Secret babies revealed!

Sorry for the sensationalist title, but writing this post made me feel a little like a tabloid journalist. My theme is the ever-popular secret baby storyline.

Here’s the classic setup, pre-Facebook, pre-texting, pre-GPS tracking. Teenagers fall in love, but he leaves town and disappears (possibly into the Army). Finding herself alone and pregnant, the heroine marries an older man to give her father a baby. He conveniently dies. As the book opens, the hero returns to town, but believes heroine loved someone else and had a baby with him. Gradually he discovers it’s his child, and true love conquers all.

Not very believable today, but oh, the possibilities. I’ve written countless secret and unplanned baby stories, including, in my Safe Harbor Medical miniseries, The M.D.’s Secret Daughter (he thought the heroine gave up their baby for adoption) and The Surgeon’s Surprise Twins (he donated sperm and she’s the surrogate).

This brings me to yet another high-tech twist, which I’ll call the Egg Donor Secret (or Unexpected) Baby Story. How many variations can an author come up with for a romance sub-category within a sub-category? You might be surprised—I was.

One example is my upcoming March release, The Baby Jackpot.The heroine’s both a nurse and an egg donor who, after providing eggs to the recipient mom, has a tipsy tryst with her favorite surgeon. Because not all the eggs were harvested, she’s now pregnant--with triplets. She may be determined to give them to an adoptive family, but the surgeon, who’s falling in love with his family-to-be, has other ideas.

Then I was invited to write a short story for The Mammoth Book of Medical Romance, an anthology due out next year. In developing the plot for “What The Doctor Didn’t Tell Her” (my working title), I came up with, yes, another egg donor twist. I won’t detail that here, because short stories are, well, short, and I don’t want to give away too much.

When I can find the time, I’m also updating and revising some of my earlier books. I discovered that Yours, Mine and Ours, first published twenty years ago, had an egg donor twist, too. The widowed hero’s seven-year-old triplets have driven away every nanny he’s brought home. They want their strict dad to remarry so they can have a mom, and when the precocious trio ferrets out the fact that they were born from donated eggs, they manage to get their genetic mom hired as their new nanny, without her or their dad being aware of the relationship.

Yes, it’s far-fetched, but I think I managed to make it believable. Rereading it was lots of fun (I had forgotten many of the details). Those kids are wacky and the sparks fly between my offbeat heroine and stern hero. The plot also brought home just how versatile this type of story can be.

Yours, Mine and Ours is my December special for 99 cents at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can track my monthly specials at my website and/or Facebook author site. Hope you enjoy them!

Jackie's website

Jackie's Facebook site

Lee's latest DIY

Since I was a little girl, I've wanted a dressing table, the kind with a little bench that slides underneath and a big mirror, so I was thrilled to recently find a set online. It's from the '40s so I'm not sure it qualifies as an antique, but it's definitely vintage.

The dressing table itself is in excellent condition, hardly a scratch, but the bench needed some work. It had been painted brown so it no longer matched and I knew that if I stripped it, I would never get new stain to match the table.

The upholstery was worn and stained so I removed that and discovered two more equally grim seat covers underneath.

When I look at how dirty that top layer was, about the only thing that comes to mind is "ick"!

For paint, I decided white was the safest bet, and I went with chalk paint. If you've never used it, I encourage you to give it a try. Annie Sloan is a good brand. The surface being painted needs to be clean but otherwise very little prep is needed. It has no fumes, dries quickly, and a couple of coats will cover anything! After the final coat is dry, the painted surface needs a light coating with wax, Annie Sloan makes that, too, and you're done. Oh, and this paint is completely water soluble, so clean up is a breeze!

For upholstery I used a remnant that coordinates with the bedroom drapes and bedspread, and I added extra layers of padding so the seat is nice and cushy.

An easy project completed in an afternoon! It still doesn't match the dressing table, but now they go together better.

