Bring it on, 2012!

I'm not one to make resolutions but this year has been a pretty different year so I might as well do one more new thing, right? :) Most of these have to do with writing because I really need to set more writing goals.

1. I will finish the two fanfics that I still have going so that I can work on other things without feeling guilty that I'm neglecting my readers.

2. I will blog weekly here and at least once a week over on my blog Coffee and Prozac too because it's hopelessly neglected.

3. I will commit to writing creatively three times a week. Hopefully that'll turn into more but at least three is a good start. :)

4. I'll continue to step out of my box especially with writing oportunites like the GR writing group.

5. I want to continue to lose weight and get healthier so I never see my heaviest weight like I did last summer. Also to cook more at home now that I have an awesome kitchen again!

6. I still want to learn to crochet too, damn it. :) Everyone says it's easier than knitting and I've been doing that for years.

7. I'll do things and surround myself with people who make me happy!

Happy New Year!

Plans. I've Got 'Em

I've got all kinds of plans for this year, and for the most part I think they're pretty realistic.

First and foremost, I plan to enjoy my sons' last year of high school and junior high - I don't want to be too busy to miss out on these moments because everything is going to be changing soon.

I plan to incorporate healthier life style choices - yes, this means exercise and doing away with bad for me food choices.

I plan to finish my young adult novel.

I plan to finish the books on my schedule and enjoy writing them.

I plan to attend and help host several writing related events and I plan to enjoy them - not freak out over them.

I plan to take time to do things away from the computer - like more pottery and sewing.

I plan to be grateful for all of the amazing people and opportunities in my life.

(Okay, that last one was kinda a gimmee since I'm already feeling pretty damn grateful.)

Best Laid Plans

I think that I will plan to survive 2012. Mayans or no, it's a pretty safe bet that I will be back here in a year to discuss how I've done on my plans for the year with a big ass check mark in the SURVIVE category.

In other news, I would like to accomplish the following things in the coming year.

1. Write and release 8 - 10 new books. This is a big deal for me because I don't usually like to put a number on my writing. I prefer to just let the stories come and write what I'm given by the muse. But I think my muse is ready to kick this shit into gear and crank out some stories. So I'm going to be pushing her to the limit to give me plots that I can go forth and create stories around.

2. Continue with the healthier lifestyle I've started this year. Though as I'm typing this all I can think of is the bag of mint M & M's I have hidden in the cupboard in the kitchen. In fact, I think I will go snag some. What the hell, it's the holidays. I have a whole year to work off the calories, right?

3. Actually quit smoking. No really. I'd really like to do it this year. Maybe I could replace smoking with more exercise and kill two plans with one stone.

4. Spend more time with friends. This one is actually the most important of all of my plans. I need to make more of an effort to spend time with the people that I care about. It's difficult, since so many of them live so far away. But I miss my friends terribly and I would like nothing more than to see them many, many times in 2012.

What plans (or resolutions if you like) do you have for the coming year?

XoXoXo
D

Full Of Cake

These are my plans for 2012:

1. Not failing at life quite so much.

2. Plan my writing better so that I don't go temporarily blind or insane.

3. Not commit myself to every little writing thing because GASP someone actually ASKED me to write summat! I have to do it! How ungrateful would I be if I DIDN'T???

4. Try not to panic so much about things that are never that big a deal anyway.

5. Do more knitting. I made a little bug out of this kit Husband gave me for Christmas! It worked and everything!

6. Read more. It relaxes me and improves my brain.

7. Walk every day because when I don't my body rebels. It gives me headaches as punishment. "You didn't take me out for a walk, today," it says, and then prods me in the brain with a big stick.

8. Submit proposals to agent even though I am terrified out of my mind and that's already breaking rule 4.

And those are my plans for this year. I could list some more but it's my birthday and I'm all drowsy and full of cake.

In 2012 I Promise Myself...

A plan or resolution or even a goal is really like a promise. So, in essence, saying "I plan on" or "this year I resolve to" is really like making a promise to yourself.

I started a new job this past October and there is a saying on one of the white boards "A goal without action is just a dream" and I find it somewhat, not entirely, but somewhat accurate. Everything starts with a dream or an idea. It takes goals, hard work, and determination to make a dream a reality.

