Tuesday Treats & Titles: Winter Lemon Cake

Posted on February 15, 2022 by Silver James

Sometimes, on a chilly day, you crave something both warm and springy at the same time. This is the perfect recipe! Easy to put together, warm and yummy with a hint of summer lemon to be savored on a cold, winter day. Also a good addition to family get-togethers and/or potlucks.

Time: 1 Hr 35 Min
Prep: 15 Min
Cook: 1 Hr 20 Min

Warm up even the chilliest of evenings with our Warm Winter Lemon Cake. Warm Winter Lemon Cake is a citrusy burst of delight that will get you all cozy.

What You Need
1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) JELL-O Lemon Flavor Instant Pudding
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 cups cold milk
1-1/4 cups water
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 350ºF.
2 – Prepare cake batter as directed on package; pour into 13×9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
3 – Beat dry pudding mixes, granulated sugar, milk and water with whisk 2 minutes; pour over batter in dish. Place baking dish on rimmed baking sheet. (Baking sheet will catch any sauce that might bubble over sides of dish as dessert bakes.)
4 – Bake 55 minutes to 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes. (Sauce will thicken slightly as it cools.) Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve warm.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Special Extra: For stronger lemon flavor, add the zest and juice from 1 lemon to pudding mixture before pouring over batter in baking dish.

Tip 2 – Special Extra: Serve topped with fresh raspberries.

Tip 3 – Substitute: Prepare using JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding.

Tip 4 – How to Store
Refrigerate any leftover cake.

I’m not the only one who checks out My Food and Family. There’s someone else and everyone calls him Momma. He’s big. He’s bad. And he can cook! Turns out, Shy Roarke from NIGHT FALL is a big fan of this recipe and orders it whenever she and Gravedigger go to the dinner to eat. You’ll find mention of Momma in this and other books in the Nightriders series because Momma’s Kithchen is a favorite place to grab food. Available in both digital and paperback, check the links on BOOKS2READ to find your favorite online retailer. Check out Shy and Gravedigger’s story by clicking on the title or either of the pics with the cover to grab a copy if you haven’t already indulged. So, what about y’all? Are you a fan of lemon flaver? 🙋🏼‍♀️

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Super Bowl Monday

Posted on February 14, 2022 by Silver James

So. The Super Bowl was last night. (As I’m actually typing this, it hasn’t been played yet. Yeah, yeah. Whatever.) Normally, I would be “reviewing” my fave commercials today but I doubt I get back to update this with more than the winner. It’s really sad when one is basically sound asleep before 9 p.m. Don’t ask. I’ll give my rundown onin a “Free-For-All” on Friday.

In proud parent news, Only is a rock star! Well, sort of. She Director of Creative Services at the advertising agency where she works. She started as the collection archivist. Now she does all sorts of things from maintaining (and digitizing) the collections for clients, scheduling, herding her creative cats, and now, photography. She had two VERY exciting projects that were top secret but the music videos have been released now so I can spread the word! The first project, last winter, was on Austin John Winkler’s new release SUPERJADED. He was the front man for the rock band Hinder back in the day and is coming back as a solo artist. FYI, lots of bad language in video so NSFW or little ears. (He uses the F-work almost as much as I do! 🤣) She did the behind-the-scenes photography for both the agency and Austin. Then, and this is the big one to me because she is such a fan AND she is credited on the song as Production Assistant and Photoraphy on Hanson’s newest video, CHILD AT HEART. So proud and excited for her! I’ve embedded both videos at the end. That’s my girl! And yeah, she does have a  pic of her and Taylor (the lead singer in this video and her fave but 🤫 Don’t tell Isaac or Zac!)

Okay, the rest of my news is boring. Hopefully, the indoor plumbers are here replacing one of the toilets as you are reading this. The outdoor plumber was here on Friday unplugging a clog in the drain line to thee sewer main. It took him longer to dig down to the pipe than it did to snake it. Ah well. We are still mostly sleep deprived thanks to Boone. He really has turned into a toddler but he’s so old we just try to roll with it. Still…sleep. Which is why I’m often dead to the world WAY before the 10 o’clock news. (We’re central time around here folks.) Writing and reading have suffered. I’ll catch up eventually.