If you enjoy DIY and other decorating projects as much as I do, then I hope you'll enjoy my next book, The Daddy Project, which will be out on Tuesday. RT Book Reviews describes it as well as I can:

THE DADDY PROJECT (4) by Lee McKenzie: Single mom Kristi Callahan has been hired to redecorate single dad Nate McTavish's house - not to fall in love with him. But Kristi and Nate have more in common than just being single parents; they are both feeling family pressure to start dating again. Pretending to be with each other seems the simplest way to quell the complaints, but they do not anticipate the very real feelings that spark between them. When Nate's house is complete, they wonder if the relationship is over as well - and hope it isn't. McKenzie's characters are clever, with a captivating warmth that readers will love.

To celebrate the release, I'll be doing a series of guest blogs and giveaways, and will be posting details of those on my website. The next issue of my newsletter goes out next week and there'll be even more giveaways for subscribers. If you'd like to be added to my mailing list, there's a sign-up form on my website.

Happy reading!

Until next time,
Lee
www.LeeMcKenzie.com
The Daddy Project (Dec 2012)
Daddy, Unexpectedly (May 2012)
Maggie's Way (Harlequin Heartwarming, May 2012)

Rules of Engagement--Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving horror stories--we've all got one or two or three disastrous family-gathering stories we could share with others.  Why is that the holidays tend to bring out the best and worst in people, especially among our loved ones? 

 

If you're the one hosting this year's dinner (lucky you) then it's important to set the ground rules and let your family and friends know you're the captain of the ship and they'd better follow your command at the dinner table. I know, easier said than done.  This year if I was hosting the dinner I'd tell everyone that before they came to my house they had to read my latest release, because we'd be discussing story structure, plot and characterization over the turkey dinner.  But that's not the case, we're heading to my sister-in-law's home.

 

Beau: Cowboy Protector

November 2012

 

 

Buy!

 Linda Lewis Griffith is a marriage and family therapist www.lindalewisgriffith.com who recommends the following... 

Rules of Engagement

Be pleasant at all times.

Do not bring up hurtful issues from the past.

Engage in appropriate dialogue.

Discuss only mutually safe topics.  

Avoid possibly contentious subjects.

Show up on time.

Be helpful.

Monitor your own consumption of alcohol.

Do your best to get along with everyone at the gathering.

Encourage children to play outside if the weather permits.

Be attentive to your own children’s needs and actions.

 

 

 ***

If you believe your family is incapable of following your rules or someone always sabotages your good intentions (you know your cousin Claire was jealous that you got asked to the junior prom and she didn't) then you may want to consider the following

 

Spend the holiday in a public place. (Wishful thinking, I know)

 

If you are the host, don't exhaust yourself before Thanksgiving dinner.
Right before the holidays, furniture and rug sales always go up. Many family members, especially siblings, are in competition over issues like who has the best and cleanest house, who is the best cook, etc. If you are hosting Thanksgiving, don't get into this kind of competitiveness: it will only exhaust you and ruin your holiday. It is okay to cut corners. Include ready-made foods along with homemade ones, close off messy rooms, and accept help in the kitchen. Your relaxed mood will set the tone of the gathering.

Spend time and energy on planning entertainment.
Thanksgiving is the slowest afternoon of the year, says Dr. William Doherty, a professor of family social science at the University of Minnesota. The parade, the turkey, the football games and lethargy caused by overeating make it a long boring time, especially for children. Families get "cabin fever" and tensions arise. Let the dinner end by early afternoon so that people can go to a movie or take a walk, if they desire. Give children the freedom to play outside; allow teenagers to go out by themselves. Bundle up and go look at store windows together. Have board games and other entertainment available.

 

Have a clever seating arrangement.
Try using place cards to assign seats so that you can separate people who do not get along. Although you may be tempted to, don't seat family members who have been feuding for years next to each other. 

 

***

 

Depending on the "Host Home" our family can have a very eclectic group gathering each Thanksgiving--family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and possibly even a divorced spouse or two.  A few Taboo Topics at our family gathering: Climate Change, Politics, Body Piercings, Body Weight, Hair Styles & Religion. 

Now for the fun part...what topics are taboo at your Thanksgiving Table?

