Phantasms in the Infirmary - Ram and Julie Gulrajani, Authors

Spinach Pie

Wash the spinach after removing the thick white stalks.  Roll up the leaves and cut very fine, place in a bowl and add salt.  Pour sufficient boiling water to cover and then squeeze out the water.  Now take 3 bunches of spinach, 3 beaten eggs, two Tbsp. of grated cheese, salt, pepper, a little garlic and a little oil.  Line a deep Pyrex dish with a pie crust and fill with the spinach mixed with all the other ingredients.  Make two wells and drop 2 eggs very carefully.  Cover with more crust, brush over with milk and bake for 2 hrs.

Phantasms in the Infirmary - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish

Not so long ago I took a friend to the hospital for an endoscopy.  In the past this was done at one of the smaller facilities but my friend had changed doctors and he only did the procedure at the hospital.  As we boarded the elevator I noticed that the nurse pushed the button for us to go down, not up.  OK, there are a lot of floors that I've never been on in this hospital and with all the new construction we are probably just going to another above ground floor in the back.  As we stepped off the elevator and started walking down the hall I started feeling closed in.  I felt like I was walking into air that was really thick with something but I had no idea what.  I sat by my friend's bed as they prepared him for the procedure and since there was only a curtain between us and the next patient I could hear his conversation with one of the nurses.  He was telling her that he was born in this hospital 80 years ago.  She proceeded to tell him that we were in the oldest part of the hospital in the basement which at one time was actually the morgue.  I still didn't make the connection between my feelings and the location until I started reading Phantasms in the Infirmary.

Even though Authors Ram and Julie Gulrajani created a single hospital for the events to take place, they are still stories from several hospitals that have been passed on by hospital workers over the years.  Both Authors work in the medical field which brings them in contact with those who have experienced the events as well as those who have heard the stories.  Many of the hospitals have long histories of being everything from asylums, orphanages, workhouses, convents and monasteries in their past.  They also all have one thing in common - death.  Some even carried the ghosts of these deaths into the halls of the modern hospitals.

Is this what I was feeling while in the basement/old morgue of the hospital I was in?  After reading this book of ghosts from the past I'm pretty sure that was exactly what I felt.  Read Phantasms in the Infirmary for yourself and see if you agree.

The Madonna Ghost - Linda Maria Frank, Author

FAMOUS APPLE BREAD 

3/4 cup of oil

2 eggs

1 cup of sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. NACL

1 cup chopped apples

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a loaf pan.  Combine dry ingredients.  Beat together eggs, sugar and oil.  Stir in dry ingredients.  Stir in apples and nuts.  Bake 1 1/2 hrs.

 

The Madonna Ghost - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish

"The story goes that the women lashed their small child to themselves with their shawls before they jumped overboard to swim ashore.  This action proved to be fatal for some of the children.  They couldn't struggle to the surface to breathe, and most of the mothers were not swimmers anyway.  They were at the mercy of the waves."... "Some could be revived, and this drove one woman in particular to wander up and down the beach, trying to find someone who could revive her baby.  When they saw that her child was dead, the good people from Bay Shore tried to comfort her.... She wandered the beach, her baby clutched to her, until she collapsed and died herself.  Her grave is in the old cemetery in Bay Shore... Even today, the Madonna Ghost, as she is called, is sighted by people on occasion."

Annie and her Aunt Jill are vacationing on a small island out from New York called Fire Island.  The island is small and Annie is really hoping that there will be at least a couple of people her own age.  She was in luck.  They were staying at the summer home of a friend of Jill's who just happened to have his nephew Ty staying with him.  Now the vacation was looking up and even more so when she learned there was a ghost on the island.  Maybe she would be able to see the Madonna Ghost for herself, making it a first for her.  And of course with Ty by her side, it would be fun.

What Annie and Ty soon learn is that there is more than a ghost on the island.  The men staying in the cottage next door seem a little strange.  And when Jill comes up missing, they are both sure the neighbors have something to do with it.

The suspense and mystery in this book had me rapidly turning the pages.  I read a lot of books and usually have them pegged at least halfway through.  Not this one.  It kept me guessing all the way to the end.  So much so that I've ordered the next two books by this author... Secrets in the Fairy Chimneys and Girl with Pencil , Drawings

Ghost Hunting Diary Volume IV - T. M. Simmons, Author

Simple Fried Green Tomatoes
(A T. M. Simmons Special)

In the south, we love our fried green tomatoes. There are several ways to enjoy this delicious dish. In fact, my husband and I each cook them differently. I like them prepared both ways, but here is mine:

1 egg

½ cup milk

Beat together by hand, then beat in:

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup cornmeal

This should make a batter that looks similar to pancake batter.

Select 3 firm green tomatoes, wash and core them, then slice into 1/3" slices. Put salt and pepper on them, to taste.

Heat ½ inch of canola oil to about 350 degrees in either an iron or electric skillet. Dip tomatoes into batter and fry until golden brown on each side. Serve while hot. Yum!

You can also cheat and get the Whistle Stop Fried Green Tomato Batter Mix to use for your coating. It's also delicious!

