How lucky can you get!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all the Irishmen—and the honorary Irishmen—who celebrate the holiday!

Every year when this date rolls around, I'm happy my once-a-month blog post here falls on the 17th because it allows me to share with y'all on St. Patrick's Day.

In past years, I've talked about food, luck, corned beef and cabbage, my Harlequin American Romance featuring an Irish heroine (Kerry Anne MacBride and the rest of her wild and crazy clan in Family Matters), and...well...more food.

Food and writing are pretty much my favorite topics.  J

March 17th allows me to toss in my thoughts about luck, too.

I am lucky...to celebrate a holiday that carries on the traditions of my family.  To share part of this fabulous day with you.  And to have a career I love.

I can't tell you being an author is the most fun job I've ever had, because it involves a lot of work, sweat, and tears. 

The work stems from trying to bring the ideas in my head to life on the page and not lose anything along the way.

 

The sweat comes from waiting to see how my editor reacts to those ideas.  J 

And the tears—oh, the tears! They're the best part of the job. 

Sad tears when I learn what has happened to my characters in the past and when things go wrong in their lives now.  Frustrated tears when the hardheaded hero and heroine can't see beyond their conflict to realize they belong together.  Uncontrollable tears when one or the other of them—or a character who plays an important role in their lives—gets hit with a heartbreaking dose of reality.  And the best tears of all, the ones that flow when the hero and heroine have finally reached their happy-ever-after.

No wonder I say I'm so lucky!

And as if that's not wonderful enough, I must add that I'm married to my all-time favorite hero, which means I'm also lucky in love.  J

How about you?  Irish or honorary Irish, what makes you a lucky person today?

All my best to you,   

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille

Latest release: Honorable Rancher

http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com

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Holiday Cheer...or Not

This begins the season of holiday parties, and you know all the good things they include.  I'll steer away from the dangerous topics of casseroles and desserts and chocolate—although really, those are some of my favorite subjects for discussion at any time of the year!

Instead, let's talk about gifts. 

Not the kind you love to give.  The kind you love to give away.  You know, in those grab bags and games you play where everyone receives a gift from an anonymous giver.

One year I participated in a "Silly Santa" grab bag and received a pair of fuzzy animal slippers.  Envision this:  they were purple, with red eyes and long black claws, and—I'm not kidding—from front to back, they were two feet long.

Let's just say I found them...

Umm...

Spectacular! 

The slippers received a lot of attention at that particular Christmas party.  And you'd better believe they went right into the very next grab bag I could find.  (grin)  The winner absolutely loved them and wore them the rest of the night. 

Obviously, one person's "umm...spectacular" is another person's favorite gift.

To be fair, these games—and gifts—aren't all bad.  I'll admit I've been lucky, too.  At another party, I received a pair of holiday earrings that I still wear during the Christmas season every year.

Got any grab-bag stories, either for the best or worst gift ever?

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who will celebrate it later this week!

All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille

http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com

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August 2012

What's Cooking for St. Patrick's Day?

Are you Irish today? (smile) On March 17th, everyone's entitled to celebrate this grand holiday.

My family's a good part Irish, and when I was growing up, St. Patrick's Day was always a special holiday in our house.

The highlight of the day was gathering everyone together for our big dinner. Of course, you know what we ate. Corned beef. Cabbage. Carrots. And potatoes.

I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

There are various recipes, but the simplest is this:


Put corned beef (3-4 pounds) in a pot, toss in a couple of bay leaves*, and cover all with water.

Bring water to a boil.

Cover pot and lower heat to a simmer for about 3 hours, or until corned beef is fork-tender.

Remove beef from pot and reserve on a platter, covering beef with foil for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, to the water in pot, add a head of cabbage, quartered; carrots and potatoes (about 5-6 medium of each), peeled and cut into pieces.

Cover and simmer for approximately 20 minutes, or until cooked to your liking.

Slice the beef and dish up the vegetables.

* After cooking, discard bay leaves. Do not eat.


And you're done.

See? It's so easy, anyone—Irish or not—can enjoy this traditional dinner. I hope you will. (smile)

And I'd love to hear if your family celebrates with this or any other special foods or traditions.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille
http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com/
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Holiday Wishes

This year I'm on deadline during the holidays, which means the tree is half-trimmed, only a few packages have been wrapped, and the cookies may not get baked at all. Oh, well. I can't regret any of that, when I'm so happily immersed in the lives of my characters. (Besides, fewer goodies around the house means we'll get a jump on our New Year's diet resolutions!)

