Destiny's Forge - Theresa M. Moore, Author
3:13 PM Posted by MAC
Raspberry Mousse with Melba Sauce
a recipe by Author Theresa M. Moore
serves 6
2 packages frozen raspberries
1 3-oz package raspberry gelatin
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup bottled raspberry syrup
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cold water
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
2.5 cups sweet whipped cream
a handful of toasted almonds
Defrost the raspberries and sieve to remove the seeds. Dissolve the gelatin in the hot water, then add the raspberry syrup and stir in well, then add the raspberries.
Bring the sugar and water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 7-8 minutes.
Beat the egg whites in a large bowl and add the salt, until stiff. Pour the hot sugar syrup in and beat some more until the mixture is thick and stiff. Then add the raspberry gelatin mix in and mix thoroughly. Fold in about 1.5 cups of the whipped cream and beat with a whisk until the whole thing is completely absorbed into the mix.
Pour the mix into a 2 quart souffle' dish, cover with wax paper about 1" above the dish and tie it down with tape, or into 5 parfai glasses covered the same way. Refrigerate about 3 hours or until well set. Then remove the collar, decorate the mix with toasted almonds and the rest of the whipped cream. Then cover with the Melba sauce:
3 packages frozen raspberries in heavy syrup
1 cup orange juice
3 tablessppons grated orange rind
1 cup or more sugar, to taste
1/2 cup orange liqueur
Strain the raspberries and pour into a saucepan. Add the orange juice, rind and sugar and simmer the mix for about 10 minutes or until thick. Add the orange liqueur, remove from the heat, cool and chill. Serve it with the mousse.
Destiny’s Forge – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
‘A small space craft rushed toward a planet orbiting a pair of white stars, trailing a plume of sparking fire and rapidly dissipating smoke. The meteoroid had done its work well when it smashed through the hull of the craft at a critical point, tearing through the main engine pod and disabling it in an instant. The pilot was clad in an eva suit when it happened, but this would be no comfort when the air supply in the suit ran out and the ship’s systems began to fail…. The pilot struggled with the controls and managed to coax it to pitch the nose upward as it began its inexorable spiral toward the surface…. The pilot was able to bring the retrothrusters back on line and controlled them manually. The craft bucked and jostled as its descent fell back to something less terrifying, but it was not designed for a surface landing. The pilot aimed the craft toward a patch of desert just beyond the forest crowding the shore of one of the larger lakes…. The craft crumpled and bounced and set fire to the tumbles cribs growing on the desert floor until the nose came down suddenly and buried itself…. A hatch exploded outward and landed a few yards away. The pilot dove out above the flames and sailed a fair distance, hit the dirt and rolled clear. Exhausted with pain and nearly out of air, she struggled to unfasten her helmet, tossed it away and took a gulp of dry heat into her lungs as an awful consuming darkness claimed her mind.’
The pilot is Antonia Bellero. Origin? Unknown. Destination? Unknown. Quest? Unknown. Only Antonia herself knows the answers to these questions and to survive she must keep it that way. She has just crash landed on a planet called Corelli’s Planet. The planet’s namesake, Vince Corelli, is destroying the planet and the people living there through his mining for its beryllium. As circumstances take form, Antonia will do whatever she can to save both the planet and its people. But this won’t come without a cost to her and her plans. She must join the Interstellar Federation as an intelligence agent which will result in her being stationed on the Destiny’s Forge in the capacity of an Ensign.
While on the Destiny, Antonia finds herself helping to fight the creation of a Star gate which is being financed by a being known as Julian Bridge. As Antonia will soon find out, Bridges is not only known by many other names but he is one who could destroy and control space and it’s planets as they are know.
If someone told me a year ago that I would be reading a book like Destiny’s Forge I would have told them “I don’t think so, not my kind of book.” Again, I have to admit that I’m wrong. Destiny’s Forge is the first book in a series called Children of the Dragon and it is about “vampires.” Vampires have never been one of my favorite reads. When I commit to a book review I do it with an open mind. I don’t read reviews others have written. So, when I took on the commitment to read and review not 1 but 7 books in this series I really had no idea that they were about vampires. I struck out reading the 1st book Destiny’s Forge and found myself hurrying to turn the page. And now that this one is finished, I can’t wait to read the next.
I know that there are several vampire type shows on television but Destiny’s Forge could easily be made into a series that would blow them all out of the water. Yes, it’s that good!
Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com
Labels: Book Reviews, Destiny's Forge, Martha A Cheves, Raspberry Mousse, space travel, Stir Laugh Repeat, super natural, Theresa M Moore, vampires
A Case of Accidental Intersetion - W. S. Gager, Author
3:05 PM Posted by MAC
Icebox Cookies
A Favorite Recipe from Author W. S. Gager
Sift: 4 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
Combine: 1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs, well beaten
1 ½ cup melted shortening (Crisco)
Add flour and dry ingredients into the other and mix well. Add 1 cup chopped walnuts. Split dough into thirds and place on an 18-inch piece of wax paper or foil and shape into a long roll. Wrap up and twist ends to seal. Refrigerate at least two hours. Slice thin and bake at 375 degrees 6-8 minutes on a greased cookie sheet. Dough can be kept for up to two weeks but rarely made it that long in our house.
Yummy!
W.S. Gager
Author of Humorous Whodunits
A Case of Infatuation
A Case of Accidental Intersection-Now Available
A Case of Accidental Intersection – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
‘A twisted piece of fiberglass stuck in the dirt along the side of the road. A rear view mirror the color of cherry-red lipstick had busted off the wreckage and landed some fifty feet away, along the center line marking the do-not-pass zone. Firefighters, EMTs and policemen huddled around the still-turning belly of a cement truck that had mowed over the top of something but was itself undamaged. The realization hit me with horror. The mirror belonged to a car pinned under the orange and white girth. It now looked like an octopus with jagged sheet-metal legs protruding in all directions, rather than a fancy sports car from a showroom. I moved in the direction of a woman pacing and wringing her hands. I pulled out my ever-present small digital camera and snapped a couple of shots of the wreckage. Then one of the woman who clearly showed the magnitude of the scene without any words needed. I slipped the camera back in my breast pocket. “I’m Mitch Malone with the Grand River Journal.”
Mitch Malone has just run across a wreck that will be the basis of his biggest story of his career, so far. The “accident” took place just as the elderly Elsie Dobson was looking out her window. The little red sports car seemed to just pulled out in front of a cement truck. The passengers – Dominique Pewter, heiress to Herman Steel Designs and her long time best friend Ashley Albanese. Dominique had just purchased the car as a graduation gift to herself and as the papers would soon report, was killed on impact. The passenger, Ashley, was taken to the hospital with a broken arm and head injuries. Her chances of surviving are hopeful at best.
After seeing the wreck, talking to Elsie and then to a friend from the police department, Mitch isn’t convinced that this was an accident. After another death occurs and is tied to a bar Mitch has been staking out, he’s sure it wasn’t an accident. And this turns out to be the same bar where Mitch has been observing his new editor Neil patronizing. Could there be a connection?
In reading A Case of the Accidental Intersection I knew the why and came up with 3 possibilities as to who wanted Dominique dead. I finally realized that I was wrong about 35 pages from the end. I really enjoyed reading A Case of Accidental Intersection. Its filled with memorable characters, good cops, a rear end cop, as well as a touch of humor.
2010
Oak Tree Press
232 pages
ISBN# 978-1-892343-70-3
Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com
Labels: A Case of Accidental Intersection, A Lesson in Murder, Book Reviews, cinnamon, cookies, Martha A Cheves, Mystery, Stir Laugh Repeat, suspense, W S Gager
The Health Farm Murders - John Reid, Author
6:00 AM Posted by MAC
Delicious, Nutritious Vegetable Soup [Serves 2]
A John Reid and Sister Susan Favorite
[For maximum benefit, vegetables should be organic, and water spring water or pure]
1 small broccoli, 1 large or 2 small carrots, 1 small zucchini, 1 medium-sized potato, 1 small onion [or garlic], 1 small beet.
We have a perfect blend of color here -- green, red, yellow, white, purple -- except for the fact we have no brown. We will add lentils after cutting the above ingredients into small sizes and cooking in boiling water for at least 20 minutes. Then add one can of Amy's Organic Lentil Soup (from your local supermarket) and stir. You will probably need to add half a cup of water as this variety of soup is extremely thick. Depending on how hot you like your soup, you can make this half a cup of hot water or cold water.
Of course, you can prepare your own lentils if you wish, but why go to all that trouble? If you buy dried lentils, you will need to soak them overnight.
The Health Farm Murders – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
‘On re-entering my room, I saw a man going through Zapata’s things. At first I thought one of the other guests had got wind of Taylor’s chocolate hoard and was helping himself. “Hold on there!” I expected the helping-hand guest to wheel around and offer some feeble excuse. Imagine my surprise when he pitched Zapata’s bag right at me! The bag knocked me over but as the guru made to rush past I lashed out at his shins with my foot, tripping him up. As he fell forward on his face, I threw myself on top of him. He tried to roll sideways, kicking out with his feet, but I was too heavy for him. I grabbed his head with both hands and forced it on to the floor; but he arced out his left arm and caught me a glancing blow on the chin, - not forceful enough to knock me off. I knelt the more heavily on top of him, and burying both my knees into his arms, pulled his head back and forth by the hair, smashing his forehead repeatedly into the floor. “Enough! Enough!” he cried out. “You and I are going along to see Sister Susan.” We both stood up. He preceded me into the corridor. He was a thickset gent, maybe thirty-five or forty, wearing black slacks and a black jumper. It was just beginning to dawn on me that he didn’t seem like a fellow guest at all, when there was a sort of gurgling sob from the next room. The door opened and one of the Seabrook brothers wobbled out, his face ashen, his normally bulging eyes now wide as saucers. “It’s Mr. Payne!” he cried out. “He’s dead!”
