I "heart" hummingbirds!

Many people might find it hard to believe there are hummingbirds nesting and raising babies in Canada in the wintertime, but there is a population of Anna's hummingbirds that overwinters on southern Vancouver Island. For years I've kept feeders in my garden and have had the pleasure of watching them year round.

Here's a photograh I took several years ago, and yes, that's snow you can see in the background!

This year the weather has been milder, but not without its challenges. For the past week, a male Anna's has spent long periods of time perched on the largest feeder in my yard. I've never seen this behavior before and at first I thought he might be injured or sick, but he seems fine and now I believe he's just being territorial! I've started calling him Tuff because he often displays white tufts of underfeathers near both wings, and because he has happily turned out to be tougher than I thought!

Here's Tuff at the feeder.

And here's Tuff in the California lilac.

For even better photographs of hummingbirds, I've started following Hummingbirds Up Close on Facebook and visiting the Hummingbirds Up Close website. If you "heart" hummingbirds, you'll love these sites! Both have beautiful photograhs as well as truly amazing videos of hummingbirds building nests, incubating their eggs and caring for their babies.

While I'm talking about hummingbirds, I feel it's important to offer a few tips to those who might consider setting up feeders in their own gardens. Please do not add red coloring to the nectar. The birds will be attracted to the red plastic on the feeder, and the chemicals in the food coloring aren't good for them. Please do clean your feeder once a week and refill it with fresh nectar. This will prevent toxic mold that's lethal to hummingbirds from growing in the feeder. Make your own hummingbird nectar by dissolving white sugar in water. In the summer I use a ratio of 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. In winter, when they need more energy, I mix a ratio of 1 part sugar to 3 parts water.

If nesting birds have you longing for springtime, I hope you'll consider entering my February contest because I'm giving away this adorable cupcake holder filled with yet-to-be-determined goodies!

To enter the draw, simply go to my website, subscribe to my newsletter AND send me an email telling me your favorite first sign of spring! Only newsletter subscribers are eligible, and the winner will be announced in the next issue.

I'm also thrilled to share the cover of Daddy, Unexpectedly, my next Harlequin American Romance (May 2013). I have loved all my covers but I especially love this one because the hero is very much as I imagined him as I was writing this story. Swoon!

This is the third and final book in my Ready Set Sold series about three women who own a Seattle-based real estate business. If anyone would like autographed bookplates for these three books (The Christmas Secret, The Daddy Project, and Daddy, Unexpectedly, please send me an email with your address and I'll pop them in the mail to you!

Happy reading!

Unitl next time,
Lee
Maggie's Way (Harlequin Heartwarming, May 2013)
Daddy, Unexpectedly (Harlequin American Romance, May 2013)
www.LeeMcKenzie.com

Springtime DIY

It must be spring because for the past week I’ve been itching to get started on a DIY project. I’m also being inspired by the heroine of the book I'm finishing, The Daddy Project (December 21012). Kristi is an interior decorator and if you read my last book, The Christmas Secret, you might remember meeting her there.

What I have in mind is to convert my cluttered back porch into a well-organized mudroom. And when I say “cluttered,” I'm afraid you will have to take my word for it because I’m too embarrassed to post a photo of it in its current state. I’m also too busy to roll up my sleeves and dive into this project right now, but I have started to compile my mudroom wishlist.

Because the porch/mudroom is the transition to our back yard, I’m thinking it needs a nice fresh wall color, like Benjamin Moore’s Woodland Hills Green.

Green is such a calming color, especially compared to the hideous mustard yellow that's on those walls right now.

Along one wall I’d like to install beadboard wainscoting with hooks above for coats and umbrellas and shopping bags.

There will have to be a built-in storage bench, along the lines of this one from This Old House, for stowing footwear and the recycling bin...

…and a shelf over the window, similar to this one I saw on Pintrest.

Finally, I would love to swap the boring old ceiling fixture for something more nature-inspired, like this Whoopsie Daisy chandelier from The Land of Nod. Isn't it pretty?

So, what do you think? Do you have a springtime DIY project in mind? Please share, if you do!

Until next time,
Lee
www.leemckenzie.com

Teen Celebrity Crushes

We've all had them, those crushes on the famous and oh-so-unattainable guys we saw on the Ed Sullivan show, whose movies we swooned over at the Saturday matinee, or whose records we listened to over and over again. You know the guy I mean.

At various times I had several teen crushes. James Darren as Moondoggie in the Gidget movies. I was too young to have a crush when the movie came out but when I saw it on TV in the '60s, I was in love! George Harrison, my favorite Beattle, and Herman from Herman's Hermits.

