Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Enjoy Halloween

It's October 31st today, so tonight everyone interested can celebrate Halloween. Here in Belgium, it's becoming bigger and bigger - lots of American trends make their way across the ocean.


Halloween, though, doesn't quite belong in our tradition. Perhaps in the old days, when Celts and Picts lived. But our part of the world soon became Christian, and so it's November 1st that gathers the attentions.

On All Saints, people go to the churchyards to remember their deceased loved ones - at least when you need to remember them that way. Personally, I don't like graveyards. I tend to remember those who are no longer there by speaking about them frequently, even dreaming of them.

What are you going to do tonight?

Sunday, October 29, 2017

The It Girls

Please welcome author Karen Harper today. Karen is making a blurb blitz tour for her novel The It Girls. During this tour, she's giving away three digital copies of this book to randomly drawn commenters.


Please use the following link to place your comment: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f2485

Blurb

They rose from genteel poverty, two beautiful sisters, ambitious, witty, seductive. Elinor and Lucy Sutherland are at once each other’s fiercest supporters and most vicious critics.

Lucy transformed herself into Lucile, the daring fashion designer who revolutionized the industry with her flirtatious gowns and brazen self-promotion. And when she married Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon her life seemed to be a fairy tale. But success came at many costs-to her marriage and to her children…and then came the fateful night of April 14, 1912 and the scandal that followed.

Elinor’s novels titillate readers, and it’s even asked in polite drawing rooms if you would like to “sin with Elinor Glyn?” Her work pushes the boundaries of what’s acceptable; her foray into the glittering new world of Hollywood turns her into a world-wide phenomenon. But although she writes of passion, the true love she longs for eludes her.

But despite quarrels and misunderstandings, distance and destiny, there is no bond stronger than that of the two sisters-confidants, friends, rivals and the two “It Girls” of their day



Excerpt from an article by the author about The It Girls

THE AMAZING SUTHERLAND SISTERS

In the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras, two very different British sisters overcame poverty and obscurity to carve pioneering paths through the restrictive rules and rigid regulations of society.  Both worked their way to fame and fortune in an age in which being divorced, going into trade on one’s own, especially for women with strict upbringing and some aristocratic ties, was strictly taboo.  I was thrilled to find such amazing women and make them my heroines in The It Girls.

Both Lucile and Elinor Sutherland were career women in an age in which the only proper career was marriage and motherhood.  When the eras they knew best were over, they shifted gears and sped into the Roaring 20s.  Elinor eventually wrote for the silent movies in Hollywood and hobnobbed with early film stars.  After an international fashion career, Lucile designed for the common woman in the Sears Catalogue.  Yet these sisters, reared in the wilds of Canada and then on the backwater Isle of Jersey, were not common for their time.  

Lucile Sutherland, later Lady Duff-Gordon, (1862 – 1934,) was rebellious, charming, determined and outgoing.  When her husband deserted her and her daughter to run off with a “pantomime girl,” Lucile began to design, cut and sew fabulous fashions on her dining room table.  She forged a path for women designers, which was then strictly the realm of men.  She dressed the rich, famous and royal and fought for innovative changes.

In her 1932 autobiography Discretions and Indiscretions, Lucile relates an incident when she was fitting a gown in her shop for Mary, Duchess of York, wife of George, Duke of York, later King George V.  Lucile spilled pins all over the floor, and the duke knelt in front of her to help pick them up.  Ah, a future king kneeling before her!

Lucile forged the way to get women out of corsets and boldly put side slits in long skirts so women would not have to take little steps.  She certainly was taking big ones!  She was one of the first to design silky, lacy lingerie instead of stiff linen or cotton pantaloons and petticoats.  She weathered the “immoral woman” accusations (mostly from “moral” married men) because woman dared to love her light-weight, fancy but racy designs.  

Lucile first used fashion shows with live “mannequins”/models, rather than showing her costumes on stuffed, faceless dummies.  She personally recruited tall, slender woman, even raiding salesgirls from Harrod’s.  She called these women her ‘goddesses,’ gave them romantic names and taught them social graces. 

