#COOKING WITH CLORIS--MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE AUTHOR TL SCHAEFER WHIPS UP SOUTHWEST LIME CHICKEN

TL Schaefer writes romantic mysteries, sometimes with a paranormal twist, and romantic suspense. She’s worked for the Department of the Air Force for more than twenty-five years. Learn more about her and her books at her website.

Food is such an important part of our lives. So when I read a book where the on-the-run hero/heroine don’t stop to get at least some kind of sustenance, I do a bit of an eye roll. I mean, sheesh, even if you’re grabbing crackers on the run, they’re gonna taste either fantastic or pasty or give you a quick burst of energy, right?

It’s those details that immerse a reader into the story, make it come alive. At least to me. Especially when they help move the story along or showcase a character quirks.

In my Mariposa series, romantic mysteries with a paranormal twist, food definitely is a character in itself, especially in The Paladin.

From The Sugar Pine’s patty melt (which really exists, BTW) to the General Tsao’s chicken on the Smith’s food truck to the awesome Mexican at Maracas. And we can’t forget the delicious breakfast at Mindy’s Maple Street Bed and Breakfast.

My characters need all that food to solve a mystery as old as time, and to find their happily-ever-after.

To celebrate The Paladin’s release, I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes, one I make ever few weeks. It’s originally from Bon Appétit about a million years ago, but I’ve made a few tweaks over the years.

Southwest Lime Chicken

Ingredients:

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

6 T. soy sauce (I use coconut aminos)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 T. molasses

2 T. chopped fresh oregano

1 T. chopped fresh rosemary

1 T. minced garlic

1-1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

8 skinless boneless chicken thighs

8 slices pepper jack cheese

Whisk together first 9 ingredients. Marinate chicken in mixture for approximately 6 hours. 

Broil or grill using medium low heat until cooked through.

Chop and return chicken to the pan. Cover with cheese and quickly broil until the cheese has melted.

Serve on tortillas with your favorite condiments (I love to add guacamole and shredded lettuce) or on a hoagie roll or sourdough bread.

The Paladin

Mariposa Series, Book 3

Redemption. Love. Betrayal. An ancient evils stirs. Unleashing… The Paladin.

James Goltree put Mariposa in his rearview mirror five years ago, escaping a past and a family he’s desperately ashamed of. But now the Air Force Office of Special Investigations agent must return after the death of his grandfather. The grandfather he helped send to prison.

Emergency room LPN Madison Campbell’s quiet life is turned upside down when her son inherits enough money from James’ grandfather to settle all their financial woes. But there are strings.

James and Madison throw sparks neither has ever felt before. But now isn’t the right time for a man unwilling to commit and woman still crippled by betrayal to fall in love.

Not when a killer has once again come to town, one with an unfathomable, unbelievable agenda.

James and Madison must embrace and overcome their pasts to defeat evil and find a love that transcends time.

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST MYSTERY AUTHOR JULIA BUCKLEY'S CHICKEN PAPRIKAS

Mystery author Julia Buckley, who writes The Writer’s Apprentice Series, The Undercover Dish Series, and the new Hungarian Tea House Series, is the child of European parents—one Hungarian, one German. She grew up eating good food. Chicken Paprikás was one of the staples of her diet, and she joins us today to share the recipe for it. Learn more about Julia and her books at her website.

Chicken Paprikás: A Hungarian Meal You Won’t Forget

In my new mystery novel, Death in a Budapest Butterfly, Hana Keller often consumes food made by her grandmother, an innate cook who was born in Hungary and cooks, as my own grandmother did, by instinct.

Chicken Paprikás is a popular Hungarian dish; I’ve tasted a lot of versions of it in my life, and not one has yet rivaled my grandmother’s. I’ve tried for years to come close to the flavor I remember from my childhood, and now I’ve got my husband on the case, since he is the cook in the family.

The recipe is relatively simple and surprisingly delicious when you consider the paucity of ingredients. But it’s in the blending of the ingredients that the genius lies (and, I fear, in the lard that was a staple of my grandmother’s cooking and which heart specialists encourage us not to eat nowadays).

Another trick to making good paprikás is the paprika. If it’s not from Hungary, you’re not getting the flavor you could be achieving. I recently found that I could order from Bende, Inc. online and get Szeged paprika imported from Szeged, Hungary. I got a large bag and it’s delicious.

