Passport to Nowhere - Samuel Blessing, Author

 

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped, divided

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 habanero peppers, seeded and minced

2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons chopped green onion

3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (12 ounce) bottle lager-style beer

2 tablespoons cornmeal

1 cup water

1/4 cup chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

Cook ground beef and pork in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the meat is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink. Drain and discard any excess grease. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in 3/4 of the onion and all of the green pepper, habanero pepper, jalapeno pepper, and garlic. Cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir the drained meat into the onion mixture along with the green onion, chili beans, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, beer, and water. Sprinkle with the cornmeal, then season with chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Refrigerate overnight. Reheat the chili over medium heat until it begins to simmer again. Top individual servings of chili with cheese and remaining chopped onion.

 

 

Passport to Nowhere – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish
 

Because he wielded so much clout, the teachers in Gilmore’s department loved him. Even the new people, who were at the bottom of the totem pole, looked up to him. Mac even respected him until one day in his second year when one of Mac’s football players, Miko Magala, kept wandering by Mac’s room two or three days a week during fourth period.
 

“Hey Miko,” Mac finally asked him one day, “Where the hell are you supposed to be?” “Ah, coach, do I have to tell you? Can’t I just hang out here and learn some extra science from you?” Mad knew the kid was not Phi Beta Kappa, but he was a hard worker on the football field and was earning a C grade from Mac in his second period biology class. Miko could also be a smart-ass but Mac nipped that in the bud the first time they met. “Miko, you must have a fourth period class. Where is it?” “Ah, I don’t want to get into trouble, coach.” “Look, if an assistant principal sees you wondering around you will get into trouble, and I don’t want to see you get kicked off the team or worse, get kicked out of school. Where are you supposed to be?” “English, with Mr. Gavore.”

 

Seems that the beloved Mr. Gavore had a plan that would keep his classes up on the scales and rid himself of some of the problem students at the same time. In the case of Miko, Mr. Gavore would have him check in with him every day, he would then mark him present and have him go to the library or wherever as long it wasn’t in his class making a disturbance. Mac, who hadn’t been at Knoward long enough to accept this as the truth found it too bizarre so he took this information to his fellow teacher Frank Bottoms who confirmed it to be the truth.
 

Knoward High School, or ‘Nowhere High School’ as most of the teachers came to calling it, was one of those schools that seemed to attract most of the problem kids as well as the problem teachers. If you couldn’t make it in other schools you were sent to ‘Nowhere’ and if you were a teacher that simply couldn’t make it in the normal schools, you too were sent to ‘Nowhere.’ The teachers were just as bad as the students and in some cases worse and two of the worse teachers just happened to be Lizbeth and Sandy. Actually Lizbeth was probably the worse because she was able to lead Sandy around to do all of her ‘evil’ work. If she found a teacher she didn’t like, heaven help them. She would find a way to get rid of them before their 2 year tenure and her best tool was having Sandy spread rumors that the teachers had no defense against. Also, Lizbeth was known for providing ‘extra-curricular activities’ that would assure her control over the students.

 

Mac stepped into Lizbeth’s trap but was able to pull himself out before the door sprung causing her to hate him more than anyone else. It all boiled down to the fact that she couldn’t control him. But that didn’t stop her from going after a new teacher Mac had befriended and done his best to protect. And with Lizbeth, if downright meanness didn’t work a little kindness with meanness to follow did. So these were her means to remove Quentin from ‘Nowhere’ High.

 

As I read Passport to Nowhere I could see the beginning of a reality show for TV. Now it would have to be on the HBO channel due to language and some of the descriptive wording but still one that would be quite interesting. The Author Samuel Blessing is a retired school teacher and I really hope that these stories are all coming from his imagination and not real life experiences. Although, with the lack of discipline within the school systems today, I can see each event unfolding just as he has described it and it scares the heck out of me as a reader, parent and grandparent. So just to be on the safe side of education, I suggest you read Passport to Nowhere and draw your own opinion as to whether this book is fact or fiction. I’m calling it ‘fiction’… I think.