 

 

Beau: Cowboy Protector November 2012

No Ordinary Cowboy*Rodeo Rebels* April 2013

The Cowboy Next Door*The Cash Brothers* July 2013

www.marinthomas.com

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Holiday Cheer...or Not

This begins the season of holiday parties, and you know all the good things they include.  I'll steer away from the dangerous topics of casseroles and desserts and chocolate—although really, those are some of my favorite subjects for discussion at any time of the year!

Instead, let's talk about gifts. 

Not the kind you love to give.  The kind you love to give away.  You know, in those grab bags and games you play where everyone receives a gift from an anonymous giver.

One year I participated in a "Silly Santa" grab bag and received a pair of fuzzy animal slippers.  Envision this:  they were purple, with red eyes and long black claws, and—I'm not kidding—from front to back, they were two feet long.

Let's just say I found them...

Umm...

Spectacular! 

The slippers received a lot of attention at that particular Christmas party.  And you'd better believe they went right into the very next grab bag I could find.  (grin)  The winner absolutely lovedthem and wore them the rest of the night. 

Obviously, one person's "umm...spectacular" is another person's favorite gift.

To be fair, these games—and gifts—aren't all bad.  I'll admit I've been lucky, too.  At another party, I received a pair of holiday earrings that I still wear during the Christmas season every year.

Got any grab-bag stories, either for the best or worst gift ever?

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who will celebrate it later this week!

All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille

http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com

http://www.facebook.com/barbarawhitedaille
https://twitter.com/BarbaraWDaille

August 2012

Changing Times

To say life has changed for me this year is a bit of an understatement. The biggest change and the one that kicked off most of the others is that I took an early retirement offering from my employer. Now, just to set the record straight I always laughed at those people who retired and then said that they were so busy they didn't know how they ever had time to work. Well, I get it now. Sorry my friends for ever doubting you.

I'm a doer. I don't know how to stop when I have a goal. My first task was to clean house. I don't mean dust and mop. That stuff got done before. We're talking about cleaning closets, spider webs, baseboards. Toss out all that stuff that collects over time that seem to fill every available shelf or cabinet. Every time I leave the house, my car is full of old books to sell.  Or clothes to donate. Or DVDs to take to the movie exchange. The trash truck guys probably cuss me.  Goal: To get back to being a minimalist if it kills me.

Now lets talk about Yahoo Loops. All the folks who accepted the early retirement offer started a loop. I'm on other loops, but this one keeps my email box full of all the things that MUST be done.  Financial decisions. Medical decisions. Update or write a Will or Trust. A career placement service. Resumes, classes, and trying to decide what I want to do when I grow up. Did I mention that I'm really not old enough to fully retire?

Okay, now that I've made your eyes glaze over, the one thing all this has done is to make me thankfull. I'm thankfull that I have these options. Some people don't. I now have time to slow down enough to smell fall. Like fireplaces and bonfires. Time to consider all the wonderful things in my life. Like that I now have time to spend with my aging mom. Time to play with the grandkids before they get big and don't want to hang out with Grammy. Time to take a short getaway with a friend. Time to help out family members who still have jobs. I can pick up kids at school or run errands. The calendar is full.

The first cold front blew through this week and added to the Thanksgiving mode. The leaves are changing and we have a fire in the fireplace this morning. Time to slow down and enjoy the holidays. Lots of family headed this way next week for Thanksgiving, including my mother-in-law this year. So exciting.  The grocery store yesterday was already in chaos and I was able to actually enjoy it.

So what are you thankfull for this year?

Time Sucking Broken Eyeballs!!!

Since The SEAL's Surprise Baby is due the 15th, I thought it might be fun to look at all the ways fate has messed with me during the crucial last days before I finally type, The End.  In speaking with my author friend, Winnie Griggs, she also claims calamity strikes most when deadlines loom.  While I don't have time for an in-depth study of every author in the world, I thought it might be interesting to at least look back over the ridiculous amounts of things that've happened to me lately to keep me from writing:

Tuesday 11/6--Election day!!  Hubby and I decide to vote first thing in the morning to avoid long lines.  Wait 30 minutes at our usual polling place, whip out IDs, told our polling place is now no longer located at the nice, peaceful church it has been for 10 years, but Food Pyramid.  We head that way only to discover a 40 minute line snaking through the freezer section!!  Prime early morning writing time shot--albeit for a good cause.

