As you know, Kelly from Evil Shenanigans was my baking slave on Friday. We made enough cookies that I took some home. I wanted to have something there that said..”Hey this cookbook is awesome, just taste this!” So, with that in mind we made sugar cookies, chai chocolate snowballs, and snickerdoodles. Someone did decide to buy the book on the basis of one bite of the chai chocolate snowballs- Just sayin’.

I had gotten there a little early to set up and was nervous that noone was going to show up. My really good friend, Marc, was there for moral support and to keep my coffee cup filled from the Starbucks and keep me in ice. I was so nervous I swear you could hear my teeth chattering from Chicago and I chew more ice than normal when I am nervous. So I was going between the coffee and the ice, back and forth. At one point, being the graceful person that I am, I knocked to coffee over and it splattered on a couple of the books. ARGH!

Kelly was the one that took these pictures. I so appreciated all her help and moral support! Seriously this old guy tried to pick her up. She is cute and all but that was really weird! I think I was too old for him to be interested. He finally disappeared after about two drivebys with his walker. (o.k…he didn’t really have a walker – but it sounded good.)

Here I am looking very writerly, don’t you think? I did not plan to wear a sweater that matched the gold on the book cover. It just happened. Pinkie Swear. Even I am not that OCD.

Here are Alice, and Donna and me. I could post this image of me on the “I need plastic surgery desperately” board. Ya think if I sent it to Oprah she would foot the bill?

Actually signing a book. So exciting. I got so flustered a few times I forgot how to spell my name.

Erin and Bells showed up for a little while. I will tell you, I was so blessed by the people that came to support me! Erin, Tanya, Miss Jo, Janis, Alice, Donna, Kelly and Mark, Ms. Kelly’s Mom, Terry, and especially Marc who sat through the whole thing most patiently…. You guys ROCK. It was a literal party.

If you are in the Dallas area and want a signed book the Barnes and Noble at Uptown in Cedar Hill has some because I signed extras. If they run out…let me know and I’ll meet you and sign it anyway.

images: Evil Shenanigans used by permission

Post from: Baking Delights

Rather than subjecting anyone else to this tag torture you can just do it if you want and leave a comment and a link so I can go read it..’k?

1. Where is your cell phone? Store
2. Your hair? Gorgeous
3. Your mother? Dead
4. Your father? Ditto
5. Your favorite food? Chocolate
6. Your dream last night? Leather
7. Your favorite drink? Coffee

8. Your dream/goal? Christ-likeness
9. What room are you in? Bedroom

10. Your hobby? Myriad
11. Your fear? Abandonment
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Unsure
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. Something you aren’t? Liar
15. Muffins? Blueberry

16. Wish list item? Passion
17. Where did you grow up? Everywhere
18. Last thing you did? Cooked
19. What are you wearing? Jeans
20. Your TV? Off
21. Your pets? Many
22. Friends? Love
23. Your life? Purposed
24. Your mood? Nevermind

25. Missing someone? Yes
26. Vehicle? Ram
27. Something you’re not wearing? Rings
28. Your favorite store? Antiques

29.Your favorite color? Burnt-orange
30. When was the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Today
32. Your best friend? Jesus
33. One place you go to over and over again? Grocers
34. One person who e-mails you regularly? Karen
35. Favorite place to eat? Home

image: marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Oh…and these are in nor particular order.

Coconut French Toast for vacation flavor

Pasta with Fontina, pecans, mushrooms and a surprise kick

Pumpkin and brown butter muffins..Good morning, sunshine!

Poulet au bonne femme...with trumpet mushrooms. I'd marry myself for this.

Blueberry blue corn pancakes. Who says there is no such thing as blue food?

Onion Rings. Perfect, light, crispy and not greasy. What's the secret?

How one book changed my views on grits...forever.

Hey..don’t forget to come back, o.k.?

images:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

“Mom! I think Your books are here! Can I open it?”

Within seconds the entire brood is gathered aound barely staying out of harms way as Ethan wields a knife, expertly opening the box and…….

Twenty-five cookbooks! Author’s copies. ….WITH MY NAME ON THEM. Seriously…look at this:

That’s ME!

Not that I am excited or anything, I am absolutely too cool for that… I am still wondering how my name got on these cookbooks.

I heard that amazon im sending out the preordered copies on the 28th of August, so if you ordered your book you may be getting it next week. If you haven’t ordered it an are planning on it please consider heading over to Everything Cookies and Brownies and ordering from there?

If you get a copy and for some odd reason you want me to sign it..I will be glad to. Just email me. Dang, this is exciting! You guys have been part of this… How does it feel to be a guinea pig?

images:maryeaudet

Post from: Baking Delights

I just got the news this morning that the author’s copies of the book are on their way. I should be receiving them sometime in the next week.

With being just a week post thyroidectomy I am feeling overwhelmed, flustered, excited, and dismayed. How’s that for a combination? I am feeling very well but my energy drains sooner than usual and it has been hard to keep up with my writing and editing duties. Trying to behave so that I will heal properly and quickly, and I am not so great at that either.

I have set up a site for the book, Everything Cookies and Brownies. This is still my primary recipe site, of course(!)but I wanted to  have a place where readers could go with questions or where I could let you know about errors I found, etc.

So, I am looking for a couple of bloggers that are interested in reviewing the book? I am not sure how many people are going to want to review it, and I only have so many copies, so if you will leave me a comment and a link to your blog I will get back to you, ‘k?  I will even autograph the copy for you…if I can still write. I have used a keyboard for so long I am not sure!