Saturday was clean and move day. Long story. I’ll try to make it short. Quite some time ago, our 60″ TV “died.” At the time, we could grab a 43″ Smart TV to replace it so we did, with the idea that we’d eventually get a big one. Time went by. LG got a small windfall and yay! So last week, we found a heck of a deal on a 65″ HDR Smart TV. Yes, we stream a few apps. Other stuff happened so it sat in it’s box in the dining room, safely out of the way. Saturday–because Sunday meant Super Bowl–meant getting it set up. So, the 32″ TV in my office went to the guest room, where it isn’t hooked up because we don’t have a U-Verse box in there. I cleaned out the space where it had been. The 40″ TV in our master went to my office and I’m embarrassed to say that the dust bunnies in the antique lines press that is our “media” cabinet in there were the size of French Bulldogs. So lots of cleaning. In the meantime, LG had to move cable and WiFi boxes to the top of the entertainment center in the family room because that 65″ TV? Yeah…it didn’t fit in the hole. 🤦🏼‍♀️ Also, dust bunnies. It took far longer than it should have but hey. We’re old people. The new BIG TV was up and running (though we haven’t done the whole long-in thing for the streaming apps though I’m 🤞🏼 fingers it will just automatically register that we have accounts. Yeah, yeah. You can stop laughing now.) Anyway, I can now watch “The Mandalorian” in bed now. If I can sta awake long enough.

That was pretty much my week, weekend, and life. Real Life rears it’s head often and we just learn to roll with it. Also it’s Valentine’s Day. 🤦🏼‍♀️ Why yes, I DID have to buy cards at Wallyworld this morning when I went for my weekly grocery run. Anyway, my Valentine’s to y’all is the videos because I love my kid like damn and whoah and am totally stoked her life is so on track. I’m so very lucky and I can’t really take credit. She’s just that good of a person–sweet, talented, amazing, and shares her mother’s temper. 😉 Happy Valentines/Galentines/Palentines Day however you celebrate. FYI, I happen to think both songs are awesome and would even if Only wasn’t involved. ❤

***BE sure to click on SHOW MORE and scroll down through the credits on this Hanson vid! Why yes, I did grin stupidly and pet the monitor screen. Why do you ask?

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Friday Sinema: Here’s Hoping

Posted on February 11, 2022 by Silver James

No surprise to anyone who hangs around this site, I’m a huge Lindsey Stirling fan. I love her original music, love her covers, love her videos. Heck, I loved her dancing on DWTS. She’s done well for a kid who was told by the judges at America’s Got Talent that there was no place in entertainment for what she does. Ha! Boy did she prove them wrong. Anyway, take 3 minutes and enjoy the music and the scenery. May you have an inspired weekend.

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Changes

Posted on February 10, 2022 by Silver James

Life is what it is and mine is off-kilter at the moment. No musing today. No philosophizing. The Universe pretty much says it all.

Changing one’s life is easy, Silver, and there are lots of ways to go about it, though all exact some sort of price:

Pinpointing invisible, limiting, self-sabotaging beliefs — Extremely demanding on brain cells and much easier to do if you have a friend who channels the dead, but either way, it’ll keep you busy for the rest of your life.

Discovering what occurrences in the past have misprogrammed you — A therapist can help, though expensive if you don’t have insurance, but you can both pretend you’re a complex person and that if it wasn’t for your childhood, you’d have the perfect life.

Distinguishing between those who really love you and those who just wish to use you — Super tricky, and may destroy perfectly good relationships, but with a good a lawyer you can laugh all the way to the bank while accepting little or no responsibility for your own happiness.