Hubby in voting line!!  Yes--that IS a grocery freezer section behind him!!

After a brief Y & R break, I get back to work.  Son pops in for a visit.  I ask if he's voted.  He has not.  Off we go to his polling place.  2 hour line!!   Daughter brags she had no wait at all!!

Day's Page Count--4 out of my goal of 10
 
Wednesday 11/7--Fairly productive day save for Lowe's and the plumber and the counter guy calling at least three times each.  Get mail.  Daisy, our demon Yorkie, decides to run away.  I'm forced to walk the street barefoot, wagging a tempting slice of "cheezy cheese" to lure her home.  She warily takes cheese, but before I can grab her, bolts.  Can you say bad dog?!?! 

Day's Page Count--7 out of my goal of 10

Thursday 11/8--Plumber here forever.  They leave, I nuke soup.  UPS man arrives.  Dog eats soup.  Attempt to start writing, but counter guys show up.  I bought the wrong faucet for new sink.  Emergency run to Lowe's.  Back at home, lungs BURNING from counter glue fumes.  Added bonus?  Son and super-sweet girlfriend I REALLY like are breaking up--AT OUR HOUSE!!!  By the time Hubby gets home, we escape for dinner.  Fumes no better when we're done.

Day's Page Count--0 out of my goal of 10

Friday 11/9--Get comfy on the couch to begin what will surely be a great writing day, stretch backwards and knock my freshly opened Sprite over my head.  My hair, face, and sofa are now dripping with sticky Sprite.  By the time me and the sofa are clean, plumbers arrive to connect new sink.  They notice book covers on the wall and request signed copies.  By the time I'm writing anything other than my name and a check for extra parts, a huge chunk of my writing day is gone.

Day's Page Count--11 out of my goal of 20 

Saturday 11/10--I don't work weekends.  Hubby's off at his day job during the week, so I look forward to spending Saturday and Sunday with him and/or our kids.  That said, with my deadline perilously close, I HAVE to work this weekend.  Too bad the "simple" errands we need to run last a huge chunk of the day.

Day's Page Count--14 out of my goal of 20 

Sunday 11/11--Surprisingly calm day, but we have an Oilers game at 4:00.  We like to get to games an hour early to eat Billy's onion rings and watch the players warm-up.  That means getting to the BOK Center by 3:05.  That means my in-desperate-need-of-cutting hair needs to be tamed starting by 1:30.  Lots of writing time shot like a puck!!

Day's Page Count--16 out of my goal of 20

Monday 11/12--If you've been keeping track, you'll notice I just now made up my page count for the whole day I missed last Thursday.  Had those been the only days I missed, I wouldn't now be feverishly making up for those other bizarre days my page count was 0.

With my deadline being Thursday, I'm now in fevered-writing mode.  Got six great pages done when daughter calls.  After the free skate at Sunday's game, boyfriend accidentally elbowed her right eye.  She reports it's swollen, hurting and her vision's blurry.  Whaaaaat?!?!  All writing stopped to run her to the eye doctor.  

Day's Page Count--19 out of my goal of 20

Tuesday 11/13--Sit down to write and Hubby's lost his shoes and belt.  Since I'm in deadline mode, house is a MESS.  I help look.  Hubby leaves, I'm back to writing.  Thirty minutes in, Hubby calls.  Have I seen his work phone?  Stop writing to look.  Text Hubby--Found it!  Start writing, Hubby texts if he missed calls?  I don't know!!  And I'm not getting up to look!!  Day progresses in much the same fashion from here.  Lowe's lady calls.  Am I happy with our counters?  Slimy telemarketer tries selling me vitamins.  Daughter calls--her poor eyeball still hurts.  Her boyfriend's elbow owes me a $40 specialist copay and lost writing time!!! LOL!!!