Chicken Paprikás (Csirkepaprikás)

1 chopped onion

1 tablespoon shortening

1 tablespoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons salt

4–5 pound chicken, disjointed

1-1/2 cups water

1/2 pint sour cream

Sauté the onion in either shortening or butter. Add paprika, pepper, and salt and stir well; lay chicken pieces in pot and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add water to the mixture, cover, and simmer until chicken is tender. Remove chicken (place temporarily on plate or platter) and add sour cream to the spices and drippings; mix well. Add dumplings and place chicken on top of dumplings. Heat and serve. If more gravy is required, add ½ pint sweet cream to the sour cream mixture.

When the dish is finished, you’ll normally want to pair it with dumplings, and there are a variety of recipes for Hungarian dumplings online. You don’t want the little German spaetzli, but the dumplings called Nokedli. However, you don’t need to push them through a pasta strainer, as the fancy recipes say. My mom just made them in a glass bowl with a spout, and she flicked the dough into boiling water in one-inch sections, one after the other. The dumplings are finished when they rise to the surface. Make sure they don’t stick to the bottom.

In my husband’s latest crack at paprikás, he substituted chicken breasts for the legs, but I think you lose some of the flavor when you don’t have the bone-in chicken. Also, he used egg noodles at the end (delicious, but not the same).

Try making this dish for your family; if you’ve never had it before, the flavor will be your reward! If you’ve eaten this dish in the past, then you know how good it is. Enjoy!

Death in a Budapest Butterfly

A Hungarian Teahouse Mystery, Book 1

Hana Keller and her family run Maggie's Tea House, an establishment heavily influenced by the family's Hungarian heritage and specializing in a European-style traditional tea service. But one of the shop's largest draws is Hana's eccentric grandmother, Juliana, renowned for her ability to read the future in the leaves at the bottom of customers' cups. Lately, however, her readings have become alarmingly ominous and seemingly related to old Hungarian legends...

When a guest is poisoned at a tea event, Juliana’s dire predictions appear to have come true. Things are brought to a boil when Hana’s beloved  Anna Weatherley butterfly teacup becomes the center of the murder investigation as it carried the poisoned tea. The cup is claimed as evidence by a handsome police detective, and the pretty Tea House is suddenly endangered.  Hana and her family must catch the killer to save their business and bring the beautiful Budapest Butterfly back home where it belongs.

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--CHICKEN SALAD WITH APPLES AND CRANBERRIES

This chicken salad is great for either lunch or dinner on a hot day and perfect for using up leftover chicken.

Chicken Salad

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

12 oz. cooked skinless chicken breasts

1 rib celery

1 Granny Smith apple

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

3 T. mayonnaise

3 T. sour cream

1 T. mustard dill sauce

Dice chicken, celery, and apple and combine in bowl. Add cranberries and walnuts (if desired.)

Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, and mustard dill sauce. Fold into chicken mixture. Chill at least 1 hour before serving.

#COOKING WITH CLORIS--AUTHOR JUDY ALTER ON LEFTOVERS

We’re always happy to have author Judy Alter stop by for a visit. Judy writes three different mystery series as well as historical fiction based on the lives of women in the nineteenth century American West. Today she’s here to talk about leftovers. Learn more about Judy and her books at her website. 

Leftovers—Save Them or Pitch Them?

My mother was a child of the Depression, and consequently she saved things all her life—bits of string, small pieces of aluminum foil, and leftovers. Oh my, did she save leftovers. When we had to clean out her fridge, my brother and I were astounded at the tiny jars of unidentifiable stuff on the back of shelves—some of it growing mold.

Once I had my own kitchen and family of four kids, Mom thought I was wasteful. She’d ask me what to do with a small dab of leftovers and, before I could answer, she’d say sarcastically, “I know, pitch it.” Truth was, that a small dab of something did little good when you’re feeding six or seven (unless you throw it in the soup pot).

Nowadays, living alone, I try to be more frugal. Recently, a chunk of boneless chicken breast stared at me when I opened the fridge, challenging me to use it. So I invented a quick way of doing chicken stroganoff. Here’s my rough approximation of how I made what I thought was enough for one and turned out to be two meals.

Make a cup of beef bouillon or use a cup of refrigerated broth. Pre-cook some pasta,, about a cup of whatever you have on hand. I used rigatoni because that’s what I had. Rinse it with cold water so it doesn’t stick and swish a little butter into it. Set it aside.