The Exiled Element - John L. Betcher, Author

 

Beth Becker's Hummus Bi TahiniINGREDIENTS:

4 cups ( 2 ½ cans ) garbanzo beans, drained
½ cup tahini ( sesame paste )
1/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup best-quality olive oil
Juice of 2 or 3 lemons

Blend, then add:

4 or more garlic cloves
1 ½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cumin seed
Freshly-ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Process or bled until smooth.Note: Can store in refrigerator for 4 weeks.

The Exiled Element – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; A Book and A Dish; Think With Your Taste Buds
 

Inside a classified underground laboratory twenty-five miles northeast of Cairo, three white-coated Egyptian scientists labored over a small pile of aluminum casting on the table before them. They were building a model airplane. But it wasn’t just any airplane…it was Aurora. They had manufactured the parts in 1/30^th scale with the highest possible precision based on digitized plans provided to the engineers by the United States of America. Well…the plans were definitely of U.S. origin, but perhaps the word ‘provided’ wasn’t entirely accurate. An operative of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate (GIS) – Egypt’s version of the CIA – had procured the plans from the Americans. A certain U. S. Senator with an immense assortment of scandalous baggage had facilitated the delivery. After acquiring the Top Secret information, GIS had sought out these three scientists – considered Egypt’s finest minds in aeronautical engineering. What was their opinion? Could they turn these technical drawings and specifications into a tangible product – into the fastest air-breathing plane on the planet?
 

Beth Becker is retired from the CIA but still works part-time doing CIA decryption work from her home in Red Wing, Minnesota. When she is summoned to their McLean, Virginia headquarters she is assuming it’s another decryption project. That turns out to be not quite the case. She will soon be on her way to the U. S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt to make contact with a woman she knew from past years while serving at the embassy. Apparently the woman known as Rasha is now in a computer programming position with her own government and has run across information regarding an assassination that will be taking place in the U.S., target unknown.
 

Beth’s husband ‘Beck’ has been asked by the Red Wing Deputy Sheriff Gunner to help out in a security job protecting an unknown Senator that will be coming into town. Seems that there have been other attempts on the Senator in the past so security has been beefed up and Gunner would like Beck’s ex military help. The security goes well in the beginning but becomes a failed assignment when the Senator is assassinated while leaving the Red Wing Hotel where he had just given a speech. To find his killer, Beck engages the help of his long time friend Mr. Red Feather, AKA Bull.

 

Unknown to Beth and Beck, their assignments are about to collide and become one. The key to their jobs are non-other than the U.S.’s Top Secret plane Aurora. And when Beth comes up missing, Beck sees the Embassy as doing very little to find her, making it his and Bull’s job to take on the task themselves.

 

I can’t get enough of the “Beck” Suspense/Thriller Series! The Exiled Element is the 4^th in the series and I’ve read them all. They just keep getting better and better with the stories of espionage, the CIA and a couple, along with their friends, who refuse to let the U.S. down. John L. Betcher has truly become one of my favorite authors.

Gabriel's Chalice - Frank A. Ruffolo, Author

 

Oven Potatoes with Fennel

(One of Frank's Favorites)

20 ounces Yukon Gold Potatoes, cut in 1/2" cubes
1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed and cut in 1" slices
1 medium sweet onion, diced
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced finely
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste


Preheat oven 400 degrees. Spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine potatoes, fennel, onion, parsley, oil, salt and pepper. Arrange mixture in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake, turn occasionally, until potatoes are crisp on all sides, 30 35 minutes. Then Serve.

 

Basil Butter

1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 cup (or 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
 

Stir basil leaves and lemon juice into butter in a small bowl. Spoon into serving container. Store, tightly covered, in refrigerator.

Spread on bread or place a pat on grilled steak, grilled chicken or hot vegetables.

 

 

Gabriel’s Chalice – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish
 

“This is CNN…good morning. We have an abundance of international news to cover today. We will start with Fred Wallace, just outside of Yellowstone National Park. Fred?” “Good morning. As you may remember, Yellowstone Park Rangers closed the park to the public last week. Increased seismic activity, the silencing of Old Faithful, and the sudden draining of Yellowstone Lake have volcanologists very worried. They are monitoring the buildup of underground pressure at the Old Faithful site and also at the now empty lakebed. They fear that an eruption is imminent. They have moved all reporters fifteen miles away from the park.” “Across the globe, things are far from quiet. In Iceland, Eyjafjallojokull is still erupting, and Mount Pinatubo and Mount Fuji in the western Pacific also continue to be active. The Illyinsky Volcano in Kamchatka, Russia, is now spewing ash, and just this morning, Mount Erebus in Antarctica came alive, sending yet another large pillar of ash into the upper atmosphere. With Vesuvius threatening to erupt in Italy and the increasing seismic activity in South American and Africa, we may be in for a very long winter due to all the ash in the sky.”
 

