Yearly Archives: 2011

Warm, Comforting Christmas Reads

Check out these short Christmas stories on Kindle (or other e-readers). Each one is only 99 cents and it’s a nice, inexpensive way to enjoy some inspiring Christmas stories. I’ve already downloaded these and plan on featuring on my blog over the next week or so. So, sit back, relax, get a cup of coffee and some Christmas cookies or cake and enjoy these stories. You can probably finish one of these stories in one evening! 🙂

A Texas Christmas Mystery by Anne Greene
A lady Coastguardsman searches for a killer. An oil rig troubleshooter accused of murder races to clear his name. The murderer strives to silence them both.
Sparks fly as Amber Meredith seeks to arrest Derrick Darbonne. She needs to solve her first case, but the handsome Cajun suspect makes her heart race and her toes tingle.
Derrick has worked all his life for his high-paying, adventurous job. When the past threatens his future, will he endanger the woman he loves in order to save himself?

Christmas Pearl by Robin Bayne
Joe Gardner never expected to see Elizabeth again, not after the part she’d played in ruining his life. Refusing to believe she now shares his faith, Joe tosses aside her efforts to apologize.
But when they are forced to work together in the midst of the Christmas season, Joe has to face the truth about Elizabeth, and himself.

Savanna’s Gift by Camille Eide
Forced to return to the ski lodge where she once worked, Savanna Holt is reminded of one special Christmas and how ambition led her to make the worst mistake of her life: Leaving Luke Nelson.

Stunned to discover Luke never left, but worked his way up from lift operator to manager, Savanna sees the opportunity as a gift from God. She’s determined to win Luke back. But Luke wants no reminders of his past hurt, or a relationship with the woman who put ambition before love.

Can Savanna convince Luke she’s changed and her interest isn’t because of his position? And when her dream job beckons, will she sacrifice her dream for a second chance at love?

I hope you’ll download these stories and read these wonderful authors!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Too Much Butter! :-(

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Do you think there are typos in the recipe below? Leave a comment!

ULTIMATE SOUTHERN LIVING COOKBOOK – ISBN: 0-8487-1816-X
Publisher: Oxmoor House
Page 241 – Beef Stroganoff – I think this recipe has a typo in it! Usually I don’t use this blog to vent, but, this has been on my mind for awhile! Since this is food-related, I feel comfortable blogging about my experience with this recipe since I do talk about food and recipes occasionally.

I tried the Beef Stroganoff recipe on Sunday (12-4-11). I even got an expensive cut of meat because I didn’t want the meat to be tough. When I started making the recipe, I got kind of suspicious. You’re supposed to coat the two pounds of cut-up meat in flour – one and a half cups of flour! Also, before cooking the meat, you have to melt ONE AND A HALF CUPS OF BUTTER – THAT’S THE EQUIVALENT OF THREE STICKS OF BUTTER!!

I stopped when I saw that amount. Before starting the recipe, I’d just skimmed it and looked at the ingredients. I stopped and asked my husband if I should make the recipe – it didn’t sound right. He said to go ahead and make it and we could alter it later once it was done. So, I agreed, took his advice and made the recipe.

So, I melted the butter. That was the first time I can remember EVER melting 3 sticks of butter in a pan. The smell made me ill. Don’t get me wrong, I love butter, but, that was the first time I’d used so much for a main course. The only time I’ve used that much butter was when I make my yummy lemon pound cake. When I was melting the butter, both my husband and my son said, “What’s that smell?” The scent filled the air, and it wasn’t pleasant.

Anyway, after I melted the butter, I ended up dumping the floured meat into the butter. The butter and the flour together made this yucky brown sludge – the smell made me ill, seriously. My stomach curdled while I was cooking. I couldn’t stand the scent. I finished making the recipe and when I tried it, it was awful! The smell and the taste just made me sick because of all that butter. I took the entire pan of hot stroganoff and dumped it into the trash! 🙁 I think that’s why this bothers me so much! I wasted so much butter and meat – we didn’t even get one meal out of it! Butter is expensive! I rarely use margarine because butter is much healthier for you! We ended up eating sandwiches for dinner that evening.

I think the recipe was supposed to call for one and a half TABLESPOONS OF BUTTER AND ONE AND A HALF TABLESPOONS OF FLOUR. Don’t get me wrong. I like this cookbook and I’ve used several of the recipes in it. I’ve even blogged about a few of them, but, this recipe was just all wrong.