My husband eats his fried green tomatoes on bread, but I love mine with just a fork.

Ghost Hunting Diary Volume IV - Review by Martha A Cheves, Author Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish

St. James Jeepers Creepers - There are times during ghost hunts when I even scare myself silly...er...sillier.  In May, 1998, an occurrence at the captivating historical St. James Hotel, in Cimarron, New Mexico - a place with an extremely haunted reputation - turned into one of those incidents. Twenty-six deaths occurred in the St. James so when I saw a man that stood about 6 feet, with black hair and dressed in an 1800's style suit jacket the evening we checked into the hotel, I wasn't surprised.  I got the impression he was a gambler and I gaped when he winked at me.  This told me he was an intelligent haunting, one in which the entity can interact with our living dimension.  In other words, the recognition worked both ways.  Turns out he was one of the nice ones.  TJ is a different story.

Barney the Believer - Barney is my husband who doesn't believe in ghosts.  One day he came to my office, white as a ghost himself.  He wanted to know if we had a little girl ghost in our house.  We do so I ask how he knew.  His comment to me was "Because I've been watching TV and she just got up from the chair on the other side of the fireplace."  That was just the beginning of him becoming a believer.

These are just 2 of the stories in the author's diary and this is the 4th diary this author has published that I've had the pleasure of reading.  I've heard about ghosts and spirits my whole life.  I 'dreamed' one morning that my grandmother was standing at the foot of my bed telling me everything would be alright.  Apparently I was asleep with my eyes open because I could see her and the room I was in full color.  I once bought a house where I would get a glimmer of someone out of the corner of my eye and freeze when I sat in a certain area in my living room.  Turns out the previous owner, a woman who loved to cook, had passed in that special spot in the living room.  If we admit it, we've all probably had some kind of unexplained 'happenings' at some point in our lives and through reading T. M. Simmons' books, I truly believe that I've experienced a few ghosts of my own.

Oh yeah.  If you have a ghost/spirit in your home, this book will tell you what would be the best way to handle your type of ghost/spirit.  Yes there is more than one type and each is handled differently.  At this time, I have no ghosts/spirits in my home.  I have a friend who died in his home and the woman living there now has told me he comes back now and then to check on the items he left in the attic.  She has never removed anything from there so he seems ok, but she does hear him now and then rummaging around and many times he will forget to turn out the light.

This, like the others before it are extremely interesting.  I'm enjoying learning about the experiences the author and her Aunt Belle have gone through and can't wait to learn even more when I read Ghost Hunting Diary Volume V.

Ghost Writer - Lorna Collins, Author

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.

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

 "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.

In addition, Lorna is a professional editor.

Ghost Gone Wild - Carolyn Hart, Author

BAILEY RUTH'S OLD-FASHIONED OKLAHOMA CORN BREAD

1 c. yellow corn meal

2 t. baking powder

3/4 t. salt

3/4 c. milk

1 egg
1 Tbsp oil

 Butter round baking pan. Cook at 425 degrees for 30 min.

Ghost Gone Wild - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish

Excerpt from GHOST GONE WILD:  I was afraid I was beginning to understand.  The telegram from Wiggins had been counterfeit.  Nick's aunt Dee had nosed about the department and found my name.  Any thriller writer would consider it child's play to purloin information from Wiggins's old-fashioned paper files,  which were kept in accommodatingly unlocked wooden filing cabinets.  It was possible she sometimes served as an emissary.  However, Wiggins was always insistent that emissaries not contact family members who knew them... In any event, if she'd wanted to send help to Nick, obviously she would have hunted about in the files for someone connected to Adelaide, and so she had sent the spurious telegram and waylaid me as I was en route.

Bailey Ruth arrives in Adelaide, OK, to help out Nick, who became the target of a bullet within minutes after her arrival at his house.  Luckily Bailey Ruth was able to push him out of the way before the bullet struck him.  Bailey Ruth tries to convince him to call the police but his cell phone is missing.  And then people started appearing due to a text that was supposedly sent to them by Nick.  Jan, Nick's girl friend, showed up but wasn't thrilled to see that another woman was there.   After some fast thinking, Bailey Ruth was able to calm her down.  That is until Lisa showed up due to her text from Nick which invited her to come over.  And then the third person showed up... Lisa's husband demanding to know where she was.  All arrived 'after' the shot was taken at Nick.  Did the shooter want to implicate these three in the killing of Nick?  Well, thanks to Bailey Ruth saving him, the shooter's idea was spoiled and Bailey Ruth now had some possible suspects.

Author Carolyn Hart has done her usual in writing another fun-filled story of suspense, murder, humor and spirits.  Oh, did I forget to tell you that Bailey Ruth is a ghost?  From time to time she is allowed to descend upon earth to help a person in danger.  This is normally done through Wiggins but in this case the person, or should I say ghost, that  sent Bailey Ruth to earth is Dee, Nick's aunt who decides she has to keep an eye out and make sure Bailey Ruth does everything correctly to save her nephew.  Problem is, with Dee being the one to send Bailey to earth, she has no control over her abilities to appear and disappear, so once Bailey Ruth appeared, she was unable to disappear and with Wiggins not knowing of her descent, she became OF the earth and not ON the earth. 