The year is 2028 and these are just a few of the problems earth seems to be experiencing. The CDC has been dispensed to Russia where a fungus that started by infecting the potatoes has not gone airborne and is now infecting humans. The CDC estimated that over 50,000 people had contracted the disease with a death rate of 40% of those who are affected. This figure will eventually rise into the millions. Then start the miracles. At the space moon lab, Dr. Raphael (Matt) Matteo who holds of a double doctorate in geology and volcanology with NASA, along with fellow crew members from the Moon Base Challenger find themselves involved in the discovery of a cave with an alter that has a chalice sitting on it. As the Angel Gabriel appears to them, they know that the chalice must be taken to earth in hopes of bringing its people together before it’s too late.

 

 

I received this book several months ago but when my computer was hacked I thought it was lost. Last week I finished a great accomplishment that took me 2 ½ years to complete. I had promised God and myself that I would read the Bible from beginning to end and Wednesday I finished. On Wednesday morning before I finished reading the Bible I found Gabriel’s Chalice. I picked it up and read the 1^st page. It was Revelation 21:10-11 “In the spirit, he carried me to the top of a very high mountain, and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God. It had all the glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond.” The 21^st chapter was the chapter I read on Tuesday night before picking. As I read page after page of Gabriel’s Chalice I remembered more and more of what I had read in the Book of Revelations. It was almost as if this book was explaining what I had read and it was meant to be read after my Bible reading.

 

 

I would like to make a suggestion to everyone. Read Revelations and then read Gabriel’s Chalice. I truly feel that both books will give you a message that you just might need to complete your own life.

The Greatest Book Ever Written

About 2 1/2 years ago I was doing a book signing at one of our local Christian book stores.  When the signing was over I decided to just look around the store before leaving.  I ended up finding a book I couldn't leave without.

My Dad was always a religous person at heart and before he passed he became even more so.  He told me once that he had read the Bible 3 times and that he found and learned something new with each read.  I had never read the Bible from beginning to end so I decided that if Dad could do it 3 times I could do it at least once and I did. 

I made God and myself a promise that I would read a chapter each night no matter what.  In the 2 1/2 years it took me to keep this promise I missed 1 night and to this day I can't remember why.  I took my Bible with me no matter where I went.  When I went to Utah to promote my book my Bible went with me.  When I went to Florida for the release of one of my books, my Bible went too.  No matter what time I came in at night I made sure I read my chapter before going to bed.  I completed my promise on September 19, 2012 and feel very proud of myself.  This is an accomplishment that not everyone can claim and I'm glad to be able to include myself in that group.

I grew up going to church and believing but most of my knowledge came from Bible stories that were told and movies that were made about these stories.  Through my reading I've learned there is so much more.  And that added knowledge has made me want to search deeper.  I'm now reading a book titled The Life of Jesus which with it's history of Jeresuleum as well as Christ is becoming a very enjoyable book that is answering my desire to search deeper.

My challange to you is this.  Pick up your Bible and start on page 1.  Make a promise to read a chapter a night and in 2 1/2 years, write your own review for the Greatest Book Every Written - the Bible.

Bad Choices - Fran Lewis, Author

 

Devil's Food Cookies

(A Fran Lewis Favorite)

 

1 package (18-1/4 ounces) devil's food cake mix

2 eggs

2 tablespoons butter, softened

3 tablespoons water

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

 

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, butter and water (batter will be thick). Fold in chocolate chips.  Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 10-13 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks. Yield: 28 cookies.

