by jphilo | Jan 20, 2021 | Uncategorized
Bone broth is a new fancy, schmancy name for what I’ve been making for years. I first made it in the late 1970s after we moved to Harding County. Only we didn’t use the now trendy term “bone broth.” If we boiled a chicken or turkey carcass in a pot of water for a couple hours, we called it chicken broth. Or turkey broth. If we did the same with beef bones or ham bones, we called it beef broth. Or ham broth.
This morning, I made chicken broth. Not bone broth. The sight and smell of the pot bubbling on the stove reminded me of the Harding Country values that blessed my kitchen during our 7 years living there and for the 36 years since we left.
- Use what you have because “running” to the grocery store is a pain when the grocery store 23 miles away.
- Refuse to throw away something that looks like garbage (like bones) until after every bit of goodness has been eked out of it.
- Homemade is best.
- A deep freeze is your friend.
- So make lots of whatever you’re making and freeze it.
- In winter the great outdoors makes a good freezer, too. (Which explains while several jars of broth are cooling on the front porch before they go in the deep freeze.)
While the broth cools, I’m brainstorming ideas about how to incorporate those cooking lessons into future books in the West River Mystery series. More than the recipe included at the end of each one. Something integral to the cozy mystery being solved. Because in kitchen values are worth passing along. Because there will be no pressure to use the phrase “bone broth” since no one in protagonist Jane’s world would use such a pretentious term. And because See Jane Cook! is a really good title.
by jphilo | Dec 30, 2020 | Uncategorized
See Jane run into 2021. Or to be more accurate, see me dance for joy because the revisions to See Jane Run! requested by the publisher are done. That means the manuscript is off my plate for a few months as it’s now with book coach Anne Fleck for a consistency edit. She’ll check it over to see how the book flows with t he odd bits that have been added and those that have been removed. Once she’s done, I’ll look over her suggestions and decide what and how to incorporate them.
If you’re looking for an editor, I highly recommend her. Not because she’s my daughter, but because she’s really good at what she does. Her website is being revamped at the moment, but if you need a good fiction book coach or editor, you can contact her at novelspiritsbooks@gmail.com.
Back to what I was talking about. Writing time’s going to be scarce in January as I’m teaching some virtual workshops. I’m hoping for a little time for polishing first draft of See Jane Sing!, but I’m not banking on it. Teaching workshops is tiring and time-consuming. They also pay very well, so I’m not complaining. By the end of January 2021, I will have earned more income than in all of 2020. Maybe that’s why I’m dancing for joy.
Before 2020 runs out, I want to say thank you to all of you for your encouraging messages throughout this writing journey. It began over 10 years ago when I first wrote the idea down in the notebook pictured above. The theme, the names of characters, and the story have evolved since then, but my reason for writing has not. You are the reason I keep working to get the West River Mysteries published. Which is going to happen in 18 months. Here’s the timeline for the first three books in case you missed it before.
Summer 2021: See Jane Run!
Fall 2021: See Jane Sing!
Winter 2022: See Jane Dance!
After that, the plan is to publish a book a year until I run out of ideas. So here’s to running into 2021 and beyond! I hope you’ll run with me.
Sign up to receive website updates and See Jane Run! book news on Gravel Road’s home page right under the picture of–you guessed it–the gravel road.
by jphilo | Dec 16, 2020 | Recipes
Christmas baking and sweetened condensed milk are a dynamic duo for six weeks during the holidays. However, this combination can lead to problems for those who live in rural areas.
I became acquainted with some of those problems during the first fall we lived 23 miles from the closest grocery store and 70 miles from a full service supermarket. Some of those problems were, and perhaps still are:
- Thinking far enough ahead to add sweetened condensed milk to the shopping list you’re making for the October trip to the big city* because you’re pretty darn proud of yourself for remembering to write down Halloween candy.
- Realizing, once you get back home, that you should have tripled the number of cans needed for Christmas baking so there are enough for the recipes you will inevitably forget to consult.