This series is one that I keep an eye out for the next Bailey Ruth story to hit the shelves.  The characters are always so real, including Bailey Ruth, to the point that you actually feel that you know them as neighbors.  Now I "patiently" wait for the next volume to see what Bailey gets herself into next.

Convenient Marriage - Maggie Tideswell, Author

Mini Chocolate Kahlua Pots

(A Maggie Tideswell Special)

100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

150 ml single cream
2tablespoons Kahlua liqueur
4 glasses or ramekins

Place chocolate in a large bowl.

Heat cream just until it comes to the boil, then pour it over the chocolate and leave to stand.
Whisk until smooth, then add the Kahlua.
Spoon into the glasses/ramekins.
Leave in the fridge for 1 hour
Serve with crème fraiche and top with a coffee bean.

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

‘Joshua skimmed down the page, not registering what he was reading, when a tiny advert squashed between Lost and Found and Obituaries jumped to his attention.  It simply read:

Husband needed.

Call Holly Turnbull 021 768 9223

No pranks please

Joshua read it a second time before he scrubbed both hands over his face, his elbows crumpling the newspaper on the table.  What was the world coming to, if women had to resort to dailies to get them a man?  he wondered.  Would this poor, misguided soul even want the kind of man who was like to respond to this silly ad?...  Surely this Holly woman didn’t think she was going to get a bona fide offer of marriage from this tiny advert, did she?... He waited for his laptop to boot up, then typed ‘Holly Turnbull’… Holly turned out to be a journalist and not bad to look at either.  He was impressed, even though it seemed odd that a woman like her would advertise for a husband.  Oh, well, each one to her own.  She would do nicely in his newly formed plan.’

Joshua Jordan has found a way to push Nicole, his fiancée of four years, into making the final commitment by scheduling a wedding.  He will give her an ultimatum of time and if she doesn’t find it within herself to meet the deadline, he will take this Holly woman up on her marriage proposal for just long enough to bring Nicole to her senses. 

Holly Turnbull didn’t actually place the ad for a husband in the daily paper, her three best friends and roommates did.  Holly’s ex-husband Donald has refused to allow her to see their two boys for long enough.  The girls believe that with a husband, Donald will have no excuses for not allowing her to see the boys.  The girls also believe Donald’s wife Gwen is the one that is really behind him not allowing Holly to see her kids.  So when the marriage proposal comes in from Joshua Jordan, Holly sees that this just might be the answers to her problems with Donald.  But with the proposal comes something that no one would have guessed... Moragh.  Moragh is a spirit from the past who starts sending Holly messages demanding that she ‘tell her story’ and to her surprise, the story starts at the very home belonging to Joshua.

This book has it all… murder, mystery, love, hate, ghosts, spells and the supernatural.  The tale is so twisted that you think you have it all figured out only to find that you’re wrong.  The characters are strong and if you believe in ghosts, very believable.  I really didn’t want this book to end but to just keep on going.  Convenient Marriage is a very entertaining book.  I loved it.

Ghostly Justice - Bev Irwin

Golden Peach Pork Chops Recipe

(Bev's favorite Slow Cooker Dish)

 

Ingredients
1 can (29 ounces) peach halves
5 bone-in pork loin chops (1 inch thick)
1 tablespoon canola oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar

Directions
Drain peaches, reserving 1/4 cup juice (discard remaining juice or save for another use); set fruit and juice aside. In a large skillet, brown pork chops on both sides in oil; transfer to a 3-qt. slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Add the tomato sauce, vinegar and reserved peach juice. Pour over the chops. Arrange peach halves over the top. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the meat is tender.

 

Ghostly Justice - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish

 

***I watched until they turned the corner at Colburn Street.  Then the energy vanished and a profound sadness filled me.  Even playing the piano held no joy that day.  I have to talk to her.  But how?  I gave up trying to contact the living years ago.  It became so tiresome – appearing in front of them, touching them, talking to them, yet never being noticed.  Until now.  Every day, I watch for her.  Every day, I try to make contact.  Every day I plead for her to look up at my window again.  Two weeks have passed now.  And every day, she hurries past; her gaze focused on the street ahead.  I must talk to her.  Daira is the first person I’ve been able to communicate with since the day I was murdered.***

 

Daria Brennan is your typical 15 year-old, or at least she thought she was until she discovered that she could see ghosts.  Her first sighting was of a young woman in the upstairs window of an old house she passed every day going to school.  At first she thought it might be her imagination since the house was empty.  The woman who lived there had fallen and been taken away to recuperate in a rehab center.  Maybe someone had broken into the house.  Whatever it was she knew that every time she walked past the house she felt a chill.. [1]  Then came the voices.  Someone calling her name when there was no one there.  This became more frequent after she and some friends broke into the house to have a place to be together. 

 

As the visits to the house grew more frequent, so did the voice in her head begging for her help.  The ghost she was seeing and talking to turned out to be Amanda the daughter of the old lady who owned the house.  She had died 40 years earlier and Amanda needed Daria’s help t her remember how and why.  As Daria researched Amanda’s death she found that the police had ruled it as a suicide.  But as Amanda’s memory started coming back she knew it wasn’t suicide but murder. Daria was the only one to help her prove it and to help her put the person responsible away.