These are just a few of the most popular and widely written-about methods. Of course, you could also just begin imagining and moving toward the life of your dreams, treating everyone with kindness, and assuming all is well — profoundly and radically effective for both short and long-term gains, but totally lacking in drama, requires solo efforts, and is much too easy for most people to take seriously.

Oh well, 

The Universe
©www.tut.com 

Silver, there are always exceptions, and exceptions to the exceptions, but all-in-all, life is easy, you are powerful, and thoughts unfailingly become things.

Words to consider. Here’s hoping your life is easy, you are powerful, and your thoughts are becoming things.

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Wednesday Words: So…

Posted on February 9, 2022 by Silver James

With today’s #1lineWed theme, it would have been easy to find a snippet to plug in here. Instead, I made myself write new words. So, ignore the typos and first draft stuffs because this totally is a first draft. So, what is the theme you ask? It’s **SO**. So, basically, this scene is self-explanatory and leads up to some serious consequences. I will tell you that Maura Brannigan is confronted by her boss, DA Alex Crenshaw and some truths come to light. Rut ro!
****
Maura pretended her head wasn’t pounding. She walked into the DA’s offices and headed straight to the one with her name on the door. Frantic movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention. Her assistant, arms waving as she all but jumped up and down in place, had just emerged from the file room. Curious but not worried, Maura opened her door and only then realized the frantic message Gina had failed to convey. Her boss waited like a poised rattlesnake, ready to strike out.

“So…” He trailed off ominously.

She left the door open and strode across the carpet to her desk where she deposited her messenger bag. With a deft move, she put the desk between them and then she opened the bag and riffled through the files.

“So…?” He said it again, making it a question this time.

Worldlessly, she pulled out the pertinent file and carefully slid it across the desktop in his direction.

He ignored it. “ I know what happened, Maura. You didn’t put up much of a fight, now did you.”

She wanted to yell out in frustration, “ So what!?” She didn’t, wisely keeping her silence instead. Alex had a habit of losing his temper and venting it on his underlings. This wasn’t the first time he’d unloaded on her, nor would it likely be the last. She stared at him but remained quiet.

“That fucker should still be behind bars. The judge didn’t even give him fucking bail.”

Maura swallowed the sigh threatening to escape. Showing her disgust would not help.

“So?” He barked it this time. “What do you have to say for yourself.”

“The judge dropped the charges, Alex. Given the overwhelming evidence of Mick O’Connor’s innocence, this office will be lucky of they don’t bring a law suit against us for false arrest and imprisonment.”

“The fucking judge is on their payroll.”

Laughter burst out before she could contain it. “Really? It was my understanding that Judge Jackson is in JD Moore’s pocket.” She immediately regretted the outburst as Alex turned purple. He slammed her office door, but not before she caught the shocked faces of the office staff. They’d all been listening, including several of her ADA colleagues.

“I expect my employees to be loyal,” Alex said in a low, growling voice.

Keeping her voice calm and even, she replied, “I am loyal to this office, Alex. And to the law.”

He slammed his fist on her desk, rattling several items. “You better watch your step, Maura.”

On that threat, he pivoted and headed to the door. Jerking it open with enough strength it slammed against a bookcase behind it, he marched through the now-silent office watched, faces showing a variety of emotions ranging from shock to fear to one ADA who grinned viciously as he stared at her. Maura sank into her chair, knees suddenly weak. She placed her hands flat on the desk and held them there, fighting the very visceral urge to pick up the phone to call the last man on earth. Then her cell phone rang.
****
So, there you have it. I’ll leave it to your imagination as to who she’d like to contact. 😉 So, what about y’all? So, writers, have words to share? And so, readers, how do you feel about hooks* at the end of a chapter or scene? Also, do NOT use “so” as extensively as I did in this post. Like “that,” it can be something of a “crutch” word.

*Technically, it’s a cliffhanger as it’s at the end of a chapter and while cliffhangers are good IN a book, I hate a book that ends on one that’s used with the express intent of “click bait” to buy the next book. I call them hooks because 1) you need a hook to start a chapter, and 2) you need one to end it to keep the reader turning pages, swiping the screen and/or listening to the book.

