St. Patty's Day Surprise

Because I love St. Patrick's Day, and in honor of my first story, I give you . . . 

Lost Leprechaun Loot! 

for FREE!

Click the picture for their link to the Amazon page. 

It's supposed to be an ugly Sunday with sleet and snow falling, what a perfect time to do some reading, right?  

How to Lose Weight While Eating Bonbons is also still available for FREE!

Foodie Friday --

Sorry, no recipe today. Instead there are a couple of freebies available.

This book has tips and tricks to lose weight, while providing a few candy recipes. This book is a short version of my weight loss efforts.

Yes, it's in my typical no-nonsense words about the journey, but the candy recipes are worth the read!

Click on the book cover to download the book.

To Gnome Me Is To Love Me is still available for free. Today is the last day!

Click on the book coves and the link will take you to Amazon US.

I don't think the American link will click to the various incarnations of Amazon across the world. If you are in a country other than US, then click the title or my name, M. A. Golla, and put it in your Amazon account, as the freebie is matched in all available Amazon locations.

As always, I hope you enjoy reading my stories. If you feel compelled, please give the book a rating and your honest feedback about the story.


And if you really, really need a recipe, then feel free to pull down the Foodie Friday tab as I have linked all  the recipes that I've posted under that tab.

Yes, even last wee's Ardsheal House Shortbread (under cookies) and Creamy Pesto Lasagna (under entrees, chicken).

As always, take your time and nose around on my blog, feel free to drop me a line, or just enjoy what I have to offer.

Later, Peeps!

Flower Afghan

*To Gnome Me is To Love Me is still free on Amazon--click on the picture to the right*

I had a ton of yarn from my last project, so I had to find a pattern that would use most of it up.

This was it.

Red Heart's Flower Throw

I used a medium weight yarn, which caused the gauge to be smaller and a little more flimsy. I added one row on the width and two rows on the length. This gave me a dimension of 50" x 62". Since this was unstretched, the afghan looks a little wrinkled. Over time, it will loosen up.

Time to focus on my writing.

Later, Peeps! 

Weighty Wednesday -- Lazy Eye

*I'm putting a few of my books up for free through Amazon over the next ten days. If you have a Kindle or Kindle App, you can download them. Click on the cover to the right of the blog and it will take you to the US Kindle store. I don't remember which ones are free for what day, so you'll have to do a little clicking to find out! GNOME is free today, so click the picture on the right and download away!*
**Yes, it's available in foreign countries, but I don't have them linked on my front page.**

Today's topic, "Lazy Eye" is NOT about ophthalmology, where the doctor diagnoses one eye going wacky because the muscles aren't holding it in place, usually seen in children.

This is blog is about how we "think" we know amounts and sizes of food.

Those of us who have practiced measuring, weighing and portion control will eventually stop doing it because we know how much everything is. In other words, we start eyeballing the amount.

Eventually this gets us into trouble as our eye becomes lazy and the four ounces we had been eating soon creeps up to five or six ounces of food.

Which adds up to more food, more WW points, and eventually more pounds on our bodies.

So many people complain about the WW program that there is too much portion control management. That's true, but you could also follow their Simply Filling part of the program, but it limits you in your food choice.

The key to good weight loss, along with keeping it off, is portion control. And the only way you will be able to control your food when you eat out is to practice portion control at home.

Because if you think the servings you receive in a restaurant are one serving, then you have a little reality check coming your way.

Do your homework of measuring, and then weighing, the products you are eating at home, because when you eat out, you will have an educated eye about the foods you are served.

Later, Peeps!

Writing 101 : Critiquing vs. Judging

As I finish judging a packet of contest entries, I thought about the differences between being a contest judge and being in a critique group.

They are NOT the same thing.

Both groups can benefit the writer if the writer realizes what each group brings to the table.

The following is just my opinion on the topic-- 

Critique groups:

• offer support
• brainstorm
• meet on a regular basis
• gently point out story problems
• will correct your grammar
• will offer solutions to various story problems
• know your story inside and out
• offer sympathy when perceived bashing occurs from a contest judge 

Contest judges:

• MUST follow the criteria set by the contest 
• MUST score according to the the contest score sheets
• MUST give an educated opinion about what does or doesn't work with a submission
• have never seen your story before and must score on the story's merit, flaws and all. 
• must explain why a score of 3 (or less) out of 5 is given on any one judging criteria
• must score opening scene, plot/pacing, characterization, writing technique, conflict, dialogue/narrative technique, sub-genre criteria, and the one this judge hates the most--romantic relationship. Many times the romantic relationship isn't established in the minimal length of a contest entry. And, unless a synopsis is provided, can't give a good score on this element. Our judging hands are tied. 
• If we are judging a paranormal entry, then there had better be some paranormal elements. Remember, if you remove the paranormal aspect and the story falls apart, then it is a solid paranormal story. These points should be easy to get. 

These are just a few examples of the different between a crit group and a judge. 

Contest judges are unpaid and under appreciated for the time and energy they use to score your submission. True, there are many judges out there who will simply put a number down and not comment, or will wait to the last minute to look at their entries and just throw scores out there. 

But there are contest judges who, to the best of their abilities, will try to give you feedback on your submission. 

Remember, we have never seen your story before, so we can give you our first impression. 

If we say that something doesn't make sense, it's because it doesn't. 