Ghostly Justice was a really enjoyable mystery.  I had no problem coming up with who murdered Amanda but I had a problem guessing how he would be caught.  I also had a problem guessing why Daria and Amanda looked so much alike.  Daria was born 40 years after Amanda’s death but their birthdays were the same month and day.  Had to be a connection but what?  I really enjoyed this book and there are a couple cuss words, not really bad ones, but I can see this being an enjoyable read for ages teen to 90.  I loved it and hope to hear there will be other chapters in Daria’s life that will be put to words.

 

 

Ghost Hunting Diary Volume III - T. M. Simmons, Author

Southern Fried Chicken and Gravy
(One of T. M. Simmons' favorite dishes)

1 cut-up chicken

3 cups flour
2 tbls. corn starch
1 tbl. baking powder
½ cup canola oil
1 can condensed milk
Salt and pepper

Lay chicken in sink and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper to taste. (If you want, you can freeze the back for noodles later rather than cook it.)

Combine flour, corn starch and baking powder. Shift together.
Heat oil in large iron skillet to high heat.
When oil is ready, dredge chicken pieces in flour mixture and add to oil. (Save flour mixture for gravy.) Cook each side until nicely browned, then lower heat to medium low and finish cooking, turning often so chicken doesn't burn.
When done, remove chicken from skillet and drain on paper towels.
Pour off excess oil until there is only a thin layer in the bottom of the skillet, leaving in any small pieces of chicken or skin that came off during cooking.
Turn heat back up to medium high and sprinkle 3-4 tbls of flour mixture into oil.
Stir until flour begins to brown.
Turn heat down to medium and pour in one can of condensed milk, stirring as you add it. Add water if gravy is too thick.
When gravy is thickened, turn off heat and serve it with your fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Yum!


Ghost Hunting Diary Volume III – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish

***Billy and Lucy York had been to Goshen Cemetery once previously with two other ghost hunters. From what they told me, I wanted to visit this historic graveyard myself.  I wasn’t deterred by the rumors and tales abounding about Goshen, nor by the fact invitations to a few other paranormal investigator friends to join us were turned down flat.  Word about evil entities and how dangerous Goshen could be had spread through the paranormal community for years.  Perhaps I should have been more forearmed, but hindsight is perfect vision.***

 

Reading this Author’s diaries has been quite fascinating to me and as soon as I finish one, I can’t wait to read the next.  Her experience in the Goshen Cemetery would have scared the heck out of me but what happened as they were leaving would have probably given me a heart attack. 

 

As her diary went on through other outings, I was drawn to wishful thinking when she told about her short chat with a Dr. Griffith who was examining her ‘horseless carriage’ one night while she was visiting a friend.  That’s one event I think I would have enjoyed after my heart rate slowed down just a bit. 

 

The Ghost Hunting Diaries all take you into what most of us can call the unknown.  For T. M. Simmons, it has become the purpose of her life to deal with those who haven’t passed over yet and to encourage them to make the decision to leave their ‘unlife’ for a peaceful one on the other side.  But all isn’t fun and games when it comes to ghosts.  Some are humorous and enjoy playing jokes while others are quite evil and enjoy wreaking havoc on those around them.  And some are simply demonic and quite dangerous.

 

This is the third Ghost Hunting Diary that I’ve had the pleasure of reading and as I said, I can’t wait to dig into Volume IV.  If you like a good ghost/sprit story, you won’t want to miss T. M. Simmons’ own personal accounts of being a paranormal investigator.  They have sparked my interest.

Dead Man Talking - T. M. Simmons, Author

Boiled Live Crawfish
(A T.M. Simmons Speciality)

One sack live crawfish, 35-40 lbs.
A Dozen Medium Lemons, Halved
2-4 lbs. of Crawfish Boiling Spices
6 Large Onions, Peeled
5 lb. Red Potatoes
1 dozen ears frozen sweet corn
1 – 12 oz. container of squeeze butter or margarine
17 oz. container of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
3 - 4 gallons water
Outside propane fish cooker
Large cooler

It's best to use an outside propane fish cooker. If you cook crawfish in your kitchen, the spices will make you sneeze and can make it hard to breathe.  Wash crawfish off with a hose while still in the bag.   Pour crawfish into a metal tub or plastic swimming pool. Rewash.  Bring the water to boil over the propane flame.   Add spices, lemons, onions, and one half of potatoes, and corn.  Bring back to boil.  Fill fish basket with live crawfish. (Discard any dead ones, as they may have gone bad.)  Slowly lower into boiling water and cover with lid.  Bring back to boil and cook for 3-4 minutes. Pour crawfish from basket into cooler.  Remove corn, also, and put in cooler. Let potatoes cook longer.  Squeeze butter/margarine on crawfish and corn, then sprinkle with creole seasoning and stir with a metal scoop.  Keep cooking until all the crawfish are all cooked, adding corn with next batch and taking first batch of potatoes out when they are done. Add rest of potatoes and cook while finishing the crawfish. Continue squeezing butter and adding seasoning.  Give everyone a disposable plastic tray and enjoy! We cover a table with an oilcloth and newspaper to dump our shells on. Twist off head and suck out spices. Remove tail meat and eat.  You can dip the crawfish tails into your favorite seafood dip, if you wish. I like melted Brummel and Brown yogurt butter.