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Tuesday Treats & Titles: PHILLY Shrimp Cocktail Dip

Posted on February 8, 2022 by Silver James

Guess what happens Sunday? At least here in the States. Yes, once again, it’s time for the Super Bowl. And for the first time, I’m probably gong to watch because a team is there for the first time in ages. Also, I have hopes for this year’s batch of commercials. We’ll see. Anyway, here’s a quick dip to fix and serve and everyone will think you’re all fancy and stuff.

Total Time: 10 Min.
Prep Time: 10 Min.
24 servings, 2 Tbsp. each

Take just 10 minutes before the party begins to make this PHILLY Shrimp Cocktail Dip! You only need five ingredients for this dip.

What You Need
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 lb. cooked cleaned shrimp, chopped (about 2 cups)
3/4 cup KRAFT Cocktail Sauce
1/4 cup KRAFT Shredded Parmesan Cheese
2 green onions, sliced

Let’s Make It
1 – Spread cream cheese onto bottom of shallow bowl.
2 – Toss shrimp with cocktail sauce; spoon over cream cheese.
3 – Top with remaining ingredients.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Substitute: Substitute 1 pkg. (8 oz.) imitation crabmeat, coarsely chopped, for the shrimp.

Tip 2 – Buffalo Shrimp Cocktail Dip: Substitute Buffalo wing sauce mixed with 2 Tbsp. HEINZ Tomato Ketchup for the cocktail sauce.

I love My Food & Family. You can check out all the nutritional details for this recipe HERE. Personally, I’m thinking, “Forget the crackers, just hand me the bowl and a spoon!” And I don’t care if it’s shrimp or crab or if I were rich, lobster! I’m not the only one. Yes, the Nightriders will be gathered at the clubhouse in Kansas City, even though their Chiefs lost to the Bengals. If the Bengals beat the Rams, they’ll get a little of theirs back. The mates will be providing the food and Leigh Daniels, who belongs to Smoke Jenner, has promised to provide bowls of her famous Shrimp Cocktail Dip. And you can bet there will be a few bowls tucked back in the fridge for the ladies. If you’d like to read about how an arson investigator ended up with an arsonist OR if you are looking for something to read while others watch the game, you should grab NIGHT FIRE. Just lick on a pic or the title to head to Books2Read to grab your copy from the online bookstore of your choice. When it comes to the Super Bowl, what about y’all? Will you be watching the game? Is there a traditional food or snack that you serve?

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A Blue Monday

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Silver James

We’re supposed to have blue skies today. I’ve enjoyed them the past two days. And it’s Monday. Perhaps the sunshine will make up for the stuff. And there’s been stuff. So, here’s what up in my life.

Saturday turned out warmer than expected and the snow started melting. Snow that’s been plowed and melts in splotches is depressing. Just sayin’. Still, blue sky. We had siren test and then our monthly lunch at our fave Mex place, Alvarado’s. Yummy delivious and it was soooo nice to see everyone’s smiling faces again. No more mask mandate there! Yay! I’m for no more mask mandates period. No matter where you live. If you are at risk, grab an N-95 mask and wear it. It will afford you some amount of protection. If you and your doctor agree, get vaxxed. I’m triple vaxxed. I’ve had the antibody test, and I have them. I’m a firm believer in medical stuff remaining between a patient and their doctor. You don’t wanna get jabbed? That’s up to you. And that’s my politics for the day. Moving on.

Christmas is over. After like six years. The Christmas tree came down. Twice. Thanks Boone. Hopefully, it can be salvaged for next Christmas. That corner looks so freaking bare. I hate it. And sadly, I can’t move the end table and lamp that would nor\mally sit there because both are antiques. Which don’t mix with demented climbing dog.