Good old “Happy Valley.” Located near Sydney, Australia and the perfect place to take a break to rejuvenate your body while taking a refresher course in living the natural way. Run, owned and operated by Sister Susan who promises to clean out your system, revitalize tired cells and set you on the road to health, happiness and low self-hostility. This sounded like the perfect get-away for police Sergeant Merryll Manning of the Miami Police Department. Little did he know that his trip would be quite the opposite.
The characters in The Health Farm Murders are of quite a variation. You have a minister, a movie critic/numerologist, a movie theater owner and an old sea captain, just to name a few. With the 1st murder I started looking at the possible suspects. I had my felon picked out only to have him murdered. I picked another suspect out of the guests visiting Happy Valley but soon found that person to have an alibi which appeared to make it impossible for him to be the murderer. So I changed my suspect choice and he too ended up being murdered. This went on throughout the WHOLE book! The Health Farm Murders turned out to be a book that completely stumped me as a “who-done-it” reader.
The Health Farm Murders
2008
Lulu Press, Inc.
230 pages
ISBN# 978-0-557-01006-6
[For maximum benefit, vegetables should be organic, and water spring water or pure]
1 small broccoli, 1 large or 2 small carrots, 1 small zucchini, 1 medium-sized potato, 1 small onion [or garlic], 1 small beet.
We have a perfect blend of color here -- green, red, yellow, white, purple -- except for the fact we have no brown. We will add lentils after cutting the above ingredients into small sizes and cooking in boiling water for at least 20 minutes. Then add one can of Amy's Organic Lentil Soup (from your local supermarket) and stir. You will probably need to add half a cup of water as this variety of soup is extremely thick. Depending on how hot you like your soup, you can make this half a cup of hot water or cold water.
Of course, you can prepare your own lentils if you wish, but why go to all that trouble? If you buy dried lentils, you will need to soak them overnight.
The Health Farm Murders – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
‘On re-entering my room, I saw a man going through Zapata’s things. At first I thought one of the other guests had got wind of Taylor’s chocolate hoard and was helping himself. “Hold on there!” I expected the helping-hand guest to wheel around and offer some feeble excuse. Imagine my surprise when he pitched Zapata’s bag right at me! The bag knocked me over but as the guru made to rush past I lashed out at his shins with my foot, tripping him up. As he fell forward on his face, I threw myself on top of him. He tried to roll sideways, kicking out with his feet, but I was too heavy for him. I grabbed his head with both hands and forced it on to the floor; but he arced out his left arm and caught me a glancing blow on the chin, - not forceful enough to knock me off. I knelt the more heavily on top of him, and burying both my knees into his arms, pulled his head back and forth by the hair, smashing his forehead repeatedly into the floor. “Enough! Enough!” he cried out. “You and I are going along to see Sister Susan.” We both stood up. He preceded me into the corridor. He was a thickset gent, maybe thirty-five or forty, wearing black slacks and a black jumper. It was just beginning to dawn on me that he didn’t seem like a fellow guest at all, when there was a sort of gurgling sob from the next room. The door opened and one of the Seabrook brothers wobbled out, his face ashen, his normally bulging eyes now wide as saucers. “It’s Mr. Payne!” he cried out. “He’s dead!”
Good old “Happy Valley.” Located near Sydney, Australia and the perfect place to take a break to rejuvenate your body while taking a refresher course in living the natural way. Run, owned and operated by Sister Susan who promises to clean out your system, revitalize tired cells and set you on the road to health, happiness and low self-hostility. This sounded like the perfect get-away for police Sergeant Merryll Manning of the Miami Police Department. Little did he know that his trip would be quite the opposite.
The characters in The Health Farm Murders are of quite a variation. You have a minister, a movie critic/numerologist, a movie theater owner and an old sea captain, just to name a few. With the 1st murder I started looking at the possible suspects. I had my felon picked out only to have him murdered. I picked another suspect out of the guests visiting Happy Valley but soon found that person to have an alibi which appeared to make it impossible for him to be the murderer. So I changed my suspect choice and he too ended up being murdered. This went on throughout the WHOLE book! The Health Farm Murders turned out to be a book that completely stumped me as a “who-done-it” reader.