For 2012, I Promise myself that I will -

- write 2000 words everyday
- write, finish, and submit 6-8 books (at least, ideally I'd like to finish closer to 12 though)
- set up writing plan
- set up writing schedule
- complete business plan
- write something new

I look forward to seeing everyone else's plans for 2012!


Enjoy,

Simone

To You And All Your Families.....

Merry Christmas everyone:)



"For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord..." Luke 2:11 (RSV)


My wish this year is for everyone to have a safe and happy holiday season!

Holiday Wishes

For the holidays I wish that you're surrounded with love, happiness, friends, family and amazing plot ideas!

Smootches!
Kel

My Wish for Everyone

My wish is that everyone have enough.

Enough love, enough warmth, enough money, enough food, enough happiness, enough peace, enough acceptance, enough kindness, enough joy, enough laughter.

My hope is that everyone who does have enough will share what they have - whether it's the kindness of a smile or a donated meal or a gift. Enough always seems to grow into more.

No matter what you celebrate, I hope this time of year is full of the people and things that make you happy. Wishing you all joy, laughter and a sense of wonder at the beauty found in surprising places.
Happy Holidays! Peace and Love to All!

Visions of Sugar Plums

XoXoXo
D

The Rubbish Version

As Simone did such a beautiful season's greetings thingie for her post, I thought I'd do my own version.




Yeah, it's not really the same, is it. You probably can't even tell what most of that stuff is supposed to be. Though if anyone can guess, I will give them extra holiday cheer! Hooray!

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Season's Greetings

Proud

So not only am I late in posting this, but had I actually planned ahead I would have realized that last week’s post pretty much went over what I was supposed to say this week.  That’s pretty much how things have been going for me lately though.  I don’t know if I’m falling into my annual Christmas Funk, a lovely side effect of clinical depression, if I’m experiencing a post vacation let down, or maybe I’m just run down thanks to the cold from hell I’ve had for a few weeks.  Who knows, but it’s been kind a of a craptacular weekend so my apologies for my lateness.

Like I mentioned last week, I’m proud of a lot of things this year.  I’ve stepped further out of my shyness than I have in a long time, and I’ve actually survived! I’ve reconnected with old writing friends and made new ones as well.  I joined this most awesome blog too and am really enjoying getting to know everyone here.

In terms of family, I have some pretty spectacular monsters to be proud of.  My baby brother, Peanut, is sixteen years old and a Junior in High School.  He’s not quite as shy as I am, but he’s definitely got a little bit of the shy gene.  This year though he joined the choir at his school (his first time in a choir) and at his very first concert sang an amazing solo during one of the songs.  I cried through the whole thing and then cried again all of the way home because I was so proud of him for doing something that I’ve never had the guts to do myself.

My middle nephew, Bubba, is eight years old and is so good at reading that he’s currently reading the last Harry Potter book.  This warms my heart because I’ve tried so hard to get my brother’s kids and my baby brother into reading.  My little brother likes to read but doesn’t love it yet, but Bubba seems to be falling in love with it.  In fact, he’s a better reader than his older sister.  I simply love finding new books to share with him!

My niece, Boo, is eleven and after struggling with school for the past couple of years has finally found a school setting she enjoys.  She’s at a charter school that focuses on the Arts and although she still struggled with things like reading, she can actually say she likes school again.  She’s totally into drawing and art, which is another love of my own, and seeing her find confidence makes me so happy!

Then of course there’s my Doodlebutt, my youngest nephew who is simply the coolest five year old in the world.  Since starting Kindergarten this fall he’s started learning to read, he’s dealt successfully with a bully who is now his friend, and he’s also learned how to beat box.  LOL  I’m proud of him every single day just because he’s so incredibly creative and his spirit makes me smile.

I can’t possible do a post on pride without talking about my mom.  Not only is she one of my best friends and someone who I look up to all the time (despite the fact that she’s shorter than me, hehe), but she’s someone who I’m extremely proud of.  This year she busted her ass working on her nursing degree and was about 13 weeks away from her RN when she made a very difficult decision.  She and I moved from the city into an old farm house and moved in her father who is 96 years old and has severe dementia.  After moving Gramps into our house, it was very clear that attending full time nursing school simply wasn’t going to work.  Taking care of him is truly a full time job.  He’d been living alone up until this year and was definitely not safe anymore. 