We lived in a small town in 1967 and I remember begging my parents to let me and a girlfriend go a Herman's Hermits concert in the city. I might as well have asked to go to the moon.

Instead I had to settle for listening to their records, over and over again. I knew all the lyrics, and I used my babysitting money to buy Tiger Beat magazine so I could pour over all the tantalizing details of Herman's life.

Last year, almost forty-five years after surviving the disappointment of missing the Herman's Hermits concert, my mother and I went to see Peter Noone (Herman) perform.

It wasn't the concert I so desperately wanted to see in the '60s but it was fun, and I even got my old LPs autographed.

I haven't played these records in years, but I did have a look inside the covers before I went to the concert. I'm so glad I did, because look what I found.

Two drawings I made of Herman when I was about thirteen.

They were drawn on looseleaf paper, no doubt while I supposed to be doing homework. Peter/Herman was a good sport and signed them for me, asking if I'd become any better at drawing over the years. Sadly, no! But I did discover that while I got over my crush, I'll always be a fan.

Okay, now it's confession time. Who was your teen crush?

Until next time,
Lee
www.leemckenzie.com
The Christmas Secret ~ available now
A Christmas present with a hidden past
The Daddy Project ~ December 2012

A Sweet Sewing Project

Wouldn't these cute 'n' cosy slippers make a great gift for your Valentine?

I found the pattern here at Craftsy.com and just had to share.

They would be so quick and easy to make for yourself or to give as a gift. I think they'd also be fun to have on hand for overnight guests, who could then take home and have a lovely memento of their visit.

Happy crafting!

Until next time,
Lee
www.leemckenzie.com
The Christmas Secret (November 2011)
The Daddy Project (TBA)
Daddy, Unexpectedly (TBA)

'Twas the night before Christmas...

Actually it's still the morning of the night before Christmas, my home is bustling with holiday preparations, and I love it! In a couple of hours we'll decorate the tree and then it'll officially be Christmas.

My whole family will be here and we usually have an informal buffet supper on Christmas Eve, but tonight I'm serving a four-course sit-down dinner—butternut squash soup, apple-pomegranate salad, boeuf bourguignon a la Julia Child, and lemon custard for dessert. Tomorrow, of course, I'll do the more traditional roast turkey with all the trimmings. For me, a Christmas filled with family and food is the best present of all, and I wish the same for you. Let's all have at least as much fun as these goats...

Until next time,
Lee
The Christmas Secret (Nov. '11)
The Daddy Project (working title, TBA)
Daddy, Unexpectedly (working title, TBA)
Lee's website
Lee's Facebook page

Nuts about the holidays! (recipes)

Looking for tasty snacks to have on hand when family and friends drop by?

Here are two easy make-ahead recipes to put out for your guests.

And if you package them in pretty glass jars, they also make great hostess gifts!

Spicy Almonds and Pecans

1 cup whole almonds, with skins on
1 cup pecans
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Toss all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until the nuts are coated with seasonings. Spread the mixture in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the baking sheet, let the nuts cool, and store in a tightly sealed jar for up to a week.

Curried Cashews

3 cups roasted cashews, unsalted
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons coarse salt
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Toss all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until the nuts are coated with seasonings. Spread the mixture in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the baking sheet, let the nuts cool, and store in a tightly sealed jar for up to a week.

The preparation instructions are pretty much the same but temperatures and times are different, so they have to be roasted separately.

Happy holidays!

Until next time,
Lee
http://www.leemckenzie.com/
The Christmas Secret (Nov. ‘11)
The Daddy Project (TBA)
Daddy, Unexpectedly (TBA)

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of my favorite things about holidays is that every year, even though it’s a day steeped in tradition, a fresh new memory is made.

I live in Canada where we celebrate Thanksgiving in early October, so I thought I’d share something new I tried this year. First I should tell you that I love to set the dining room table for a special occasion so I tend to go all out with the china, crystal, candles, linens and fresh flowers.

This year I decided it might be fun to add placecards. I started by searching online for “vintage Thanksgiving graphics” and this one caught my eye.

I printed the image on white cardstock, trimmed it to size, glued it on a piece of gold paper, and added the names by hand. Then, at each place setting, I propped the card on tiny white pumpkins I found at a local farmers' market.

My pink-and-white china doesn’t lend itself to traditional fall colors, so the gold and white worked well with my color scheme. Best of all it was easy and inexpensive!