Author bio and links

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Harper is a former university (Ohio State) and high school English teacher. Published since 1982, she writes contemporary suspense and historical novels about real British women. She is the author of The Royal Nanny, and several Tudor era books that have been bestsellers in the UK and Russia. A rabid Anglophile, she likes nothing more than to research her novels on site in the British Isles. Harper won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for Dark Angel, and her novel Shattered Secrets was judged one of the Best Books of 2014 by Suspense Magazine. The author and her husband live in Ohio and love to travel.
  


For more information please visit: www.karenharperauthor.com
https://www.facebook.com/KarenHarperAuthor/
https://www.harpercollins.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Girls-Novel-Karen-Harper-ebook/dp/B01MS5KVOM/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-it-girls-karen-harper/1125454571

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Autumn break

Today the autumn break for the schools officially started. Lots of Belgians already took off to sunnier parts yesterday, though. It was quite a busy day for Brussels Airport.

I wish we could also be in some sunny country, but alas, our travel budget is used up for this year... So we're here at the coast and hope to make it also enjoyable.

The weather is truly autumn like - heavy wind, light rain, dark skies. The real atmosphere for Halloween and All Saints.

Luckily you don't have to depend on only the weather when you're at the coast. There are enough things to do beside walking along the beach. And in any case we come here to relax. Well, not so much I but my sister. She has been working hard these past weeks and needs a break. Just like I've been in and out of the hospital.

Perhaps next year of the year after we can make a trip to the southern part of Europe. These last years I've developed a like to warmer climates. I've experienced I can bear high temperatures without any problem and I truly like the sun on my skin. Morocco would be a great destination for this time of year.

Well, we'll see.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Summer time - Winter time

During the night of Saturday on Sunday, we'll be changing once more from summer time to winter time. This time the clock goes back one hour, giving you an extra hour of sleep.

Just like every year, there's again discussion about the use of this summer/winter hour. When they introduced it, years ago, it was supposed to save energy. Well, I haven't noticed it did.

Some parlementarians in the EU are now asking to cancel this law. I'd applaud that! It always takes some getting used to this change in time, and especially babies and animals are bothered by it. In general, I can cope well enough with a difference in time and almost never suffer jetlag. But it's a bother to remember changing the clocks all the time!

What do you think? For or against?

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Cold case: the Nijvel Gang

Over the past decades, there is one case that captures the interest of most Belgians: the bloody raids of the Bende van Nijvel (the Nijvel Gang). It all happened in the 80's of the past century. A group of armed 'robbers' raided supermarkets and not so much were after money, but killed lots of people. The last raid was that of the Delhaize supermarket in Aalst, where some 28 innocents were gunned down.


The whole country was in shock after these happenings - but not much happened. The DA of Dendermonde, Freddy Troch, ran the investigation. However, after some time the investigation was taken away from him and moved to another DA, in French-speaking Belgium. After that, nothing was heard. They never caught the culprits...

No wonder, tongues started to wag after some time, whispering of conspiration  theories, of protecting people in high places.What's the truth? Nobody knows for sure. Personally, my sister and I had a conversation with a politician who claimed (after some drinks) he knew the truth behind this case.  But he never disclosed any data. Was he threatened? He had a wife and two young sons.

Right now, the case has again caught attention. On his deathbed, one of the raiders told his brother he was a member of the infamous gang. By now they know his name - he was a member of the state police in Dendermonde. It's also been found out now that his name has been in the documents for ages. Nobody cared to look into the info given by someone who claimed to recognize the person in the robot picture.

I don't think this case will ever be solved. It must indeed go high up, into the ranks of high military, or government. Some even whisper into the royal family.

For those who've been watching Salamander on Netflix, well that's more or like this cold case. They only lack a Paul Gerardi to solve it!


Sunday, October 22, 2017

How do you cope with problems?

When faced with a problem, not everyone deals with it the same way.

Some people don't want to face the problem. Others only see a problem and it becomes bigger and bigger in their eyes. Others turn to friends, family, to ask for advice. Others turn to faith.

It's so different from person to person. I know from experience. My neighbor Yvette, who has lungcancer, always hears from her sister how silly she is. Yvette has lost her hair and feels weak from the chemo, but the sister doesn't seem to understand how different Yvette's situation is from mine. I don't have lungcancer and don't get chemo. So how can you compare?