 

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

 

A second later Katy continued with a resigned sigh, “He says his death was a murder, but not deliberate murder. That he can’t find eternal rest until the deed is exposed.” That got to me. The ghost must have known it would. How can you have an undeliberate murder? I never could ignore a murder mystery with a death riddle attached. “Interesting,” I mused. “Are you coming then? In the morning, not next week?” I chewed my lip and contemplated. “Ask Sir Gary why he doesn’t come over here and talk. I’ll leave a light on.” “I’ve already told him that,” she ground out. “Hell, I even got out a map and showed him where you live! But noooo. He insists you come here!” A stubborn ghost. He’d probably been that way in life, because Twila and I firmly believe a person’s living personality follows into death. One crotchety old man –

 

Alice was contacted by her cousin Katy to help her remove her resident ghost who calls himself ‘Sir Gary.’ Apparently he had died due to drowning but wasn’t quite sure that it wasn’t without help. He just couldn’t remember how nor who had murdered him and until he could resume that memory he simply couldn’t cross through the light into the other side. Sir Gary has taken to acting up around Katy demanding that she have Alice come to solve his mystery and help him end his half life existence. In his eyes, Alice is a paranormal writer and solves murders all day long through her writing making her perfect for the job. Alice, on the other hand, has a deadline to meet for her latest book and just can’t get away for a few days. That all changes when Katy and Sir Gary find a headless body floating in Katy’s pool giving her home yet another ghost to deal with. And this one is mad! He can’t find his head so he can’t see nor communicate leaving him nothing else to do but rant and rave until it’s found. Katy now has Alice’s attention and she is on her way, as are her aunt Twila, her ex-husband Jack and eventually her neighbor ‘Granny.’

 

I’ve now read all of T. M. Simmons’ Dead Man books – Dead Man Haunt, Dead Man Hand, and now Dead Man Talking. Each is equally as good as the other and each is filled with ghosts, murder, suspense and lots of laughter. When I read the part about the traffic jam and its cause I busted out laughing out loud. When Jack, who was a non-believer became a believer I laughed. When Jack and Alice go to a biker bar undercover, I laughed. This book, as well as all of the Dead Man books are filled with so much humor that it becomes a ‘fun filled suspense.’ And for the suspense, I never did guess who killed the man in the pool until I read it near the end.

Ghost Hunting Diary Vol II - T. M. Simmons, Author

Southern Bread Pudding and Jack Daniels Sauce:

(I've revised this recipe so you can make it with a little bit less cholesterol and fat.)

Bread Pudding Ingredients:

1 loaf French bread, a day or two old and in 1-inch squares

1 quart skim or 1% milk
3 Eggbeater eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup Splenda granulated sugar
1 cup regular sugar
2 tbsp. vanilla
2 cup raisins (better if you soak them overnight in ¼ cup bourbon!)
1 cup chopped pecans
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg

 

Cooking spray (I use the type with olive oil)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, soak the French bread cubes in the milk until milk is absorbed. In separate bowl, beat Eggbeaters, Splenda and sugar, vanilla and spices together. Stir egg mixture into the bread mixture. Stir in raisins and pecans. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9X13" baking pan with cooking spray. Pour in bread mixture and bake for 35-45 min. Remove from oven when the edges start getting brown and pull away from pan edges.

Jack Daniels Sauce Ingredients:

½ cup melted butter

½ cup Splenda granulated sugar
½ cup regular sugar
1 Eggbeater egg
1 cup Kentucky bourbon whiskey

In a saucepan, whisk melted butter, sugar and egg well. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickens. Don't simmer, or will curdle. Whisk in bourbon and remove from stove. Whisk before serving and pouring over individual servings of warm bread pudding.

Yum, yum!

 

Ghost Hunting Diary Vol II – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish

I don’t much care for my days and nights getting mixed up, but since I won’t take sleeping pills unless I’m desperate, I hadn’t taken any this night. Being ghost-sensitive, though, I had realized that the ghosts were fairly active. I’d heard –and felt – someone several times since I’d settled in the room, and been aware of various noises in the rest of the house that couldn’t be explained away as a roaming cat. I’d also encountered the ghost in the bathroom a couple times: that drop in temperature and the skin-crawl sensation of the energy surrounding a paranormal entity. Normally, I don’t bother turning on the light during my nightly bathroom excursions, but due to that fairly strong presence this night, I did. And I’m not too happy with being watched during what should be a private time, but I don’t have much choice around here. I won’t call them pervert ghosts, but the bathroom ones are male.

This is Author T. M. Simmons talking about her own home, which is haunted, especially her spare bedroom which she calls the Molly-Belle Suite and which accommodates her when she can’t sleep and doesn’t want to wake her husband. She normally gets along with her resident ghosts but that’s only due to her ‘laying down the house laws’ to them. But now and then they will ‘test’ her to see what they can get away with.