Still, for your sake, I hope your preparations are moving along much better than mine are. LOL

One not-to-be-missed event is writing my Harlequin American Romance Authors blog entry.

My December appearance here never gets old—to me, anyway (smile)—even though I say some of the same things from year to year. How could I not? A blog post almost smack in the middle of December requires some very specific messages, don't you think?

The first is a huge thank you for your support of my books and for your letters and e-mails and social media posts throughout the year.

I look forward to staying in touch, both here at the blog and "out there" in cyber space.

Meanwhile, no matter what special days you celebrate, I wish you a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season.

See you next year!


All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille
THE RODEO MAN'S DAUGHTER (February 2012)
http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com
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It's Party Time!

No doubt, at this time of year some of us attend catered soirees where waiters in black tuxes circulate trays of canapés and caviar among the gowned and bejeweled guests. Much as I'd enjoy those events, the parties I'm usually invited to are much simpler affairs, gatherings of friends or family or--best of all--both. Events where I'm typically asked to bring "a dish."

What to bring? Each year, I search my recipes for something a little different, a little “out of the box.” Which is a challenge since I’m not a fancy cook. A good one, perhaps, but I wouldn’t know a piping tool if it bit me. So forget anything that requires carving radishes into roses or creating them out of icing.

This year, I’ve chosen a spinach artichoke dish as my to-go selection. To be honest, it started out as an Emeril Legasse recipe, and you can’t go wrong with Le Bam! I have, however, played around with the ingredients a bit. His version called for Brie and marinated artichokes. My crowd prefers Swiss and skips the marinade. Whichever suits your fancy, serve with good chips and enjoy.

Leigh's Version of Kicked-Up Spinach Artichoke Dip

2 boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed, rinsed and drained
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 cup Swiss cheese, grated
1 cup extra sharp, white cheddar cheese, grated
2 14-ounce cans artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
4 strips of bacon, chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Green onions, sliced (optional)
Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9-inch ovenproof serving dish with cooking oil. Set aside.

Fry the bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Squeeze excess liquid from thawed spinach and drain well.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until translucent. Add the garlic, salt, black pepper, cayenne and cook for another minute.

Sprinkle flour over onion mixture. Slowly add cream and milk, stirring constantly. Cook over medium heat while continuing to stir, for 2 to 3 minutes or until mixture is thick and creamy.

Remove from heat. Add the Swiss and Cheddar. Stir until melted.

Add spinach, and lemon juice. Stir.

Set 1 tablespoon of bacon side. Add the remaining bacon and artichoke hearts to the spinach/cheese mixture and stir well.

Pour into greased casserole. Top with Parmesan cheese, reserved bacon and, if desired, sliced green onions.

Bake about 15 minutes or until heated through.

Serve with chips.

Fudgey Christmas Memories

I have to keep with the spirit of the season posts here, as today I'm baking cookies. I've been gathering new recipes and might stir up some rum balls for a change of pace. However, my family demands I make Chocolate Chip cookies, and people tell me they hope I give them some in tins. Which is strange because my "secret" recipe is the Nestle Toll House Cookies recipe on the bag of semi-sweet morself. LOL So everyone could make them, if they wanted to. The only thing I do that's not listed on the bag is put foil on my baking sheets (because I reuse the cookie sheets during the baking of a batch). Here's what I made for Santa last year. He didn't eat all of them, but he made a pretty big dent.

I like rolled cookies that are pretty shapes and have icing, but not sprinkles or sugar. Making them is a chore, however, even though I like to decorate the ones that turn out. There's something about rolled dough that challenges me. You can use your Valentine heart cookie cutter for Santa, just put heart tip at the top for his hat. For a few years, I made Linzer cookies, which are basically shortbread-like cookies with red raspberry preserves. Again, they're not easy--too much rolling and cutting and perfecting. I'm more the drop-from-a-spoon type. Maybe that says something about me in general, but I'm not going there. :)

Could be I'm missing the rolling-dough gene. My mom wasn't a cookie or pie baker, but she made moist cakes with frosting that would make your knees buckle and FUDGE to die for, just from the smell. I'd love to be able to make it like she did. But Mom cooks by experience, not by a recipe, so we may have lost this treat forever. She can't cook with anyone in the kitchen, nor can she cook when trying to write down what she's doing. This doesn't bode well for us, especially as Mom hasn't been able to make Fudge for a few years now. Since I don't have a grasp of what a "hard ball or soft ball stage" looks or feels like (or how a drop of fudge cooked to that stage reacts in a cup of water!), I tried to make fudge using a candy thermometer. No luck. I tried different measurements of liquid to attain a "messy but not sloppy" consistency. I kid you not! That's how much milk to add, according to Mom. Now you're getting an idea of what I'm up against. I won't even try to explain how you know when you've beat it enough, but it includes the words shiny and glossy (however, you only want one and the other is bad).