Now I’m planning my Christmas tablescape. I think moose placecards will be fun because I have a lot of moose-themed holiday ornaments. What do you think of this?

Or this?

I haven't decided how to display them, but I might use pinecones. If you can think of a better idea, please let me know!

For now I’m wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving filled with everyone and everything you love.

Happy holidays!

Until next time,
Lee
http://www.leemckenzie.com/
The Christmas Secret (available now!)
The Daddy Project (TBA)
Daddy Unexpectedly (TBA)

Happy Holidays!

It’s only October and we haven’t even had Hallowe’en yet, but it’s already starting to feel a lot like Christmas. My next Harlequin American Romance, The Christmas Secret will be out next Tuesday and I’m having a lot of fun getting ready for the release. Great cover, don’t you think? I’ve loved all my covers but this one’s my definitely my favorite.

To help readers celebrate this new release with me I’m sending out holiday recipe cards. If you would like one, please send your mailing address via my website.

I’m also inviting readers to join me next Monday, October 31 at the Pink Heart Society. For their Male on Monday segment I’ll be blogging about one of my favorite kinds of heroes—the nerd. I do love a man who can talk nerdy.

Happy reading!

Until next time,
Lee
http://www.leemckenzie.com/

Craft Idea ~ Hallowe'en Decorations

My passion for thrift stores and my never-ending hunt for a good bargain took me to Value Village a couple of weeks ago. For years their stores have been Hallowe'en central, and now they even have a large rack of free cards filled with costume, makeup and decorating ideas using recycled items.

One that caught my eye was their Sinister Ceramics - Decorating Idea #2, with instructions for turning old ceramic figurines into hair-raising decorations. They used owls but for my project I settled on cats.

I found two cats and bought rhinestones at a bead store to use for eyes.  Here's what I started with.

Okay, those cats were already pretty hair-raising! I removed the dried flowers from the pink cat, gave a both a light sanding to scuff up the surfaces, sprayed them with glossy black paint (I did this outdoors), and let them dry overnight. The next morning I used my hot glue gun to attach the rhinstone eyes, and they were done!

Here's what they look like now.

The total cost for both was about $7.00. I have them sitting in a little alcove in my foyer, but I think they'd also make cute decorations for a child's Hallowe'en party or for decorating a classroom. Or...?

You'll find lots of spooky ideas on the Value Village website or in one of their stores. Have fun, and have a safe and happy Hallowe'en!

Until next time,
Lee
The Christmas Secret (November 2011)
http://www.leemckenzie.com/

Autumn Harvest

The arrival of autumn always makes me a little nostalgic for summer, but there are things I love about it, too. The crisp morning air, the fall colour—which we get a taste of, even here in the Pacific Northwest—but most of all I love fall produce. Apples are ripening on the trees, pumpkin patches are bright orange, and the farmers’ markets are brimming with cabbages and corn.

This year my daughter and I decided to try our hand at canning tomatoes. Those are the only things I buy in cans—everything else we eat is fresh and made from scratch—but as a two-time cancer survivor I’m becoming increasingly concerned about the carcinogenic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) found in the lining of almost all food cans.

So last weekend I purchased 35 pounds of tomatoes from a local organic farmer, borrowed my neighbor’s canning pot, bought two dozen jars with lids and rings, and looked up “how to can tomatoes” on the Internet. The printable PDF file on this site is easy to follow and includes great illustrations.

On Sunday afternoon my daughter and I rolled up our sleeves and got to work. The job turned out to be a lot less work and a lot more fun than we expected. Three hours later we were admiring the fruits of our labor—sixteen quarts of tomatoes, chemical free and no salt added.

The only thing we couldn’t figure out was why on earth we weren’t doing this years ago.

Do you have a fall favorite? What about canning tips? Please share!

Until next time,
Lee
The Christmas Secret
November 1, 2011
www.leemckenzie.com

I Love a Happy Ending

This spring I’ve been tuning into five web cams at the nests of bald eagles across the continent. Yes, you read that correctly. Five. These eagle cams are at the Norfolk Botanical Garden in Norfolk, VA, Decorah, IA, White Rock, BC, Hornby Island, BC, and Sidney, BC. There are either a lot of bald eagles in BC or a lot of eagle-crazy web cam watchers!

I don’t spend huge amounts of time and don’t get involved in the online chats associated with some of the cams, but I usually check them in the morning and again the evening to see how the families are doing.

Sometimes I’ve even timed it to see an egg being laid or an eaglet hatching. Watching how these big birds of prey, with their deadly talons and razor-sharp beaks, delicately care for their eggs and newborns is amazing.

