Author and reader tees 

Like a lot of authors, I work at home and my uniform is a tee and sweat shorts/sweatpants. I was sick of my usual collection and bought some new designs from TeePublic.

If you have a juicer, does it bother you when all that stripped-away pulp goes in the trash?

Well, I've got two ways you can make use of it!

In this post: Lemon Meringue pie drama (with recipe), dog pajamas, giveaways and Pineapple Lies - FREE!

The story of how an apple pie saved me - first published in Skirt! Magazine.

Grief is a master of disguise. Like a vampire, it drains self-respect until you’re openly sobbing in the grocery store because they're out of spray butter.  It masquerades as a hypnotist, fixing your gaze on one small patch of sofa for days. It is a ninja, ambushing as you walk into a room that used to feel less empty.

Sometimes, grief is a pastry chef.

Divorce and a string of family deaths had made 1999 a hard year for me. Trying to recreate my Great-Grandmom's apple pie recipe seemed a pro-active way to break my slide into depression. Every birthday and Christmas dinner of my childhood ended with Great-Grandmom's apple pie, and these were all happy times, unless you were hoping for cake. If you wanted cake, you were out of luck until my brother's birthday.

Grief had planted that seed in my head. I realized that somewhere around pie number thirteen.

I belong to a little cooking club here (read: wine drinking club). Our theme this month was Greek, and it was my turn to do dessert. Obviously, baklava immediately threw open the saloon doors in my mind and announce it was ready for action. But, dang it, I hate doing the obvious thing. So, I thought, "What else makes me think of Greek cooking?"

Feta cheese.

Viola! Feta cheese... oh wait, I'm dessert... Hm. That is a curveball.

Feta Cheese Ice Cream! (with orange/lemon/mint sauce)

Sure why not. I mean other than the fact that my mother and sister-in-law both threw up in their mouths when told them about the idea.

Turns out feta ice cream is amazing. Of course, I could probably mix tile grout with heavy cream, egg yolks and sugar and it would end up tasting fantastic.

The sour cream and feta give the ice cream a nice tang that keeps it from being as overwhelmingly sweet and velvety as it sounds. The whole effect is very much like cheesecake. I added a tart syrup to add a little punch.

I don't know if it is shaping up that 2022 will feel all shiny and new, but I want to thank you all for a good 2021 and I look forward to hearing from you in the new year! 

My book release plans include two more Shee McQueen Thriller/Mysteries, three more Pineapples and maybe I'll finally get the final Kilty book finished.

Below are the top poll results of the "What are your favorite mysteries?" poll. If you haven't read these authors, maybe you can find a new favorite in the list. (and thank you to the people who picked me even though I said not to! :)  )

I have a niece selling Girl Scout cookies, so even though I try very hard not to eat them, I had to buy them. (I used to sell them, so I get it!)

So, what to do with them?

So it's official, Archer's more famous than me.

Mike and I watch English Premier League Football (soccer) and they have a thing where you can submit yourself, or your kids or your pets, dressed up for "Premier League Morning."  We bought a scarf of our team, the Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) --- which will come in really handy here in South Florida --- and submitted Archer wearing it. Then for weeks we looked for it... and then...

So, I finally cracked The Air-Fryer Fried-Chicken Puzzle (boy does that sound like a cozy mystery...). I'm including my recipe so you can avoid the three attempts and burnt crusts I suffered in pursuit...

When he's wet, Archer likes to weave repeatedly around my legs in a figure-eight pattern, rubbing himself like a cat.  Sometimes he picks one leg to circle instead. When he does he bumps into his own super-long tail... and bites it... turning himself into a neverending circle as he goes around and around.