Here’s the recipe – DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME!! 🙁
Do you think there are typos in this recipe? Have you ever tried a recipe and thought that it was a mistake? Leave a comment!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Beef Stroganoff
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour – I THINK THAT’S TOO MUCH FLOUR – I THINK THIS IS A TYPO!
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds of sirloin steak cut into one-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups of butter or margarine melted – THAT’S 3 STICKS OF BUTTER!! I THINK THAT’S TOO MUCH BUTTER – I THINK THIS IS A TYPO!
3 cups of sliced fresh mushrooms
1 small onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 1/2 cups sour cream
7 1/2 cups hot cooked noodles

Combine first 3 ingredients in a large zip-lock plastic bag; add steak. Seal bag and shake until meat is coated.

Brown meat in butter in a large skillet, stirring occasionally. Remove meat from skillet; cover and keep warm. Add mushrooms, onion, and garlic to drippings in skillet; cook, stirring constantly, until tender. Remove from pan, keep warm.

Add wine to skillet; cook over high heat, deglazing skillet by scraping particles that cling to bottom. Cook until wine is reduced by half.

Add beef broth and tomato paste, stirring until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add meat and mushroom mixture; cook until thorougly heated. Stir in sour cream; cook just until mixture is hot, stirring constantly. Serve over noodles. Yield: 10 servings.

Saturday Matinee – Tuck Everlasting

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Popcorn photo courtesy of Free Digital Photos.

Could you imagine, drinking water from a spring, and living forever? Would you crave a life on earth that never ended?

Well, that’s what this story is about. I saw this movie on cable a few days ago. The premise sounded interesting, so, I thought I would watch. Fifteen-year-old Winnie is from a wealthy family, and she lives a very sheltered life. She’s alone a lot and she’s not allowed to do things that other kids do like play ball and have fun. She craves to leave her household, to go out and explore the woods on her father’s vast property.

When her parents threaten to send her away to a boarding school so that she can be properly taught to be a young lady, Winnie runs away into the vast woods – woods that she’s always been curious about. She gets lost and runs into Jesse Tuck drinking from a spring that’s sprouting from a large tree. He’s shocked to see her and when Winnie tries to drink, he forbids her to do so, telling her the water is poisonous. Young Jesse takes Winnie to his family so that they can decide what to do with her. The Tucks have been spotted and as far as they know, no living mortal knows of their secret.

Winnie and Jesse fall in love as Winnie continues staying with the Tucks. The Tucks have a secret – they’re immortal and the reason why they’re this way is because they drank from the spring of water in Winnie’s woods. “Young” Jesse Tuck is actually 104 years old.

As time moves on, Winnie doesn’t know what to do. She knows the Tucks secret, and she doesn’t want to return home to her family, plus she’s fallen in love with Jesse. The plot thickens because there is a man searching for the Tucks. It appears that he knows of their secret and this man wants to get ahold of this fountain of youth and profit from it.

This is a sweet movie and both adults and kids will like it. It makes you think about death. Although we’re all going to die, I think most people will say that they’re not ready to die. Jesse’s father takes Winnie aside, making her really re-think about becoming immortal. After all, he thinks you should live your life as is, but LIVE and enjoy and experience life to the fullest. He tells her it’s hard to be immortal like they are. Your life never ends on this earth. As people die and the earth changes, you’re always here, never getting older.

Could you imagine, drinking water from a spring, and living forever? Would you crave a life on earth that never ended? Have you seen this movie? If so, did you like it?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Lakeside Reunion by Lisa Jordan

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Lakeside Reunion by Lisa Jordan

If you were engaged, and your fiancé(e) broke your engagement to marry another, do you think you could forgive him/her?

That’s the premise for Lisa Jordan’s Love Inspired novel, Lakeside Reunion. Five years ago, Lindsey’s fiancé, Stephen, broke their engagement so that he could marry another woman. Stephen’s reasons for doing this had to do with something he’d done a couple of years ago. He’d gotten a woman pregnant after a one-night stand. He didn’t know about the pregnancy until two years later when the woman shows up with his child. He felt he was doing the right thing by breaking his engagement to Lindsey and marrying the mother of his child. After all, his child needed a father.

Now, five years later, his wife is dead, and Lindsey returns to town. Her mother has had an accident and Lindsey must leave her inn and relocate to Lakeside for a few weeks to care for her mom. While in town, she discovers that there’s still chemistry between her and Stephen. Can she forgive him for his past actions. Is this there second chance at love?

Lindsey is also stunned to discover that her mother’s life has changed so drastically. Her mother is seriously dating someone. Lindsey is stunned, doesn’t her mom remember the wonderful marriage she had with her deceased husband? How can she mar Lindsey’s dad’s memory by committing herself to another?

Lindsey finds it hard to deal with her mother’s changed life and her feelings for her ex. Also, she finds herself drawn to Stephen’s child, the little boy whose existance ended their engagement. She’d initially resented the child years ago, but finds herself now bonding with the youngster.