This spring thousands of web cam watchers were devastated when the mother eagle at the Norfolk Botanical Garden nest was hit by a jet and killed at a nearby airport. The next day the three eaglets were removed from the nest because it wouldn’t have been possible for their dad to both hunt for food and keep them safe. Those eaglets are now at a wildlife rehabilitation center, almost ready to fledge, and will be released into the wild in August.

Last week there was trouble at the nest in Sidney, BC, and I was beginning to think I didn’t have the emotional fortitude it takes to be an eagle watcher.

One of the three eaglets in this nest had become entangled in fishing line that had been inadvertently brought to the nest, either attached to nesting material or to a fish that had been caught and released by careless humans.

While wildlife experts came up with a plan to free the eaglet, web cam watchers watched for five days as it struggled to free itself. No one gave up hope, though. The parents continued to feed it, and by Thursday afternoon a small army of volunteer rescuers gathered at the base of the tree.

Several problems had to be overcome. The nest is 115 feet in the air, near the top of a dead tree that was deemed too fragile for a climber. The ground around the tree is still wet and boggy due to an unseasonably high rainfall this spring, and a crane would sink to its axles before it could get close to the tree.

The eaglet’s plight made the news, of course, and it wasn’t long before help was on the way. Two companies that install drainage tiles loaned the use of huge flexible mats that could be laid on the mucky ground to create a roadway of sorts that would support the 65-ton crane. The crane operator donated his time, too.

With the crane in place, a veterinarian and a wildlife biologist donned safety gear, loaded themselves and their supplies into the basket and up they went.

The eagle parents kept a very close watch on what was taking place, but to the surprise of many viewers, they did not attack the rescuers.

The tangled eaglet was cut free and carefully lifted out of the nest and into the basket while those on the ground—and the thousands around the world watching on computer screens—collectively held their breath as the vet examined the baby bird for signs of injury.

I’m sure you can imagine the cheers—and joyful tears—when we saw the vet return the eaglet to the nest. The foot that had been tangled in fishing line was in good condition and the circulation had not been restricted, so all that was needed was a little disinfectant to treat a small cut. Best of all, the eaglet could remain with its family instead of being taken to a neaby wildlife rehab facility.

The eagle parents, who’d been watching from a nearby tree, returned to the nest even before the rescuers in the basket returned to the ground, and before long all three eaglets were fed their next meal.

Last Thursday there was an abundance of heroes in Sidney, BC. Don’t you just love a happy ending?

Until next time,
Lee
www.leemckenzie.com
The Christmas Secret (November 2011)
The Wedding Bargain (available June 2011 in Australia)

Happy Easter...

...to all of our wonderful American Romance readers!

However you spend the day, whether you’re at home or away, whether you’re with family and friends or on your own, I hope you have a happy and peace-filled day.

Easter and springtime are all about new beginnings, so I want to share this delightful vignette with you.

I captured this scene from the White Rock Bald Eagle Nest web cam, where two eaglets were welcomed into the world this week—the first on Wednesday and the second on Good Friday.

Those who know me well know I’m a bit of a nature nerd, and White Rock is now one of five bald eagle web cams conveniently iconed on my desktop.

Yes, I’m hooked. But can you blame me?

For me, family dinners are all-important, and this is one beautiful family dinner.

While I’m on the subject of feeding families, I thought I’d share my absolute favorite and super-easy recipe for make-ahead, oven-baked French toast.

And it's seriously easy!

You make it the night before, put it in the fridge, then pre-heat the oven the next morning, pop it in...and half an hour later brunch is served!

Lee’s Oven-Baked French Toast

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
8 one-inch-thick slices French bread
4 eggs
1/2 cup light cream (10%)
1/2 cup milk
1/ 4 cup orange juice


Spread the melted butter in a 9" by 13" baking pan. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle half the mixture in the pan. Arrange the bread slices in the pan. You might have to squish them a bit, but make sure they don’t overlap.


Beat the eggs, then add the cream, milk and orange juice. Slowly and carefully pour this mixture over the bread, being sure the bread is evenly coated.


Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar/cinnamon mixture over the bread. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.


The next morning, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, remove the plastic wrap from the pan, and bake the French toast for about 25 minutes. Delicious when served with maple syrup and fruit compote.

By the time you read this, it will be too late to make this for Easter brunch, but it’s also great for Mother’s Day brunch or any other day brunch you can think of.

I hope you enjoy it!

Until next time,
Lee
The Christmas Secret (Nov. '11)
http://www.leemckenzie.com/