Tuesday Stuff

Currently Reading: The Balloon Man, by Charlotte Armstrong and Drop Dead Beautiful, by Jackie Collins. I absolutely love Jackie Collins' books!

E-books: I have to repurchase Cindy Spencer Pape's Dragon in the System. Apparently my download time has expired. Not bad; I was able to recover the other 3 from EC, so it's not too hard on my wallet! And as I've stated, my flash drive will be tested on Thursday, and hopefully it will prove to be virus-free, and I can access my files again!

This will prove beneficial in 2 ways:
-I can access my TBB list;
-I can submit my EC story AND continue the critiquing process on my other one! And hopefully, I'll get a favorable response from Eternal Press in a couple of weeks?????


In honor of Kelly's 'coming clean' yesterday, I came up with the following. And yes, she okayed it!


There once was a woman named Blu
Whose identity nobody knew
Her books are so hot
They are actively sought
By everyone but those in the pew!

Her husband's a preacher, you see
The parishioners just wouldn't be
Too thrilled with the news
She writes different views
They would pass out or fall on their knees!

Looking forward to meeting you tonight:)


Promised Recipe
My apologies...my favorite Zola recipe is on my flash drive. I did make her Moroccan Chicken once; here it is.

Serves 2:

The base:
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne (I left it out)
1 Tbsp olive oil

2 large chicken breast halves on the bone with skin (I think I used boneless skinless, but not sure!)

The sauce:
1 medium onion diced
1 Tblsp minced ginger
1 Tblsp garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (I left it out)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white wine
3 oz tomato paste
1 15-oz can chopped tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
15 oz can of cannellini beans (I used white northern)
2 Tblsp honey
1 lemon cut into wedges

On the side:
2 rounds whole-wheat pita bread
onion salt
olive oil spray (I used PAM)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put the base spices in large saute pan. Add olive oit and stil. Spread them around the surface of the pan. Heat on high and add the chicken, skin-side down. Brown chicken for 5 minutes; don't move it around.

Take chicken out of spice mixture and put into 13x9'' pan. Put it in oven to roast, bone-side down for 30 mins. You'l finish the rest while sauce while it cooks.

Add onion to spices left in pan. Stir to mix the onion w/the spices. Add in ginger, garlic, pepper, and cinnamon. Cook on medium for a minute. Add white wine and tomato paste, stirring to 'break up' the paste. Then add tomatoes, broth, beans, honey, and lemon wedges. Stir to mix this all up. The sauce will continue to cook on medium low until the chicken is done, about 20 minutes more.

Remove chicken from oven; check for doneness. Turn off the sauce.

Spray pita bread with spray and sprinkle on onion salt to taste. Heat pita bread in oven, 3-4 mins. You decide if want sauce on top of chicken or bottom. (I don't care for beans, so I put the chicken on top)


New Story Idea
Travis challenged me to put a horror writer into one of my books. I wrote five paragraphs last night; I just hope it's not too cheesy-sounding! Kell, you'll be my sounding board tonight...

Yeah, yeah, yeah; I hear you! I'm still not done writing the last two chapters on the wip last week; nor have I even finished the 2nd chapter of the one I started in June! So why am I starting another one? BECAUSE I CAN:) So don't go getting all Hot Under the Collar; while I'm in Access Denied to my flashdrive, My Last Dark Day will be when my van is totally free of system failure (hey...maybe there's a Dragon in it, hmmm???) and I'll have Sweet Dreams and Satisfaction Guaranteed again. And maybe I'll plant some Chrysanthemums in the back yard. (Sorry Anny...that was the only way I could think to get one of your titles in there!)

I'm going...I'm going...(ducking and running!)