Daughter and super cute Boyfriend's elbow before elbowing incident!!

Day's Page Count--23 out of my goal of 20

Wednesday 11/14--Overall, despite a gazillion interruptions, I've managed to get work done, but not nearly enough.  Today, I'm still writing feverishly, trying to make up for all the other little things that somehow crop up when a book's due.

Cross your fingers!!  This one's going to be a squeaker!!

How about you?  Do you find that the more you have to do, the more gremlins appear to divert your attention?

Good Things Come...

I know, we’ve all heard the phrase good things come to those who wait … The origin of the idiom is more diverse than all Heinz 57 varieties represented in that ketchup slogan from the 1980’s.  Younger peeps will know it as the Guinness beer slogan.  Regardless, they never tell you waiting is the hardest part, another phrase in itself, one of which many songs and poems have been written about. 

So, I waited for that next contract to come along.

Patiently. 

Alright, who are we kidding?  I don’t know the meaning of the word patience.  I’m a take no prisoners, ass kickin’, top of the world, there’s work to be done so let’s make up the rules as we go along type of person.

But, still I waited, my toes tapping while I checked emails repeatedly over the course of the day and even gave my editor a special ring tone (When You Wish Upon a Star) that I swear I heard on numerous occasions, only to find a blank caller id instead – listen, there is no cure for me so don’t even try.

I played by all the rules of publishing.

And you know something?  It paid off.  I received the email and the phone call I was hoping for and I signed a new two-book contract.  Yippee!  The Bridle Dance Ranch saga continues with HOME SWEET COWBOY and LEGACY OF A LONE STAR.  Those Langtry men just can’t keep themselves out of trouble!

I think one of the biggest fears for a new writer is the thought of being a one trick pony.  For me especially, considering I was discovered through Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write competition.  I’d never been through the normal submission process before all of this.

I made my share of mistakes – trust me on this one.  Let’s just say, I’ve learned how NOT to write and submit a proposal.  I’m getting the hang of it, but learning everything was the equivalent of heading down a bumpy trail while facing the wrong way in the saddle.  Nerve wracking was an understatement.

Now I have deadlines…many of them.  Books, blogs, interviews, online chats, promos, and I’m sure there are few I don’t even know about yet.  The truth of the matter is, I thrive on every morsel of it.  Deadlines drive me to push myself even harder than I did before. 

Was it worth the wait?

You betcha! 

To learn more about my first year with Harlequin and how I'm Moving the Story Forward, hop on over to Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write Blog on November 19th and be sure to join my editor, Kathleen Scheibling and myself for a global Twitter chat at 10AM, EST.

Looking forward to seeing you there!  And remember, sometimes patience really does pay off :) 

Amanda Renee
Betting on Texas (March 2013)
Home Sweet Cowboy (August 2013)
Legacy of a Lone Star (Early 2014)

www.amandarenee.com
www.twitter.com/TheAmandaRenee
www.facebook.com/AmandaReneeFanPage

Sarah And Ty Drop In For A Visit

      Down here in sunny Florida, fall is (barely) in the air. No, we haven’t turned off the air conditioner. At our house, it runs practically twenty-four/seven twelve months a year. But the temperatures outside have dropped into the very pleasant mid-seventies, and the humidity isn’t quite as oppressive as it was in the middle of the summer.  With palm trees and evergreens dominating the landscape, the occasional flame tree provides a burst of bright red against all that green. 

 

Citrus ripens on the neighbor’s orange and grapefruit trees. The fruit promises a taste of sunshine when the temperatures drop lower.  

      Which they’ll do for, maybe, a day or two.  

      In January or February.   

      In the midst of all this fall-ish Florida weather the Chinese Ting that grows outside my office window has produced a bumper crop of berries.  Flocks of robins and butterbutts that have escaped colder, northern temperatures are drawn to the tree.  The birds cover the ground and roost in the wooded lot behind my house. 