The contest judge doesn't know your story, or the back story of the main characters. We don't know all the versions of your story. We don't know anything, EXCEPT what you have submitted. If it doesn't make sense, or we are confused, then you failed in your ability to tell an engaging story. 

Don't go whining to your crit group about how mean and horrible this particular judge was. Instead, step away from your story and critically look at it from the judge's point of view. If you are scored low on some element, read the criteria for that element, and try to find out what was missing in your story.

Look at it this way: contest judges will give you input as to what is wrong with your story, while agents/editors will simply send you a form rejection.

It might not be the comments you want to hear, as we are not here to stroke your ego, to fix your grammar, or tell you how to fix your story. 

We simply comment on what we read.   

It's your job as a writer to write effectively. 

Later, Peeps!

Foodie Friday -- Creamy Pesto Lasagna

I found this recipe in Food TV magazine. It looked good so I decided to try this recipe. It’s a winner! The family polished off the leftovers in two days, so it’s a keeper.

This makes 12 servings. 

Creamy Pesto Lasagna

Béchamel sauce:

4 Tbls. Butter

¼ cup flour

3 cups whole milk

¼ tsp. nutmeg

½ cup purchased basil pesto

Salt and Black pepper to taste

Lasagna:

1 15-ounce package ricotta cheese

1 cup grated Parmesan

½ purchased basil pesto

12 dry, flat, no-boil lasagna noodles

3 cups diced rotisserie chicken

4 cups shredded, part-skim mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the béchamel, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in milk and nutmeg, bring to a simmer, and cook 2 minutes more. Remove from heat, stir in ½ cup pesto; season with salt and pepper.

For the ricotta mixture, stir together ricotta, Parmesan, and ½ cup pesto; season with salt and pepper.

Assembling the lasagna:

Spread 2/3 cup béchamel in bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Lay 3 lasagna sheets side-by-side. Top with ½ cup ricotta mixture, ¾ cup chicken, 2/3 cup béchamel, and ¾ cup mozzarella. Repeat layering three more times, topping the final layer with 1 ½ cups mozzarella. Cover lasagna with foil.

Bake lasagna until bubbly, about 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake lasagna 15 minutes more, then broil on high until golden, 2-3 minutes. Let lasagna rest 15 minutes before serving.

Tips & Tricks:

·         I didn't have whole milk, so I used skim milk along with a little bit of heavy cream to make up the 3 cups.

·         The recipe called for refrigerated basil pesto, but I couldn't find it, so I found jarred basil pesto in the pasta aisle. I bought two 8.1 ounce jars because I couldn’t remember how much was needed. I did need the second jar when I actually measured it out.

·         I didn’t use rotisserie chicken, though it would have made this recipe really easy. Instead I grilled two very large chicken breasts that I seasoned with Cavender’s Greek seasoning.

·         Yeah, I don’t follow the “4 cups of Mozzarella cheese” number. I bought an 8 cup package and almost used the entire package.

·         The béchamel sauce is pretty easy to make, so freak out about it. Be sure to taste the sauce AFTER you add the pesto but BEFORE you salt it. The pesto I bought was pretty salty, so I didn’t really have to salt the sauce.

·         Depending on the store bought pesto, it might be very, very garlicy. . . the brand I bought was (Classico), but the family didn’t care.

·         Have everything prepared to make quick work of layering the lasagna

Enjoy!

Later, Peeps! 

Foodie Friday -- Ardsheal House Shortbread

This recipe is for my friend, Mary McLarty. She wanted a traditional Scottish shortbread cookie, and I told her that I had a great recipe. I don't know if this is traditional, but it is simple and easy. You do need a food processor to blend the butter to keep it from getting warm and mushy.

This is one of my old, old, old recipes that I typed on 3 X 5 index cards, which went out in the mid-80's. And since it was typed on the card, I can only assume that the recipe is originally from Bon Appetit. I have changed the recipe just a little (a touch more sugar, butter, and I made the pastry flour 1 cup vs. the original 3/4 cup, AND I'm using a more standard 9 x 9 inch glass pan instead of the 8 x 10 metal pan the recipe calls for).

Please read my tips and tricks at the end of the recipe.

Ardsheal House Shortbread

1 cup pastry flour

¾ cup flour

¼ cup sweet rice flour

½ cup superfine sugar

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, chilled, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Blend sugar in food processor to make it superfine, mix in flours, pulsing until blended. Add butter, pulse until crumbly. The shortbread will be very crumbly (like chunky flour) and will not stick together.  

Press into 9 x 9 inch glass pan. Even the edges with a square spatula, and press the top evenly.

Bake until shortbread just begins to color, 30-32 minutes. Immediately cut into 1 ¼ x 2 – inch bars. Cool completely before serving.  

Tips & Tricks:

• ·         I couldn’t find pastry flour at the store, but it’s easy to make. 2 Tbls cornstarch in 1 cup measure, add all-purpose flour to fill the cup and level off with a knife. OR ½ cup all-purpose flour and ½ cup cake flour = 1 cup pastry flour
• ·         Rice flour is becoming more common in the baking aisle. I used Bob’s Red Mill brown rice flour
• ·         To make the superfine sugar, just blend the sugar in the food processor until grains are smaller
• ·         I cut the butter into cubes. Keep the butter chilled until ready to blend
• ·         There is NO liquid in this recipe. The butter will melt when the shortbread bakes. The texture is ‘sandy’ feeling when you take a bite. 

Enjoy!

Later Peeps!