Not much writing going on. It’s hard with almost constant headbutts and/or stepping on feet and pushing between bodies and things like…oh…desks. Counters. Bookcases. So no decluttereing going on either. It’s frustrating. I know he’s old and he should get to live out his normal life happily but between the sleep deprivation and his constant search for some sort of portal–like Narnia maybe? Because he’s tried to climb into a wardrobe, the antique linen press that’s our media cabinet in the bedroom, and every closet that he can get the door open–but yeah. Sleep deprivation + constant frustration makes for frayed tempers. LG commented that it’s like having a colicky baby. We’re trying to handle it in shifts, which sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t. Anyway. Another frustration was trying to get ROGUE MOON wide. Even though my KDP (Amazon) author’s dashboard said it was off, the book’s detail page showed it was still available in Kindle Unlimited so other outlets wouldn’t touch it. Draft2Digital customer service was all kinds of awesome. The ‘Zon’s? Not so much. It took a lot of emails, several screen shots, and two seperate CS reps before they finally got it fixed. It’s live many places now so that’s a plus.

No sports. No TV of note. Oh, I AM going to get political again. I’m done with The Masked Singer. For reasons. I’m also done with Diet Coke. They don’t need my $50+ dollars a month considering how much they’re raking in from the CCP. I’m drinking Pepsi now, also for reasons. I really shouldn’t comment on “current affairs.” I spend a lot of time being pissed at the world. So I’ve decided to do the things I can do, small though they might be, to strick a spark for freedom.

I grabbed my chicken soup book–NAKED IN DEATH–and I’m doing a “spotty” re-listen to the series to welcome the new release tomorrow. 54 books and counting. Wow! Yes, I want to be JD Robb when I grow up. Except I think we’re close to the same age. Okay. I just checked. She has 2 1/2 years on me but yeah, we’re basically contemporaries. LOl Anyway, listening to the tales of Eve Dallas, Roarke, and the rest is good for my soul.

So, that was pretty much last week and this week. This week’s list includes moving around some media, getting back in the groove of the Boston Wolves, and my weekly trip to Wallyworld this morning. And yes, Jake and I will be hitting Starbucks after, even though inflation is going to hit there too. 😟 Still, the sun is shining, the skies are blue and a forecast of 60 degrees. For the week. Yippee! And COFFEE! 🥰 Tell me something good in your life.

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Friday Sinema: A Journey

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Silver James

Most of you know that I’ve been known to watch the Superbowl simply for the commercials. The last few years, I’ve simply looked them up online after the fact. Okay, sometimes before because compannies and ad agencies want the biggest bang for the huge bucks a SB spot costs. Last year, there was no Clydesdale commercial from Budweisser. There is this year and it’s out. WARNING: Do not get a hanky. Get a whole blasted giant box of tissues! You’ll need them but I dare you not to watch because the end message? Oh, hell yeah! We’re still digging out from Winter Storm Landon*. Have a great weekend, all!

*And yes, I am totally singing 🎶 My winter has a first name, it’s S-T-O-R-M. My winter has a last name, it’s L-A-N-D-O-N…🎶 Hey, cabin fever. It’s a thing!

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Secrets

Posted on February 3, 2022 by Silver James

I’m actually putting this post together on Wednesday as we’re supposed to have a minor snowmagedden overnight. I want to make sure this goes live because…well…secrets. We all have them. Some we share, some we play it close to the vest. Which comes from gambling during card games. This is a secret I want to share but there’s some good advice here–both personally and professionally.

The secret to living the life of your dreams, Silver, is to start living them at once, to any degree you possibly can.

I love secrets,
The Universe
©www.tut.com

If you can’t go to Maui, Silver, go to Miami. If you can’t write the book, write a letter. If you can’t bake the cake, bake a cookie. If you can’t go by car, ride a bike. If you can’t make a friend, be one. Always, do what you can do. If only just a little. Have fun. And prepare to be the talk of the town.