 

Bad Choices – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish
 

Enter the peer – that person who is somehow inexplicably like them; a person who makes them feel comfortable; one who makes them feel like they fit, like they belong; someone – and get this – who when they look at they seem able to see themselves and most importantly what they consider to be their true selves. Therefore, a peer serves as a defining mirror; a living mirror, a person who describes them – defines who they are by being it, living it, in front of them. It must be who they are (they rationalize) because it is they (the Peer Group) with whom they fit best…people with whom they feel most comfortable…a group of people and especially one friend in particular (a BFF) with whom they can relax and act naturally around. They watch these living mirrors and learn all about themselves. If the mirrors change then so do they. If it (the Peer Group) accepts them then they accept themse.ves If, however, it rejects them then they first begin to try harder to please the mirror, mirror on the wall, mimicking its instructive reflection. Or, perhaps, they may come to find that there are other mirrors – other Peer Groups -, which are better suited to help them discover the mystery of “who am I?”
 

Through Author Fran Lewis’ Bertha books I’ve found that this woman has such a strong care for young people, how they feel about themselves and what becomes of them. In her book Bad Choices she walks us through, of all places, a cemetery as some of the faces behind the stones tell us about the Bad Choices they made that put them where they will be forever. Each case gives the teenager’s point of view about life, what helped develop this view and what they did that brought a true end to your view.
 

In each case, you the reader can make up your mind as to who is really responsible for the deaths of these young people who never reached the joys of adulthood. Is it the parent’s fault? The pressure applied by their peers? Or could it just be a kid that’s mixed up and really needs medical attention? How as a parent can this be prevented? How do you recognize when there’s a problem? Through Bad Choices you’re given the clues to the puzzle as well as ways to help prevent the puzzle from coming apart. And this all starts from conception! Yes, the very beginning of life! My own kids are grown but I see some of these problems already hitting my own grandchildren. I think this is a book I’ll be sending on to their parents to see if it might help before it’s too late.

Ellen's Gold - James Walker, Author

 

 

Shrewsbury Lamb Cutlets

8 lamb cutlets
1 tbs of olive oil
1/4 ib of (button preferably) mushrooms
4 tbs of redcurrant jelly
1 tbs of worcester sauce (do you have that in USA? Its vinegar/malt vinegar based, so I suggest malt vinegar would be an okay substitute)
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbs of plain flour
1/4 to 1/2 pint of stock
seasoning - pepper/salt to taste
dash of nutmeg
parsley

Brown cutlets in oil. Slice mushrooms. Place cutlets and mushrooms in casserole. Place jelly, worcester sauce(or equivalent) and lemon juice in a pan and
stir over a low heat for 2 minutes or so and then add the flour and the stock and bring steadily to the boil in order to make a gravy. This can be thickened to
taste by adding a little more flour. Add seasoning, nutmeg and parsley and then pour over cutlets and mushrooms.

Cook @ 325 degrees for 90 minutes.

 

Ellen’s Gold – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; A Book and A Dish; Think With Your Taste Buds
 

From its frontispiece it was apparent that the book had been published in Augsburg in 1784. It was so dusty that he wondered if it had gone unread and forgotten for nearly as long. What intrigued him about it though were the words written in English across the cover “two times eight,” not once but three times. It seemed very strange, and when he began to thumb through the book he also discovered the words, again in English, “10 times 10” had been written on a couple of pages. It also looked as if these pages had been glued together and then pulled apart. Further on still he discovered that two pages had been cut out of the book. Then, most surprisingly, he came across a drawing on a blank page. It was clearly a crude map of a locality, which meant nothing to him except that it included a road marked as leading to Erfurt. The book had effectively been defaced, but clearly with some deliberate purpose rather than through mindless vandalism. Suddenly, he felt something lying under the flap at the back of it. To his surprise it was a letter, or part of a letter, for there was no signature, dated 13^th December 1813, and written in English.
 

Max Kelber owned a book shop and when Frau Paulsen offered her large collection of books, he made the trip to her home to take is pick. Among the books he found the mystery book with its puzzling code, map and then a letter addressed to just the name Ellen. The letter, also written in English, gave what appeared to be coded directions to the treasure that was hidden near the town of Erfurt. But who is Ellen and where exactly is the treasure?
 