The Health Farm Murders
2008
Lulu Press, Inc.
230 pages
ISBN# 978-0-557-01006-6
Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com
Labels: Australia, Book Reviews, Health Farm Murders, John Reid, Martha A Cheves, Murder, Mystery, soup recipes, Stir Laugh Repeat, suspense, veggie soup
The Innocent (formerly As Catch Can) - Vincent Zandri, Author
3:21 AM Posted by MAC
Spaghetti a la Jack Marconi
a Vincent Zandri Special
1 pound thin spaghetti (you can substitute linguine or any pasta of your choice)
1 big can tomato sauce
1 ripe tomato
1 small cooking onion
1 clove garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Fill two-gallon pot with water. Add salt and two table-spoon olive oil. Set on burner to boil. In skillet add olive oil, chopped onion and crushed garlic. Cook until done but not caramelized. Then add chopped tomato. Cook for 30 seconds, careful not to burn the tomatoes. Then slowly add in tomato sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer. When water is boiling, add spaghetti. Cook until al dente. Strain and pour into bowel. Remove simmering sauce from stove, pour over spaghetti. Serve along with red wine, Parmesan cheese, hearts of lettuce salad, fresh Italian bread and some cool jazz playing on the stereo.
The Innocent – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
‘I was their warden.
I was their keeper, their mother and their father.
Which is why, for me, the matter of Eduard Vasquez’s escape was such a serious offence. I had signed the release form allowing him to visit a dentist on the outside. As the keeper of Green Haven, I was directly responsible It was my decision and my decision only. What I mean is, I could have said no. But then, I couldn’t just deny a prisoner his right to proper dental care if that’s what he wanted. That was the rule in New York State. As the keeper, my job was not rehabilitation. My job was to see that society was protected from its prisoners. But get this: It was also my job to see that a man who’d shot a New York City cop at point-blank range maintained a pearly-white smile.’
Jack “Keeper” Marconi is the warden at Green Haven Prison in New York State. For some time now he has been faced with the problem of an increase in drugs and contraband inside the prison, the Commissioner demanding a decrease in correction officers manning the prison and now the escape of Eduard Vasquez. The escape took place on the way back from a dentist visit, putting one of the officers in the hospital. His condition.. coma.
As the story regarding what actually happened starts to be told, Keeper notices a few loopholes. His investigation takes him before the Commissioner with an offer to take the blame and everything will simply blow over. He’s really surprised to hear this offer coming from his long time friend Commissioner Washington Pelton. Twenty five years ago Keeper, Wash and another CO named Mike Norman had gone through hell during the Attica up rise. They saw and experienced more than any human beings should ever have to see or live through. But something had changed Wash and not for the best.
I’ve never been fond of movies nor books that were prison related so when I started reading The Innocent I knew from the beginning I was committed to reading a book that I really didn’t want to read. I decided I would just read and hopefully I would be able to turn the pages quickly and just get it over with. Boy was I ever wrong! I did turn the pages quickly but not due to wanting to finish quickly but to see who was behind the corruption, drug dealings and murders of the various characters. And how Keeper was going to find enough evidence to save his own life as well as the life of Vasquez’s girlfriend Cassandra’s life. I found Vincent Zandri to be a very descriptive writer allowing you to see the events as they take place. I found myself feeling as if I were on the outside looking in. In my opinion, The Innocent (formerly written with the title As Catch Can) could easily become a hit movie.
1099
Dell Publishing
Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com
Labels: A Lesson in Murder, Book Reviews, Conspiracy, Martha A Cheves, prison, spaghetti, Stir Laugh Repeat, The Innocent, Vincent Zandri
Murder at Cuyamaca Beach - Sue McGinty, Author
4:48 PM Posted by MAC
Swap-Meet Corn Casserole
A favorite recipe of Author Sue McGinty
This original recipe is based on those yummy Mexican ears of corn on a stick sold at swap meets and county fairs. This is a great side dish with barbequed meat, or served in place of beans with Mexican food.
1 16 oz package frozen corn (pref. Trader Joe's white. You can also use kernels cut from 4 ears of fresh uncooked corn.)