He has his good days and his bad ones, but because my mom and I are the only people in the family willing to actually get off our asses and do something to help, all of his care falls in our lap.  I work full time which leaves my mom at home with Gramps all day long.  It’s been a huge life change for all of us.  I’m happy to say though that after a few months of getting used to having Gramps around, my mom is considering finishing up that last semester of school in the New Year.  When she decided to stop school she was content with the fact that she could still get her LPN and continue to do what she loves and make more money doing it, but the RN was so darn close that I’m sure it stung a little.  Either way I’m damn proud of her, this is not by any means her first career and she’s continuing to pursue it because she loves it.

So yeah… it’s been a difficult year but a pretty good one too with lots of good things to think back on.  Let’s hope 2012 is even better!

In The Name Of Love

If you're a U2 fan, you'll understand the title in a few minutes:)

I had to dig deep for this week's topic, as it's been a rough year.  I can't pinpoint any one thing I'm proud of, so I'll go by family members.

SU:  He finally conceded he wasn't going back to work and applied for his Early Retirement.  This admission enabled us to no longer worry about when his unemployment benefits would run out and we would finally be on a workable budget.  And his first check coincided with the arrival of my sister and her family, so I was able to enjoy spending time with them instead of worrying about our banking account balance.

Stepdaughter:  After a summer of being homeless and undecided about her future, everything came together in August when she found work at an amazon.com warehouse.  And has steadily rose from temp to hire to Safety Coordinator in the past four months.  She now has a new apartment and her kids are Very Happy with their new school:)

College Kid:  He's had a tough two months.  He'd lost his best friend in a freak health-care incident and got behind in two of his core courses.  When he was home for Thanksgiving, his Plan B was to drop out of college and come home for a year.  But now he's decided to change his major and is looking forward to becoming a HS Math teacher, rather than Aviation Technology.  Yes, his dream of working for NASA one day came to a screeching halt this year.

Daughter:  S has had a particularly turbulent year.  She began dating a guy who we fervently hoped would prove our first impression wrong; this was not the case and we nearly had a rebellious runaway on our hands.  Thankfully, she decided cooperating with Mom and Dad was the best course of action.  And I'm really proud of the fact she finally had enough of him two weeks ago and ended all contact.  The bad news is, she wised up three months too late.  And will now have a permanent reminder when her child arrives in June.

Youngling:  Despite entering 2nd grade still not knowing how to read, his teacher brought it to our attention that maybe his issue wasn't a learning disability (we were having him tested for dyslexia), but was ADD.  We had him evaluated and put on meds.  In the past two months, my baby has learned to read and brought home a test paper with a 67%, but a note was attached:  He's read it himself!  No more tests with notes saying 'Test was read to him'!  If this continues, hopefully we won't have to retain him after all.

Myself:  Among this family drama, I managed somehow to have four books released this year!  Appetite for Desire found a home with Secret Cravings and was released in July; my alter-ego's series was also accepted at SCP and the first two books released in October and sometime this week (yay!).  And my very first burn-your-eyes-as-soon-as-you-begin-reading book, Teacher's Pet, was finally released last week.  And yes, I toned it down a little after the first couple of sex scenes.  But I love this story, so forgive me?

"In the name of love 
What more in the name of love.."

Pretty much sums up the past year for me!

Pride feels like an old scratchy wool coat that give you hives.

I find it really easy to be proud of other people - far less so to be proud of myself. Pride is just one of those things that makes me feel really...squidgy. But, I'm going to attempt to go outside my comfort zone.

Here are some things I'm proud of this year:

I'm proud that GRRWG (my local writers group) put on a kickass first ever conference. And directly related to that, I'm proud of the work I did to help pull it off.

I'm proud that I didn't give up on the stories I had to finish this year even though there were plenty of times I just wanted to highlight and delete the whole things.

I'm proud that the things I oversee in my day job are running smoothly.

I'm proud that I wrote seven stories this year - even if I didn't finish the one I really wanted to.

I'm proud that I'm getting a little bit better about telling people no when necessary.

All right, that's pretty much all I've got. Kinda starting to feel a little hive-y.

Please pass the Benedryl.

Pride

I am proud of many things that have happened this year. I'm proud of my kids, my husband and my family. I'm proud that I've kept my day job and even accepted a second job. But I'd like to focus on the writing if I may.

Vamplet - Every author has that book. The one that as they are writing it there is a constant mantra of "You will never write anything this good ever again." That is Vamplet for me. I LOVE this book. I adore the characters, I love the plot, I like the dialogue, the romance, the sadness. This book, more than any other, is my very favorite.