In Ghost Hunting Diary Vol. II, T. M. Simmons records some of her experiences in both the cemetery as well as a few haunted buildings. Some of these experiences would scare the pants off people like myself yet all are quite interesting and there are even a few that are quite funny. By funny I’m talking about her records of the Naked Ghost which she found in the Baker Hotel. And her description was so that I don’t think I would mind meeting this ‘Adonis’ghost. But the evil ones she encounters within the Goshen Cemetery I think I’ll pass on.

If you enjoy a good ghost story, you’ll enjoy this series of books – Ghost Hunting Diaries. If you’re a believer, you’ll love these stories. If you’re a non-believer, they just might change your opinion regarding ghosts, ghost hunters and the paranormal world. They have made a believer out of me!

 

Ghost Hunting Diary - Volume I - T. M. Simmons, Author

 

 

Cucumber-Tomato Side Salad

(I learned to make this years and years ago from one of my aunts. I've seen and tasted various other versions at gatherings or on buffets, but none are prepared like this simple one I make or taste like it. It always goes over very well at our own family gatherings. In fact, when we plan a get-together, one of the first questions I get asked from one son and a few others is: Are you going to make your cucumber-tomato dish?  T. M. Simmons)
 
Ingredients:
Two nice, red, ripe tomatoes
Three-four nice, firm cucumbers
One large yellow onion
One cup cider-apple vinegar
One tablespoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ cup sugar (or sweetener to taste)

In an adequate-size bowl or jar, mix vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar and stir briskly. Taste it to see if it is too tart or sweet for your taste, and adjust, if necessary. We like it pretty tart. Set aside.

In a large flat bowl or plastic storage dish, with lid, slice the tomatoes into thin slices.

Peel and slice the cucumbers into slices about 1/8" thick.
Peel and slice the onion into thin slices. Separate the individual layers of onion and add to tomatoes and cucumbers.
Toss the tomatoes, cucumbers and onions together.
Pour the vinegar mixture over the vegetables and cover with lid.
Place in refrigerator at least two hours before you want to serve them.
Approximately every half-hour, stir the contents to make sure the vinegar gets distributed over everything.

Enjoy!

 

Ghost Hunting Diary – Volume I – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish

 

The Green Room is haunted by a Confederate soldier, but for some reason, he only appears in the summer.  He had been wounded in the Civil War and found his way to The Myrtles, where he died from his wounds.  There are tales of people seeing six red-coated British soldiers carrying a coffin out by the pond.  A lady in white walks around the grounds, and both guests and townspeople have reported seeing her.  The most famous story about The Myrtles, though, is the story of Cloe, the black slave.  Clark Woodruff owned the plantation in the early 1800’s.  By 1982, he and his wife had three children, two girls and a boy.  There was a portrait of Woodruff in the game room, and stories say that people have actually seen tears flowing down it.  In those days the southern plantations were worked by slaves, and at times, the masters took mistresses from the workers.  One of Woodruff’s mistresses was Cloe.  Proud and protective of her status, since it kept her in the house and out of the fields picking cotton and other crops, Cloe intended to maintain her position.  Thus, she tended to eavesdrop in order to store up any information that might assist her.  When caught Woodruff ordered Cloe’s ear cut off and banished her from his bed.

 

Author T. M. Simmons doesn’t just write paranormal stories; she lives them too.  The ghosts above are just some that she and her Aunt Belle encountered while visiting The Myrtles in St. Francisville, Louisiana, just outside of Baton Rouge.  In her Ghost Hunting Diary Volume I, she gives us a look at what is involved in ‘cleansing’ a room and sometimes even a whole house.  But I think the story that got to me the most was when she and other members of the North Texas Paranormal Research Society visited Goshen Cemetery, just out from Eustance, Texas on of all times of the year, Halloween. 

 

There have been times in my own life that I’ve felt there were ‘others’ among us but have always brushed this feeling off to excuses such as ‘I’m alone,’ ‘Its Dark,’ or ‘That was just the wind.’  After reading Ghost Hunting Diary Volume I, I’ve just about decided that there is a lot more to these encounters than we realize.  I have a feeling that by the time I get to her 4^th Ghost Hunting Diary, I’ll be a true believer.

Dead Man Haunts - T. M.Simmons, Author

Recipe Dead Man Haunt 
Aunt 'Cille's Deviled Eggs
 
We do a lot of barbequing in Texas, and one of our family's (and Alice's) favorite side dishes is deviled eggs. My Aunt Lucille showed me how to make scrumptious deviled eggs once when I visited. 

1 dozen eggs
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sweet relish
2 tablespoons Miracle Whip Salad Dressing (Fat Free)
Parsley

Cover eggs with water and bring to a boil.
Boil for ten minutes.
Cool, shell and halve the eggs.

(Hint: Fresh eggs are harder to peel; eggs a little older peel easier. Also, I drain the hot water off and then dump some ice cubes on the eggs to help cool them quicker. Seems they peel lots better. I also put the drain in the sink and crack them, then peel them under a small stream of cold water.)

