) Simple Perfect Chili. One reason I like it is the use of masa harina (corn flour) as the thickener—it adds a hint of corn flavor, like a scatter of tortilla chips. The last time I made it, I found I didn’t have any masa harina. A quick trip to the nearest grocery store later, I became the proud owner of a 4.4-pound bag of Maseca instant masa. Thing is, I only needed 1/4 cup of the stuff, which meant I had a lot of leftover flour.

Hence the hunt for recipes. I wanted to use the masa more as a side dish than a wrap or bread, so I was pretty happy to find this recipe for Mexican polenta even though it didn’t call for instant masa. I tried it anyway, using the proportion of masa to water the recipe called for. It came out like thick farina, which I think is the desired consistency. It set up as it cooled—well, so does oatmeal and other cooked cereals. Next time, though, I may add more water.

Anyway, for step two, I decided to make this Greens and Beans Polenta Bake from Epicurious. I used less cheese and oil—not a fan of oily food—and pinto beans instead of small white beans. Baby kale served as the greens. I did add the six cloves of garlic.

Results above. The pie didn’t slice neatly, like polenta would. I am guessing this is because I didn’t use the masa as soon as I made it, when it was nice and flowy and warm. But messy as it was, it was still pretty tasty. Very garlicky. I will definitely make it again, although I will play with masa-water proportion to see if I can get a sliceable final product.

April Flowers

Whoa–March just zipped right by, didn’t it? Between the news, and the news, and the news, and even more news, it’s all added up to one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that we all could’ve done without.

I hope you and yours are well, and remain so.

I’m a borderline hermit by nature, but I confess I have been feeling a little restless at times. I text with friends, and meet up online. But yesterday, after early morning senior hour shopping, I took the long way home. It felt good to get out, even if it was just a drive along familiar side roads.

I’m starved for outdoor warmth, and eager for Spring. I made the mistake of looking through a garden catalog, and all I will say is that many page corners have been folded down. I should know better than to get excited—the photos all show well-established masses of blooming shrubs, ground cover, flowering plants. Then you look at what you can order, and it’s a single little stick in a 3″ pot. Hundreds of dollars and a few years later, maybe I could match the catalog images. Maybe.

That said, I am looking at a few things. Azaleas. Coneflowers. Milkweed. A house for mason bees. I also need to get outside and assess what I have—the columbine is poking up through the leaf cover, as are the astilbes, the lobelia, and the bee balm. Daffodils are thisclose to opening, and the crocuses and Pink Fizz hellebores are leading the way.

Before I have fun with planting, though, I need to clean up the lawn and getting the mower up and going. Poor Ferdinand the Toro will be 16 this spring, and the local repair guy can’t get parts for him anymore. I hope to keep him going for another year, but I’m also comparing prices and features of battery-powered mowers. Some of them look pretty darn good.