Friday, December 8, 2017

A Deadly Fundraiser - Talk Radio Mysteries Book 4 - Mary Kennedy, Author



RHUBARB CAKE
(A Maggie Special)

2 extra-large eggs, room temperature
½ cup plus one tablespoon sugar
½ cup plus one tablespoon flour
1 – 2 tablespoons chilled butter
1 cup chopped fresh (or frozen rhubarb)
¾ tsp good quality vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract

Chop the rhubarb.
Beat eggs until light and fluffy. 


Gradually beat in sugar until thick. Add vanilla and almond extract. Beat in flour (don’t overbeat) 
Pour into greased 8 inch baking pan.   Arrange a layer of rhubarb on the top.  Top with dabs of butter.  The cakes do turn out better if you make one at a time, rather than doubling the recipe. I don’t know why.   Of course they can bake together.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes.
When the cake is cool, dust with icing sugar.  The sweetness counteracts the tartness of the rhubarb.


A Deadly Fundraiser - Review by Martha A Cheves, Author of: Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; and A Book and A Dish

When Christopher Morgan, the owner of Mayfair, passed away he left instructions that the house be preserved and donated to the Preservation Committee as a center for the art.  The Historical Society, along with the Preservation Committee decided to open the 1930's mansion for a "gala" to raise money for the planned Center for the Arts.  Cyrus Still, the station manager at WYME, liked to support community causes.  But it looked like Maggie and Vera Mae were the only WYME folks to show up from the station.

Maggie has a radio call-in show called On the Couch with Dr. Maggie.  She closed her psychology practice and moved to Cypress Grove to become a radio talk show host.  Vera Mae is the producer of her show and is in charge of scheduling guests and manning the phones as people call in to ask questions of the guests.  So, when this event took place, it was a good way to meet people and hopefully promote the show.

To allow everyone a chance to see the mansion for the last time before it was remodeled for the Center, the committee decided to have a scavenger hunt.  Maggie and Vera Mae were joined by a reporter pal, Nick Harrison, to search using the clues provided by the committee.  Things were going great until they went to the basement where many years before, housed a real 'speakeasy.'  While searching for their next object, Maggie placed a hand on the wall.  To her surprise, the wall slid open exposing a hidden room and a body.

I've read many of Mary Kennedy's books and she gets better and more entertaining with each.  Her books always give you a handful of suspects while keeping you in suspense as to which one was guilty.  As always she left this book with the possibility of another and I'm impatiently waiting for it to appear.

Friday, December 1, 2017

In the Weeds - Mark Ozeroff, Author



Potato Leek Soup
(Mark Ozeroff's favorite Recipe from the Old World
)

2 large leeks
3 T. butter
4 cups chicken broth
Salt and pepper
1 med. onion, chopped
4 med. potatoes, cubed
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Chives, optional

Slit leeks and wash THOROUGHLY. Chop and sauté leeks with onion in butter for 5 minutes, stirring. Add broth and potatoes, simmer for 15 minutes. Blend slightly and add cream. Serve hot or cold with chives.


In the Weeds - Review by Martha A Cheves, Author of: Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; and A Book and A Dish

I sat on Bian's bed, staring out the only window in the tiny room.  She'd been looking west, toward the Everglades.  The fleeting patches of sun a couple days ago probably would have seemed familiar to her, perhaps like her memories of Vietnam.  Here, she'd known nothing but strangers, uniforms, and pain.  But perhaps a familiar sight, and a memory of home, drew her toward the unknown.

I left her room and descended the stairwell, just as she must have done.  I turned left on the landing toward the exit and found myself looking at the eastern edge of the Everglades.

I dropped to my knees to get a child's perspective, and could clearly see a gap in the vegetation, the start of a trail.  I stood and followed it, then closed my eyes.  Burrowing as deeply into the mind of a young girl as I could, I took a fresh look down the trail.  To a hurting and exiled orphan, this must have looked like a path to freedom.  I took my bearings, like the pilot I was, then marched back to the orphanage.

