Adventures N Writing

Need a quick and easy recipe?  Look no further than After Hours Pasta, you can put this dish together with things just sitting in your fridge or shelf.    1 lb penne pasta 6 ounces fat-free Italian dressing 1 large ripe, but firm tomato 1 medium green pepper 2 ribs celery 1 medium carrot 5 small green onions 3 ounces thinly sliced pancetta or bacon Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain, and while still hot, pour Italian dressing over, toss lightly and set aside for pasta to absorb dressing. Chop vegetables and bacon and toss with pasta. Chill and serve. Goes great with Red Zinfandel, a good one is Bonny Doon’s Cardinal Zin. It has a rich, chocolate-cherry flavor that is smooth and satisfying. Cheers! Michele

So I was watching Access Hollywood or TMZ (I can't remember, I just know it was mindless and that I had about a 20 minute time slot where I could watch something other than Fox or Wheel of Fortune (which I love but it plays awfully loud in my parents' home), because my dad had stepped away from the television--some of you may know that we are living with my parents until the escrow on our new house closes. Anyway digression over...) and this story comes on about the Miss Universe Pageant and how one of the contestants (I think it was Miss Phillipines who was picked to win) was asked what is the biggest mistake she'd ever made was. Her response to this was basically that she had never really made any mistakes and well you can only imagine how the media jumped all over that the following day. I sort of laughed at it and was like, "Come on. Of course you're perfect. Long legs, clear skin, no grey hairs or fne lines (YET) and definitely no cellulite." Whatever! An

Everyone needs a little inspiration, so here is one of the many great recipes from my Wine Lover's Mystery series! Goat Cheese and Apple-Smoked Bacon Tart Tart Dough: 9-inch tart pan 1 cup all-purpose flour ½ Teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons cold sweet butter cut into small pieces 1 ½ tablespoons solid vegetable shortening 2 ½ to 3 tablespoons ice water In a bowl combine flour, salt, butter, and shortening. Quickly work ingredients together with fingers until evenly ,ixed. Add 2 ½ tablespoons of water and gently work into the dough until it comes together. Form into a ball and let rest, covered in plastic wrap, in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a circle about 1/8 inch thick. Place into tart pan, trim the edges leaving a 1 inch margin so that you can fold it under, and crimp edges. Bake at 425°, using buttered foil and beans or pie weights to keep the crust from risin. Bake 8-10 minutes until the edges are set and

So I have finally started breathing new energy into my writing career. Yes--I have been in a slump. I'll admit it. Life became insanely stressful and busy over this past year and instead of my usual 3 books a year, I have not written a manuscript for a year. Gulp--I said it--well sort of (I wrote it). Lucky for me, I did have some new books released into the world, (Patron and Happy Hour) but now it's time to get back to business. My problem as a writer has always been that I have a bazillion ideas running through my head at any given time, and I want to write them ALL right at that moment. That becomes overwhelming because let's face it, it's an impossible task. Then, I lose my focus in the haze of overwhelm and I top it off with outside stress from just plain old life, and then all I want to do is go spend time with my horses because 1. they don't talk back., 2. they are very forgiving souls, 3. they don't judge. In other words, they are perfect for stress r