Blood of the Fallen - I adore this book as well. It had been a very long time since I'd written a novel length book and it scared me a little when I took it on. But I am thrilled with the outcome. It was hard work and at times I found myself in tears at the thought that it wasn't even half way done when it felt like I'd been writing forever. But in the end, I am so thankful to my muse for handing those characters and this story to me.

I am also proud that I was able to write at all this year. Last year was so difficult for me that I wondered if I would ever be able to sit down and crank out a book again. I am thrilled to say that I did, obviously. It was a fun year for me and I'm so glad that you've all stuck around to enjoy the ride as well.

XoXoXo
D

Happy Thoughts from 2011

Usually it's at Thanksgiving when we're reminded about what we're thankful for - families, first responders, military -- whatever and whoever is important, but this year, at least for me it's a good thing to look back at the year and see what's good and what I'm proud of.

1st - I'm proud of my daughter and the young woman she's growing up to be - smart, compassionate and a bit of a nerd.

2nd - the new addition to my family - Cleo kitty

3rd - (I really like and suck at this one) - I got out of my shell and met new people at AAD and GRL and made some great friends because of it.

4th - Writing plans can be used if the cut and paste feature and color coding functions are utilized properly - in plan English - I'm not a huge fan of you-must-do-this-now, I like flexibility.

5th - I finished more than one book and had several come out.


There are more, but I must fly, and really - I want to know what everyone else is proud of this year.

Simone.

Did I Even Make Any Resolutions/Goals?

2011 was off to a rough start in the Michaels' household.  Due to the spouse losing his unemployment benefits prior to Christmas Eve 2010, we had no internet; no phone; no television.  If I wanted internet, I either had to go to the library, the coffee shop, or our bookstore, which would only be in business for three more months.  But his benefits were restored on Dec 31st, so all was well....now we had to play catch-up.

My yearly blog post detailing goals did not get posted.  I was still waiting to be assigned an editor for Teacher's Pet; I was having a love/hate relationship with my second publisher; and I was getting fed up with unanswered emails to a third potential publisher.  So I decided to take a chance on a new publisher and suddenly 2011 looked promising!

Did I Write?

I did join in the word warring on Twitter, and yes, began one new wip and breathed Life into an existing one.  And during NaNo, started a third.

Did I Publish Two Books?

Yes; Appetite For Desire arrived in July and Teacher's Pet is due out on Tuesday (more on this later, lol!).  Plus, my alter-ego had a book released in October and her second is due out sometime this month.  Plus, she has another one on track for January and a fourth in the summer.  I say this one was Mission Accomplished.

How Many Manuscripts Did I Submit?

Only the four mentioned above.  I didn't finish anything new.

Did I Exercise More?

Yes; when school began, I started walking 3 miles a day.  And managed to drop seven pounds!  Unfortunately, my momentum was disturbed by nagging pains in my feet plus twisting my ankle.  Diagnosis:  Plantar Fascitis and a heel spur on my right foot; arthritis (ack!  I'm only 45!) in my left foot.  And with the arrival of the cold weather, I will resume walking when the temps rise again to 50 degrees and higher.

Did I Make It To Any Conventions?

No.  I was unable to talk the spousal unit into letting me travel.  I even had to have my father drive down to get me for a mini-class reunion in August.

So I guess in retrospect, I did accomplish some of the normal goals I set each year.  I wrote; published; exercised.  I did NOT finish any existing wips, nor did I make it to Lori Foster's; Midwest Writer's; or RomantiCon (though it wasn't for the lack of trying!  I even contacted a pilot friend and begged him to kidnap me and fly me there!)

And I conquered my fear of singing in public; I happily wait my turn each week when a friend and I go to karaoke!

So how did YOU do?

As promised, here's a sneak peek at my new book which goes LIVE on Tuesday.  Enjoy:)

Blurb:

What happens when you discover the man you had mind-blowing sex with three months ago is your son's teacher?  Tammy Saunders is horrified when she realizes the man who set her heart racing is her son's favorite teacher.  With one bad relationship behind her, will she trust her heart again, or will she continue to deny her feminine side? 

    

And is this particular teacher popular only with his students?  Kevin has made some bad choices in his life, but sleeping with not only one, but now two, of his students' mothers, has got to be the worst mistake he ever made. Especially when he realizes he's lost his heart to one of them... 

