Alexia's Best Writing Tips of 2019 ~

A lot happens in a year. There’s undoubtedly been goodbyes and hellos, failures and successes, as well as some laughs and some tears. I’m grateful for it all because the highs wouldn’t be quite as high without the lows. 

But…how do you pick the best out of so much? Thankfully this is a book and writing themed blog, so that helps narrow it down. And without further ado…

The best writing advice I’ve utilized in 2019!

2: There’s always going to be resistance to our writing, as an author it’s your job to learn how to work around it. 

“There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance.” ~ Steven Pressfield’s THE WAR OF ART

3: (Paraphrasing) In revisions, you just need to go with the story…and sometimes that means destroying things you really don't want to destroy. Revisions will take a lot out of you, and I’m learning how to roll with it and embrace it. Advice gleaned from: Jeffe Kennedy’s May 30th First Cup of Coffee.

There you have it, some gems I’ve picked up over the past year. I still don’t have it all figured out, but I’m still writing and maybe someday I’ll have some gems of my own to share! 

If you have any writing tips you've picked up, please share!

3 Favorite Fantasy Webcomics

In the throes of the holidays? Us too! You may have noticed we've been quiet this week. Me? I'm all about goofing off and relaxing in the hours before the holiday crazies kick into high gear. That includes catching up on my favorite Webcomics. With great illustrations and compelling storylines, here are my 3 Favorite Fantasy Webcomics:

1: Wilde Life by Pascalle Lepas
In 2014 a journalist from Chicago rented a haunted house in rural Oklahoma and befriended the ghost of a 1940s mathematician and a sullen teenage werewolf. For the last five years, Pascalle Lepas's OCs have all kinds of horrific and hilarious adventures with creatures and legends from mythology. A must-read for fans of SPN, Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson), and Faith Hunter (Jane Yellowrock).

2: Fox &Willow by Irma 'Aimo' Ahmed (Ills) and Allison Pang (Auth)
Twisted fairy tales retold from the perspectives of Gideon a fox demon and Willow an exiled princess and harpist. Happy endings aren't guaranteed, particularly for our leading characters. Great for fans of Bros. Grimm, H.C. Anderson, etc.

3:  Banquet by A. Szabla
A toddler falls into hell. Hell, for the record, isn't a nice place, but the Beast King of the Bottomless Pits of Hell adopts the toddler and raises him among the...hellish politics of the Six Holy Houses of Hell. It's filled with vicious, ruthless, and charming characters/creatures/monsters/demons/etc. This is NSFW replete with all the fun things that make the faint of heart clasp their pearls.

For those who celebrate it,

Merry Christmas Eve!

No Secret Recipes Here - Sorry!

DepostPhoto

Our topic this week was a recipe for a dish we’d take to a holiday party. Okay, my warning to you is that if you invite me I’ll be bringing pizza or Kentucky Fried Chicken, or yummy cheesecake or cupcakes from the local bakery….there will be no original cooking or baking done. I’m not much interested in cooking aside from the serviceable things one feeds a growing family and once or twice a year cranking up to do the big turkey dinner with all the fixings. I learned to bake a few specific desserts that I loved because my mother hated to cook or bake and refused to do so beyond the meat & potatoes type menu my father preferred, and one birthday cake each per year and a lemon meringue pie for my Dad.

I have no sekrit yummy recipes to share in this post, alas...

Wishing you a very Happy Holiday season!

Author's own photo, from her collection

Holiday Recipes for a Crowd

I like to experiment in the kitchen. Just like I like making stuff up on paper, I make stuff up with food. I especially love trying new, complicated recipes. They have to be complex. I get a charge out of that complexity, like I might be in the kitchen building my own culinary nuclear bomb, but only if I get Every Last Step exactly right. There should probably be a drug for that.

Sometimes the results aren't so great. Most times, we end up with something passably edible - you know - no one complaining, but no one raving, either. Then, every once in a while, we'll try something and everyone's eyes roll back in their heads (in a good way!) and we have a massive hit on our hands. From the ranks of those winner recipes, a few exalted get requested year after year, thereby attaining legendary status.