1 tbsp of fresh lime juice
¼ cup chopped green onions
1 small can of drained sliced black olives (optional)
¼ cup chopped red pepper (optional)
½ cup mayonnaise (light is fine)
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
Corn chips for topping (optional)
Mild chili powder
Cook corn in small amount of water until heated through. Drain thoroughly and sprinkle with lime juice. Mix corn with remaining ingredients in baking dish or casserole, top with chili powder and corn chips if desired and serve. If you need to reheat, do it gently in the microwave
Murder at Cuyamaca Beach – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
‘We settled in water up to my waist and turned to face each other. Hands intertwined, we jumped up and down in the waves like idiots in a Monte Python movie. I relaxed a bit. Moving around definitely made me warmer. “Oof.” Something hit me, sending a sharp pain into my side. I released Mike’s hand and turned, wobbled slightly and then righted myself. A red surfboard bobbed beside me. The top sported a black mountain log. My heart skipped a beat, then another. Sereno Cellars used a black mountain against a red background on their wine labels. “What the hell?” Mike asked, staring at the board. I grabbed it, uncertain of what to do next. I squinted toward the beach. Even with limited sight, I could see that a restless, unsettled feeling hovered over the beach. Onlookers huddled in small groups. Lifeguards leapt from their stations. Whistles shrilled as they bolted toward the water. “Shark!” The lifeguards shouted, and then again. And again. “Everyone out. Now!” Sirens erupted from the patrol boats stationed beyond the breakers. ‘
Bella Kowalski and her husband Mike spent New Year’s Eve working a fund raiser for the homeless. New Year’s Day has taken them to the beach where the Polar Bear Club will take their 1st plunge of the year into the Oacufuc;s icy waters. But Bella will not only find herself facing her 1st body of freezing goose bumps, she will also find herself coming face to face with the death of a friend.
Loreli Sereno died 5 years ago. The police had originally suspected foul play but later ruled the death as an accident. Now, with the death of her sister, the case has been reopened and Bella’s husband Mike, an ex-policeman, will be handling this “cold case” for the Tolosa County Sheriff’s Department. Is there a connection between the deaths?
Bella finds her plate full as she tries to determine who killed both of her friends, what is really going on at the homeless ranch run by Marcus Daniel and his foster son Jeremy? What is Father Burton hiding? To add more pressure to her spinning life, Bella finds herself taking in her 18 year old nephew and an increase in responsibility at the local paper where she’s in charge of writing the obits. Oh, did I mention that she also has a friendly ghost that lives in their windmill home? Never a dull day in the life of Bella Kowalski.
I know murder is serious business, but Author Sue McGinty’s style of writing in Murder at Cuyamaca Beach puts suspense, a little drama and a hit of humor in her story. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and know you will too. It’s so down to earth and human.
2010
Aberdeen Bay
263 pages
ISBN# 978-1-60830-037-2
Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com
Labels: Book Reviews, corn casserole, humor, Martha A Cheves, Murder, Murder at Cuyamaca Beach, Mystery, Stir Laugh Repeat, Sue McGinty
Dead Witness - Joylene Nowell Butler, Author
3:12 AM Posted by MAC
Butter Tarts
by Joylene Nowell Butler
6 eggs
2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla (beat sugar and vanilla together well)
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup walnuts (divide both into unbaked shells)
1/4 cup butter melted -- pour into 2 cup measure. Add boiling water up to 1 1/2 cup mark. Add to eggs and sugar and pour into tart shells to half mark -- Use muffin tins for these. Bake 350 degrees for 9-12 minutes.
--best
Joylene
Dead Witness – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
‘A long, narrow building, beyond the small shed, blocked her view. Valerie inched past a rusty engine leaning against the hut and peeked around the corner. Two men in black tee shirts and black pants stood at the stern of the sleek cabin cruiser docked at the wharf. Three more men stood on the pier: One young, one old, one dangerously attractive. Facing her, she could see he was perfect, in fact. Except, why was he wearing a long, tan raincoat? Maybe she wasn’t the only unprepared foreigner. No way would she interrupt their business. Two of them walked way. Mr. Perfect, the handsome Latino in the tan raincoat, smiled after them. His sensuous, slightly accented voice broke the silence. “Gentlemen, please. It has been my experience that even in times of indecision, a solution exists.” His arms spread wide as if to embrace them. The two men stopped and turned back. Still smiling, the Latino reached inside his raincoat and pulled out a gun. Valerie gawked at him. She heard a pop. The older man fell backward onto the wharf. Pop. The younger man’s head exploded. The man in the tan raincoat leaned down and fired a third bullet in the older man’s head. The body twitched, then lay still.’
Valerie McCormick is the mother of 3 beautiful daughters and wife to Ed. Ed owns a timber business in their home town of Prince George, Canada. In the process of trying to secure the business he runs across a possible client who has his eyes set on a boat docked in Seattle, Washington, so when Valerie wins a trip to Seattle, what better time to take pictures of the boat with hopes of scoring brownie points with the client. But when Valerie witnesses the murder of 2 men she decides she must do her duty and report it to the police. To her relief, the police ended up arresting Miguel DeOlmos on a traffic violation and now had him in jail. To her disappointment, after the American FBI talked her into testifying against DeOlmos, he ends up escaping during his trial. And to make matters worse Miguel DeOlmos is the leader of one of the largest drug cartels in the both North and South America. DeOlmos will stop at nothing to keep from being tried in the US due to its death penalty and it’s not beyond him to kill the only witness the FBI have against him.