Anyway, thanks so much, y’all. You have been so supportive, so awesome, and so amazing through this past couple of years that I couldn’t have done it without ya. {{{Gargantuan Group Hug}}}}}}

image: Amazon

Post from: Baking Delights

Marc has had a horrid cold, which he passed to Matthew (17) and Nick was sniffling and sounding stuffed up. I was not going to argue with him. I don’t like taking the kids out when they are sick, even a little. It exposes other people to what they have and, with their immune systems all ready compromised it adds to the likelihood that they will pick up something else.

My kids are a pretty healthy bunch, we get maybe a cold or stomach bug once or twice a year. I usually treat it with herbs and natural items, plenty of rest, and isolation from the germy public. Since I work at home, and we homeschool we don’t HAVE to be out and about the way others do..Just one more way that I am blessed.

Nick and Bella

Anyway, so Kyrie (5) decided since I was staying home she was going to stay home to “amuse Nicky because he is sick”. Matt had overslept and was still dealing with the residue of his cold..so he opted to just relax today, too.

I kissed Marc bye and headed into the sunroom to watch Maisie with the Bug (kyrie) and Matt. We heard the clamor of everyone leaving, Shiloh (who looks like a teen model, by the way) couldn’t find her BLACK flipflop to go with her pink gypsy skirt and black tank top..and was forced to wear blue flip flops. Ethan was trying to get her to go see UP with him today and was plying her with promises of cokes, popcorn, and even paying for her…It was the usual chaos getting out the door.

Then the house was totally quiet and Matt, Kyrie, and I were just kicked back, chatting and watching t.v. I was checking email and twitter and Facebook…you know, leisure time.

All of a sudden I said, “Hey, where’s Nick?”

We looked everywhere in the house for him, out in the barns, in his fort…No Nick.

You guessed it. HE decided at the last minute to go to church with the family.

So, having a few hours that are not accounted for I decided to work on a menu that I had been thinking about for awhile. It seems to me to be perfect for Father’s Day or 4th of July. I will be posting the recipes this week IF they work but here is what we are having for dinner today

• Spicy Apricot Glazed  Grilled Chicken
• Grilled corn on the cob with cumin butter
• Sliced locally grown tomatoes with a splash of balsamic
• Whole grain rolls with pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• Red Velvet and Cheesecake Cupcakes (am thinking about a nuance of citrus in these..not sure)

I briefly considered an apricot and white tea flavored muffin but since I am thinking of this for Father’s Day I want it to have a masculine feel. I plan on serving sweet tea, made from our custom blend (blackberry, rose, and lemon) and coffee with the dessert. I have some flavored Bourbon Pecan from my local roaster that I am eager to open up.

So, the other plan I have for today is to finally get back to writing menus rather than the Oh-My-Gosh-It’s-5:30-What’ll-I-Make? method. With food prices skyrocketing, and money tight it is important to keep a tight rein on the food budget. More so when you feed 8 people. And, when you are a food writer  you have an image to uphold, right? I mean, I can’t exactly blog hot dogs and boxed mac and cheese, can I? I might get into a legal battle with a certain Food Network star. (in case you didn’t recognize that as being snarky.. let me make that clear with a !Snark Alert!)

I am going to post my menu for the week tomorrow and I will post links to the online recipes I am using, as well as post the recipes that I use. We can be cooking buddies!

I don’t use coupons because most of what I buy does not come with coupons. Let’s face it, I don’t buy a lot of prepared and convenience foods. It try to pick up meat on clearance when I can, and I have had to scale back on organic meats because they are significantly more expensive. I do try to go with all- natural. I hate that I am, to a certain extent, supporting factory farming with my food dollars but in the area where I live, and with prices, locally raised, grass fed beef is out of my range. I am still looking though.

I will also update the menu post with the cost of my groceries. I am not going to list them individually because that would be long! Also, you have to figure that I use milk from our goats and eggs from our chickens so that is a savings. I think that I may have my writing account start buying the eggs from my farm account, but if I do that is it illegal to sell myself raw goat’s milk?  I buy organic white flour in 50 lb bags, and I buy wheat berries to grind, also in 50 lb bags.

I think that’s all. I will post my menu later today or tomorrow. Until then, have an awesome weekend!

Oh…Erin took that picture of Nick and her daughter Bella. Nick loves babies, and he is enraptured with Bells. In fact, when Erin walks in with the baby there is a melee surrounding her until one triumphant person walks away with Bella….usually Shiloh but not always.

Yes, he does need a hair cut. But he likes his hair long and I see no reason to force that issue when there are so many others that I could be focusing on. Matt also has long hair…obviously they get their hippy tendencies from their bohemian mother.

Erin is very talented photographer you can see more of her work at Mamas Castle. She also has work for sale at this online gallery Erin’s Images.

Images:Erin Audet Myers

Post from: Baking Delights

O.k..it is very cool. First of all I found out that one of my images had finally been used in a real magazine. I got a copy of the issue today and it looks fantastic! And it even has my name on it so how cool is that?

The other thing is that I have been working on a short video/slideshow presentation for an online resume.  It seemed like a cool and creative thing to do, right?

I ended up with a lot of headaches from it but it is finally up and running.  Have a look!

image (c) Marye Audet 2007

Post from: Baking Delights