Sunday, January 5, 2025

I Love This Recipe So Much I'm Putting It In My Book

In It App-ened One Night, Susan makes a butternut squash soup for her mom. It's a soup I love to make in the fall and winter because the veggies are in season and usually on sale and it is vegan as made so a good choice for any diet. You can of course add cheese or a protein to the finished soup.
I'm putting the recipe in the back of my book, this isn't traditionally done in romance books. Those of you who read cozy mysteries know many of the books include recipes.
I think I'd like to include a recipe in the back of each of my romances going forward. It adds to my desire to embrace coziness as my author brand. Is there anything better than enjoying a cozy day? 
And now on to the recipe:

Butternut-Leek Soup

Ingredients:
Peel and dice one butternut squash - Or use a package of precut squash
Slice two leeks, just the white and a little of the light green portion.
Peel and dice one potato or sweet potato 
Peel and slice one parsnip. (optional this is my secret ingredient)
4-5 cups of vegetable or chicken (if you don't need it to be vegetarian) broth 
a tbsp of dried poultry seasoning or thyme
or 1-2 tbsps fresh rosemary and thyme
Salt and pepper to taste.

Put it all in a slow cooker on low and cook for 6-8 hours or until the vegetables are soft. Then use an immersion blender to puree the soup. 
Serve with gruyere or Swiss cheese grated on top or add a couple of tbsps of diced ham or crumbled bacon. 
This soup pairs very well with a nice crusty bread. I would pair it with a Reisling if I was having a glass of wine.
The leftovers taste great and this soup freezes well. 
If you try it let me know! 

 

Saturday, January 4, 2025

The Sunday Post- Back To The Old Grind Tomorrow

   


The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. you can write about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.


I just remembered I signed up to bring a dish to the breakfast potluck we have at work tomorrow. It's an institute day so not only do I need to bring a dish, I start work at 8 a.m. instead of 8:45 a.m. On the plus side, we have a three-day weekend coming up. I also reviewed the school calendar and there are only 22 weeks left of the school year and only 11 of them are full five-day weeks. 

This all probably sounds like I don't like my job, but I do! I love it.  It can been draining so I cherish the time off to recharge. One thing I need to do to make life easier is to meal plan for dinners, and better yet, meal prep so I don't have to spend as much time cooking after work. Do you have any easy recipes you make?

This week I'm reading: 









Thursday, January 2, 2025

The Beast Takes a Bride by Julie Anne Long

I borrowed this book via the Libby app from my local library. I thought it was a book club selection for January. I was about sixty pages in when I realized it wasn't. This book is part of a longer series and you really don't need to read any of the other books to enjoy it.  I read it over four days and it held my interest even when my husband was watching the new Harlan Corben limited series on Netflix. It was also a good distraction from my itchy face.

Why was my face itchy?  A few years ago I had this goal to set aside money and get a chemical peel for myself for Christmas. But that didn't happen for a couple of years. Then I researched and found out I could get a less intense chemical peel for a lower cost at Massage Envy. Plus unlike my dermatologist, you can join the Massage Envy club and pay for one credit a month for your choice of facials or massages. 

In September, I promised myself I could get a facial once I finished drafting my book. Then I got busy and didn't do that--but on the plus side, I accrued credits and was able to use two to get the chemical peel I'd been promising myself for quite some time! I'm welcoming in the new year with a hopefully more luminous face once the itching subsides. It's not that bad, I'm being a little dramatic. 

The Beast Takes a Bride has some Beauty and The Beast vibes but not too much. Lots of pride getting in the way of love for our leads, which I enjoyed. It doesn't have a true third-act breakup, so if you like books without one, this would be a good one to add to your list. 

Next up I am going to read Vinyl Resting Place which is The Cozy Mystery Club book for January. I was pleasantly surprised to see it is available on KU. 

What are you reading to the start the new year?