Author Joylene Nowell Butler took me on a ride from Canada, Seattle, Nevada, California and then to Baja as FBI agent Mike Canaday chases DeOlmos while still doing everything in his power to keep Valerie alive. Valerie comes up with her own ideas of how to capture DeOlmos and ends up in the clutches of his psycho brother Vincente. Dead Witness is a superbly written murder mystery that has everything from greed to murder to deceit and of course love. I thoroughly enjoyed myself reading Dead Witness.
2008
Published by Joylene Nowell
278 pages
ISBN# 978-0-9810-3050-0
Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com
Labels: Book Reviews, Butter Tarts, cookbooks, Dead Witness, drugs, FBI, Joylene Nowell Butler, Martha A Cheves, Murder, Mystery, Stir Laugh Repeat, suspense
Jobless Recovery - L. C. Evans, Author
1:54 PM Posted by MAC
Stuffed Artichokes
Another great recipe from L. C. Evans
Ingredients
Four medium to large artichokes
Progresso Italian breadcrumbs
Salt
Powdered garlic
Olive oil
You will also need a steamer pot with lid.
Wash the artichokes thoroughly in running water. Trim stem to about one half inch. If desired, cut thorns off leaves with kitchen shears.
Pour about one and a half cups of breadcrumbs into a bowl. Season with salt and garlic powder to taste.
Separate leaves on artichoke and spoon breadcrumbs between the layers of leaves. When you get into the middle, the leaves will be too dense to separate, so you stop here.
Add water to steamer and stand the artichokes up to rest on their stems. Drizzle one to two tablespoons of olive oil over the breadcrumbs in each artichoke. Cover and steam until the outer leaves come off easily when tugged--I used tongs to grab the leaves because they will be hot! Cooking time varies depending on the size and ripeness of the artichokes, but is usually one to one and a half hours. Cool and
serve. May be served warm or cold or you can even freeze them for later use.
Eat the soft bottom portion of each leaf and the tasty breadcrumbs. When you get to the center, pull off the "choke" which looks like stiff hairs and then eat the heart.
Sorry I can't be more exact with these measurements, but this is an old--and favorite--family recipe given to me by my grandmother. We make it to taste without a lot of measuring. You may want to add more or less breadcrumbs and olive oil.
Jobless Recovery – Second Addition – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
Dear David R. Griffin:
By now you are aware of the unprecedented opportunity Markham-Hook Conglomerate has encountered. I am sure you rejoice at our good fortune and wish us every success in our leap forward into the global future.
Unfortunately, David R. Griffin, you have not been selected to continue the journey with Markham-Hook Conglomerate. Your position with the company has been eliminated and will terminate on May 1st of this year. As part of your duties before you depart, you will be required to engage in knowledge transfer, making sure your replacement from India knows how to perform your job in a satisfactory manner. In addition, you must successfully complete all projects on your current work list.
Can you imagine receiving a letter like this, or maybe you have or know someone who has. The letter is clearly a form letter with the name of the recipient inserted. And the company has the audacity to inform David that he must train his replacement before leaving. As I read Jobless Recovery I started recognizing things that I really had taken for granted. I knew that whenever I needed tech support for my computer, phone or just about anything electronic I would end up talking to someone who I assumed was from a foreign country, not really knowing if the help was actually being processed here in the US or from another country. As the story of David and later Joe and Lark continued I started wondering how much of this was based on facts so I contacted the Author. Below is the answers to my questions to her.
The part in the book about American tech workers losing their jobs to cheaper tech workers imported from India is absolutely true. Have Americans had to train their replacements? Absolutely true. Are the imported workers paid less than the Americans? Absolutely. Outsourcing is bad--jobs go to other countries, or wherever. But insourcing, bringing workers to the United States on work visas to undercut wages and take jobs from Americans right in this country, is far worse. It is absolutely true that this is happening. I have firsthand experience and I can promise you it's the truth.
Please go here for all the facts, statistics, and information you may need. I can vouch for this site as being honest and telling the facts. It's a real eye-opener:
I have called Washington (many times) and I was told this is legal and there's nothing I can do about it. I even have it in writing from the U.S. Department of Labor that the H-1B law is full of loopholes and there are no protections whatsoever for American workers. The worker importation laws were signed into law by President Clinton. Since then, you can see what's happened to the economy. I have called senators and representatives, the White House, The U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. I received absurd answers very much like those given to my main character in the book. The line where a staffer tells Dave that since workers have their money in the stock market, anything corporations do to increase profits is good for workers even if they lose their jobs was actually said to me by someone at the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. I've paraphrased and that isn't an exact quote, but it's pretty close.