Sauté a generous cup of cubed chicken in a mixture of butter and olive oil. Dump in baby green peas to taste—or omit. When chicken is heated and beginning to brown, stir in one T. flour. Mix thoroughly. Stir in the broth in about two batches, waiting until it thickens enough to make a sauce. Add pasta. At the last minute, dump in a T. of sour cream. Stir and serve.

Your instinct may be to use chicken broth, but trust me, the beef gives it a more robust flavor. I liked this so much I ate it three nights in a row. Hope Mom was watching and smiling.

Murder at the Bus Stop

A Blue Plate Café Mystery

Dallas developer Silas Fletcher sees endless real estate opportunities in Wheeler, Texas if only he can “grow” the town. Blue Plate Café owner Kate Chambers likes her hometown just the way it is, thank you very much, without big box and chain stores. When Fletcher tries to capitalize on a thirty-year-old unsolved murder, Kate knows she must fight for her town, and she uses historic preservation of the old bus depot as one of her weapons. A suspicious death and a new murder make her also fight for her own life.

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--SKINNY CHICKEN SALAD

I once worked for a man who could devour a cup of mayonnaise in one sitting. He’d order a bowl of it with his lunch and dip potato chips in it. Oh the calories! Oh the cholesterol! Oh the clogged arteries! Most people love mayonnaise, but let’s face it, mayonnaise doesn’t love us back.

So what do you do to bind together all those summer salads we’re so fond of? Greek yogurt to the rescue! It works as a mayo substitute in pasta salad, tuna salad, seafood salad, potato salad, and chicken salad. Today I’m using it in chicken salad. Trust me, you won’t miss the mayo.

Note: The recipe calls for a rotisserie chicken, which can be purchased at any supermarket. However, you can also use pre-cooked chicken breasts, thighs, or tenders or leftover chicken you cooked yourself.

Skinny Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sundried tomatoes

1 rotisserie chicken

5.3 oz. container plain Greek yogurt

1 nectarine

1 cucumber

1/2 teaspoon dried dill

1/4 cup sliced almonds

Cut sundried tomatoes into small pieces and place in bowl of water to dehydrate.

Remove skin and bones from chicken. Dice chicken into bite-size pieces. Add yogurt and mix until chicken is evenly coated.

Dice nectarine and cucumber. Add to chicken. Mix in dried dill and almonds.

Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR PATRICK TYLEE COOKS CHICKEN CHOOZA

Science fiction author Patrick Tylee gets irked with smart phones and just wants to look at the Milky Way from his backyard, read every book he can, and chase around the house his kid and dog.  Learn more about Patrick and his books at his website.

Even the characters in a novel have to eat, and it gives me a chance to enhance the realism of a scene. Growling stomachs and watery mouths lead to crunchy bites and greasy fingers. In my debut sci-fi, Wisdom, a hungry little girl and her alien dad box up some spicy Chicken Chooza.

A common dish in North Africa and the southeastern Mediterranean, it transforms the average bird into a Phoenix. For a crock pot alternative, remove the fryer parts from the marinade and place on top of potatoes and favorite veggies, almost covering the meat with bone broth. Cook on medium, switching to low to prevent overcooking the chicken.

Chicken Chooza

1 whole Rigelian Nauga or substitute 1 whole chicken

Salt
20g (approx. 3/4 oz.) red chili paste
Juice of 2 lemons
100ml (approx. 1/2 cup) yogurt
15g (approx. 1/2 oz.) ginger paste
10g (approx. 1/3 oz.) garlic paste
1/2 tsp cumin powder
30g (approx. 1 oz.) cream
A pinch of saffron
1/2 tsp rose petal powder
1/2 tsp Shahi Jeera
1/2 tsp Green cardamom

1/2 tsp black cardamom
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp black peppercorn
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp mace
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Orange food coloring
40 ml (approx. 1-1/2 oz.) oil

Wash chicken thoroughly. Slit the flesh evenly on all sides and break the joints to make 4 pieces.

Rub in salt, red chili paste and lemon juice. Set aside for 2 hours.

Whip yogurt, add all the ground spices and marinate the chicken in this for 2 hours.

Place in an oven at 230^o C and roast, basting with the oil regularly and turning chicken occasionally until cooked through.

