Month: February 2016

Grilled Curried Country Ribs #easyrecipe

This is another easy recipe and one that crosses several cultural divides.

Marinate about 1.5 pounds of country ribs (pork) in:

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce.
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch (corn flour in the UK)
  • 1 teaspoon hot madras curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon ginger

Country ribs are thin bits of pork that are cut from the bone. It should look like this:
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Meanwhile start your coals. I use a chimney starter and chunk charcoal. Briquettes have a binder that adds a distinctly unpleasant taste to food grilled over them. The coals are ready when the flames start to poke out of the upper layer of coals. 2016-02-26 18.29.53

When the coals are ready start to grill the meat.
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This goes well with sauteed parsnips. After peeling and cutting, saute in oil and a touch of margarine or butter.

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When it’s done retrieve it from the grill and enjoy.
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The Art of Deception #wewriwar #Fridayreads

The Art of Deception

or Pride and Extreme Prejudice

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Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors. This week I continue another book, that will eventually come out via booktrope (hope springs eternal.) It’s a spy story set in late Georgian England, the year before Trafalgar. Alice’s somewhat shady Uncle Grey has come to make her an offer she can’t refuse. Last week’s snippet is after Lord Grey inquires about Alice’s hopes on the marriage mart. He’s making the offer they can’t refuse. This week I introduce the romantic lead. He is, for the moment, stuck in Washington as a military attache. He and Mr Anthony Merry the new (actual at the time) British ambassador are discussing life in this trying provincial city.

“I say, Roddy, how did ever you stick it here? All that time you spent here after Sir Robert returned home; it must have been dashed difficult for you; The Jonathan’s,” He shook his head, “Their manners leave much to be desired.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“That Jefferson fellow, didn’t you find him rude? I mean he called my wife a ‘virago’, and Elizabeth, whatever her failings is not that.”

“She’s a lovely woman, well-mannered and gracious; if you want to meet a virago, you need only talk to the Dowager Fitzpatrick.”

“So that’s why you haven’t married? Still, can you imagine inviting us and the French charge de affairs to the same private dinner; we’re at war; it’s just not done.”

Roderick shrugged, “I just ignore the slights; treat their politics like a spectator sport; it’s almost as much fun as ratting or the cockpit; as for marriage, you know I find these provincials even more tedious than the butterflies and damsels of the London Ton.”

“De gustibus and all that I suppose.”

Please see the other talented writers in Weekend Writing Warriors.

Having lived in the Washington metropolitan area, it’s still a trying provincial city.

I hope you’ve enjoyed what I’ve written. I’ll be in the woods with a bunch of scouts this weekend, which means that my replies will be somewhat delayed. I’m not quite up to backpacking a satellite link. It would go against my ultra-light esthetic.

I’ve also released a sweet regency romance, Miss DeVere This is a fun read, and unlike “The curious profession of dr craven” seems to not carry a curse.

Miss_devere_1

Frankenkitty is available.
Frankenkitty What happens when teenagers get to play with Dr Frankenstien’s lab notebooks, a few odd chemicals and a great big whopping coil? Mayhem.

Get Free Stuff and try out my landing page. There are three free complete short stories (including an ARC for Frankenkitty) available after you’ve gone through the hoops.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

The Vantage Point

Robert Frost, 1874 – 1963

If tired of trees I seek again mankind,
Well I know where to hie me—in the dawn,
To a slope where the cattle keep the lawn.
There amid lolling juniper reclined,
Myself unseen, I see in white defined
Far off the homes of men, and farther still
The graves of men on an opposing hill,
Living or dead, whichever are to mind.

And if by noon I have too much of these,
I have but to turn on my arm, and lo,
The sunburned hillside sets my face aglow,
My breathing shakes the bluet like a breeze,
I smell the earth, I smell the bruisèd plant,
I look into the crater of the ant.

Invitation to Love

Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1872 – 1906

Come when the nights are bright with stars
Or come when the moon is mellow;
Come when the sun his golden bars
Drops on the hay-field yellow.
Come in the twilight soft and gray,
Come in the night or come in the day,
Come, O love, whene’er you may,
And you are welcome, welcome.

You are sweet, O Love, dear Love,
You are soft as the nesting dove.
Come to my heart and bring it to rest
As the bird flies home to its welcome nest.

Come when my heart is full of grief
Or when my heart is merry;
Come with the falling of the leaf
Or with the redd’ning cherry.
Come when the year’s first blossom blows,
Come when the summer gleams and glows,
Come with the winter’s drifting snows,
And you are welcome, welcome.

Tyndale Monument #photopost #England

This is not too far from Bristol or the thriving metropolis of Yate, not to mention Frampton Cotterell or Chipping Sodbury. We’ve visited it a couple of times with my brother-in-law. I was reminded of it when watching a DVD of “Sherlock Vol 3, his last bow” where it flashes by in the background near the end. You can also see it from the M5, but it’s better to walk there.

William Tyndale, himself, is something of a hero of mine. He was one of the first translators of the bible into English – pre King James. His work started the focus, in English, of going back to the original texts. This was at a time when the Catholic Church didn’t want people to think for themselves, and had the force to do something about it. He was executed in 1536, before completing his work. His work, printed in Antwerp, was banned, confiscated, and destroyed during and after his life. Still, smuggled in water-tight compartments in wine casks, as individual sheets in bales of cloth, or in secret compartments in otherwise normal commerce, his (and other’s) translations continued to make life difficult for those who would repress individual thought.

In addition to being a martyr for religious freedom, he’s an example of why we do not want religion and state mixed.