Okay, I might be able to swing Miami, OK. 😉 (Pronounced My-am-uh NOT My-am-ee, just so ya know). Writers–even Stephen King–get stymied by the occasional writer’s block. Or Real Life. RL is my current excuse but that’s neither here nor there. Thing is, the Big U has the right of it. A friend of mine is found of saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Books don’t write themselves and we get overwhelmed by the enormity of the task. So what do we do? We write one sentence. One paragraph. One page. And we keep doing that until we finally type THE END (whether you do that figuratively or literally at the end of your manuscript). The point is–whether in writing or life–do what you can. If the big picture is too much, step back. Pick out one thing you can do then do it, thereby taking it off the board. When that’s done, pick out the next thing. And the next. Pretty soon, that jigsaw puzzle looming in front of you is reduced to all the pieces back in the box and you can sit back and say, “Wow. I did that! I dreamed and I lived. I traveled, wrote, baked, got there, found friends. I had fun and if people are talking, good for them!” Now, go git ‘er done, folks. Me, too.

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Wednesday Words: Short Story Long

Posted on February 2, 2022 by Silver James

A good raconteur makes a long story short and entertaining. A good storyteller makes a short story and turns it into a long story, aka a novel. Aren’t y’all glad I’m not a raconteur? Anyway, today’s #1lineWed THEME is **LONG**. Now, I write romance. Sometimes, I write down and dirty romance. And there’s that whole size matters discussion so you know my brain went there…like…immediately. However, I decided to share the short beginning of a very long story instead. As this is the start, it shouldn’t need any explanation. If it does, I need some serious rewriting!
****
Prologue

Brian “Boru” O’Hara was a wily old Wolf. At the age of sixteen, his parents shipped him out of Belfast during the Troubles and he landed in Boston on the first day of the first month of the year of 1969. A distant cousin, a small-time hood, took him in. That was a momentous year for the Irish teen. In July, the US put a man on the moon and Brian got his first taste of running numbers in South Boston. A big lad, he moved on to a bit of leg-breaking and breaking-and-entering, but generally kept his head down. He mostly stayed up-wind of the likes of Whitey Bolger and the McLaughlin brothers, the Mullens, the Killeens and the Winter Hill gang. He managed to skirt the edges of all of them. Brian O’Hara was known as a stand-up guy and it was Whitey himself who gave the lad the moniker of Boru.
“Just like Brian Boru taking over t’be the king of Ireland, this lad will be king of Boston before he’s done,” Whitey told a group of his associates. “And he’s as loyal as the day is long.”

That last part was true. If Brian was on the payroll, he was loyal and that worked to his advantage.
At twenty-two, he met, courted and claimed his mate, a lively Irish lass with hair the color of a sunset, freckles on her nose, and a love of dancing. They were married in Saint Brigid’s Catholic Church in 1975, in the middle of a mob war. As a testament to Brian’s standing with the various factions, they called a cease fire for the festivities.

Eventually, Glenna presented him with two beautiful daughters, Bernadette and Noreen, who in turn married good Irish American boys—one a doctor and one a lawyer, both of whom wisely ignored their father-in-law’s less-than-legal enterprises. He had a passel of grandchildren, Glenna and their daughters were still beautiful, and he’d lived a prosperous life.

He’d stayed in the background, waiting and watching. On his 66th birthday, with his family and friends gathered to celebrate, Brian retired to his study around nine o’clock. He didn’t call in either of his sons-in-law. No, he summoned a man he considered his son—of the heart if not of blood. Ronan O’Connor arrived with a bottle of good Irish whiskey. The two men remained closeted behind the closed door for over an hour.

Late in the night, after the food and the festivities, and after Glenna danced a jig with the old man, Ronan walked alone into the chilly Boston night, Brian’s words still ringing in his ears. “It’s time, boyo. Go take what is ours.”
****
Yeah, yeah. I realize that’s quite a bit of telling rather than showing but that’s what fits the narrative, the timeline, and the story. Chapter 1 gets off to a banging start. 😉 Writers, any long words to share? And readers, which do you prefer short stories/novellas or full-length, ie. long, novels?

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