Wisdom

When the gas-condenser vessel of the brutal Prawl-Tang mistakenly arrives in the Sol system, the Knowers of Jupiter are in danger. Ambassador to their planet, Moyab-4 convinces his brother clones to create a Savior Class artificial person to prevent the annihilation of the Knowers. Using the tools at his disposal, the newly awakened Jove pilots the Equus, accompanied by two virtual entities: Knowledgebase and Wisdom, as well as his biting sarcasm, quirky intellect, and the humor that hides his self doubt. Jove finds himself on Earth, central to a plan that includes the death of every human - including the ones who have befriended him, like the innocent orphan, Elmyrah. Influenced by the humans' own knowledge of Good and Evil, Jove bends the will of entire worlds to see that everyone gets what they deserve. Wisdom, however, has plans of her own. She knows what's best for all. They just need to be made to listen.

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KILLER CRAFTS & CRAFTY KILLERS HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE, PART 5

Is there anyone among us who doesn’t wish she had more hours in the day? We’re all constantly looking to save time so we have more time to do what we need to do or want to do. Today’s book suggestion is one that will help do just that. It makes a great gift for the busy working moms on your list or anyone else looking for timesaving dinner recipes and timesaving tips.

We'd Rather Be Writing

88 Authors Share Timesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips

Have you ever wished you could find more time to do the things you want to do, rather than just doing the things you have to do? Most authors juggle day jobs and family responsibilities along with their writing. Because they need to find time to write, they look for ways to save time in other aspects of their lives.

Cooking often takes up a huge chunk of time. In We'd Rather Be Writing: 88 Authors Share Timesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips you'll find easy, nutritious recipes for meat, poultry, pasta, soup, stew, chili, and vegetarian meals. All of the recipes require a minimum of prep time, freeing you up to read, exercise, garden, craft, write, spend more time with family, or whatever.

Within the pages of We'd Rather Be Writing: 88 Authors Share Timesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips you'll be introduced to authors who write a wide range of fiction—everything from mystery to romance to speculative fiction to books for children, young adults, and new adults—and some who write nonfiction. Some of the authors write sweet; others write steamy. Some write cozy; others write tense thrillers.

Some are debut authors with only one published book; others are multi-published and have had long publishing careers. Some are New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors who may or may not be familiar to you, but being a bestselling author doesn't mean they still don't have to juggle their day job along with their writing.

The authors who contributed to this book are a rather creative and resourceful bunch when it comes to carving out time from their busy lives. So in addition to timesaving recipes, within the pages of this book you'll find timesaving and organizational tips for other aspects of your life. And if you happen to be a writer, you'll also find a plethora of great ideas to help you organize your writing life.

Authors who contributed to We'd Rather Be Writing: 88 Authors Share Timesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips include: Lisa Alber, Reggi Allder, Judy Alter, Krista Ames, Rose Anderson, Cori Lynn Arnold, Judy Baker, Beverley Bateman, Donnell Ann Bell, Paula Gail Benson, Kris Bock, Maureen Bonatch, Ava Bradley, Susan Breen, Lida Bushloper, Michelle Markey Butler, Ashlyn Chase, Judy Copek, Maya Corrigan, Mariposa Cruz, Melinda Curtis, Lesley A. Diehl, Conda V. Douglas, Nancy Eady, Helena Fairfax, Jennifer Faye, Flo Fitzpatrick, Kit Frazier, Shelley Freydont, Mariana Gabrielle, Rosie Genova, Marni Graff, Joanne Guidoccio, Margaret S. Hamilton, L.C. Hayden, Linda Gordon Hengerer, Heather Hiestand, R.Franklin James, Kathryn Jane, M.M. Jaye, Elizabeth John, Stacy Juba, Gemma Juliana, Carol Goodman Kaufman, Melissa Keir, Kay Kendall, A.R. Kennedy, Lynn Kinnaman, Marie Laval, B.V. Lawson, Claudia Lefeve, Alice Loweecey, Cynthia Luhrs, Sandra Masters, Lisa Q. Mathews, J.M. Maurer, Sandra McGregor, Kathy McIntosh, Claire A. Murray, Ann Myers, Tara Neale, Stacey Joy Netzel, Jayne Ormerod, Alice Orr, Laurel Peterson, Irene Peterson, Pepper Phillips, Caridad Pineiro, Kathryn Quick, Renée Reynolds, Josie Riviera, Elizabeth Rose, C.A. Rowland, Cindy Sample, Sharleen Scott, Terry Shames, Susan C. Shea, Judy Penz Sheluk, Joanna Campbell Slan, Karen Rose Smith, Lynette Sofras, Kaye Spencer, Skye Taylor, Lourdes Venard, Lea Wait, Regan Walker, Lois Winston, and Aubrey Wynne.