Scoop out the yellows.
Place the whites on  your egg plate.
Add in order and mix in each time:
Salt
Pepper
Vinegar
Relish
Miracle Whip

Spoon back into the whites.
Garnish with a few shakes of parsley.
Stick in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Yum! Especially on a hot Texas day.

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

 

Twila and I see ghosts.  We talk to ghosts.  We actually hunt ghosts and enjoy the heck out of our quests.  We love to prowl old buildings and graveyards, day and night, study the history of them, and occasionally chat with the long-passed occupants of both the buildings and graves.  Yet out of the dozens of gone-by souls we chat with, very few ever keep our attention past that one and only conversation.  Patrick, however, a ghost I met recently, had intrigued us into this upcoming adventure, the adventure Jack was so adamantly opposed to.  I’d met Patrick when I joined a few local ghost hunters to investigate the historic, scheduled-for-demolition Springs Hotel in the tiny West Texas town of Mineral Springs.  He stepped out of the shower in the men’s dressing room, six foot of blond nakedness, dribbles of water crawling down his tanned muscles, a white towel draped around his neck.  No doubt in my mind he was a ghost, yet what a gorgeous ghost.  Patrick winked at me – he could see me every bit as well as I could him.  Then he disappointed me greatly when he faded back into his own dimension.  I didn’t even get a chance to see if he’d show up in a photograph, because I was too rapt to remember the digital camera hanging around my neck.

 

Alice is a writer by occupation and resides in a lakeside cabin in Six Gun, Texas along with several cats and a dog and a mixture of ghosts who would rather stay as they are than to go into the light to the other side.  Her closest neighbor Granny and her aunt Twila both indulge in Alice’s taste for the spirit side of life, or should I say death.  Oh yeah, I can’t leave out the 4 legged ghost hunters, Trucker the dog and Miss Molly the cat who accompany the 3 on all of their ghost hunting trips.  And I almost forgot Jack, Alice’s ex-husband who is a New Orleans detective who seems to be drug into all of Alice, Twila and Granny’s tangles with the ghosts as well as the non-ghosts.  Jack just happens to be a non-believer but he can see the ghosts.  Go figure.

 

I can’t get enough of this author.  In Dead Man Haunt I enjoyed a real laugh when Alice and team are accosted by a skunk and end up taking a tomato juice bath.  I laughed when Patrick would appear at the most inopportune times, sporting nothing but his birthday suit, which seemed to be his preferred mode of dress, or should I say undress.  I laughed when the ghost Mary Ann, who had been cut in half, appeared scaring the pants off Delroy the ‘commando.’  But laughter isn’t all T. M. Simmons puts into the Dead Man series.  I stayed in total suspense until the end trying to guess who killed Mary Ann and why.  I strained my mind trying to come up with the reason for Patrick, as well as several other ghosts, still being on this side and not the other where they can find peace.   And then the characters started coming together making the puzzle into a picture.  But the ending still ended up being nothing that I had suspected. 

 

I seem to be reading this series backwards starting with Dead Man Hand, book #1, which was just as good as Dead Man Haunt, book #2, I can’t wait to read book #1 Dead Man Talking.  I’ve also read T. M. Simmons Paranormal Suspense Winter Prey, enjoying it immensely.  As I said, I can’t get enough of this author.  And did I tell you that T. M. Simmons actually lives in a haunted house in East Texas which she shares with hubby, a variety of pets and of course her paranormal residents. 

Psychs - A. H. Amin, Author

QUINOA PILAF
(a Hassan special)

1/2 cup carrot, diced
6 cups quinoa, cooked (according to package)
1/2 cup green onion,
diced 1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
1 cup almonds, sliced
1/4 cup sweet red pepper, diced
1/4 tsp oregano
salt to taste

Sauté chopped vegetables in olive oil until clear, yet crisp: stir in oregano. Add sautéed vegetables to cooked, hot quinoa, mixing well. Add salt to taste. Dry-roast almonds in heavy skillet until lightly golden. Add almonds and mix. Serves 6-8. Quinoa pilaf served as a side dish with fish or chicken is delicious. Vary the pilaf using your favorite vegetables, or by cooking the quinoa in chicken, fish or vegetable stock instead of water.

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

My parents are leaving in an hour for a visit and my little sister always sleeps late during vacations, I couldn’t wait anymore for them to leave. I looked at the spirits surrounding me and said. ‘Let’s talk’ I said, then closed my room’s door. ‘My name is Hassan what’s yours?’ They replied in turns. ‘Mine is Joseph.’ ‘Rodriquez, call me Rod’ Rod gave a wink. ‘Steven Chow.’ ‘Markus Reed, at your service.’ Mark took a bow and pointed at the female ghost to follow. ‘Nice to meet you Hassan, my name is Emma’, she smiled and waved. ‘Sorry for scaring you’ Emma said. ‘It’s ok’ I replied, then my eyes went to the one next in line. ‘Jack.’ ‘Mason.’ The last one to be introduced was a woman I had first seen behind the glass window, the one who had watched me sleeping when I was admitted. She looked different, they all looked military, and she was the only one who didn’t fit in the picture. And for some reason, she looked very familiar to me. ‘Sara.’ My eyes started to widen. ‘I am your mother dear.’
 

