Glorious Autumn Color

Autumn has come creeping into my garden... Virginia Creeper, a bright scarlet splash against the honeysuckle vine.

 And enlivening the old fence with its glory.

What brightens your day at this time of year?

#Lucky 7 Challenge

There's a new twitter thing going around between writers. When you get tagged, you're supposed to go to the current manuscript, to page 7 or page 77, count down 7 lines and then post the next 7 lines of your manuscript on your blog< Then tweet about it and tag 7 more writers, including #Lucky7 in the tweet.


So I was tagged by Jenny Haddon, so here they are — 7 lines from page 7 (though I always change my beginnings around heaps, so they won't end up there in the final book, I bet.)

He scanned the ships in the bay. "Any of them bound for London?"

Ash nodded. "Devon Lass is. And Dublin Lass, too, but she's slower."

"A grand little lady all the same," Flynn said. Dublin Lass was his first ship and he was very fond of her.

"Devon Lass it is, then," Max said. "Sailing on tonight's tide?"

Ash nodded, his expression bemused. "Yes — but — you're sailing tonight? Because your aunt's letter is too polite?" He glanced at the empty bottle of champagne. 

Crispy Parmesan Bites

The other day I got all excited because I thought I'd invented a new cheese dish. Should've known -- there's no such thing as a new cheese dish.

It started when I made myself an omelette and when I went to wash the pan, there were a few sprinkles of crispy parmesan still in the pan. Which, naturally I ate.

Yum. So then I started to wonder, what if I just sprinkled parmesan on a dry, non-stick pan and cooked it? So I tried it. I covered the base of the pan with parmesan -- just the packet shredded stuff I get from the supermarket.

I cooked it gently until it looked lacy. . .

. . .  and was starting to look toasty around the edges.

Then I carefully lifted the edge with a wooden fork and slipped it onto a plate.

I snipped it up with my kitchen scissors and put it out —  still warm— for nibbles with a drink.

I forgot to take a photo of the crispy cheese bits on the nice plate. They didn't last long. Absolutely addictive, especially while still warm. I had to make two batches.

Now I know when I have unexpected visitors and I have nothing ready to serve as nibbles with drinks, I can always fall back on this. It doesn't take long and it's delicious. I'm never without parmesan and that's all it takes. Try it. 

Of course when I went looking on the web I discovered Italians have been making these for ever,and calling them frico. There are also recipes that call them parmesan crisps.