This is one of those recipes. It's our Solstice tradition. It takes three days to make (to achieve the greatest flavor.) Added bonuses: It requires power tools, and it's messy.

Doesn't this look appetizing??

This is Cherry Ring. The recipe comes from the December 1998 Vegetarian Times

3 Cups unbleached white flour
1/2 Cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 TBSP unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup milk
1/4 Cup oil
1/4 tsp Almond extract

Filling
1/2 Cup blanched almonds toasted
2 Cups dried cherries
1/3 Cup honey
1/4 Cup orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves

Put all of your try ingredients into the bowl of a mixer. Add the butter and start the mixer on low to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk your eggs, milk, oil and extract together. Add to your dry ingredients. Mix until the dough forms. Turn out on lightly floured waxed paper and knead a few turns until everything holds together. Wrap your dough well in plastic and refrigerate overnight.

Filling
Put all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and process until coursely chopped. Cover and let sit overnight.

To assemble: Preheat oven to 375. Roll dough out between two sheets of waxed paper. Roll into an 18x9 inch rectangle. Remove top sheet of paper. Trim a one inch bit of dough from either end and set aside. Spoon filling in a 2-inch wide strip lengthwise down the center of the dough. Lift your bottom sheet of paper along one long edge and fold the dough over the filling. Repeat for other side. Press the edges together to seal. Invert seam side down on a cookie sheet. Coax into ring shape on the cookie sheet. You'll have to do some dough repair, but a few cracks won't hurt anything. If you're really ambitious, roll out your scraps and cut out holly leaves and roll berries to use for decoration on the ring. Paint with food coloring for extra effect. Brush with egg white and bake 30-40 minutes.

You want this baked the day before you need it. The shortbread layer softens and turns melt-in your mouth lovely for sitting the extra time.

Holiday treat? Always bake a favorite...pie.

My all time favorite dessert is pie. Pie you say? Which is what most people say when I tell them my go-to dessert or dish to pass. And my answer is always; you’ve never had homemade pie. 

I’ve tried countless slices at diners, restaurants, and even pie shops, hoping for heaven and instead getting tough crusts with tasteless filling. No wonder people aren’t clamoring for pie! 

But, I aim to change that and introduce you to a flakey, melt-in-your-mouth crust that holds bold fruit flavors with a hint of sweet inside. It’s fairly basic and after a couple of attempts, because doing anything well takes a few trial and errors, you’ll be pulling your own piping hot pastry from the oven.

Click to read on for the recipe...

Confession of a kitchen incompetent

I’m just going to go out on a limb here and guess you’ve either been to a party, hosted a party, or planned a party recently. This does seem to be a time of year to get folks together indoors and share germs. Or holiday cheer, whatever. At any rate, those parties inevitably come with what I like to call YikesMustFood. This is a state of panic characterized by the shoving of things that were formerly in the refrigerator into a pan or pot or appliance, adding ingredients that might have once been tasty in a dish, and hoping for the best. In my version of reality, this process almost never works out well.

To be fair, me entire life as a mother is all about YikesMustFood, so adding that extra level of holiday anxiety is just frosting, sprinkles, and nerves. Pot lucks, as you can imagine, are my very favorite things.

Kidding. I hate them. Avoid them when possible. 

When it’s not possible? I can’t share the disaster of YikesMustFood with a dozen or more potential critics! Cooking for others is like publishing a story: it’s a gift that is almost certainly gross and will make someone sick, and they are guaranteed to either leave it on the tray and save themselves (smart!) or grab a serving, choke it down, and complain about it afterward. So... I don’t. Cook, that is.

Instead I buy cheese and wine. I know a little bit about both and can select decent combos, and its less vulnerable and crazy-making than cooking. If you are a fellow sufferer of YikesMustFood, this party-and-potluck season, be kind to you and just make a pretty plate full off purchased goodies. No one will even know the difference.

