Month: February 2020

Size Matters

I like to cook. I like new recipes. Sometimes, though, the recipes I newly discover are older recipes, and call for things I can no longer find. Particularly when it comes to sizes.

Whatever happened to four-ounce packages of cream cheese? I distinctly remember peeling back the foil on a small block of Philly. Perfectly sized for a recipe. Now I have to hope I can cut an eight-ounce block exactly in half. And what do I do with the other half? Bagels?

Remember when sour cream came in one cup (eight-ounce) containers? Maybe it still does somewhere, but not at my supermarket. A recipe calls for one cup. Yes, I can measure it out, but then what do I do with the remaining eight ounces? Tacos? Baked potatoes?

My husband would prefer I purchase milk a gallon at a time. But it goes bad. And it takes up too much space in the refrigerator. So I buy half-gallons. If the store carried quarts, as they did in my younger days, that’s what he would get.

Dairy, like produce, tends to go bad after a while. Smaller sizes would be helpful.

 

 

MJ Monday-Manuscript: Confession Time

No excerpt this month. I’ve been struggling with the final book of the Service for Sanctuary trilogy. I like the hero. I like the heroine, although I still don’t know her as well as I need to. I took time off around the holidays to open my mind to her. That’s why my publisher graciously agreed to push back the publication date.

I want the book to be the best one I can write for my readers.

It will be worth the wait. I promise.

MJ Monday-Music: Echo in the Canyon

Lately it seems as if my musical “patterns” have been in sync. We watched Ken Burns’ Country Music and loved it. I instinctively knew my folk rock preference had deep roots in “country” music and folk music.  We then watched Scorsese’s Rolling Thunder Revue. I had seen the original tour when in came to Rochester, NY back in the mid 70s (7th row center). There was overlap between the two documentaries, and I’m not talking only about Bob Dylan.

My husband, who somehow knows when things are on TV, saved the best for last: Echo in the Canyon. Wow. Bob Dylan’s son Jakob interviewed many of the music icons of my youth, then re-recorded their songs with the help of other modern day artists. There may have been a tour. His goal was to remain as true to the originals as possible. My favorite moment was when David Crosby pointed out that up to that time, rock & roll lyrics were all about “he’s my boyfriend doo wop doo wop.” Artists such as Bob Dylan and Jackson Browne changed that when they “created” folk rock, where the words meant something. They introduced poetry into song lyrics. Crosby quote a line from “Mr. Tambourine Man” to make his point. It was a blatant suck up to Dylan Minor, but it worked because it was true.

Wow. I purchased the sound track. It’s a wonderful listen.

Book Review: Karen Robards-Superstition

Image credit: tieury / 123RF Stock Photo

This year I am going to review my six favorite Karen Robards books. My sister gifted me with my first one many years ago. When I first joined my local RWA chapter, I learned about another one (which I will review later) that had my colleagues gaga.

Since then, I’ve read most of Robards’ single title romantic suspense novels. I love her stories. My favorite is Superstition. Take an ambitious TV new reporter, a psychic who is blocked, a chief of police with a shady background, a couple of uncooperative ghosts, a haunted house, set them on Pawley’s Island right before tourist season is about to begin and watch this story unfold. Suspense. Twists. Turns. A couple of chilling moments. Superstition has it all. One of the things I like about this story is how deeply embedded the character backstories are embedded in the plot.

Five stars.