Yearly Archives: 2007

Southern Pound Cake

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Currently, I’m reading The Winter Pearl by Molly Noble Bull. Good read. I’ll post a full review once I’m done. This book was re-released this month as a mass-market paperback novel.

On Superbowl Sunday, I made lasagna with garlic bread for dinner and pound cake for dessert. I even munched on some for breakfast yesterday! Below, you’ll find the recipe for Southern Pound Cake:

Southern Pound Cake

1 cup butter or margarine,
softened
3 cups sugar
3 cups sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
6 large eggs
1 8-ounce carton sour cream
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat the butter at medium speed
with an electric mixer until creamy,
about 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar,
beating at medium speed for 5 to
7 minutes. Combine cake flour and
baking soda, and add to butter mixture
one cup at a time. Batter will be
thick.) Separate eggs; add yolks to
batter, and mix well. Stir in sour
cream and vanilla. Beat egg whites
until stiff, and fold into batten Spoon
the batter into a greased and floured
Bundt or 10-inch tube pan. (You may
also spoon batter into two 9x5x3-inch
loaf pans, and bake at 300 degrees for
1 1/2 hours or until a wooden pick
inserted into the center comes out
clean.) Cool in pan on a wire rack for
10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan,
cool completely on a wire rack.

Yields 1 10-inch cake or 2 loaves

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

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Fresh-Brewed Love (Paperback)
by: Susan K. Downs, Anita Higman, DiAnn Mills, Kathleen Y’barbo
Publisher: Barbour Publishing
Publication Date: December 1, 2005
ISBN-13: 978-1593106034

I purchased this book when I attended the ACFW conference in Dallas last September. It was a cute, fun read. All of the novellas are tied together using coffee as a theme. In the first story, JJ, a bookstore employee, is upset that the store is installing a new coffee house. However, she’s in for a big surprise when the boss’s son makes moves on her, while he’s in disguise.

In the second story, Kasey falls in love with a man she meets through an older mutual friend. They become acquainted as they drink coffee and have breakfast at the local coffee shop.

The third story was a refreshing change from most romance novels/novellas since the couple is elderly. I really loved this story, and it was interesting that the hero was a senior citizen and had never been married before.

The fourth story takes place in Costa Rica. I loved the way the author described this beautiful place, just throwing in enough details to give you a feel for the scenery. I loved it!

This book would be a nice book to read when you don’t want to read something too heavy. It’s a nice cozy book to read while sitting around on a snowy or rainy day with time to kill.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Made Of Honor By Marilynn Griffith

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Made Of Honor by Marilynn Griffith
ISBN:978-0373785544
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Publication Date: January 1, 2006

This book was certainly full of drama!! All of the characters had issues they needed to overcome, and they found the strength to overcome their problems through the glory of God. When Dana loses her job, she opens a shop that caters to future brides and other women who want to feel their best! In the meantime, her beloved ex-boyfriend, Adrian, opens a shop, right across the street from hers! And to make matters worse, it’s a shop he opened with his now-deceased wife….a shop that both Adrian and Dana dreamed about opening together, and of course that didn’t happen when Adrian ended up marrying somebody else!

Then there’s Dana’s sister, Dahlia. The two sisters are estranged since Dahlia has now shacked up with Trevor, another one of Dana’s ex’s. And Dahlia also has her eyes set upon Adrian. The two sisters try to work out their problems throughout the scope of the story.

Also, Dana is tired of being a bridesmaid. She’s got about ten bridesmaid dresses lined up in her closet, and she wonders if she’ll ever be a bride. She’s saddened that her childhood sweetheart married somebody else, and now that his wife is dead, he’s back in town, trying to woo her. She’s not sure if she really wants to be with him and she talks about her feelings with her best friends. The sassy sisters are close, and they try to motivate each other through motivational postings over the internet.

Then there’s Dana’s brother, who’s come back into town after being gone for a gazillion years. Dana and the rest of her family, knew he was playing sports for some time, but then he disappeared. They are stunned to find out he’s been in a coma for the last four(?) years and has just awakened a short time ago.

Then there’s Dana’s father who has a problem with booze, but finds solace in cooking for his family.

This book was filled with a cast of characters who needed the Lord, or if they were saved, needed to be closer to Him and hear His voice about their problems. When Dana suffers from a traumatic experience, her faith is strengthened as she recovers and decides to have a ceremony, renewing her solid relationship to God. Griffith does an awesome job of showing how people with problems and issues can come to know the Lord.

Also, I loved her descriptions. I almost wanted to eat the facials, soaps, and lotions she describes! Dana makes batches of vanilla lotion, lemon poundcake facials, strawberry beauty products, apple cobbler soap, etc. She uses fresh ingredients, and when she describes the scents of her products, and the scents of Adrian’s candles, I wanted to pull up a chair and grab a plate and eat! I know that sounds weird but her descriptions made my mouth water, even though she was describing the luscious scents as a part of beauty products and candles!