A percentage of the profit from We'd Rather Be Writing: 88 Authors Share Timesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips will be donated to No Kid Hungry.

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR SUSAN R. HUGHES & CHICKEN BISCUIT PIE

Susan R. Hughes writes contemporary and historical romance novels set mainly in Canada. Learn more about her and her books at her website. 

In my newest release, Forever Your Valentine, divorced mother Faith Kinley meets former hockey pro Cole McKenna on Valentine’s Day, and sparks fly. He repairs her broken oven, and in gratitude she offers to make him her famous chicken biscuit pie. Little does he know how super easy it is to make! My mom got this recipe from her friend Wyldeen’s mother in 1955 and has been making it for 60 years! I have warm memories of this dish when I was growing up. I loved the biscuit topper soaked with cream of mushroom soup (and tolerated the vegetables.) It’s a delicious way to use up leftover chicken.

Chicken Biscuit Pie

Ingredients

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/4 cup water     

1 cup cooked chicken, cubed

1/2 cup cooked peas

2 tbsp. chopped pimentos

mushrooms, carrots, onion, celery (optional)

baking powder biscuit dough (Bisquick)

Blend all ingredients (except Bisquick) in a bowl. Turn into greased baking dish.

Follow directions on the Bisquick package to make the “topper.” Roll out and shape the dough (about ½” thick) to fit your baking dish and place over mixture. If you have leftover dough, shape them into individual biscuits and bake alongside the pie. Bake at 450 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Forever Your Valentine

Faith Kinley would rather forget all about Valentine’s Day. Last February 14th, she caught her husband with another woman. This Valentine’s Day takes a turn for the better when Faith runs into dead-sexy Cole McKenna. Attraction crackles between them, but Cole’s a confirmed bachelor whose career as a hockey scout keeps him on the road most of the year. With her heart still mending from her divorce, Faith resolves to keep her relationship with Cole strictly platonic—a pledge that becomes harder to keep as they grow closer. Will one night together ruin their friendship, or could they be falling in love?

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR ANNE CARROLE AND BUTTER-BAKED CHICKEN

Anne Carrole was raised on a farm with horses, dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits and whatever other animals she could convince her parents to shelter. Married to her own sweet-talking hero, she has a college-aged daughter and a sleek black cat with way too much attitude. Anne writes contemporary romances and gilded-age and western historical romances. Learn more about Anne and her books at her website. 

How did you learn to cook?

Many of us, I imagine, learned to cook from our mothers. My mother was a wonderful cook of basic recipes (I still use her pot roast recipe to family applause), but I have to thank my girlfriend, whose heritage is Italian, for finding a way to my Italian-American husband’s heart. I truly think my husband started thinking about marriage when I served him my homemade lasagna, following my girlfriend’s family recipe. (Thank you, Denise.)

Libby Brennan, the heroine of my latest book, signs on to nurse her ex-husband, Chance Cochran (they were married for all of forty-eight hours five years ago), attempting to make amends for how things turned out. Chance, a saddle bronc rider, has taken a spill that results in a broken foot and bruised ribs, and he can’t get around to help himself. Part of her argument to persuade our reluctant hero (he is so over her, or so he thinks) is that she can cook for him, as he obviously can’t get around to cook for himself. Only she can’t cook and she has to figure out how fast. Recipe books, YouTube videos, and Internet searches can’t save her from some spectacular disasters.

Libby finally does succeed, after a few struggles. Below is the recipe for her Butter-Baked Chicken.

Butter-Baked Chicken

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup crushed buttery round cracker crumbs (like Ritz crackers)

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasonings

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 stick of butter cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)

Place eggs and cracker crumbs in two separate shallow bowls. Mix cracker crumbs with seasonings. Dip chicken in eggs, then dredge in crumb mixture to coat. (Note: I use a plastic bag for the crumb mixture and do a little shake to coat.) Arrange coated chicken in a 9” x 13” baking dish. Place pieces of butter around the chicken.

Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, depending on thickness of breasts, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

So how did you learn to cook? Any spectacular disasters you care to share?

Loving a Cowboy

Saddle bronc rider Chance Cochran knows a bad omen when he sees one, and Libby Brennan isn’t just a bad omen, she’s the woman he was married to, five years ago, for all of forty-eight hours—before her father dragged her away and started divorce proceedings.

It isn’t by coincidence Libby Brennan shows up where Chance is celebrating the win that put him in the million-dollar cowboy class. Older and hopefully wiser, she’s come to clear up a legal technicality as well as ask his forgiveness. Then maybe she can move on with her life.