      All these visitors remind me of the way I get the heroes and heroines for my books.  They drop in sometimes when I’m going about my business.  That’s how it was with heroine in Rancher’s Son, available later this month.  You’ve all met social worker Sarah Magarity before.  She played minor roles in The Daddy Catch and Rodeo Daughter.  But, when I sat down to draft the proposal for Rancher’s Son, Sarah practically took up residence in my visitor’s chair.    

      Over tea she told me about the cattle drive she’d sent two older foster kids on, and how a certain hunky cowboy had let her down when he abruptly returned the boys to DCF’s custody.  She showed me how passionate she was about improving the foster care system.  Unfortunately, her tendency to go out on a limb for the children in her care had not only broken her heart, but jeopardized her job.  So, she’d sworn to remain aloof, to keep her distance the way her boss insisted.  All her pent-up love went into raising orchids and plumeria instead. 

      The more she “talked” the more I thought Sarah deserved her own Happily Ever After.  But to give it to her, I needed a hero.  And I didn’t have one.

      I was at a loss until the Christmas Eve a five-year-old orphan landed on DCF’s doorstep with nothing but a birth certificate naming Ty Parker as his father.  Right away, I knew my hero had arrived on the scene. 

      Of course, a piece of paper didn’t prove anything in Ty’s book.  Any more than the protests of a self-righteous social worker.  A fourth-generation Florida rancher, this cowboy demanded paternity tests.  And as much as he insisted the child couldn’t be his, on the off-chance he was wrong, Ty refused to let the little boy go into foster care while they waited for the results. 

      Taking a young boy on Ty’s cattle drive made perfectly good sense to someone who’d grown up on a ranch.  But not to a city girl like Sarah.  She insisted on accompanying the boy.  To watch out for his safety, and see for herself if Ty Parker was daddy material.

      Clearly, Ty and Sarah both needed each other as much as they needed the little boy who’d been dumped in their laps.  That’s where my job—and a cattle drive through Florida’s version of the Old West—came in.  The result was Rancher’s Son, a book I hope you’ll enjoy when it’s released, just in time for the holidays, on November 27th.

 

 

      Don’t forget—we give away copies of recent Harlequin American releases by drawing the names of people who comment out of a proverbial hat each month.  So leave a comment to be included in the drawing. 

 

     Oh, and another surprise—the printer sent a double order of bookmarks for Rancher’s Son!  Would you like one?  Or a dozen?  (LOL)  If so, send me an email (leigh@leighduncan.com). Include your snail mail addy in the email—not here on this loop—and I’ll drop a signed bookmark in the mail to you.    

     

BRING ON THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Fun, family and eating. It can’t get any better than that. The only stress is hours of planning and cooking, but I like the scents and the warmth of a kitchen bubbling with tasty foods. I seem to wait all year for turkey and dressing with cranberry sauce. And pumpkin pie! We never have that any other time of the year and I always look forward to it. That day I don’t think about diet, fats or carbs. I just enjoy the food and it’s probably the only day of the year I do that. Bring on Thanksgiving!

We all have favorite foods. During the holidays my mom always made black cherry Jell-O salad. No one liked it but her. She made it because it was something she liked and she was the cook. I’m making a grocery list and I thought about her salad. I have her recipes in a box, those she had recipes for. I might dig it out and give it a try. I’m older and I might like it now. That’s one thing about getting older you’re willing to compromise and try new things. But the old staples will always be my favorite.

What are your favorite foods at Thanksgiving?

Don’t miss the Harts of the Rodeo series. The books make a great Christmas gift.

Happy Thanksgiving, all.

Linda

Tomas: Cowboy Homecoming - Dec ‘13
www.LindaWarren.net
https://www.facebook.com/authorlindawarren
https://twitter.com/texauthor

 

Living Like Cinderella by Megan

Last month I was lucky enough to take a trip to the Biltmore mansion in North Carolina. You might be familiar with it--it was featured in the movies Richie Rich and Forrest Gump. (I need to acknowledge fellow Harlequin author Cindy Kirk for this picture from her FaceBook page as mine didn't turn out. Thanks for the loan, Cindy.)