For so many years Americans have been expected to drive the world economy with consumerism, but how are we to do this without jobs? Every company wants the benefits of doing business in the U.S. with its stable government and relatively affluent consumer base, but they don't want to hire Americans and pay American wages and adhere to American labor laws. At the same time they expect Americans to fight and die in the U.S. military to protect their interests. First they told us we didn't want service jobs, so when those went away we were told to upgrade our skills and get manufacturing jobs. When those went away, they told us to get an education and get tech jobs. Now those are gone to outsourcing and insourcing and we're told that it's globalization and we are supposed to "deal with it." Anyone with half a brain can see that we've been lied to you and thrown by the wayside. It's all due to the sickness of greed. Time for Americans to wake up, get mad, and vote out the people who have sold us out.
Jobless Recovery is another well written book by Author L. C. Evans. She has added humor to help us process the truth behind the fiction in the story of David, Joe and Lark, but at the same time she opened my eyes to what is really going on in our country as well as other countries, with most of us being totally unaware. Jobless Recovery is a book that I highly recommend we all read.
2010
ISBN 9781453792711
226 pages
Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com
Labels: Book Reviews, Dept. of Labor, H1B Law, Jobless Recovery, L C Evans, Martha A Cheves, outsourcing, Stir Laugh Repeat
One Child - Jeff Buick, Author
4:19 PM Posted by MAC
Spicy Fillets with Toasted Pecans
A Jeff Buick favorite
Ingredients
¼ cup all –purpose flour
2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon garlic salt
1 pound firm-textured fish fillets ( ½ to 1 inch thick)
-trout, pike or orange roughy work great
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
¼ cup broken pecans
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
-this will really spice it up and it’s optional
Directions
Stir together the flour, cornmeal, chili powder and garlic salt in a shallow dish. Dip the fish in the flour mixture
Use a 12-inch skillet to cook the fish in 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes per ½ inch thickness or until the fish flakes easily and the coating is golden. Remove the fish from the skillet and keep warm. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the skillet and add the pecans. Cook and stir over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until lightly toasted. Stir in lemon juice and, if you like your food spicy, stir in the pepper as well. Drizzle the pecan mixture over the fillets. This dish serves 4. Prep time is about 10 minutes and cooking time is 7 minutes.
One Child – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
“I had a dream last night,” Halima said, her eyes locked on her youngest sister. “Dreams are good,” her father said. “Do you remember what you dreamt?” “Yes, I do.” She licked her cracked lips with a dry tongue. “I was someone important, I’m not sure why, but people were talking about me. Many, many people. They had pictures of me.” “You are important, Halima.” “No, father. Not just to you. To hundreds of people. Maybe even thousands.” “How are such things possible?” Kadir asked. She shrugged, her shoulders pressed into his chest. “I don’t know. But they were talking about me. Saying that I changed the world.” Kadir tilted his head so he could see her eyes. They were shining with excitement. “You changed my world, Halima. You made it so much better.” Her eyes dimmed and the smile slowly fated. “Do dreams come true?” Kadir considered the words. They were thoughtful words, and an important question to an eleven-year-old girl. His answer was equally important. He was her world and what he said and how he said it would help form the woman she would become. “Yes, they do come true.”
Russell Matthews, a journalist on assignment for a major US television network, will soon step into one of the hottest spots in the world. He will be joining American soldiers as they put their lives in jeopardy every day while trying to bring some sort of peace to war-torn Afghanistan. The scenes that will unfold before his eyes, and that he captures with his camera, are sights that most of us only see in the movies. But this isn’t Hollywood. This is real life, and real life has which has no preference as to who will die – or how. Russell learns the hard way that while decisions can save lives, they can also cost the lives of innocents.
Carson Grant is a Wall Street genius. His dreams are about to come true when he finds himself being promoted to the inner-circle of Platinus Investments by William Fleming, the firm’s billionaire owner. The duties and responsibility that go with the job are substantial – he will be making over a million a year. But what he didn’t see coming with the promotion was finding out that Fleming doesn’t always deal legally. And not just on the stock market. He taps into Fleming’s email and discovers that something is planned for August 25th, and he starts regretting his decision to accept the job. As he dabbles even further into the forbidden emails, he discovers something that really turns his stomach. Something that is of grave concern to the soldiers fighting in Afghanistan.