Now I know people think I'm a tough cookie. That's because I face my problem head on. I know what cancer of the kidney is and what it can do. I know that my days may be counted. But do I have to feel sorry for myself? No! I enjoy life and will always do. I've informed myself enough and I just hope I'll be among those lucky ones who still live a long and enjoyable life.

Tomorrow I'll hear more about what's to follow. Now that my kidney (with the cancer tumor) has been removed, it's time for further treatment. Because I only have one kidney, chemo and immunotherapy can't be used. The oncologist has to work with medication that targets the metastasis. These are relatively new and a lot of research is still going on. I hope they find something that can reduce the growth in my pancreas or even make it disappear.

But up to now, I eat well, I sleep well and I do what I do every day. And writing about it also helps. I have the support of lots of people - among them some I don't even know that well.

Thursday, October 19, 2017

# MeToo

The affair Weinstein stirred quite a bit. Everyone is talking about it now, and the hashtag MeToo has been gathering a lot of testimonials from women who were sexually abused.

I'd like to share my own view on this subject. First of all, let me state that unwanted advances happen - I suppose it's in the nature of man. He's a hunter, has been, always will be out to conquer. But of course, that's no excuse. No man should advance a woman with attentions she doesn't ask for.

As a woman, I've never had any problem with handling such situations. Raised mainly by a grandmother who was world-savvy and very outspoken, I learned from early age on that my body was my own and that nobody was allowed to touch it if I didn't want to.

When a man advances me from behind and for instance slides his arm around my middle, he'll get a sharp elbow into his stomach. Or when they touch my backside, I'll slap their hands or face. I don't care where or when, ,or who the person is. Personal integrity is important. There are some men around who know what I mean. One of them had to walk around with a broken nose and one blue eye for some time...

I.m.o. it's wrong to think you need to allow sexual harassment to get a better job, to advance yourself. That is selling yourself. Regretfully, there are women who like to use their sex appeal to better themselves. But does that make you happy???


Monday, October 16, 2017

Hide and Seek

Please welcome author Desiree Holt today. Desiree is doing a virtual book blast tour for her novel Hide and Seek - a romantic suspense available October 17, 2017 from Kensington Publishing. The Book Blast Tour will take place on Tuesday, October 17, 2017.


Desiree will be awarding a Kindle Fire 7 with Alexa to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Please use the following link to place your comment: 


Blurb

Anything can happen when you let your guard down . . .

After receiving a violent threat on the heels of her father’s disappearance from the town of Arrowhead Bay, Devon Cole fears for her life—until Vigilance, a local private security agency, steps in to shield her from danger. Although she isn’t usually quick to surrender her freedom, she has no problem stripping her defenses for her new sexy bodyguard . . .



Tortured by the painful memory of lost love, Logan Malik is determined not to fall for a client again. So when he’s tasked with watching over Devon day and night, he’s focused on doing his job. Day is no problem, but as tensions rise at night, nothing can protect them from giving in to unbridled passion . . .


Excerpt

“Your father is missing.”

Devon Cole tightened her grip on her cell phone and tried to make sense of what Sheridan March had just told her, as fear swept through her. Maybe she hadn’t heard right.

“What do you mean, missing?”

“The Coast Guard found the Princess Devon drifting five miles off shore early this morning,” the Arrowhead Bay Chief of Police explained. “But there’s no sign of him anywhere. And no clue to anything in the house. We went through every inch of it. The alarm was fried, probably needs to be replaced, but otherwise the place was clean as a whistle.”

Devon clutched the phone. “Was there anything on the boat? Something he might have had with him that could give us a clue?”

“Nada.”

“Where’s the boat now. Would the Coast Guard hold onto it?”

“In its slip at the Bayside Marina. After the Guard went over every inch of it they had one of the men on the cutter bring it back in and berth it. I have the keys.”

Devon swallowed to ease the tightness in her throat. “When was the last time anyone saw him?”