But even if we can't have the Fudge itself, my siblings and I will cherish the memories of buttering the dish, getting to eat the fudge off a beater or scrape the bottom of the saucepan, waiting for the fudge to set enough to eat that first cut bite, still warm, or cheerfully assuring Mom that the "bad" batch of spoon candy (when it didn't set up) was not really a disaster because it tasted so good. Same with the rock hard, chisel-a-chunk-free batches. That smell of rich, luscious fudge cooking on the stove--aaah, my mouth waters!--would bring us from wherever we were in the house.

So, no, I never missed home-made cookies when we had something a zillion times better. Fudge, cooked with love, by Mom. Thanks for the memories, Mom.

Is this peculiar to my family, or is there a food in your family that no one else can make or there's no written recipe for? Do y'all have any suggestions for me--perhaps a good recipe I should try?

Wishing y;all a happy holiday season, with warm fudge, warm times with loved ones, and warm memories for your future.

Megan Kelly
www.megankellybooks.com

Favorite Recipes for January

Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. Did you have time to read any good books when you weren't shopping, cleaning, entertaining, and cooking? I hope you had some time for yourself during this busy time.

We had ham for Christmas dinner and I still have some left over. Tonight I'm making something very simple that will use most of the ham I have left. It is appropriately called "End of the Line Ham Casserole" from Dottie18 and received four stars on allrecipes.com. Since it's cool during the day and cold at night here in Texas, this will be good to warm us up.

1 can condensed cream of celery soup
1/2 cup milk
black pepper to taste
2 potatoes, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 cups cooked ham, diced
2 T grated parmesan (or other favorite) cheese
(Note: I may add some shredded cheddar just because we love cheese!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In an 8 x 8 (greased or sprayed) casserole dish, combine soup, milk and pepper. Layer potato slices, onion slices and ham on top. Cover and bake one hour. Remove cover and sprinkle with parmesan or other grated cheese. Bake uncovered another 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.



If I have any more ham left, I'm thinking of making this classic Pasta Carbonara dish with shredded or thinly sliced ham instead of bacon. I love Pasta Carbonara in restaurants and even the Lean Cuisine meal! I usually fix a Caesar salad (I love Ken's Lite Creamy Caesar dressing) and have a very light dessert with something this hearty.

1 lb dry linguine
8 oz bacon (substitute ham) diced
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
3 large egg yolks
1 cup (4 ounces) grated parmesan, plus more for garnishing
3/4 t black pepper

Cook linguine according to package directions, reserving 1 1/2 cups of the cooking water. In a large skillet over medium high heat, fry the bacon (or saute ham) until crisp. Transfer to paper towel lined plate. Spoon off and discard all but 2 T of the bacon drippings. (Note: If you use ham, you probably won't have many drippings, but cooking the onion in the skillet will deglaze the pan.) Return skillet to medium heat, add the onion, and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Working quickly, returned the drained pasta to the pot along with the pasta water, bacon, and onion. Place the pot over low heat and cook, tossing frequently, until heated through. Removed from heat and quickly add the egg yolks one at a time, stirring after each addition. Add the parmesan cheese and pepper and stir until sauce thickens slightly. Divide among bowls. Top with additional parmesan.


I hope these two dishes will inspire you to use up all your leftovers and stay warm with a full tummy! Happy eating, happy reading, and most of all, Happy New Year! Please come visit my author page on Facebook and "Like" me there. Thanks.

The Best Thanksgivings

A week from today we’ll be gathering around the table with our family and friends, stuffing ourselves like the turkeys we’ll be enjoying. But there’s nothing like a holiday to bring back memories of the past.


Each year when I was a young girl, one of the aunts (my great aunts) or cousins would host Thanksgiving, then another would host Christmas. Those were the two times a year I could count on seeing all my cousins. Sometimes it was our turn, but I liked it best when we went to Aunt Dorothy's house. She and her husband lived on the farm in the big house near Clearwater where Uncle Milt had been born in 1900. For many of those years, it seemed to me that it took most of the day to drive there from our house in Wichita, although it's only about twenty-five miles.

