A year ago. . .

I was in the USA for the 4th July. I was staying with friends in Dubuque, Iowa. Dubuque is a city built on the shores of the Mississippi and there's a high bluff that overlooks the valley. We were invited to view the 4th July fireworks from the Hancock House, a house built on that bluff — a perfect vantage point.

I adore fireworks, so I was keen to go and watch, but in the event, the fireworks — which were fabulous — were overshadowed by the beautiful house. I'll let the photos do the talking. That's the house, below.

It's a guest house, so you can stay in this gorgeous red bedroom.

Sunset from one of the bay windows.

Another of the fabulous windows — one of the things I loved about this house was the beautifully carved woodwork throughout, like the screen that framed this window alcove.

Another screen framing the entrance to the dining room.

This staircase was magnificent, as was the statue set atop it..

 And I practically drooled over this exquisitely carved fireplace surround and mantel.

The fireworks were stunning, but my camera wasn't up to any photos, even if I wasn't too busy oohing and aahing. But I managed to taste some of the delicious supper afterward. 

It was a wonderful night and though I was a stranger, I felt very welcomed there. And as I type this, I'm smiling at the memories. Thank you, Dubuque. Happy 4th July.

Rocky Road

I'm off to an 18th birthday BBQ this evening for a boy I used to babysit when he was just a cute little bean. He's now a 6ft string bean.

His mum asked me to make some nougat to make the table pretty, but I'm head down in the writing cave at the moment, so I took the quick way out and made my friend, Mel Scott's rocky road instead. Not quite as pretty as nougat, but I think it'll go fast enough.

Mel's recipe is what she calls "infinitely variable" -- so I varied it.

This is it part of the way through — snipped up marshmallows, and crushed Crunchie bar (honey comb). Then I added toasted slivered almonds, snipped up fruit jellies, some actual dried berries (in an attempt to  make it vaguely healthy) and baby M&M's to make it look festive. At this stage it looks much prettier than the final result, which tastes a lot better than it looks.

The final step is to mix in melted chocolate, then pack it into a flat tray and let it set. Dead easy.

The end result isn't nearly as pretty as the nougat my friend wanted, but this still looks a little bit festive with the M&Ms and it tastes yummy. This is it before I cut it up — well, part way through the cutting up process — I almost forgot to take a pic.

It's hard to believe this boy is eighteen. I've known him since before he was born, and I love him dearly.

Happy eighteenth, Charlie.

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.

A Separation

 I saw a movie last night that I recommend — an Iranian film called A Separation.

It's about a woman who wanted to leave Iran to get a better future for her daughter, and the husband who cannot leave because he cares for his elderly father, who has Alzheimers, and the consequences that arise from the stress this puts them under. 

 It was a wonderful movie — intense, subtle and complex, with no easy resolutions. I felt for every one of the characters. The acting was excellent, even by the children. The daughter, torn between her parents, was superb in her restrained desperation. No teen histrionics here.

 And the little girl whose pregnant mother came to take care of the elderly father — both were excellent.

It was also a fascinating glimpse into another culture. 

 No wonder it won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

Well worth seeing if you can manage it.

When words fail...

I've been pondering on the failure of words to convey what you intend. Partly it's because I'm ditching a big chunk of the beginning of my current book, and starting again from scratch. Partly it's because a friend is currently ill, and a group of us sent her flowers and a simple message.

 Or so we thought.
Today she wrote to us and, to her thanks, added this:

Card read ‘think  of this as super placement’.  Now, I had enough functioning brain cells to realise something had been lost in translation, but what?  3am it struck me – super placement, soup replacement.

It gave us all a giggle, and I was reminded of some other failures of the "Chinese whispers" variety -- you know the old game, where one person passes on a whispered message, and they pass it on... and by the time you get to the end of the line the message bears no resemblance to the original.

These are of the cake decorating variety -- cakes ordered over the phone, and then... words fail. Or maybe ears fail.

I love this one, picturing the bride and groom (clearly keen gardeners) in green... and not a drop of green icing in sight.

But I don't think this was what was ordered, either.

And you know exactly what was ordered here:

Anyway, these gave me a laugh, and put me in a better frame of mind for restarting the book. There are plenty more of these cake disasters on the web — just google cake wrecks.