Buy link:

http://www.freyasbower.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=273

Excerpt:

“Mr. Taylor?” She hesitated in the doorway. “You wanted to speak to me about Danny?”

He shoved himself off the desk, his erection growing stiffer by the moment. “Call me Kevin.” He took her hand and closed the door. “I’ve been out of my mind, wondering who you were these past few months.” He brought her hand up to his mouth, lips grazing the backside.

She jerked her hand away. “That was a mistake.” She put some space between them. Color flooded her face. “I can’t believe we…that I allowed…you know,” she sputtered.

“To fuck you brainless?” He arched an eyebrow. 

Her complexion was now darker than her t-shirt. “Could we please talk about my son?” she asked, teeth clenched. She cleared her throat. “I mean, that is why you called.”

“I lied. You’ve haunted me for months, Tammy. I go to sleep at night, and you’re in my dreams. I catch sight of a woman whose hair flows down her back and try to see of her face, hoping it’s you.” He noted her startled expression and stepped back. “Don’t tell me you haven’t thought of me these past months…”

                                                 * * * *

Oh the arrogance of a good looking man! I may have let Bruce steamroll over me in our marriage, but I’ve grown up in the past three years; I know how to handle men like you. 

Her eyebrows arched. “Thought of you?” Time to take him down a notch. “Oh, right. Let me see if I have this correctly. We have mind-blowing sex, I run off to collect my kids, and you’re telling me that you, Mr. Obviously Popular, can’t sleep at night because the poor sex-starved widow never bothered to tell you her name? Is your ego that fragile?” She laughed. “Believe me,me; I’ve lost no sleep over it.” She crossed her arms over her chest. That ought to cool him off.

He closed the distance between them. “Then let me refresh your memory.” Kevin cupped her face in his hands and angled his mouth over hers. His tongue prodded between her lips; with a quiet moan, she opened them. 

 

Like what you're reading?  Buy it here:

http://www.freyasbower.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=273

The List

I don't generally make resolutions.  Mostly because I seriously suck at keeping them and then end up feeling like a failure.  I did however make a list of things I'd like to do this year.  I suppose you could call them resolutions, but I prefer to call them The List. :)  To be honest, I don't even have The List anymore, but I do remember a few things from it and I actually did a pretty good job this year.  So in no particular order...

Step Outside of My Comfort Zone:  I'm a painfully shy person.  You wouldn't know it if you've only known me online, but I have struggled with shyness all of my life.  This year I worked really hard to force myself to do things that normally I wouldn't have done because of my shyness. Heck, just asking to join this blog is something I never ever would have done before!  But I did it and look where I am now. :) I also joined a knitting guild that I'd been meaning to join for years but never did because I'd let my shyness get in the way.  I even wrote an extremely personal blog post on what it's like to be shy and it went over really well with my friends and family.

Write More (and get closer to being published): I don't know if I actually wrote more this year or not, but I feel like I did.  I didn't blog nearly as much as I would have liked to, but I think I did better this year than I did last year.  As for the publishing thing... I'm now conversing with published authors on a regular basis and I'm about to co-write a little sumthin sumthin with the most awesome Emma Hillman, so yeah... I'd say I've done okay on this one too. :)

Learn to Crochet: I'm an avid knitter but I don't know how to do more than a simple chain when it comes to crochet.  Unfortunately I have still not learned to crochet.  I have a book from the library sitting in my living room that I've barely touched (and is due soon, dang it).  I did look into a crochet class at one of my local yarn shops, but so far it's only been offered at times I can't do it. :(

Try New Things: This one kind of goes along with stepping outside of my comfort zone.  It's also the item on The List that I'm most proud of.  Last week alone I did so many new things that I almost can't believe it.  I went to Miami for the first time, met two online friends in person for the first time, then went on a cruise (which frankly I said I would never, ever do).  I made my first trip to the Bahamas, went to my first prom (theme party on the cruise), ate lobster for the first time, and went further into the ocean than I've ever been.  It was a really awesome weekend. :)  On top of that I've met some pretty awesome people on Twitter who have not only inspired me to keep working on my writing but who have also invited me to join a writers group in the New Year which I am trying very hard not to freak out about. :)   

Read More: Last year I read 32 books.  As of today I've read 55 and am currently reading two.  Mission accomplished. :)

I guess for a girl who didn't make resolutions I did okay. :)

Smootches,
Kel

Hmmmm...feeling like a bit of a Fail Whale

Well, let's review, shall we? Back in January, I resolved to:

Stick to a daily schedule
Write eight books including the YA project
Keep my office from becoming the Sacred Dumping Ground
Continue to purge excess things from my life
Tackle my TBR pile
Sew a least an 1/8th of the fabric in my office
Take more walks

Erm...is it too late to skip this post?