 

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Really Not How You Want To Kick Off The New Year

 

Yes, I'm heading over to the funeral home with my husband today to go over a few details for his Mom's funeral. Hopefully, this will be the only funeral we will have occasion to attend this year. My mother-in-law was adamant that there be no wake. We will just have the funeral at the church and then a luncheon.
I didn't think too much of the no-wake situation at the time she decided it, but now that we are in the midst of the preparations, I'm grateful! She has made her send-off so much easier on everyone mourning her. While it is sad, I know that her family will have plenty of smiles and laughs when we celebrate her in a little over a week. We should all be lucky to live into our nineties without needing help until the very end. 

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This month I'm participating in a JaNoWriMo. (January Novel Writing Month) My goal is to write thirty thousand words. What they are going to be about is up in the air. I have some vague ideas about my next book, but I don't have an outline put together. I usually start my writing process by brainstorming ideas with someone, so this time I will start by brainstorming in a document. Wish me luck! 

I hope your year is off to a funeral-free start! 



Monday, December 30, 2024

It's Official I Have a Website!

 

Once we returned from our trip down South, the hubs made a spiral ham. We had leftovers and I decided to make a quiche. When pie crusts are on sale, buy some. They come two in a package so I keep one set in the freezer and I'm ready when the opportunity to turn leftovers into a fancy and easy to make quiche presents itself!

As you may have noticed today is the last day of 2024. It's been quite the year. I'm ending on a high note by having my author website up and running. Want to see it?  Here it is: https://victoriahamelauthor.com

As part of my new website, I have a blog. I don't know that I can integrate this blog there, but for now, I have my header from here on my website. My new website is built off WordPress, so I think if I want to put posts from here on it I'll have to cut and paste?  This is all above my paid grade and I'm the sole employee of my author business!

I'm cruising my way through The Beast Takes a Bride. It's so good! I'm a sucker for a Darcy-esque hero and Magnus is so Darcy! All his problems are the result of his wounded pride! 

I'm treating myself to a facial today. I'm terrible at rewarding myself for accomplishing goals--but past me prepaid for future me to get a facial once It App-ened One Night was revised! 

I hope you have a wonderful last day of this year! 

Sunday, December 29, 2024

Looking Ahead to Next Weekend

 

On Saturday morning, I meet with the All Write Well group for a 2025 planning session. Hopefully, by the end of it, I'll have my writer's year more fully outlined. When will I be drafting my next book? Stay tuned and we will all find out. 
Then in the afternoon, I get to go to an in-person book club at Love's Sweet Arrow to talk about this book. It's the historical romance book of the month. I enjoyed it! One of the best parts for me was that it's about a duchess who is in half-mourning. I know what that is because I went to a talk all about Victorian mourning customs in October at my local library! I listened to the audio version of this book and the narrator was quite good. If you like historical books or if you enjoyed Bridgerton and don't usually read romance, give this a go anyway! 

This is another picture from our recent trip to Georgia. We really lucked out on the view. I wasn't expecting much of one based on our previous cabin rental experience and the pricing of this one. In hindsight, the cabin was a steal of a deal! 

I need to double check and make sure this post is my 70th post for the year. If not, I'm sure I can find enough to say in a another post tomorrow!

Do you have plans for NYE? My plan always involved tasty but not healthy food choices and being in my pajamas before the sun goes down. 

The Sunday Post How Many Times Did I Blog in 2024?

  


The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. you can write about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.

According to my blog, I've posted 68 times this year. That doesn't include this post. All I need to do to hit 70 is to blog on Monday or Tuesday. At the moment, I'm halfway through the audiobook The Duchess Takes It All so I think I can accomplish finishing the book and a blog post before the new year is here. 

Each year my goal is to post three times a week and I don't accomplish that goal each year. There is some saying about it being foolish to keep doing the same thing and failing, but I don't care. Once again, my goal for 2025 will be to blog three times a week. As I am sure many of you know, the key to consistent blogging is to work ahead so that if you have to take a break, you've already got posts lined up. Most years I manage to do that for January and by March I've fallen off. 