My mom was the designated turkey roaster, and I would awaken on Thanksgiving morning surround by the aroma of turkey. I doubt we ever missed the Macy's Christmas Parade back then, even as we packed up the turkey and other delights to head down the road to our holiday destination. Everyone brought something to eat. Aunt Dorothy's chocolate pie was always in high demand. At her house, there was a huge, solid wood table where the grown ups all sat. There were always at least a dozen of them, laughing and talking as they passed around the food. Kids sat at card tables, sometimes on Sears catalogs to boost us to the right height.

When dinner was over and the women had cleaned up, while the men--mostly farmers--sat in the living room, talking throughout the football games, the decks of cards were pulled out of the drawer in the buffet and the rousing games of pitch began. The games lasted throughout most of the afternoon and into the late evening, long past dark, and I can still hear the sounds of their voices, whooping and hollering at each other over each hand dealt and each card played.

But it was later in the evening that became my favorite as we grew a little older. My three female cousins and I made the table talk. Some call it table knocking, others call it table rapping, but whatever it’s called, the use and purpose is the same. One person on each side, if possible, hands flat on the table top and concentrating so hard that the house should've rocked, we mentally lifted the table on one side/two legs. Questions asked were usually yes or no, or sometimes involved counting. One knock for yes, two knocks for no. The adults eventually grew quiet, ending their last game of pitch to watch us. Uncle Sterl (Aunt Lucy's husband) would hoot and boo at us, convinced that one of us had to be tilting the table. We weren't. "How can we?" we'd ask and show him that the table could rise several inches...with no legs touching the floor. He never did believe us. One of my cousins reminded me recently that one year the table talking was so rambunctious, one of the legs broke!

I miss those holidays, and especially the talking table. We kids grew up and had kids of our own, who now have kids of their own. We made new traditions. My great-aunts, great-uncles, parents, and even a few of the older cousins are gone, but those Thanksgiving and Christmas memories will always be my favorite. If, like Emily in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, I could choose a time to revisit the past when I'm gone, it would be a holiday at Aunt Dorothy's house.

Have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone!

Goals vs. Resolutions

My memories of the holidays are a bit hazy, thanks to working on a deadline for the next book set in Desperation, Oklahoma (#4!), but one thing I remember was that no New Year’s resolutions were made while sipping champagne. I learned a long time ago that they were too easy to break. Instead, I make goals.

Aren’t goals the same as resolutions? Not to me. The words aren’t the same, although they’re sometimes used synonymously. A resolution is something one tries to keep or not to break, while a goal is something one works toward to achieve. See the difference? It’s all in the way the two words are used. One is negative. The other is positive. It’s a mind game I play.

The especially nice thing about goals is that they can be achieved by doing them in steps of smaller goals and spread out over weeks, months, or the entire year. Even longer for a lifetime goal! Success is much easier to measure than failure, and easier when done in bite-sized pieces. Just remember that goals should only be something we can control.

So what are my goals for this year? To tell the truth, I’ve been too busy with my first goal—to reach that deadline—that I haven’t had a chance to think about what I need and want to do in specifics. My first goal is to do that, starting next week. But I do know my goals will include:

1. Taking more time to relax and enjoy myself
2. Getting more exercise
3. Cleaning my house (ugh!), especially my office

I’ve already been thinking about the steps I’ll need to reach those goals. Less time at the computer will give me more time to watch TV with my family, read, and take that treadmill I bought a year ago out of the box (see #3--cleaning house and office), and I can watch movies--my favorite form of relaxation--while I’m exercising on it.

It’s taken some time, but I finally discovered I’m a goals person, not a resolutions person. Which are you? And how will you make 2010 a personal success?

That Christmasy Feeling

The holiday spirit just hasn’t hit me yet this year. With deadlines and copy edits and all the other things life brings on a day-to-day basis, there hasn’t been time to think about it, much less decorate, shop, and wrap. And it’s only one week until Christmas!

I need help!

I’m looking for suggestions to get my spirit in gear. I’ve read some wonderful blog and Facebook posts about memories of Christmases past, learning the true meaning of the holiday, and how to de-stress at this most maddening time of the year. But none of them have done the trick. I feel like Scrooge, and that’s not how I want to feel. So let me know what you do to get in the mood for what’s been called the most wonderful time of the year.

May the spirit of the holidays be with everyone this year and on into the next. That includes me!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Yule, Happy Kwanzaa to all!

November Memories

The crunch of leaves, the bite of the wind, the layering of clothes. Did you just turn on your heater, or has it been on for a few weeks? Is it still pouring rain? Are there mums blooming where you are? Are you counting the days till Christmas?

What does November mean? Simply put, it marks the eleventh month on our calendar. But I'm wondering what the word brings to mind to different people.