Author bio and links

Desiree Holt is the world’s oldest living published author of erotic and spicy romance. A graduate of the University of Michigan with double majors in English and History, her earlier careers include agent and manager in the music industry, public television, associate vice president of university advancement, public relations, and economic development. 
She is three times a finalist for an EPIC E-Book Award (and a winner in 2014), a nominee for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, winner of the first 5 Heart Sweetheart of the Year
Award at The Romance Studio as well as twice a CAPA Award winner for best BDSM book of the year, a USA Today Bestselling author and winner of the Holt Medallion for Excellence in Romance Literature. 
She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, 
USA Today, The (London) Daily Mail, The New Delhi Times, The Huffington Post and numerous other national and international publications. She is also the Authors After Dark 2014 Author of the Year.
“Desiree Holt is the most amazing erotica author of our time and each story is more fulfilling then the last.” (Romance Junkies)


Learn more about her and read her novels here:
www.desireeholt.com
www.desiremeonly.com
www.facebook.com/desireeholtauthor
www.faceboook.com/authordesireeholt
Twitter @desireeholt
Pinterest: desiree02holt
Google: https://plus.google.com/113212301982441064210
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desiree-holt-a7272526/

Great idea

The town of Roubaix, in the north of France, offers interested parties to buy a house for just ONE Euro! Of course, this comes with the condition to renovate the house.

Roubaix got the idea from Liverpool in Great-Britain, where it has been a big success.

Here in Belgium a house would cost approximately 200,000 €. For that price you expect a house that is more or less in order. Building a new house would be more expensive. Old, run down houses go for at least 70,000 € to 100,000. And then you have to reckon with the costs of total renovation. From experience, I know this can easily run into the high figures. My house is practically 100 years old and I have spent quite some money on it already. New roof, major renovation including breaking out walls, new doors and windows with double glazing, isolation of the roof, ....

So I think this is really a great opportunity for young people to get a house of their own. When you only need to pay one euro, you can easily find some bank ready to provide a loan for renovation (you even get money back from the government).

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Summer mid October

Believe it or not, but it's just like summer today and the coming days. Temperatures of more than 20° Celsius and lots of sunshine.

The coast is up for a very busy weekend. Lots of people drove to one of the coastal resorts yesterday and will be spending the weekend there. Unfortunately, we couldn't go as I had a short stay in the hospital once more.  Only came home yesterday and was still feeling somewhat racked. A good nightrest helped a lot, though.

I can't recall we've ever had such nice weather in October. In 2011 we had a beautiful weekend with high temperatures, but that was at the end of September until the beginning of October. This is something special and we can only enjoy it.

We've been busy riding the bike to run some errands a bit out of town - something you don't do when the wind is blowing hard and it's raining. Now at last we have what we needed.

Tomorrow we're going to spend some time in the garden, picking up the leaves from all our neighbor's trees (!) and disposing of them. A couple more weeks, and then the tress will be free of them. And we also need to do some work on the terrace. Well, we won't be needing a warm jacket!

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Indian summer, just in time for the weekend

The weather forecasters predict an Indian Summer for the next couple of days. Hurray! It will be a nice change from the grey skies which have been hanging above our heads all the past days.


And what's better, the weekend is coming up. Lots of people will be taking a day off to be able to go to the coast or the Ardennes (a hilly region in the French speaking part of Belgium) for a long weekend.

Here at home, it's a good opportunity to do some things on the outside which we weren't able to do earlier. We need to some some repairs to the terrace, for instance. And give a lick of paint to some spots which have been repaired.

And perhaps we can even light the barbecue???

Monday, October 9, 2017

The Christmas Wedding Swap

I've another author as my guest. Today features Allyson Charles. The author is doing a virtual book blast tour for THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING SWAP, a small-town contemporary romance available October 10 from Lyrical Press.



Allyson Charles will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Please use the following link to place your comment(s): 

Blurb

SOMETIMES YOU GET WHAT YOU NEED . . .

Allison Stuart has always been the odd-woman-out of her family. She wears her jeans a little too tight, colors her hair a little too blonde, and instead of going into medicine and law like her sisters, she runs a diner. She’s also the only single sibling left. And while she won’t change her style, and her meatloaf is to die for, thank you very much, she wouldn’t mind her share of wedded bliss. So she makes an early New Year’s resolution: No more meaningless flings.

