New recipes and why my grandchildren love my cooking, but not the PhD

OK, so I'm not just a writer, teacher, and Ph.D., I'm a mother and a grandmother. What's pretty ironic is that my grandchildren don't care at all about my three degrees, or that I present at conferences, or that I do anything professional at all. What they care about is my cooking and cuddling while watching a movie or playing table games. My oldest grandson (12) brags to his friends about my chicken soup and my stew. Even better, he still likes to hug me. Every Sunday night that we can, we have the entire gang over for dinner and a family activity. Tonight I made a slow cooker pot roast with potatoes and carrots. We also had corn on the cob, brussel sprouts, and fruit salad, plus homemade apple pie. I made a lot, but they ate most of it. It was like the locusts descending in hordes. When everyone was stuffed, we watched a Christmas movie together. My son and his wife say that the kids are really disappointed if they don't get to come to Sunday dinner. Sometimes it seems like a lot of work, especially with my writing and teaching schedule and my church volunteer work and taking care of my aged father, but it's worth it. Wouldn't it be sad if my grandchildren didn't know me or my husband? If the incentive is scrumptious food and it takes some effort for me to prepare it, so be it.

Here is my chicken soup recipe that my grandson (GS1) loves so much (Last time I cooked it, he ate nearly two quarts in one sitting). This is the gluten free recipe:

Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (a whole roasting chicken is good, too, but there is more fat and the cooked meat must be separated from the skin and bones)
3-4 whole bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1 tablespoon powdered onion
1/8 teaspoon powdered garlic
salt to taste
pepper to taste
water, enough to cover the chicken
DeBoles corn spaghetti style noodles

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients, except the noodels, in a large pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer.
2. Simmer, with cover on the pot, for about an hour. Skim the foamy junk off the top every once in a while.
3. Shred the chicken and put it back into the broth.
4. Break the noodles up into short lengths. Add to the hot broth and cook on high until the noodles are tender. Serve.
5. If you have a pressure cooker, even better. Use it instead of a regular pot. Bring to a boil and let the rocker rock for about 15 minutes. Cool down before opening the pressure cooker. Follow steps 3 and 4.

This soup freezes well. Try freezing it in individual servings. It will last in the refrigerator for at least a week.

Just got the Houghton Mifflin Catalog for Spring

So, I got this flat package from Houghton Mifflin and couldn't think of what it might possibly be. When I opened it, I saw that it was their Spring Catalog and sure enough, there was my book. It's listed as coming out in June. I'm so excited! Kind of makes it seem more real.

I wish I had more time to write fiction, but I have a contract with Edwin Mellen to produce two text books and the first is due in two weeks. Sigh. That's what I spent Thanksgiving doing--re-formatting my first text book.

This one is about a visit I made to a Shakespeare Festival

I just got back from the Cedar City, Utah Shakespeare Festival where I had a fantastic time seeing professional theater. The downside was that I only got to see two plays: Fiddler on the Roof and Taming of the Shrew. Fiddler was a good production. The acting was good. The costumes were good. The set was good. The only trouble was that it was a typical production of that play. The only innovative thing in the play was the actor who played Lazer Wolf. He injected life into his part and was definitely not like the movie. The other production, however, was fantastic. They took the original Sheakespeare play of Taming of the Shrew and set it in 1946 Italy. The father with the two daughters is pretty well off with his restaurant and land. Petrucchio, who tames the shrew, was a U.S. Army captain who is a con artist. One of the suitors for Bianca, the younger daughter, is the son of an American mob boss who has come back to Italy to visit "the family." They played Frank Sinatra music and did a lot of other period things with the fantastic set and the way cool costumes. The freshness of this version of a play hundreds of years old also allowed the actors to throw themselves into their parts, with delightful results. The audience was on its feet cheering and clapping as soon as the play was finished.

So, how is seeing these plays inspiration for writing? For one thing, it is a demonstration of a principle of good writing--giving your characters enough fresh quirkiness so that they can really shine and then that energy moves your story along with zing that engages the reader. It is often said that there are only so many stories in the world and I suppose that is true to a point. However, the way those stories are presented can always be innovative and full of personality.

This is the last post from my other blog

I also sent in this publicity photo. Cool, huh? My editor loved it. She says that she sent it right over to the publicity people because it was so EXCELLENT. The photographer is Kevin Winzeler. See his stuff at kevinwinzeler.com. She also said the next step for Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone is the binding. I guess the copies she sent out earlier are not the advanced reader copies, but just the text that she sent out to a couple of special readers. One of them was kind enough to email me and say he would try to read it, but he's kind of swamped right now. For instance, one of his books just hit the New York Times bestseller list. Congratulations to him. He deserves it. If he says something nice about my book I might even tell who he is.

Sad, but true, I just had another great idea for a book. Now if I only had time to write.

Hi, folks--starting a new blog where my family is

Hey, everyone--I'm moving my blog to this location to be where most of my family is. I'm copying over most of my previous posts to keep continuity. Welcome to my new site.