Ellen Charpentier lives is from and lives in Paris. Colonel Michael Korsowski is from Poland and is serving under Napoleon in his battle against Russia to recover land that once belonged to Poland. With Ellen and Michael, it was love at first sight and the more they saw of each other, the more they knew they were meant for each other no matter what. Ellen, a widow, was free give her heart to Michael but he was married to a woman who refused to grant him a divorce so Michael became a career soldier as his only means of being out of a marriage that had no love. As the war takes Michael and his troops into Russia, they are able to capture the city of Moscow. Along with the capture they discover riches beyond anyone’s dreams. This, he believes, will be his ticket to a happier life. Even if he can’t marry Ellen, they can take their share of the treasure and go to America to start a new life together. But what Michael nor anyone within his commend counted on was the severity of the Russian winters. As they lost men and horses they were also faced with having to do something with the treasure. This eventually left them with no choice but to bury it with hopes of coming back after the war ended.
 

Reading Ellen’s Gold was like reading a history book but an enjoyable history book. The battles were clear enough that I felt like I was actually ‘reading’ a movie. I could picture each event in my mind as I read along. I could see the frozen Russian winters, the struggles that Napoleon’s armies had as they tried to survive the cold without food for themselves nor their horses. I could also feel the desire each man had to keep the treasure safe so that when the war was over and he received his share he could start a new life of ease and comfort.
 

But, if the letter was found years later within a book, was the treasure ever found? Will Kebler search for this treasure for himself? Will any of the men who carried it so far out of Russia live to collect their share? The answers to those questions and more are found within the book which I feel you will enjoy searching for as you read Ellen’s Gold which is really two stories in one; the 1st being the survival of not only the treasure but also Michael and his men. The second story is more of a gothic novel with kidnapping and murder. All-in-all Ellen's Gold is a really top grade book!

Of Time and Place - B. R. Freemont, Author

Tater Tot Hot Dish!  A Midwestern staple

                    1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
                    1 onion, chopped
                    3/4 teaspoon salt
                    1 pinch ground black pepper
                    1 (32 ounce) package tater tots, thawed
                    1 (10.75 ounce) can  condensed cream of mushroom soup
                    1 (10.75 ounce) can  condensed cream of celery soup
                    1 (6 ounce) can French-fried onion rings

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes

Of Time and Place – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds, A Book and A Dish

‘It should be pointed out that after World War Two ended, the country experienced and unprecedented increase in the birth rate.  This was called the ‘Baby Boom.’  It started right after the end of the war and reached its peak in nineteen fifty-seven.  These ‘Baby Boomers,’ as they were known, reached prime retirement age in the teens and twenties of this century.  They were owed Social Security benefits and Medicare, the old age health benefit then in effect.  Both of these programs, especially Medicare, were grossly underfunded.  A few rather futile attempts at reform were attempted.  But, by and large, politicians were not prepared to tackle a controversial issue and waited for the avalanche of retirees to come.  They came, and the government went further into debt to fund these benefits.  By twenty thirty, eighty-five percent of Federal expenditures were to pay debt service and entitlement programs.  That left very little for the military, education, and all the other services people expected.  The rate of inflation increased throughout the decade of the twenties, topping at twenty-five percent, in twenty twenty-eight.  That was a presidential election year.  Americans were shell-shocked and apathetic.  Neither political party seemed to be able to tackle their problems.”

The above is from a class taught by James Lendeman in the year 2062.  I have to say it sounds just about right.  Of Time and Place is written with about a 10 year gap taking you back and forth between the 2050s and the 2060s.  It’s much more than a story of love and deceit but a story of what the world will most like be just a few decades from now.  Cars will become a thing of the past with trains and trams providing the majority of our transportation needs.  Subdivisions will become obsolete due to the lack of vehicles to transport people into the cities.  The search will be on to find ways to bring more fuel resources into not just America but other countries as well from those that still have them.  And jobs will become even harder to find due to the lack of being needed.

Of Time and Place also takes you on a journey from New York, DC, Savannah, Ga and on to Florence and Paris.  You’ll visit places that most of us only dream of and through a description that will make you feel as if you’ve been there. 

The life story of James Lenderman is one that has the common ups and downs.  Love that goes wrong, love found and the undying love of true friendship.  As I read Of Time and Place, I couldn’t help but compare Author B. R. Freemont to another favorite author of mine… Nicholas Sparks.  Their style is similar so if you like one, you’ll like both.  This is truly a touching yet eye opening book.