Drop-dead sexy Luke Hamilton is everything Allison has sworn off. His only serious relationship has been with his five-star restaurant, Le Cygne Noir, in Chicago. When he’s threatened by a lawsuit, Luke decides to hide out in Pineville, Michigan, until the statute of limitations runs out. The small town is filled with Christmas charm, but he can’t imagine living there. Heating things up with the hottie who owns the local diner would make his exile bearable—if he can convince her to give up her ridiculous resolution . . .


Excerpt

She laid a hand on his arm and squeezed. “Both my sisters are married to nice, dependable men, and I have two nieces. That’s what I want. No matter how much my hormones want to take you up to my bed and have their way with you, that’s not going to get me to my dream.”

“Nice. Dependable.” He shoved his hands deeper in his pockets. “It doesn’t sound like you want a husband. It sounds like you want a pet dog.”

She took a step back and ran her hands down her dress, smoothing out the creases. “There’s nothing wrong with dependable.”

“It’s boring.”

“Reliable.”

Raising his hand, he picked up a lock of her hair and twisted it around his finger. “That’s just a synonym for dependable, not an argument.”

“This isn’t something you can argue with me about. It’s my decision.” She took a step away before turning back. “I’ll show you to your room. And I really am sorry I threw myself at you like that, gave you the wrong message. It won’t happen again, hot shot,” she said with a wink, her good humor restored.

Luke picked up his bags and trudged after her up the stairs. She bounced back as quickly as her curls did, and a tiny kernel of resentment blossomed in Luke’s gut. He didn’t want her to be heartbroken, but a token display of dejection wouldn’t go amiss. Luke was man enough to admit that the fact that he was never going to have Allison Stuart caused an ache behind his breastbone.

And just for a moment, he thought about what it would take to be the kind of man Allison wanted. 

Author bio and links

Allyson Charles lives in Northern California. She’s the author of the "Pineville Romance" series, small-town, contemporary romances published by Lyrical Press. A former attorney, she happily ditched those suits and now works in her pajamas writing about men’s briefs instead of legal briefs. When she’s not writing, she’s probably engaged in one of her favorite hobbies: napping, eating, or martial arts (That last one almost makes up for the first two, right?). One of Allyson’s greatest disappointments is living in a state that doesn’t have any Cracker Barrels in it.


Sign up for Allyson’s newsletter at www.allysoncharles.com/newsletter

You can find her at www.allysoncharles.com, on Twitter @1allysoncharles, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorAllysonCharles

Buy links for THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING SWAP
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s/?field-keywords=9781601836090
IBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-christmas-wedding-swap/id1209823636?mt=11
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-christmas-wedding-swap-allyson-charles/1125489708;jsessionid=7895472FF3C5A0BDE501E6AB0E760A87.prodny_store02-atgap02?ean=9781601836090
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-christmas-wedding-swap
Google: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9781601836090&c=books

In which a little country can be great

That Belgium is top for chocolates and beer is widely known. But there are a lot of things in which we are equally great!

Did you know, for instance, that Belgium - and more precisely Flanders - is the biggest seller of frozen vegetables? They are especially liked in the Middle East. The area around Roeselaere is a concentration of plans where vegetables are deep frozen and put into packages or boxes... Which is one of the reasons why the most beautiful vegs can never be found in any of our shops.

Last weekend gymnast Nina Derwael got a bronze medal in the WC Gymnastics, for her exercise on the bridge. This thanks to an excellent organisation that cherishes talents. We can hope now that Belgium will be counted among those countries who go for the medals in future years, because we have other great gymnasts.



Also in tennis we're doing well. David Goffin is now a top ten player and will probably compete in the Masters. And don't forget, the Belgian tennis team is playing the Davis Cup Final next month, against France. A victory in sight?

And of course we have a great soccer team. Most of its members play in foreign clubs where they have a star role. Who doesn't know De Bruyne, Fellaini, Mertens, Lukaku, ...? And the ambition of this team is to win the cup in the coming world championship soccer.

Saturday, October 7, 2017

It's that time of year again...

As soon as the skies turn darker, the leaves turn all colors and begin to fall down, then the Halloween decorations start to pop up in the stores.