Julie Lindstrom, owner of Details Matter, has been employed by Dimitri Volstov to handle security for the U2 concert in Moscow show of U2. What Julie doesn’t know is that there is a team headed by an ex-CIA agent preparing to sabotage the show. William Fleming is behind the sabotage, looking to ruin Volstov’s image.
Halima Hussein is the oldest of 3 daughters living with their father in a bombed out building in Afghanistan. Halima’s mother was killed by the Taliban, leaving her to care for her father and younger sisters. When her father finds a way to save the family, he makes the decision to sell Halima. The promise of money to provide for his other daughters as well as giving Halima an opportunity to go to school are too good to pass up. To save her family, Halima agrees.
Through One Child, Jeff Buick brings all of these individuals together to create one of the most heart tugging books I’ve EVER read. He spares nothing and no-one as he tells a story of war-torn Afghanistan. Parts of the book upset me tremendously – but only because I knew that what he had described was true. Other parts gave me a joyous feeling as the world came together in a way I wish would be true. One Child showed how one child’s dream really can come true, even with disaster lurking so close by.
2010
391 Pages
Enthrill Entertainment, Inc.
ISBN# 978-0-9866199-0-8
Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com
Labels: Afghanistan, Book Reviews, Jeff Buick, Martha A Cheves, Moscow, One Child, reporters, Stir Laugh Repeat, war
"This book is made up of 3 individual stories. All three are short reads and other than the setting, which is Mexico, all three are completely different."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"You'll follow Logan as she tramples through kudzu, goes to her first Testicle Festival, rents a room from a woman who runs around at night in the nude and connects with a wolf. You will also follow her as she gets her man, or should I say men."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"Will the people of Hollow Gap pull together and defend themselves from the Indian up-rise or will they fall apart. Find the answers to these questions and more when you read this book of taming the West through love."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"I would NEVER have guessed the turn of events that make up the last 20 pages of Fresh Frozen. The hiring of the spy will surprise you and the murder will surprise you even more. So if you love a good mystery, this book is definitely for you."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"As I read I felt as if I was a witness watching this evil man do the things he did to these young women. As I read through the trial I felt like one of those ready to convict him. As I listened to the comments by his wife, I could feel her pain and confusion."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"After reading Breaking My Silence I saw Jane as a strong person who was determined to do whatever was needed to get her children back into her life and to do whatever it took to make her life as complete as possible without the prostitution. This was one of the most informative books I've ever read about a subject that is normally kept behind closed doors."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"
While reading Genesis Beach I found myself not wanting to put it down. Each page had a piece of evidence that would help me solve the mystery before Logan. I really thought I had pin-pointed the murderer. Boy was I in for a shock."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"I've enjoyed reading this book. It's a cross between a "fiction" and a "true crime." So if you enjoy either genre you will enjoy A Study in Red. Do keep in mind that this book is very descriptive."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"The story captured me from the beginning, the evil of Rovella never ceased to amaze me, and the love that was always there but didn't surface due to guilt made me feel the pain that I'm sure she felt. The ending was perfect."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"This has been a really enjoyable book.
I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery. Beth, don't change your way of writing! I've really enjoyed reading Basket Case and will be reading more of Beth's books."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"I feel this is a wonderfully written book that would be helpful not just for young people who are overweight but also for those who look at a person, no matter the age, call them names, shun them and refuse to accept them as they are."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"Bertha Speaks Out is a very enjoyable book to read. Bertha finds herself in positions that will make you laugh and cry. You will feel her pain but also feel her pride when she stands up for what is right. It’s a must read for children as well as adults.
"
(Martha A. Cheves)
"Read Thicker than Water and ask yourself these questions. Did the wife make the right choice? Was her decision worth 15 years of her family’s life? Would you have made the same decision?
I highly recommend Thicker than Water. As I said, it was a joy to read."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"As I read I kept asking myself “Who would put out a hit on David and why?” “Who are The Chosen Few and what do they have to do with David?” “Will Max get to David before it’s too late?” You will have to read The Chosen Few yourself to find the answers to these questions."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"This book has taught me that life is like a chain. Everyone we meet becomes a link in our chain. Some links may be weak, but the strong ones keep the chain from breaking. And as memories and secrets are shared with those strong links, they become even stronger."
(Martha A. Cheves)
I'm from Georgia, moved to North Carolina by way of Florida. I've been in Charlotte for 14 years and love it. The recipes in my book Stir, Laugh, Repeat are all tested by "Food Testers" of which I now have 24. They try a dish and rate it from 1-10 with only those scoring at least an 8 making the book. My website is a holding place for my 2nd book Stir, Laugh, Repeat... Again. Please visit my site to find new recipes and tips. All recipes are easy, using common ingredients and according to my testers, great!