Snow And Chocolate Pound Cake

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Happy Valentine’s Day! My hubby and I already celebrated this past weekend by attending an old-school concert in Washington D.C. We had a great time! Today, I’m at home since we had a snow and ice storm and the roads are really treacherous today! My job is closed and I’m making the most of my time by working on my novel and by baking! Yum! Below, you’ll find a recipe for the chocolate pound cake I made today. I’ve also included a recipe for the glaze, also.

I’ve been having trouble with my son and his sweet tooth. I guess he inherited that from me? He doesn’t want to eat food. He only seems to crave the lemon cream-filled cookies we purchased from our last trip to the grocery store.

Here are the recipes below and happy eating!

Chocolate Pound Cake
1 1/2 cups of softened butter or margarine(three sticks)(I only use real butter when I bake. It tastes better in sweets.)
3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
5 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons of instant coffee granules
1/4 cup of hot water
2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup of buttermilk or sour milk
***to sour milk use 1 tablespoon vinegar plus milk to equal 1 cup

Cream butter or margarine, sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl 5 minutes on medium speed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Dissolve coffee granules in hot water. (I did not use instant coffee and I didn’t want to purchase it just to make this recipe. I used 1/4 cup of regular coffee that was leftover from the pot I’d made this morning. I just heated it in the microwave for 30 seconds to heat it up.) Combine flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder; add alternately with coffee and buttermilk or sour milk to creamed mixture, beating just until mixture is blended.

Pour into well-greased and floured 12-cup Bundt pan or 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 20 to 25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely; sprinkle with powdered sugar. (I’m going to use a chocolate glaze on mine, instead. Glaze recipe follows:)

Chocolate Glaze
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar

Combine cocoa, water, butter, or margarine and corn syrup in small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens; remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar; beat until smooth and thickened.

Enjoy and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Dakota By Lauraine Snelling

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***NOTE THAT THE DAKOTA DUSK, DAKOTA DREAM, AND DAKOTA DAWN COVERS ARE FROM THE THORNDIKE LARGE PRINT EDITIONS.
Title: Dakota by Lauraine Snelling
Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Incorporated (October 1, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1577483553
ISBN-13: 978-1577483557

I’m reposting some entries from my old blog on diaryland.com. Just disregard the next few posts if you’ve already read them!

Have you ever started reading a book and then discovered that you’ve already read it? Well, that’s what happened to me recently. I had an old Lauraine Snelling Anthology published by Barbour Books. The Anthology is called Dakota, and it’s been on my shelf for years.

Anyway, I started reading the first story, Dakota Dawn, and realized I’d already read it. So I didn’t finish that story. I HARDLY EVER read fiction books more than once. I just don’t do it. Reason being, I have so many books that I want to read and it seems like by to-be-read pile just gets higher and higher and I can’t put a dent in it.

I believe I had read the first story when Barbour released it as a single novel. That’s why I didn’t read it when it was released in the anthology.

I read Dakota Dream and Dakota Dusk and I enjoyed both of these stories. They’re nice historical Christian romance stories that you’ll want to read on a rainy afternoon, curled up by a warm fire. I loved the way she showed how the character, Jude, got saved and changed. Ms. Snelling shows that all of us can accept His grace and change for the better, no matter what kind of wrongs we’ve done in the past.

When I started reading the last story, Dakota Destiny, I realized I’d already read it when Barbour released it as a stand-alone novel.

Now, on to my writers group. I meet once a month in Bowie Maryland with a group of Christian writers. Some of us write articles, some write short stories, and some are working on non-fiction books. I’m the only one in the small group who is doing fiction. I enjoy fellowshiping with these women (we have one male member who comes sometimes). We also have timed writings where we have a topic and we have fifteen minutes to write about it. Sometimes you can think up story ideas when you have a free-writing exercise.

That’s all I have to say for now.

Stay blessed,

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

Faith-Based Arts Conference

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The Faith-Based Arts Conference is an awesome event where readers and writers of Christian fiction gather together for fellowship, workshops, and novel discussions. I recently discovered that Jacquie Thomas, the person who usually hosts this event, has stated that she will not have a conference this year. However, she plans on hosting this event every two years, so the next Faith-Based Arts conference will be held during the following dates:
June 20-22, 2008

To read my blog entry from last year’s Faith-Based Conference, go to the following link:
http://cdnovelist.diaryland.com/060704_49.html

To read more about the Faith-Based Arts Conference, go to the following link:
http://www.fbfictionlovers.com/

I also wanted to point out that I received an interesting email today. Tiffany Warren, a Christian fiction author, is holding an event that is similiar to Jacquie Thomas’s. It’s called the Faith and Fiction Fellowship Retreat for Readers and Authors. It’s to be held on the following dates:

August 10th – 12th, 2007

To read more about this event, visit Tiffany’s link:
http://www.tiffanylwarren.com/retreat.html

It’s being held at The King And Prince Golf and Beach Resort in St. Simons Island, Georgia. The resort looks fabulous! I’m sure all authors and attendees will have an awesome time! Here’s a link to the resort:
http://www.kingandprince.com/

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Shelving Black Books

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I’ve noticed that bookstores are not consistent in the way that they shelve books by African American authors. Sometimes they are shelved in the AA section, and other times I’ll find them in the general fiction section. Sometimes, if it’s a romance, it’ll be in the romance section.

I wish there was a way for the bookstores to automatically place books by AA authors in the AA interest section(for those who only read Black books, like the people I was speaking of in yesterday’s post) AND to place them along with their genre of fiction. For example, I’d like to see my romance novels shelved in the romance section AND the AA section. I’ve even entered bookstores, and if they have multiple copies of my book, I’ll take one or two and place it in the AA section, so that those browsing in that section will see my titles.

I guess it’s hard to find a consistent method for all bookstores to follow, but it would be great to find a way so that the books by AA authors could be easily found by all parties interested in these novels.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Black Authors

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Whenever I read a book by a Black author, both secular and Christian, I always put it aside to give to a friend of mine. She tells me that she only reads books by Black authors. I’ve read several authors over the years, of different races, that I think are truly phenomenal. When I try to recommend a book by an author of another race, she refuses to read it.

I just feel that it’s closed-minded to be that way. I’ve been reading books since I don’t know when, especially fiction. When I was growing up, there were not that many Black authors around who wrote popular fiction. So, if I had not been open-minded enough to read the White authors, I wouldn’t have had anything to read during those long boring summers, since I read books so quickly it was like I was inhaling them!

I would anxiously wait once every two weeks to hear that loud honking horn of the bookmobile that would pull up in the front section of my neighborhood. I would glance through the titles, choosing enough books to fill the next fourteen days! I had a fondness for romance novels, however, I gave just about any type of fiction a chance.

I believe the explosion of Black fiction started around the time Terry McMillan’s book Waiting To Exhale was released. I think it was around that time that publishers realized that Black people read books too, and this was an untapped market that needed to be conquered. If I don’t have my facts straight, feel free to comment so that I can correct this blog entry.

I try and support other Black Christian fiction authors by putting them together on the website, www.blackchristianfiction.com However, I don’t limit my reading tastes to the people listed on my Black Christian Fiction website. I have Black authors who are my favorites and I have some white authors who I think are fabulous. As a matter of fact, I have some of the White authors listed on my website, giving them as examples of people to read when one wants to target the Christian fiction genre for publication.

I don’t think that God wants us to read books by only people of a certain race. If you see a book by someone of another race, feel free to give it a try. You just might like it! You can always put it down and not finish it if it doesn’t entertain you!

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

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

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