Panic Party Sangria

Have to attend a Holiday Party Potluck? Run out of time to whip up Gram's Golden Souffle? Dying to make a positive impression yet standing in the grocery store trying to choose between tortilla chips or potato chips? Is the cold sweat of panic slithering down your spine?

Back away from the junk food and head for the boozy aisle, with a stop through the kitchen supplies for a cheap pitcher--glass, plastic, whatever. Oh, also, take a left into the freezer section for a 10oz bag of frozen blueberries, raspberries, or berry blend--yes, frozen not fresh (you're using them as flavored ice cubes).


Panic Party Sangria Recipe:

• 1 Bottle (750ml) Cheap Red Blend (twist top, unless you're buying a bottle opener)
• 1 can or 1 20oz single-serve Ginger Beer (from the soda cooler would be great, but no worries if that ain't happening)
• 1 10oz/single-serving bottle of tart Fruit Juice (Cranberry, Cherry, Pomegranate) 
• 3/4 cup fruit-flavored liquor (Triple Sec, Blackberry, Cherry, Cranberry)
• 1 10oz bag of frozen berries 

While sitting in your car in the driveway of the host's house, dump the ingredients into the pitcher (yes, washing the pitcher first would've been ideal, but hey, alcohol kills, right? Sure.). To measure the fruity booze, fill the juice bottle halfway (or all the way if you need to). Gently swirl the pitcher on your stroll up the front walk.

Voilà! Enter the party with a drink that elevates you from the "Frank the Forgetful" to "Sam the Swanky."

*Note: Sangria is a blended drink in which all ingredients can be swapped out for something similar. Don't like reds? Try a bubbly prosecco. Ginger not your fav? Grab a Sprite or tonic water. Fruity liquor just too...too? Go for spiced rum or the classic brandy. The only thing you don't want to do is make it too sweet, which is easiest to achieve by keeping the wine medium-dry. Everything else is already sugary.

Happy Holidays! 

Raise a glass to making it through another party!

Jeffe's Sparkly Sugar Cookies

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is "Holiday Potluck Dish: If you had to bring a dish to a winter holiday potluck, what would it be & what's the recipe?"

My holiday must-have are my Sparkly Sugar Cookies. I make a big batch of them and they serve as my standby to take to parties, give as impromptu gifts, and simply nom for pure holiday joy.


Instructions:

1 ½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups white sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

2 egg yolks, room temperature

4 teaspoons vanilla extract (use the real stuff, not the imitation flavoring)

2 teaspoons almond extract

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt (if you used salted butter, skip this)

1 teaspoon baking powder


Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. On this step, it’s hard to go too long. Let that sugar really melt in. Add in the eggs and egg yolks, one by one, mixing until smooth. Add vanilla and almond extracts gradually, mixing until smooth.

In another bowl, combine the flour, salt (if you’re using it) and baking powder. Gradually sift this mixture into the creamed butter mixture, beating constantly.

Cover the bowl with an airtight seal or wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Working with a fist-sized ball of dough at a time, on a flour-sprinkled surface, roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin to about ¼” thick. (Keep the rest of the dough in the fridge while you work, so it stays nice and cold.) Use cookie cutters to cut out fun shapes or, if you don’t have them, a drinking water glass will work to make simple circular cookies. There's nothing wrong with a classic!

Bake each batch for 6-8 minutes and let cool on a wire rack. When I get a good rhythm going, I can roll out and cut one batch while the other batch bakes.

Let the cookies cool completely before frosting. To make the (very basic) icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk (I use skim or 2% and it’s fine. Not that it matters with all that butter, but it’s what I usually have on hand.)

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Mix together in a bowl. You want it to be very thick, so if it turns out runny, just add a little more powdered sugar.

I love the white and gold look for Christmas, because it adds a nice touch of glamour. So I leave the frosting white and use gold, silver and pearl decorative sugars.

Just smear the icing on the cookie—you can see I do spots on some and whole cookies on others, since everyone likes different amounts of frosting—and immediately sprinkle with your sugars.

There are lots of fun color schemes to play with, if you’re feeling frisky, too.

Enjoy!