- Having the October shopping trip postponed on account of winter weather making an early appearance. Which means that in the future Halloween candy and sweetened condensed milk should be on July shopping lists, right under watermelon and sweet corn.
I never had enough sweetened condensed milk for Christmas baking. So finding Sylvia Padden’s recipe for a substitute version in the Camp Crook Centennial Cook Book felt like the best Christmas present ever. For some reason, stocking the pantry with powdered milk was never a problem. And even though powdered milk isn’t known for deliciousness, Christmas baking and sweetened condensed milk aren’t affected by its taste.
Condensed Milk Substitute
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup + 2 tablespoons powdered milk
Dissolve sugar in hot water. Thoroughly mix in in powdered milk. Let cool 5-10 minutes before using.
*For citizens of towns with less than 100 residents, communities with populations greater than 1000 qualify as “big cities.”
Sign up to receive website updates and See Jane Run! book news on Gravel Road’s home page right under the picture of–you guessed it–the gravel road.
by jphilo | Dec 3, 2020 | Mystery Update
Country school Christmas programs were a big deal and still are where country schools still exist. That’s why preparing for the Christmas program plays a major role in See Jane Sing! In fact, the progress of the program is a device I use to drive the story’s sense of urgency. Jane wants to solve mystery before the Christmas program as the morning after the big show she will go to her parents’ home in Iowa for Christmas break.
But enough about that.
The purpose of this post is to focus on the Mr. and Mrs. Santa costumes in the above picture. But first, a word about the amazingly adorable models, Shawn Burghduff and Mary Philippe, who were third graders when they nabbed their starring roles in that year’s program. The picture evokes equal parts joy and sorrow when I see it. Joy to have been their teacher for three years and sorrow over Shawn’s death due to a freak illness when he was not yet thirty. When See Jane Run! is released, it will be dedicated to him.
Give me a minute to stop crying.
Okay, I’m back with some fun facts about the Mr. and Mrs. Santa costumes.
- I made the costumes. Except for Mrs. Claus’s striped apron and Mr. Claus’s black belt. Their parents supplied those.
- When we moved to Iowa, the music teacher borrowed the costumes every year for the third grade Christmas program.
- Before the first borrow, I made a white, ruffled apron and matching mob cap for Mrs. Santa.
- My daughter wanted to be Mrs. Santa Claus for Halloween when she was in second grade. I bought granny glasses, washed and ironed the costume, and boom, it was ready. She was adorable, and my propensity to save costumes was vindicated.
- I still have the costumes. They’re too big for my grandkids, ages 2 and 4, but that doesn’t stop them from playing dress up in them.
- Every time the costumes come out, I think of Shawn and cry happy tears.
Give me another minute to find a tissue.
Okay, I’m back with one last observation related to fictionalized scenes about country school Christmas programs. They take me a long time to write and use a lot of tissues.
Go figure.
Sign up to receive website updates and See Jane Run! book news on Gravel Road’s home page right under the picture of–you guessed it–the gravel road.
by jphilo | Nov 20, 2020 | Daily Life
Once a teacher, always a teacher.
Those words were ringing in my ears today as I created a sequencing activity to send to my Wisconsin grandkids, ages 8 and 5. It was precisely the sort of thing I often set out for my country school kindergarten through second grade students in the 1980s.
Because once a teacher, always a teacher is absolutely true, I’ve created virtual version of the activity for Gravel Road readers. Below are 7 pictures of our home addition construction taken on 7 different days. See if you can put the pictures in numerical order from first to last. Each picture has been assigned a letter to make the process easier. Those who leave their answers in the comment box below will be given a virtual smiley face sticker.*
Like I said, once a teacher, always a teacher. And this teacher knows that students of all ages love stickers.
Picture A:
Picture B:
Picture C:
Picture D:
Picture E:
Picture F:
Picture G:
*If any of my former country school students complete this activity by themselves or with their own school-aged children, they receive not just 1, but 2 smiley face stickers.
Sign up to receive website updates and See Jane Run! book news on Gravel Road’s home page right under the picture of–you guessed it–the gravel road.