But saying she’s sorry won’t be enough to make amends to this cowboy who has endured a lifetime of people abandoning him. When Chance needs some help after sustaining an injury however, Libby may have a second chance—at love.

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COOKING WITH CLORIS--CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD WITH GUEST AUTHOR F.M. MEREDITH

We’re always happy to welcome back F. M. Meredith/Marilyn Meredith to Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. F.M. is the author of over 35 published books including the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series and the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. She enjoys writing about police officers and their families and how what happens on the job affects the family and vice versa. Having several members of her own family involved in law enforcement, as well as many friends, she’s witnessed some of this first-hand. Learn more about F.M. at her website and blog.

Trying New Recipes

One of my granddaughters said to me, “I wonder how many dinners you’ve cooked.” I have no idea, but probably in the thousands. When we were first married, we didn’t have much money so I fixed every meal we ate. The money situation didn’t improve much as our family increased with five kids.  Not only did I feed my family, but often the kids’ friends, and it seemed that our adult friends dropped in at dinnertime, too. Sometimes I’d have to get imaginative to get the meal to stretch.

Often I would make up recipes or try new ones I found in magazines. I never really worried about whether the kids would like what I fixed or not, I just didn’t want to fix the same meals all the time.

On Mother’s Day, my eldest daughter posted something on Facebook that brought back a lot of memories. I’m going to share part of it here.

“I read a story in Readers’ Digest about how different dishes brought back memories of holidays, birthdays or a certain person - like the writer’s mother who was nostalgic about corn bread and beans.

“Of course, that got me to thinking about my mom and food. There really wasn’t just one dish that made me think of her and I know why, my mom was known as a great experimental cook.

The good part about that, you never got bored with what Mom put on your plate. The bad part was, what might end up on your plate didn’t always look so good - not that it didn’t all start out being edible, it just didn’t always end up that way, at least looking at it from a kid’s point of view.

“Before you get to feeling too sorry for me, let me tell you, there were times we would end up with something yummy on the plate but, for my mom, repetitive cooking was not very exciting so you might never see that dish again. Mom’s favorite meal time invitation was, “something new for dinner...”

“I used to hate when I’d come home from school and see a new women’s magazine on the coffee table because that meant – new recipes. Mom had lots of cookbooks which had many recipes, most cut from magazines, sticking out from between the pages, willy-nilly, like a wild hairdo. I always wondered if she had a filing system in there but I think she saved them all, whether we liked them or not.

My mom is still pretty experimental around the kitchen but either her experiments have improved or my taste buds have changed because now when I get to eat something she’s cooked, it tastes pretty good. Maybe it’s because I appreciate her so much more now than I did when I was a kid. Thanks, Mom, for always loving me, even when I was a picky eater!”

After the kids were grown, hubby and I became the owner/operators of a licensed six-bed care home for developmentally disabled women. Guess what? I still cooking big meals, not only for hubby and me and the gals, but we often had family and friends visiting, too. And I was still trying new recipes.

Though we’ve retired, my son and his wife live next door and their daughter and granddaughter close by, so I’m still cooking for everyone—and trying new recipes.

The other night I made my version of Chinese Chicken Salad. And this is how I did it.

First, I cooked frozen chicken tenders in the oven according to the package directions, after coating them with soy sauce. Once they were cooled, I cut them into bite-sized pieces.

I used one of those big packages of pre-washed and cut salad greens as the base of the salad and these are the ingredients I added:

2 cans of mandarin oranges, drained

1 can water chestnuts cut in half, drained

1 bunch green onions, sliced, including the ends

1 cup of nuts (I used almonds, but cashews would be good)

1 large red pepper, sliced

The cooked chicken pieces

I mixed everything together and topped with La Choy chow mien noodles.

My preference for dressing is seasoned rice vinegar. Other members of my family preferred non-Oriental dressings.

This is one of those recipes that you can easily make substitutions, except I wouldn’t leave out the mandarin oranges.

No matter how much cooking I had to do, I always had a writing project going, too, even when I had my care home. In fact, I think I got more writing done during those years than any others, because I worked on a schedule in order to accomplish everything I had to do and wanted to do.

Murder in the Worst Degree

#10 in the Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery series by F. M. Meredith.

The body that washes up on the beach leads Detectives Milligan and Zachary on a murder investigation that includes the victim’s family members, his housekeeper, three long-time friends, and a mystery woman.

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