This is a sweet story that realistically deals with the issues of forgiveness and healing. Overall it was a good, heartwarming read.

So, if you were engaged, and your fiancé(e) broke your engagement to marry another, do you think you could forgive him or her?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Saturday Matinee – Sleepless In Seattle

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Popcorn photo courtesy of Free Digital Photos.

Have you seen this movie? If so, did you like it?

I watched this movie as a requirement for the Michael Hauge event that I recently attended. I consider this one an old favorite, especially among romance fans.

When Sam’s (Tom Hanks) wife dies, he feels as if a part of his heart has died too. He’s left to raise their son, Jonah, alone. They relocate and Jonah, concerned about his dad’s grief, calls into a radio help line, openly broadcasting his dad’s dilemma. The phone call spurs lots of attention and Sam receives letters from countless single females. Annie (Meg Ryan), mesmerized by Sam’s plight, is determined to interview him for a newspaper story. Recently engaged, she doesn’t want to admit to herself that her fiance is a totally wrong match for her.

Sam starts dating a woman and Noah is determined to make his dad see reason. He wants Sam to give Annie a chance, in spite of her living several hundred miles away.

Although this is a romance, the couple is apart during most of the movie and they only see each other, from afar, a few times. In spite of that, the movie is cute, whimsical, mesmerizing and FUNNY!! I also liked Rosie O’donnell’s character. She’s Annie’s best friend and is determined to see Annie hook up with Sam. Sam is determined that the current woman he’s seeing is the right woman for him. Annie is determined to convince herself that her fiance (who’s a really nice guy, just not the right guy for her) is her perfect mate. The tug of war between their emotions has you rooting for them, wanting them to admit to themselves that they’re made for each other.

Have you seen this movie? If so, did you like it?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Help An Author – Sandi Rog Is Battling Cancer

Saturday Matinee – Breaking Dawn

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Popcorn photo courtesy of Free Digital Photos.

***Note, this movie is secular and has vampires and werewolves.

I couldn’t resist going to see Breaking Dawn – Part One. I went to a ten AM show last Monday. I posted a review of this book here, and was comparing the book to the movie the entire time.

This story was dark, haunting and riveting. The special effects were amazing and it was especially hard to see Bella suffer physically after she gets pregnant with Edward’s baby.

Bella and Edward (a vampire) send out invites to friends for their wedding. Jacob (an Indian man who can change into a werewolf) is Bella’s best friend and Edward’s natural enemy. Jacob gets upset about the nuptials, phazing into a wolf, running into the woods.

After the wedding, Bella and Edward go on their honeymoon to a secluded island. They make love for the first time and the results are terrifying. Bella gets pregnant and Edward didn’t realize that a vampire could impregnate a human. They return to the mainland and lots of action-packed adventure happens after that. The wolves (the pack that Jacob belongs to) want to destroy the baby and there’s a war between the wolves and the vampires as the vampires try to protect Bella and the unborn child. While pregnant, Bella must drink blood to nourish the baby. I cringed when she did this!

This movie was so intense. It also makes you think that the vampires and werewolves really exist. It’s haunting to think of never being able to die (except for some circumstances – the wolves can kill the vampires) for hundreds of years, being trapped in this human life, never growing old?

I thought this movie was the most intense of all of the Twilight movies. I seldom watch movies with science-fiction/fantasy elements. I find movies with regular settings and regular people more appealing. However, watching movies like this gives me a break from the norm.

Have you seen this movie, if so, did you like it?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Love On The Line By Deeanne Gist

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Love On The Line by Deeanne Gist

This story was a good read about a phone operator during historical times. Georgie is unlike most women her age. She’s young and independent. She works for a phone company and lives alone in her cottage. She also has a fascination with birds. She’s determined to make the town see that birds should not be shot down and used solely for their feathers and bird parts. A local milliner uses the bird parts for hats, and this incenses Georgie, making her angry and sad. The birds are like her personal companions. They nest in her back yard and she even sits still as a statue, so still that the birds flutter to her, eating right out of her hand.

Luke, a troubleman for the phone company, is really a Texas Ranger whose real name is Luscious who’s working undercover. He’s determined to capture Frank Comer, a well-known and respected bandit who robs trains with his gang. Frank has slipped away from Luke one too many times and Luke’s boss has stated if Luke doesn’t catch him this time, he’ll be taking him off the case. Determined to capture Frank, he accepts his undercover job, which puts him into direct contact with Georgie on a regular basis. Georgie works alone in her cottage – the phone equipment is set up in her living room and her cottage belongs to the phone company. Luke arrives, stringing phone wires high on the telephone poles. Attracted to Georgie, he is bothered by her weird personality. Why would she cry because a bird has been killed? He sees her deep connection to the young creatures, not fully understanding why she loves the the birds so much.