Yes?

How about if I distract you with something shiny?

No?

Okay, fine. Let's do this.

Stick to a daily schedule. Actually, I did pretty damn well with this...for a while. And then the conference happened and I completely underestimated what a time suck helping to put on a conference would be and how bloody difficult it would be to try to catch up afterward. However, I now know for next year, and I'm planning accordingly.

Write eight books including the YA project. Sigh. I wrote seven, but two were shorts and none were the YA project.

Keep my office from becoming the Sacred Dumping Ground. Considering I just had to shovel out the damn thing again in order to put up the Christmas tree, the answer to this would be no.

Continue to purge excess things from my life. Yes! I've actually been doing quite well with this one.

Tackle my TBR pile. Meh...not as much as I'd like, but I'm doing better than last year, so there's definite progress there.

Sew a least an 1/8th of the fabric in my office. Not even close - I think I've sewed about 60 yards. No where near 1/8th of the fabric.

Take more walks. Fail. But the treadmill is now unburied and where I can use it, so I'm gonna.

This year wasn't a total loss or anything, but I know I can do better. I'm already thinking about this year's resolutions and how to accomplish them. Best of all, I'm actually looking forward to it.

How did I do?

Looking back at my resolutions I'd have to say I did pretty well.

1. Simplify - Well, ok, so the first one didn't really go off with a bang or anything. I collected even more stuff this year. I can't help it. I'm a Taurus, we like THINGS.

2. Get Healthy - I am pre-posting this in November, but as of today I am down 22 pounds. With any luck I really will have dropped 25 by the time this gets posted. I've been exercising, watching what I eat (no more chocolate lemon donuts every day for this girl), and taking vitamins. I do feel a million times better. I'm not as tired as I was all the time, my mood has vastly improved, and it's been great. My husband is pretty pleased with my slimming body as well.

3. Write More - I definitely did this. Though to be honest, it wasn't really that hard. 2010 was a terrible writing year for me. In 2011 I wrote Blood of the Fallen, Vamplet, Shake Me Up, Frienemies, Quarantine, and most of The Pit Boss (Coming 2012). I also began working on the sequels to Mitch and To Hate and To Hold. Yes, I would say that I nailed this resolution.

4. Carve out some ME time - I would like to thank my husband for allowing this resolution to be fulfilled. He has recognized my need to be alone for a little while sometimes and he has taken on lots of child rearing tasks for me. Our code is "Go to Hogwarts." This means that I can lock myself in the bedroom with my laptop and watch Harry Potter (or anything else really, but it's usually Harry) without any husband or child interference.

Unfortunately I do still smoke and still haven't saved any money, but I would have to say that all in all 2011 was a pretty damn good year. I'm looking forward to 2012 to see what it has in store for me.

XoXoXo
Dakota

2011 Goals In Review

As we close in on the end of another year, a lot has changed over the last few months. I met some wonderful new people and my family expanded to include another kitten, who is absolutely adorable.

So, at the beginning of the year, I set some goals. On the writing front --

1. Write a 1000 words a day. (From today forward although I have written at least 500 words since January 1st. ) --- I started out really well, but didn't make it. I did, however, write at least semi-regularly until my world imploded. So, it's something I'll continue to work on.

2. Get my writing plan together (This way I know what I need to be working on next and whether I need to concentrate on one project or if I can play with two or three at the same time.) - I did this, I even updated periodically when things changed, were added or deleted.

3. Blog regularly (I'm hoping for regular posting on M, W, F - mostly because I can remember those easy enough in addition to wherever else I'm scheduled to be.) - Nope, I didn't do this regularly at all. The schedule feature is going to be my new best friend. I have a 'real' job, which interferes with writing and blogging time. Silly bosses.

Simone.

The Backstreet Boys ate my homework.