After making a donation for the upkeep, we ascended the spiral staircase to the top.
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This view shows the valley below and the other scene from the Sherlock episode is in it (The white blob in the distance.)
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This map shows one of the walks we took. It climbs a staircase from North Nibley. The top of the down is criss-crossed in footpaths and we’ve more often parked at the other end. Parking here is the shortest and easiest way to the monument.
nibley

That summer was a bit mucky, so wellies (UK solution) or sandals (Closed toe Keens, my solution, since a little mud never harmed anyone) were a good idea.
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The top of the down also houses a neolithic or iron age fort. It’s slowly being uncovered.  You can see this in the map as well.
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The Awakening

James Weldon Johnson, 1871 – 1928

I dreamed that I was a rose
That grew beside a lonely way,
Close by a path none ever chose,
And there I lingered day by day.
Beneath the sunshine and the show’r
I grew and waited there apart,
Gathering perfume hour by hour,
And storing it within my heart,
Yet, never knew,
Just why I waited there and grew.

I dreamed that you were a bee
That one day gaily flew along,
You came across the hedge to me,
And sang a soft, love-burdened song.
You brushed my petals with a kiss,
I woke to gladness with a start,
And yielded up to you in bliss
The treasured fragrance of my heart;
And then I knew
That I had waited there for you.

The Curious Profession of Dr. Craven – Another ******** book promo #freebook

Dr Craven is on Choosy Bookworms Read and Review program. It’s buried, which is somewhat appropriate given the subject matter, about half-way down the page. If you’re willing to review it, you can get a free copy.You can read the first chapter here.

What is a poor anatomist to do? Twenty pounds, wasted, up in smoke when a beautiful young woman wakes up on the dissection table. Someone has made a ghastly error. Dr Richard Craven, an ethical doctor, has but one choice, to nurse the girl back to health and restore her to her family. That’s when his troubles start. She can’t remember anything, only her first name, and she isn’t even sure about that. As his household helps her to recover her strength and her memories trickle, then flood back, their mutual attraction buds into a flowing passion.

Unfortunately one of the things she’s conveniently forgotten was her arranged engagement to a vulgar, but wealthy son of a Northern industrialist. Not only that, but there is some deep dark secret about Dr Craven that her father believes makes him completely ineligible.

Resolving the resulting tangle in this sweet historical romance takes the combined efforts of the doctor’s once profligate brother, the Earl of Craven, a displaced French Royal, le Duc de Bourbon, and the visit of a mysterious French Baron to the sacred floor or Almack’s.

Afternoon Tea Cakes #victorianrecipe #recipe #goodfood

This is another Victorian recipe from the “Sure to Rise” cookbook.
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I’ve adapted the recipe by increasing the amount of sugar.

  • 1/4 pound (1 stick) butter
  • 1 and 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • flour for dusting
  • Fruit Filling – the original says raspberry jam, see below for an easy quick and good apple filling

Mix the butter and flour, thoroughly to form a pie crust like mixture. Add the baking powder and sugar. Mix.

Add the egg, and enough milk to form a smooth dough. Roll it out about 1/4 inch (4 mm or so) thick.
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Then cut in rounds and put about 1/2 teaspoon of filling in each.
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Wet the edges and fold over. Bake at 400F (200C) on a greased sheet for about 10 minutes.
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Apple filling

Quarter, peel, and core one apple. Cut into small pieces. Add about 1 tablespoon sugar. Microwave four minutes and add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (if desired). Much easier than making jam in the Victorian manner, but it works.

The Art of Deception #wewriwar #amwriting

The Art of Deception

or Pride and Extreme Prejudice

12241791_735836876546522_6197947469406170479_n

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors. This week I introduce another book, that will eventually come out via booktrope (hope springs eternal.) It’s a spy story set in late Georgian England, the year before Trafalgar. Alice’s somewhat shady Uncle Grey has come to make her an offer she can’t refuse. Last week he entertained Alice and her mother with a recollection from his wartime experiences in the wilds of South Carolina. This snippet is after Lord Grey inquires about Alice’s hopes on the marriage mart. He’s making the offer they can’t refuse.

However, you’re right, Alice needs to see more of society;” He smiled at his niece, “Even if she returns here to marry her mill-owner.”

Alice grimaced back at her uncle and then said, “Speaking of dancing and manners, how do you know that mine are suitable? I would be willing to bet a reasonable sum that I’m too rustic to grace London society.”

“I’m glad you state a ‘reasonable sum’ niece; your father would have bet everything on it; I think, my dear sister that it would be best were I to take Alice with me to London when I return there in a few days. Give her the opportunity to acquire some ‘town polish.’ Dancing lessons, and new dresses, that sort of thing.”

Alice jumped at the chance and beamed, “Would you?”

“Of course; indeed, I should think you would find it immensely enjoyable, and I’m sure June would enjoy re-establishing her friendship with you. Unless, Lady Mary, you have any objections?”

“There being no alternative,” she said, “I can have none.”

My book “The Curious Profession of Dr. Craven” is a decent read.
add_book1

I’ve also released a sweet regency romance, Miss DeVere

Miss_devere_1

Frankenkitty is available.
Frankenkitty

Get Free Stuff and try out my landing page. There are three free complete short stories (including an ARC for Frankenkitty) available after you’ve gone through the hoops.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Early Stethoscopes

One of the few scenes in my sweet romance The Curious Profession of Dr. Craven that gets close to hot is where Richard (Dr Craven) listens to Henrietta’s heart (Properly chaperoned, of course). Before the invention of the stethoscope the doctor had to put his ear on his patients’ chest. This could be a tad embarrassing, especially when the patient was young, pretty and female.

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Rene Laennec solved this problem with a wooden tube. The figure above, from 1819, shows that very quickly after that doctors learned to distinguish between different sounds. It was not simply the muscle making noise, but valves and things like that. Not that they could do much about it, but it was a start.