Are you looking forward to the new year? I am not looking forward to whatever the incoming administration will cook up. I plan to focus on what I can control and the things that make me happy. 

What makes you happy?

For me it's time with family and friends, preferably involving food and live music. Secondly, I enjoy reading a good book and discussing it with a book club or attending free library programs. Thirdly, being out in nature. 

Books I'm reading right now:








Friday, December 27, 2024

Not To Wish Away The Days, One Month from Tomorrow 5pm Sunset

The new year will be here shortly. Do you do resolutions or goals? I have some goals for the new year. My number one goal is to eat more tacos. We have lots of taco places around us, and we are not trying them. Additionally, I think tacos are a reasonably healthy option. This goal is also very fun and do-able. What I'd like to do in 2025 is to have more goals that are fun. Usually, I work hard, reach a goal, and do nothing fun to celebrate. But that changes now! Well, maybe, it changes. I'm terrible at celebrating.

How about you? Do you set goals? Do you celebrate your wins? What is something fun you are looking forward to in the new year? 

Bookwise I'm reading The Beast Takes a Bride which is a very good historical romance. On TV we are watching "Bad Sisters" on Apple TV. This show has an excellent depiction of a terrible villain. I don't know how anyone could watch it and have any sympathy for the fellow who dies. He's awful! 



 

Thursday, December 26, 2024

That time of Year When It's Normal To Ask: What Day is It?

 Happy day after Christmas or Boxing Day to everyone who participates. Looking back, I've always had a fondness for now. The space between Christmas and New Year is still festive, gatherings and cookies are still widely available, and best of all, lots of downtime. 

Today we travel back home from Georgia. We had a good visit with family and our dog tolerated the trip. As far as we can tell, Bowie is very excited to get home since he thought we were going home every time he got in the car during the trip. He refused to get out of the car most of the time when we arrived back at the cabin. 

On Christmas Eve, I got to see my sunset. 


And on Christmas morning, I went for a walk on the hills surrounding our cabin with my daughter. You can't tell in the photo, but it was a steep incline.  She made it to the top of the mountain. I'm happy to report my legs are not super sore today! 

Kicking off 2025, I'm listening to The Beast Take a Bride by Julie Anne Long for book club on January fourth. What are you starting the year reading? 





Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Merry Christmas! A Two Month Wrap-up!

 It's Christmas Eve, and I'm sitting in a cabin in the Appalachian mountains. 

This is the view facing west. All I want this Christmas Eve, is to watch the sunset this afternoon. I know it will be glorious. We got lucky on this trip because it's going to be sunny each day and temps are in the 50s (low 10s Celcius). As always, this picture doesn't do justice to the view it'seven better than it looks here. 

I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday. I just received my fourth book "It App-ened One Night" back from my proofreader and will revise it again next week. Then it will be time to send out some ARCs. I hope people enjoy it. It's about a single dad of a teenager and a recently unemployed woman taking care of her mom who broke her hip. It's all about making room for joy and love when you are caretaking! 

Over the last couple of months, when I wasn't working on my book, I did some fun things! My eldest kiddo and I went to see The Nutcracker Ballet, it's our new end of November tradition to kick off the holiday season. Working at the school was very busy, and I picked up a stomach bug--not fun! 

The sweet...

As you know, I love cozy mysteries and this year I was one of the guest bloggers for The Cozy Mystery Club's 12 Days of Cozies. Here is a link to my post: Sweet Holiday Treats

The spicy...

I was the guest co-host on the 5th day of Boobsmas episode of the romance podcast Boobies and Noobies. You can listen to me and Kelly Reynolds talk about the very spicy novella, Frosted, A Frosty the Snowman Parody Novella. We had a good time talking about this wild book! You can listen to this podcast on all the platforms 

After the sun sets, I'm looking forward to sharing a charcuterie board with my family and watching a Christmas Movie. I'd like to watch Christmas Vacation!

Enjoy your holiday!