All through his life Hassan has felt there was always someone watching him. Now and then he would even see a quick movement out of the corner of his eye. It wasn’t until he came to the rescue of a woman and child being beaten by husband only to have the husband bring him near death that he realized his images were real. At least as real as ghosts can be. They had always looked after him but couldn’t communicate, until Hassan came up with an idea. Sign language. That would give he and the ghosts a way of communicating without actually speaking. But Hassan’s ghosts were not only his guardian angels, they became his teachers. Through them he was able to lead a 2^nd life that would prove most valuable in years to come.
 

Adam, also known as Shark, was a Navy Seal that had been held prisoner for years. His capturers were of the worse type. Torture was used more as an entertainment than to acquire information they might need and since Adam’s strong hold was his hands, their first form of torture was to remove his arms leaving him with no method of self-defense. They may have destroyed his body but they never destroyed his mind, soul and determination to live. So, after 13 years of torture, Shark meets Hassan and the battle begins.

 

Psychs is a book that brings out the strength of mind over body in its desire to live, both through Hassan and Shark. The stories of both that lead up to their story together is one that may sound impossible but with the author’s ability to write, you can see, feel and picture each line as it happens. This is a very well written book and an extremely interesting story. I can actually see this one being made into a movie with someone like Bruce Willis being Hassan. Now I’m impatiently waiting on the next book in the series ‘The Remnant.’

Mysteerie Manor II - Sharon Hays, Author

Maryanne’s delicious salad dressing in Mysteerie Manor II.

Maple Dijon Delight

This makes a good sized portion of salad dressing so you will have some for later!

(You could also cut recipe in half to make less, just in case)

3 to 4 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

2 parts oil to 1 part Dijon; 6 to 8 Tbsp. of a light tasteless oil *(I like grape seed oil, as is light, healthy and tasteless, but you can use your own choice of course. Also good for sautéing, if you’ve never tried it)

Whisk well to emulsify, as you drizzle oil into Dijon mustard while it thickens.

Add ¼ C fresh tarragon

S & P to taste

1/3 cup Maple syrup

Whisk in all three ingredients to the emulsified mustard and oil.

½ to ¾ c Raspberry Vinegar:  Add and whisk to emulsify well, to get to your desired consistency.

* (Honey may be used instead of Maple syrup, but I guarantee you will love the syrup combination!)

There you have a tasty new dressing that will delight your taste buds and healthy as well! 

 

Mysteerie Manor II - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

‘The fateful day she walked into the Valencia Manor, her life had taken many turns.  What had started out as a property investment opportunity had become an intriguing nightmare of unexpected events and mysterious, supernatural phenomenon.  Murder, strange accidents and tragedy all took their turns in the bizarre adventures at the Valencia Manor.  But through all of the mystery and misery, it had become a reality.  The Valencia Manor would be legally transferred into Maryanne’s name today… Maryanne was reluctant at first, to accept the unbelievable gift of the Valencia Manor, because she felt so bad about the death of the lovely Mrs. Dirkshire.  Maryanne spent weeks trying to find other relatives who might otherwise be next in line to inherit the property, but after careful searching, to no avail and legal counsel, she felt more at ease in accepting the gracious offer.’

 

The Valencia Manor was built in the 1800s.  After several mysterious deaths it was put on the market and bought by John Farthington.  The deaths continued with his child and wife both dying while living at the Manor.  After succumbing to illness himself, Farthington moved in with his sister Irene Dirkshire.  He later died leaving the Manor to her.  She, in turn, decided to sell and contacted Joan Bishop to be her agent.  Joan and Maryanne O’Donnell were close friends and when Irene saw how much Maryanne loved the old Manor she wrote a new will stating that if anything should mysteriously happen to her it was to go to Maryanne.  Upon her death a few weeks later, Maryanne inherited the Valencia Manor.

The Manor wasn’t the only thing that Maryanne inherited.  She acquired all of the ghosts, both good and bad, that called the Manor their home.  So she decided to sell her home and move into the Manor, but before doing this she first had to have the place completely renovated.  After finding the perfect contractor, her plans progressed with a good offer being placed on her home and Maryanne and her new husband Mario made plans to move into what was to be their new home at the Valencia.  Maryanne had already had the Manor swept of its spirits by her physic friend Vivian but when the contractor took out a wall and found an unexpected guest, Maryanne had to call on her friend again.  Vivian found more than expected when she returned to the Manor and with Mario informing her of the mysterious deaths that had been occurring around the area she had no choice but to give them her idea that they may be dealing with the “undead.” 

 

Reading Mysteerie Manor and Mysteerie Manor II made me remember reading my very first “horror” book.  It was called Salem’s Lot.  I read it at night, which was a mistake, and had trouble sleeping afterwards. I couldn’t even leave a curtain open for fear that an unsuspecting predator would be looking in.  That was years ago, but these two books bring some of those feelings back.  Author Sharon Hays has succeeded in giving me the creeps, even while reading during the day.