HELEN’S
MULLIGATAWNY SOUP
1
medium onion, chopped
¼
cup butter or margarine
1
medium carrot, diced
1
stalk celery, diced
1
bell pepper (green, red, or yellow), seeded and diced
1
medium apple (I like Granny Smith or Fuji), pared, cored, and diced
1
cup diced or shredded chicken or turkey (I love using left-over Thanksgiving
turkey, just like Helen)
1/3
cup flour
1
teaspoon curry powder
1/8
teaspoon mace
2
whole cloves
1
sprig parsley, minced
2
cups stock (chicken or turkey)
1
cup cooked tomatoes (I use canned diced ones)
salt
and pepper to taste
Sauté
the onion in the ¼ cup butter or margarine. Add the carrot celery, bell pepper,
apple, and chicken or turkey. Gradually stir in the flour, curry powder, mace,
cloves, parsley, chicken or turkey stock, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Simmer for half an hour or longer. Serve hot.
"I don't believe in ghosts," I used to tell anyone who'd ask. I'm a 'techie,' a computer programmer. I deal with data and facts, not fiction and fantasy. So how did I get mixed up with a temperamental, egotistical, rude, smart, funny, aggravating, self-centered, loveable... uh... spirit? Okay, if you insist, ghost.
Nanette
(or Nan as most called her) Burton found herself caught up in the downfall of
the mortgage industry only five years after graduating from college. But
that was just the beginning of her problems. The building she lived in
went into foreclosure, so she was also out of a place to live. Then her live-in
boyfriend decided to bail out when she received an eviction notice. Well,
his leaving was actually a blessing because he didn't work, wasn't looking for
work, and simply lived off Nan. So when her paycheck left, he found himself
another victim to mooch from. Final step, move back home with Mom and Dad
until she could find a job and buy a car. Oh yeah, her car died, too.
Living
with Mom and Dad wouldn't have been so bad except they had turned her bedroom
into Dad's study so she had to sleep on the sofa. The Victorian sofa with
all its wood and firm springs.
Then
Nan's great-great-aunt Nanette Burton, whom she had been named after, passed
away at the age of 104. When Nan and her dad were called to the lawyer's
office for the reading of the will, there seemed to be a light at the end of
the tunnel. Nan would soon be living at her rich great-great-aunt's beach
cottage. Finally a place to live and a bed to sleep on. But her
living at the cottage came with a few things Nan didn't expect. One being
her aunt's dog, Mitzi, and the other being her aunt's famous author friend
Maximilian Alexander Murdoch. Max actually wrote women's fiction under
the name of Maxine du Bois and had done extremely well. But when Nan
moved into the beach cottage, Max didn't take it too well. This was his
house and had been for years... before and after his death. Yes, Max is a
ghost, who ends up allowing Nan to live in 'his' house if she will help him
finish his last book.
I
can never get enough of this writer's light reading. She always grabs me
right in the beginning and continues until the very last page. She makes me
laugh and she makes me feel sad now and then but she always delivers with a
great book. You can't help but love this book.
Loran's Bio:
Lorna Collins and her husband, Larry, helped build theUniversal Studios Japan theme
park. Their memoir, 31 Months in
Japan: The Building of a Theme Park, was published in 2005. They
have also written two mysteries: Murder… They Wrote and Murder
in Paradise, and are currently working on more. They just completed The
Memory Keeper, set in San Juan Capistrano.
Lorna co-wrote Snowflake
Secrets, Seasons of Love, An Aspen Grove
Christmas, The Art of Love, and Directions of Love, 2011 EPIC eBook
Award winner. Her fantasy/mystery/romance, Ghost Writer, was published in 2012.