Tag: cooking

Life

The unpronounceable Greek Lemon Chicken Soup Recipe

Lately when I  cuddle up in bed with a good book, it’s been a cookbook. Perhaps it’s the extreme cold this winter that has me cooking up a storm. Maybe it’s because I was invited to join the Eat Something Sexy blogs by chef and cookbook author Amy Reiley. More likely it’s because I’ve discovered that when I cook an eery calm descends upon my usually frazzled psyche, and that is a good thing. When I feel centered, I can be creative and write, as well as handle whatever life has thrown at me. Anyway, last night’s culinary offering was Avgolemono Soup. Those local to my area may have enjoyed this hot, silky, satisfying soup at Lefteris (located in 2 locations: Mt. Kisco and Tarrytown). After purchasing this soup for years now, I was thrilled to discover the recipe in an old cookbook I had lying around. I’ll list the recipe exactly as it appears in the cookbook Larousse Treasury of Country Cooking. EGG AND LEMON SOUP (Avgolemono) Ingredients 2 Quarts strong chicken stock 1/3 cup rice 3 to 4 eggs Juice of 2 lemons In a saucepan, bring the stock to a boil. Add the rice, cover and cook […]

Life

The Dawn of a New Year

New Years Eve. A time for reflection, goals and resolutions, change, introspection, and a chance to look toward the future. All of this has never been more true for me than this year because at the close of 2009, Linden Bay Romance will be shut down. No I don’t think someone will be waiting by the computer to disable the website at midnight tonight, but then again, I don’t know, perhaps these things can be set up in advance. What I do know is that as of 2010 I go from an author with over 2 dozen published full length novels, novellas and short stories, to one with just a handful. So what am I doing? For one, I have made my Facebook page, which had been private for a bit because of some issues, public again. I need a strong web presence to build my career and for better or worse, Facebook is part of that marketing plan. I am trying to focus on reworking my backlist to get them back out there. And to keep my sanity I began that cooking project I told you about in the last post. How is that going? Well there have been […]

Life

The Fine Art of Procrastination and French Cooking

As a testament to the fact I will do pretty much anything besides what I am supposed to be doing, today I read Julie Powell’s “The Julie/Julia Project” blog from 2002 and cooked two recipes out of my new cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. (To see the beginning of my new obsession click HERE) Yes, I should be working on Jack (Red Hot & Blue, Book 2) to submit to my editor so I can get a date and get my now out of print backlist back out there. Instead I made Quiche Lorraine for breakfast and Cream of Mushroom Soup for Dinner, with food shopping for ingredients wedged in the middle there. How did the recipes come out? Well I cheated on the quiche because 1) I had no lard to make fresh crust and 2) I did have a frozen piecrust. Aside from some over spillage onto the cookie sheet in the oven, it was very tasty. The soup was easier than I thought though I kind of had to cheat there too. I am SURE I had half & half in my hand in the foodstore. I know I put it in […]