The attraction between the two of them literally snaps off the page. As they spend more time together, getting to know one another, Luke is face with a choice..he’s a Texas Ranger, he’s not in the market to get married. His job would take him too far away from his family. He finds himself falling for Georgie while he gets close to some of the townspeople – people who may be connected to Frank Comer. Frank is rumored to be living in the area, which is why Luke was assigned to this particular town.

I thought this book had an interesting premise, seeing the way the phone was used and operated in historical times. It’s also refreshing to see a historical where a woman is independent, living alone, supporting herself. Georgie thinks that she can do anything a man can do, a woman shouldn’t be treated as a second-class citizen. There’s also a highly-unusual twist that happens near the end, it’s a twist that I was NOT expecting!

This was a great, enjoyable read and I look forward to reading more books by this author. The characters were so well-developed and believable. Both Luke and Georgie suffered from great loss as children – losses that molded and affected the lives they lead as adults.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Happy Thanksgiving! Pilgrim Facts!

Lakeside Reunion Blog Tour

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I’m hosting my friend, author Lisa Jordan, today on my blog!
Share Your Thoughts: Do you listen to music while you write? Why? What type of music?

Writing to Music

My sons have a musical ability that does not come from their parents. My oldest son sings, plays trumpet, tuba, and plans to learn the piano. My younger son sings in the a cappella choir and an elite choir at school where students are chosen based on their auditions. Hubby has a pleasant voice, but he’s tone deaf due to pneumonia as a teenager. I, on the other hand, make a joyful noise. No kidding. I love to sing. I just don’t do it well.

I love music. Different styles–everything from children’s songs (some of my favorite) to classical. Well, rap and twangy country aren’t high on my list. I grew up listening to twangy country such as Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash.

When my friend Keli Gwyn interviewed me for her Romance Writers for the Journey blog last year, she asked what five items I had at my fingertips when I’m writing. One of the five items was my earbuds. I need music to write. My iTunes writing music playlist showcases such artists as Norah Jones, Rod Stewart, Jeremy Camp, Todd Agnew, Secondhand Serenade, Emmy Rossum, and even a little Lady Gaga tossed into the mix.

Sitting in the living room while the rest of my family watches TV or plays on the Xbox, I can put in my earbuds and drown out the rest of the world to focus on my writing.

Music creates a mood—not only for me, but also for my characters. Different types of scenes need different styles of music. While writing a break-up scene in my last novel, I listened to a lot of Secondhand Seranade. The mellow, heart-yearning sound helped me to capture the emotions of my characters. Also, listening to the same music my characters enjoy helps me to dig deeper into their POVs.

Music stimulates my creativity and provides inspiration when I’m struggling with a plot point or a scene. Lyrics can trigger ideas and take my story in an unexpected direction.

Music draws me closer to God and reminds me to keep my focus on Him as I write each scene.

Even if you need solitude to write, consider listening to different styles of music to stimulate your creativity. You may be surprised where the notes lead you.

“Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.” ~Author Unknown

Share Your Thoughts: Do you listen to music while you write? Why? What type of music?

~*~

I’m holding a scavenger hunt to promote my Lakeside Reunion release. Plus, blog commenters on my blog hop will be put in a drawing for fun prizes—breakfast basket, Love Inspired Authors basket, autographed copies of Lakeside Reunion. Visit my Lakeside Reunion Contest page for more information.

The token for this blog is a letter of resignation.

Bio: Heart, home and faith have always been important to Lisa Jordan, so writing stories that feature both comes naturally to her. She has been writing contemporary Christian romance for more than a decade. Her debut novel, Lakeside Reunion, will be released in November by Love Inspired, followed by her second novel, Lakeside Family, in August 2012 by Love Inspired. Happily married for twenty-two years, Lisa and her husband have two young adult sons. When she isn’t writing or caring for children in her in-home childcare business, Lisa enjoys family time, romantic comedies, good books, crafting with friends and feeding her NCIS addiction. Visit her at www.lisajordanbooks.com to learn more about her writing.

Lakeside Reunion: Bed-and-breakfast owner Lindsey Porter prays she won’t run into Stephen Chase when she returns to Shelby Lake. Five years ago, the cop jilted her to marry another woman, and Lindsey fled town. But no sooner does she hit city limits than Stephen pulls her over for a broken taillight. Despite the past, he’s still able to stir up Lindsey’s old feelings for him. Now a widower and single dad, Stephen recognizes a second chance when he sees one. And he’ll do anything to make Lindsey trust in God and take a risk for love—again. Read an excerpt of Lakeside Reunion.

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