This young child, aging around 4, was brought from Vietnam to the US to start a new life.  She had been burned over thirty percent of her body and one of her legs had been amputated below the knee.  She is lost and looking for someone or something that might make her feel that she is safe and cared about.

This young child will also be what brings Vietnam veteran "Slats" Kisov, back to a new start of his own.  Slats flew an O-1 for the Air Force as a 'spotter' who would fly low enough to spot the enemy and report their position to the pilots flying the F-4 Phantoms.  After being shot while on a mission, he was eventually sent home to what should be a normal life.  It didn't take long for Slats to find his life was going to be far from normal.  When you combine PTSD, pot, a girlfriend who used to be the sheriff's wife, the fact that the sheriff is a member of the Klan, and a hurricane that should have taken his life, you find a man with a really mixed up life.  Just the kind of life only a child can smooth out.

This book is full of Vietnam War history.  I've know several who served during this terrible war and when asked about events as I read them, they assured me that what I was reading was true.  All the way down to the orphans that were brought over, some in very sad health.  Reading about some of the events we were never told here in the states, it broke my heart to know what these men went through.  So when Slats took his flying ability to an illegal level, I actually worried about him making it through the dangers of his actions.  I've read hundreds of books and have to say that this one is written in a fashion that made me feel like I was listening to a real person as he told me about his life.  It's very believable and well worth reading.

Monday, November 20, 2017

A Daughter's Promise - Fran Lewis, Author

  1. .


Good Old Fashioned Pancakes
(A favorite dish of my Mother)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 over easy eggs

Directions
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot topped with the over easy eggs

A Daughter's Promise - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of: Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; and A Book and A Dish

"Six years ago I was able to drive a car and go shopping by myself.  I was even able to eat in a restaurant and have lunch with my children and my sister.  I took my own medications, I ran the journal for my organization.  I even went around to collect money for ads to promote different businesses in my neighborhood.  I had o trouble remembering where I was going and when I was supposed to get there."

"Then all of a sudden I began noticing little things.  I could not remember where I put my glasses or my car keys.  I could not remember why I walked into a room, or what I was looking for.  I began overdosing my meds because I did not recall taking them.  If that was not bad enough, I could not remember what I had eaten for breakfast, or that I was even hungry.  I forgot to get my blood tested each month, thinking I'd had them done the month before.  I never remembered calling the doctor for the results, because I did not recall taking them.  Worst of all was my ability to drive a car, because my independence was about to come to an abrupt halt.  Everything about my life was about to change, and there was nothing that I could do to control or stop it."

You have just been introduced to Ruthie and thousands of others like her.  She as well as all of the others have Alzheimer's disease.

As I read this book I found myself comparing some of the signs to my own life. Many times I've gotten up to go into another room to get or do something and as soon as I walked through the doorway I find that I have totally forgotten why I even got up.  I find myself forgetting names of people I've know forever, people I used to work with, the names of streets I've been down many times and the names of movies I watched the night before.  These 'signs' do worry me but I feel that in my case this 'forgetting' is due to being so active.  I justify this by the fact that I can remember so much from the past.  My childhood friends - names, parent's names, streets, and all.  I can remember movies that I saw years ago and which theater I went to and who I went with.  I tell myself that way back then was a much slower time for me whereas now I stay busy and forget things.  At least that's what I hope is causing my memory losses.

In A Daughter's Promise, Author Fran Lewis breaks down the beginning as well as the end of this terrible disease.  And she knows everything 'first-hand' because she became the caregiver of Ruthie who was her mother.  She fills you in on what to expect, not only as the patient but also as the caregiver.  She helps you understand what the patient is going through both physically as well as mentally.  And she also helps you understand what the caretaker goes through both physically as well as mentally.

Whether you know a person with Alzheimer's disease or not, this is a book that needs to be read by everyone!  You may one day find yourself being the caregiver or even the patient and this book will help you know whats in store for you.


 
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