Thursday December 1, 2011

As I write this I’m hoping two things.  1) that the hotel I’ll be at tonight has free internet so I can upload this to Blogger, and 2) that the Schedule function in Blogger actually works because when Saturday rolls around and this post is due, I will be sunning myself in the Bahama’s with the Backstreet Boys. I won’t have internet service and frankly my mind will be on the hot bodies of said Boys at our beach party. Oh yes… this groupie is going to get an eyeful of Sexy for four days!   Anyway… I’ll blog about THAT on my own blog when I’m back.  For now, let’s talk about food!

I have to admit that most of my favorite recipes are for Thanksgiving.  And since we just passed that lovely holiday I suppose I should share something that could be used for the upcoming winter holidays instead.

Have you discovered the awesomeness that is Pinterest?  I have found quite a few awesome recipes just by browsing random boards and saving them to my own “Yum” board.  One that I used just the other day was a super easy yet super tasty treat that can be made for cookie exchanges or just to nosh on while you’re wrapping gifts and getting all holiday-like.

Chocolate Pretzel Yummy Things
 (yes, I made that up)

All you need are circle-shaped pretzels, Hershey’s Kisses, and M&M’s.

Set your oven to 225.

Lay out the pretzels on a non stick cookie sheet.

Best. Appetizer. Ever:)

I attended my first Pampered Chef party in 1993, when pregnant with my 2nd child.  Two dishes were prepared that night; one with tomatoes, bacon, and cheese; the other with ham and cheese.  I'm not a tomato lover, so I prepared to enjoy the ham and cheese ring.

To my utter surprise, I could not eat enough bacon-tomato cups that night!  Thankfully, the other attendees indulged my newly pregnant status and let me eat as many as I wanted.

And so they became my holiday staple, and this past Thanksgiving, my oldest son took notes on how I prepared them so he could make the appetizer for his fraternity brothers.

It's a simple recipe, and if you don't own a mini-tart shaper or mini-muffin pan, there's another way to make them.  I'll include both options.

Ingredients:
-1/4 container Bacos (4.4 oz container, so maybe 1oz of it?)
-2 Cans of petite diced tomatoes
-1/2 small onion (optional; I sprinkle in onion powder)
-3 oz shredded Swiss or Mozzerella cheese
-1/2 cup mayonnaise (I like Miracle Whip)
-1 tsp basil
-2 cans refrigerated flaky biscuit (Hungry Jack works best)

Preheat oven to 375.  Drain tomatoes; coarsely chop onion.  Mix 1st 5 ingredients and set aside. Lightly spray mini-muffin pan (or 13x9" pan) with cooking spray.

Option #1:
Separate each biscuit into two or three thinner biscuits; lay each over mini-muffin cup.  Dip tart shaper in flour and press each biscuit into a cup.  Fill cups with bacon-tomato mixture.

Option #2:
Separate biscuits into two thinner ones; arrange in single layer in pan.  Spread bacon-tomato mixture over biscuits.

Bake 10-12 mins until golden brown.  For option #2, cut into squares and serve.

Enjoy:)

Welsh Cakes

Okay, so this is pretty much an all year long recipe, but we always have them at Christmas. My Gram came to Michigan in 1945 from a small town in Wales, UK. She'd married my Grandpa during the war and when everything was finally over she came over here and, along with her knitting needles, brought this recipe with her. I can't remember a Christmas at my Gram's where there weren't Welsh cakes.

Now that my Gram is gone, it's usually my mom or my aunts making them - or more often me. Believe it or not, it's one of the few things I don't burn. Go fig.


This is a traditional breakfast/tea treat and my family loves them. They're easy to make and delicious. Normally, there isn't quite as much sugar on the outside...but the kids helped with these. o.O

I think I probably need to make some.

Immediately.

You'll need:

Welsh Cakes Recipe

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoon allspice (ground)
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
½ cup butter (room temperature)
1 egg
½ cup milk
¼ cup currants (optional)

Sift flour, baking powder, allspice, salt and sugar together in a bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or two knives. Stir the egg and milk together in a separate bowl. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix well. Blend in the currants. Gather the dough into a ball and roll it out onto a floured board until it’s ¼ inch thick. Cut two inch rounds out of the dough and cook on a very hot griddle or frying pan until lightly browned. Flip. Sprinkle with sugar while warm.

Note: Griddle must be hot enough for water to dance on the surface before cooking the cakes.

So that's it - easy, peasy. And let's not forget delicious!