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Sidney Sheldon

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I was saddened to hear about the death of Sidney Sheldon earlier this week. I know I usually focus on Christian fiction in my blog, but I just felt I had to take a moment and talk about one of my favorite secular authors. I first started reading his books when I was in my early twenties, decades after his first book was published. A friend of mine knew how much I loved to read novels, so he recommended The Sands of Time by Sidney Sheldon. I read it and I was hooked. Since the man had been writing books for years, I had a Sidney Sheldon marathon of reading! I checked all of his books out of my library and read them! They were great! After that, I eagerly looked forward to his new releases.

Since I’ve been focusing mostly on reading and writing Christian fiction, I haven’t read any of his releases that were published in the last five years since my time is extremely limited. However, I do think that Hollywood, and the publishing industry, has lost a great writer.

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Family Christian Stores

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I visited the Family Christian Bookstore located in Bowie Maryland about three weeks ago. They were having a huge sale since they were trying to get rid of their stock. I asked one of the workers if they were closing down and he said they were relocating to Annapolis Maryland.

I mentioned this store in an earlier post (November 4, 2006):
http://ceceliadowdy.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Jury Duty

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Yesterday, I had to go to the court house since I was summoned for jury duty. Alas, I did not have to end up serving on a jury. While I was waiting in that crowded room, I started up a conversation with a woman when I noticed she was reading the book John’s Story by Tim LeHaye and Jerry Jenkins. We talked for awhile about the Left Behind series, and when I noticed she had a Love Inspired bookmark, I touted the fact that I’d had a Love Inspired novel released back in February 2005, and I had a Heartsong coming out in March of 2008. It was nice to while the time away by speaking to somebody about Christian fiction, one of my favorite subjects.

Right now, I’m reading Made of Honor by Marilynn Griffith. So far, I’m enjoying it. I’ll post my full review once I’ve finished reading it.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

My Cover

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This is the cover of my novel, First Mates. Thorndike Press released it has a large-print hardcover last July. I think I kind of like it better than the original Love Inspired cover, but both covers are nice.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Acts 19:11-12

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I know I’ll usually give a review or critique of a book I’ve recently read. However, in order to post to my blog more frequently, I’ve found that I have to talk about more than just the books that I’ve read. After all, I can only read so many books each month with my time so limited! I read the following in my Bible the other day. Just thought it was an interesting passage from the book of Acts:

Acts 19:11-12
11God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

That’s so cool, awesome and totally amazing! Can you imagine, an apron or handkerchief that had touched Paul could be taken to a sick person and the item could cure his/her illness and drive out evil spirits! Man….like, wow!!!

Paul’s miraculous miracles, stored in clothing items that he touched….

Wow!

On to another subject. On one of my writers loops, they were discussing the release of the movie Thr3e, in selected theaters today. Me and my hubby may go and see it this weekend. Since the theaters where it’s showing are limited, I might have to drive a little distance to get to a local theater that is showing this movie.

The book really stayed with me, and after I see the movie, it’ll be interesting to compare it to the book. If anybody has seen both, feel free to post comments. My comments about Thr3e can be found in this earlier blog entry:

http://ceceliadowdy.blogspot.com/2006_09_01_archive.html

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

No More Sea by Gloria Brandt

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Barbour Publishing
Heartsong Presents
ISBN: 1-57748-548-3
Publication date: 1999

This book takes place on the Titanic, so, knowing what happens to the Titanic, the last third of it was somewhat predictable.

This book was different than most HP books I’ve read. First of all, the heroine, Esther, spends about half of her scenes with someone other than the hero! The story is somewhat of a love triangle since Philip, a non-believer, boards the ship and Esther is his stewardess. Intoxicated, Philip attacks Esther, and she escapes. She forgives him and a great deal of the first half of the book is Esther spending time with Philip, desperately trying to bring him to Christ.

John is actually the hero in the story. Esther has known him for years and they work together on the ship. She’s upset because he hints at marriage, but after six years of false promises, Esther is tired of waiting for John to pop the question.

As you can imagine, John gets jealous when he sees his beloved spending so much time with Philip, a rich boy from America. He is further angered when he sees her leaving Philip’s cabin in the middle of the night. He wonders what is going on between them, and as you read the story, you discover that Philip is an unhappy alcoholic who is practically borderline suicidal. Esther truly cares about what happens to Philip and she merely wants him to accept God’s grace for his sins.

Philip misinterprets Esther’s caring nature since she’s the first woman who has moved him so deeply. When he asks her to marry him, Esther is shocked, wondering if the Lord really wanted her to pursue Philip’s salvation so diligently.

The story does take on an unusual twist between John and Philip when the ship goes down, and since it is a romance, you can imagine how it ends.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
www.blackchristianfiction.com