Nowadays, Halloween has turned into a real spectacle, not just something from the States. It's hip to post pictures on Instagram, all dressed up for Halloween. And shops offer more and more nice decorations.


I don't know, but it gives your house something cozy, I think. Especially when it's dark and the shutters are closed. A little candle (we use artificial ones, on batteries) gives a special glow in the hollow pumpkin. And those little whiches, ghosts and bat add to the atmosphere. We put up our decoration last Sunday already, to enjoy it for a full month.


Do you also love to decorate your homes according to the season?

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

A Shot at Love

Today my guest author is Peggy Jaeger, who's doing a virtual book tour to promote her romance novel A Shot at Love. As a reader, you can leave a comment and win a prize! Peggy will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Please use the following link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f2412


Blurb

Nothing’s impossible when love is on the menu. In Peggy Jaeger’s luscious series, the only thing more tempting than a delicious meal is a truly delectable romance . . . Look for exclusive recipes in each book!  Photographer Gemma Laine is looking for arresting faces on the streets of Manhattan when her camera captures something shocking—a triple murder. In that moment, she becomes a target for the mob—and a top priority for a very determined, breathtakingly handsome, FBI special agent. With deadlines to meet and photo shoots on her calendar, Gemma chafes at the idea of protection, but every moment she spends under his watchful eye is a temptation to lose herself in his muscular arms . . . With two of his men and one crucial witness dead, Special Agent Kyros Pappandreos can’t afford to be distracted. But Gemma is dazzling—and her connection to Kandy Laine’s high-profile cooking empire makes her an especially easy mark for some very bad people. Keeping her safe is much more pleasure than business, but as the heat between them starts to sizzle, Ky is set to investigate whether they have a shot at love . .

Excerpt

A woman stood next to the vehicle, a cell phone at her ear, her back to him. Tall, maybe as tall as him, and slender, her back tapered down to a miniscule waist, her legs clad in tight, faded jeans. When she turned Ky almost stopped midstride, the questions he intended to grill her with
jumping out of his head. His breath caught as he simply stared at the loveliest woman he’d ever seen.

Hair the color of midnight, straight as a board, fell to just below her shoulders, blowing back from her face in the gentle afternoon breeze. Blunt, chopped bangs, fringed a pair of large, bright blue eyes. Plump, coral colored lips moved as she spoke into the phone and for a brief, hot second, Ky wondered if they’d taste as delicious as they looked.

Her gaze stayed on him as she spoke.

“I’ve gotta go,” she said into the phone. “Yeah. I’ll call when I’m done. Love you, too.”

“Miss Laine?” 

She tucked the phone into her back pocket. 

“I’m Special Agent Pappandreos. I need to speak with you about what you saw.” 

“Special Agent?” Those delicate brows furrowed under her bangs. “Like, FBI?” 

Jesus, where does a woman get a voice like that? Whiskey laced with honey and rolled into one smooth pitch.



Author bio and links

Peggy Jaeger is a contemporary romance writer who writes about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them.
Family and food play huge roles in Peggy’s stories because she believes there is nothing that holds a family structure together like sharing a meal…or two…or ten. Dotted with humor and characters that are as real as they are loving, Peggy brings all topics of daily life into her stories: life, death, sibling rivalry, illness and the desire for everyone to find their own happily ever after. Growing up the only child of divorced parents she longed for sisters, brothers and a family that vowed to stick together no matter what came their way. Through her books, she has created the families she wanted as that lonely child.
Tying into her love of families, her children's book, THE KINDNESS TALES, was illustrated by her artist mother-in-law.
Peggy holds a master's degree in Nursing Administration and first found publication with several articles she authored on Alzheimer's Disease during her time running an Alzheimer's in-patient care unit during the 1990s.
In 2013, she placed first in two categories in the Dixie Kane Memorial Contest: Single Title Contemporary Romance and Short/Long Contemporary Romance.
In 2017 she came in 3rd in the New England Reader's Choice contest for A KISS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS and is a finalist in the 2017 STILETTO contest for the same title. A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, she is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.
Website/Blog: http://peggyjaeger.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/peggy_jaeger
Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00T8E5LN0
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peggy-Jaeger-Author/825914814095072?ref=bookmarks
 Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/peggyjaeger/
 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13478796.Peggy_Jaeger