To a writer, November might mean participating in NaNoWriMo, also known as National Novel Writing Month, where the goal is to write 50,000 words, and not edit, not doubt. Turn off that internal voice that tells you you're doing it wrong. Dedicate yourself to turning out pages.

To a child, the time between Halloween and Thanksgiving counts off the days till the next break from classes. It might mean raking leaves at his/her home or for neighbors. Or shoveling snow! A high schooler might look forward to the Fall Dance. Or not. LOL In some areas, it's Girl Scout cookie time! Yum.

As a mom with little children, November meant visiting Santa, shopping for Christmas presents, and getting an annual picture taken, printed and stuffed in Christmas cards to mail on December 1st. It meant making sure my kids were wearing sufficient clothing--does every child fight putting on a jacket? Wearing a coat? Taking an umbrella? Okay, okay. I know. There's not enough room in the locker at school. It's bulky/hot/stupid looking. Don't get me started on hats and gloves!

Early in the month, I start planning holiday meals. First I have to think of Thanksgiving--what to take to each house I go to on Thanksgiving, when to shop, when to cook. Can I make anything ahead of time or will it just get eaten?

Thanksgiving was usually the first holiday when my mom would make noodles. Egg noodles in chicken or turkey broth. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. I remember sheets of waxed paper with rounds of uncut noodle "dough" drying. Mom taught me to roll the rounds, cut into thin noodles and unroll them to finish drying. The strips always stuck together, and the challenge was to unroll each without tearing it. In my own small house, I've had my dining table filled with drying noodles, plus a card table, plus several TV trays. (Did you guess I like noodles?) My husband asked how much of each ingredient I needed and I had to calculate--for my family of noodle-lovers or for his? How many leftovers did we want? For how long? For how many people who'd want to take home some noodles?

I've never cared for turkey. For me, a plate of noodles on top of mashed potatoes (yes, I said on top of, not instead of), with some buttery corn is sufficient.

Until it's time for chocolate pie!

I try to be thankful for the blessings in my life every day, not just on Thanksgiving. So, now it's your turn--what does November mean to you?

Megan Kelly
megankellybooks.com

Small Town Quirks

I recently came across an interesting bit of trivia about Williams Lake, a small community in British Columbia. Since the late 1930s, townsfolk have celebrated Wrestling Day. No, not calf wrestling or mud wrestling. This was an official holiday that fell on January 2, the day after New Years.

Wrestling Day was started by two businessmen who noticed they weren’t getting any business that day—possibly due to cold winter weather or maybe because local residents were still recovering from the holidays—so they closed up shop and took an extra day off themselves. Besides, if Christmas could have Boxing Day, then surely News Years deserved a day, too.

The idea caught on. In 1942 the village council declared Wrestling Day an official holiday, and in 1959 a bylaw was passed, making if official.

For almost twenty years, local businesses remained closed that day but in 1976, the bylaw was struck down. Williams Lake had grown from a village to a town to a city, which meant more business and more businesses. And those businesses wanted to do business, even on Wrestling Day.

From my perspective—as someone who thinks there aren’t nearly enough holidays!—I think it’s unfortunate that Williams Lake no longer recognizes Wrestling Day as an official holiday, although I understand that some businesses do remain closed in honor of the old tradition.

What do you think? Should more communities have special holidays? Do you know of a town like Williams Lake that has its own quirky holiday?

Until next time,
Lee
The Writer Side of Life

Top o’ the Morning to You!

Or whatever time of day you’re reading this, I hope you’re having a grand time!

Lucky me, to find my blog date coinciding with St. Patrick’s Day. And seeing as I’m a good part Irish--in fact, more Irish than anything else--I couldn’t have asked for a better day to send a shout-out to you all.

Since I’m on a diet at the moment, I imagine you’ll understand when I say food is all I can think about. And one of my favorite things about St. Paddy’s Day is the delicious dinner that’s such an essential part of the holiday.

Mmm.... Corned beef, cabbage, and carrots, of course. My mouth is watering at the thought of a plateful! Or maybe two....

My next Harlequin American Romance (publication date and title to be determined) will be about an eccentric Irish family. Sure and you know they’ll be enjoying the traditional meal.

Will you?

If you’re Irish, or even if you’re not, is your mouth watering in anticipation of that delicious Irish dinner, too?

Of course, the Irish don’t have a monopoly on good food. I think every nationality has its own time-honored traditions when it comes to meals. Again, since I’m on that nasty diet and all I can do is think about food, naturally I’m a glutton for punishment. So, please tell me...

On special occasions, what does your family put on the table?

All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille
http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com