The hiking in Tennessee and North Caroline was invigorating. Okay, sometimes my friends had to hike on without me. I admit it: I'm a flat-lander.  The trees had peaked before we arrived but the hills were still lovely with reds, golds, browns and yellows as well as the evergreens. The people were helpful and welcoming, even the sweet young man taking a traffic survey in Pisgah National Forest. They're proud of their waterfalls, to the point of having difficulty recommending which we should hike to see. Here's one lovely waterfall.

But back to the Biltmore. It was finished in 1895 for millionaire G.W. Vanderbilt, grandson of magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, the shipping baron. Despite the other tourists, I truly felt swept away into the past. I could well imagine the thrill of being asked out for a stroll through the rose garden by a handsome gentleman in a smart black suit and with a roguish twinkle in his eye. I could imagine wearing the lovely clothes, but not changing five times a day just to play croquet or eat a meal. I could easily imagine sleeping in a lush bed and dancing into the night.

The staff had begun to decorate for Christmas, a task which takes more than two weeks. I've been immersed in all things Christmas while writing Holly & Ivey: Christmas in Stilton, so I felt right at home. I was a week early for the installation of the 40' Christmas tree. I'd say "I'll see that on the next trip" but instead I'd love to visit in April to view the azalea garden in bloom. But any season in this lovely magnificent American castle is gorgeous.

That's what Cinderella's life changed to after the wedding. A man devoted to her. A lovely home, nice clothes, food, and servants. I'm sure it was a relief to live someplace not cleaned by rats and birds.  lol  I loved going back to a simpler time, which was also a harder time. The corsets alone would have killed me. The expectations of society would have been thwarted because I'm more likely to flirt with the chauffeur or the stable master than some stiff-minded rich boy. Nevertheless, it's a place of dreams.

Okay, I admit it. I fell in love with the library. GW Vanderbilt was a book collector and a reader. [sigh] And he had an indoor swimming pool! Yep. I could have been happy there, at least for a long visit.

What are some of your favorite places to visit in the US?

Megan Kelly
Santa Dear, available now
www.megankellybooks.com

PS Blessings and prayers for my everyone affected by Superstorm Sandy and this current storm.

Comfort Food

With the devastation of Hurricane Sandy haunting the news, I’ve been thinking about how we comfort ourselves. For me, comfort food always helps.

There are several comfort foods I crave, most of them oozing fat and carbs.

These are some of my favorites:

Mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, brownies, chocolate pudding, Mexican hot chocolate made with whole milk, and cinnamon rolls.

Part of my comfort ritual is to make these things from scratch. Somehow preparing the food myself helps. Plus, the whole house smells good, which lifts the spirits, and the food tastes so much better than the bought stuff. That said, I’m not wedded to my own cooking. If the power goes out, I’ll happily go out and buy the comfort food I crave.

 

I thought I’d share one of my favorite mac and cheese recipes with you.

Patti LaBelle’s Over the Rainbow Mac and Cheese

Serves 4 to 6

Warning: this is artery-clogging stuff! To avoid heartburn, I cut down on the fat a bit. My changes are in parentheses.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I use 1 teaspoon, which works just as well)

1 pound elbow macaroni
8 tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon butter (I cut this down to 4 tablespoons or half a stick of butter, total)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Muenster cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded mild Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack
2 cups half-and-half (I substitute nonfat evaporated milk)
1 cup (8 ounces) Velveeta , cut into small cubes
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a deep 2 1/2-quart casserole. (Or spray with Pam)

Over high heat, bring the large pot of water to a boil. Add the oil, then the elbow macaroni, and cook until the macaroni is just tender, about 7 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain well. Return to the cooking pot.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Stir into the macaroni. In a large bowl, mix the Muenster, mild and sharp Cheddar, and Monterey Jack cheeses. To the macaroni, add the evaporated milk, 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese, the cubed Velveeta, and the eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the greased casserole. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.

Bake until bubbles around the edges, about 35 minutes. Serve hot.

Yum!

What’s your favorite comfort food?

Ann…

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