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mmj122687/


AND NOW - as a special treat I've asked the author to share her views on cooking! Here's what she says:

It’s no great secret that I love to cook. Probably because I lovelovelove to eat! There’s nothing more  soul enriching to me than putting a meal together that satisfies my family and my friends. Growing up I was alone most of the time because my parents both worked fulltime and I was an only child. Back then, kids like me – the ones who were left on their own every day after school until adults came home from work – were called latch key kids. My mother was usually too tired by the time she came home at night to put together a three course, nutritious meal,  so many of the meals she did make consisted of stuff that could be thrown together in 5-10 minutes and routinely came out of a box. Yup, we ate a lot of Prince macaroni and Kraft mac and cheese back then, in addition to take out. I’m not judging  - truly. But after a while, all of those non-choices gets old. I knew that if I wanted to eat when I was hungry, and make it something good for me, I needed to learn to cook. So I did.
 Now, this was before cable TV took over the world. I didn’t have the Food Channel, and computers weren’t a staple in the home so I couldn’t Google or You-tube a cooking lesson. I went to the library and took out a few cookbooks, chief among them the Betty Crocker Cookbook.

I read this tome from cover to cover. I inhaled all the instructions from how to boil water safely to how to sauté. I was even able to make a few rudimentary dinners that I ate and then served to my exhausted mother and stepfather when they got home. They ate everything gratefully!

In college I used to cook for the girls in my dorm when we had some down time. Having a “home cooked meal” went a long way to making us all a little less homesick. 

When I finally married and had a child, I was blessed not to have to work outside the home like my mother did, so every night I made a from-scratch dinner. My daughter didn’t taste Kraft mac and cheese until she was older and went to someone else’s house. In fact, she didn’t believe it was mac and cheese when it was served to her!

Sharing a meal every night with your family, turning the cell phones, the television, and every other distracting device off, is the way my husband and I raised our daughter. Lingering over a delicious meal, discussing our days, actually talking to one another face to face is starting to be a lost art in this country. Everyone is so busy. I get that, I really do. But what’s more important – checking your Twitter feed, or connecting with your kids and family members? Updating facebook, or having a face to face in the same room ( and not on Skype) conversation with the people you love the most?
For me, there’s no choice. It’s family first, last and always. Oh, and the food, too!

One of my favorite go-to recipes when you want to cook something but you don’t want to bother with 15 ingredients. Most of these ingredients people already have in their kitchen.


Spinach and Cheese Pie

Ingredients:
5 large eggs
2/3 cup canola oil
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 box chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained of water
1 cup Bisquick
1/8 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
1 thinly sliced tomato

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously grease a 10 inch skillet – the kind that can go into a hot oven ( no plastic handles!)

1. By hand. Beat the eggs for a few seconds to break them up,  then add the canola oil, parmesan cheese, mozzarella, spinach, Bisquick, salt and pepper. Mix all together.
2. Pour into the skillet and put into heated oven.
3. After 15 minutes, remove and lay the tomato slices on top of the now-firming mixture. Put the skillet back into the over and cook for another 15 minutes until the pie is completely set.
Makes 8 servings ( 4 in my house because everyone wants a huge piece!!!)

Monday, October 2, 2017

Autumn's in the air

Since a couple of days, we're really into autumn (or fall, for the Americans). Time to put away the summer gear and change your wardrobe from skirts and t-shirts to jeans and (light) pullovers. It's getting dark by 7.30 pm now and soon we'll have to put on the lights by 4 pm.

Now I don't mind this season, as long as it keeps dry. It's nice to go walking, with all the trees having various colors: red, brown, something in-between.


But when rain lashes out and the branches of the trees blow in all directions, then it's not so nice. I just hate rain! My bones can't bear humidity anymore - actually, I should move to some place where the sun keeps shining all year through, and where the atmosphere is dry as well. 

Of course, for foodies this is a great season. I just love dishes with vegetables that are in season. Like now, mushrooms. Soon there will be others too, like Brussels sprouts. Lots of kids don't like to eat them, but we got them from early age on, and got to love all sorts of cabbage. For sprouts though, it needs to freeze to get the best ones.