Favorite Things

One of my Favorite Things? Halloween! – by Pam Crooks

by

When I saw that my day for Favorite Things fell on Halloween, I instantly knew what to write about.

A no-brainer, right?

Except Halloween wasn’t always as much fun for me as it is now.  Oh, I did the mom-thing and made all my girls’ costumes.  Some of them were very creative.  The planning and prep was fun through the eyes of my daughters, and I truly miss that part of Halloween even now.

But of course, the time came when they quit dressing up.  They grew up, married, and had kids of their own to make costumes for.  Halloween fell a little flat for me in those years, and the fact that we live in a quiet neighborhood comprised of empty-nesters, too, didn’t help.  If we get 15 trick-or-treaters, it’s a big night.

So the more grandkids I had, the more I began to live vicariously through their celebrating.  Having a family Halloween celebration before the 31st allowed me to see them in costume without intruding on their trick-or-treating.  And a celebration couldn’t happen without a meal.  Since all four of my daughters are great cooks, we all got into the spirit of fun spookiness.

I can’t share all of the pictures I’ve taken over the years, but here are a few of my favorites.

Monster burgers – my favorite Halloween entree ever.

Puking Pumpkin

Jalapeno Mummies

Pumpkin Relish Tray

Hard-boiled Egg Eyes

Bloody Guts

(Don’t worry – it’s only cinnamon rolls with red frosting.   Ha!)

New this year – my Skeleton-in-a-Casket Charcuterie Board!

This was a fun and easy treat – oatmeal cookies with Reese’s Peanut Butter cups made into spiders.

 

Graveyard Poke Cake

We cut into this dessert before I could snap a picture, but my daughter made it just like this.  So cute!

And last but not least, my husband as a Playfully Scary Clown!

How do you celebrate Halloween?

Home Sweet Home

by

For a lot of years, I didn’t go anywhere. With five kids and homeschooling, a ton of dogs and other animals to care for, a husband who was seldom home and loads of gardening and farm work to do and not much money, we didn’t even take vacations.

But I love seeing new places and traveling, so now that the kids are older, I was able to go to three different writing things this year, flying out to each of them.
This past weekend I was in south Texas visiting a writing friend, Alexa Verde. I love Texas – big and hot and so much history. I love the other places I was at this year – Minnesota and Lake Superior and South Dakota, the Black Hills and the hardy people who live there. But there is something so sweet about pulling into my driveway, seeing the pasture we cleared and planted and fenced, seeing the cows under the shadow of the Blue Ridge and driving under the sugar maples that line the last one hundred yards of our drive and pulling into our house.
Sunday night when I got home, my family had waited up for me, and in the darkness, figures materialized as I parked. My daughter was hugging me before I even got out of my car and my dog was trying to climb into my lap (she’s a 60 pound German Shepherd, but she thinks she’s my lap dog). A warm, late summer breeze blew softly, stirring the leaves in the apple tree, and a half moon shone, giving the mountains in the distance just an outline of the grandeur I knew was there.
There’s something about the mountains that I love and that feels like home, even though these mountains are different than the ones I grew up in up in PA. I suppose they’re like sentinels, in a very real way, because they interrupt the air currents and keep us safe from tornadoes. I love thunderstorms and do not fear them, mostly because I know the mountains literally have my back.
When I drive to PA, I cross the Potomac River and drive a few miles through Maryland before I hit the PA line. Those mountains are the familiar bench shape, they look older, but smaller. Nestled on this side of Town Hill Mountain, is the little town of Amaranth. Just a post office and one or two houses, plus a church, of course. (What is a town without a church?)
It’s about two hours from where I grew up in PA and my Aunt Ruth used to live there. I visited her farm for a week or so each summer before I was old enough to work full time on the farm at home. It’s where I learned what an electric fence was. (And if you know, you know, right? ) It’s where I first smelled that clean, slightly farm scent of dozens of fresh eggs, just laid. (They owned a chicken house, such as it was back then, along with their beef cattle and hogs.)
We baked peach cobbler, peeled a million apples (and threw the peels to the hogs), stepped on thistles, learned to quilt and play cut-throat games of checkers. My aunt was paralyzed from the chest down, but I never heard her complain. She was not depressed and she didn’t mope. She got up every morning and worked just as hard as anyone I knew, and hard work was a given in my family. I learned a lot from her, and I loved my time on her farm, but I’d sit at the window in the spare room after everyone else had gone to bed and watch the headlights on I70 go up Town Hill and over the other side and wish I was home, because as much fun as I was having, home was always where I wanted to be.
I guess to me, home is where people love you. Where they run out to your car and hug you before you can get out of it, even if you were only gone three days. Where you laugh and cry and work together. Where the mountains remind you that God is your strength and help, where you sing and play instruments and the halls ring with God’s music and praise to him. Where you step outside, and yeah, there’s a lot of work to do, but many hands make light work and home is where the work is light and there’s good food, fun and fellowship with people who love you, and who like you, too. Because there’s a difference, right?
But, maybe the older I get, the more real the idea has become to me that this world is not my home. Aunt Ruth isn’t here anymore, nor any of her sisters, my beloved aunts, whom I used to visit as well. My mom resides in Heaven and it feels like more and more of the people who love me have moved there. Maybe that’s one of the lessons of life, since, I love my earthly home, but I am more and more eager to get to my Heavenly one.
Home is one of my favorite things. What makes your home feel like home to you?

Lucky Shot & 1972

by

If you are keeping up with the releases of the Pink Pistol Sisterhood series, book 9 is now ready for your reading pleasure.

I hope you’ll check out Lucky Shot! I shared last month about what a joy and blessing it was for me to write this book, but I thought it might be fun to share a little about the research I did for the story, since I was a toddler when it takes place, in 1972. I also had some excellent brainstorming help from the fillies here on Petticoats and Pistols. Thank you, my Pink Pistol Sisters for all the great ideas!

My grandma’s old 1960s era cookbook provided great ideas for recipes my characters might be eating.

I remember my mom having the butcher block top portable dishwasher before we moved into a new house in 1975. You can see more of the visual inspiration that helped when I was writing the story in my Lucky Shot Pinterest board.

Our very own Cheryl Pierson sent me an amazing list of songs from the summer of 1972. I think you’ll see some tunes on the list you probably recognize!

Thanks to the wonders of eBay and fast delivery, I also had this June 1972 copy of Woman’s Day magazine. I grew up with a mother and grandmother who loved magazines. It was a much-anticipated event when a new one would arrive in the mailbox (which is probably why I still love magazines). Anyway, this one took me right back to the days of my youth with all the articles, colorful and clever advertisements, and articles.

Look at the summer fashions of the day!

One of my mom’s favorite parts of the magazine was The Collector’s Cook Book. She always pulled them out and saved them. I wonder what ever happened to all of them.

Just for fun, here is a recipe from this South Pacific themed collection of recipes.

Tropical Pear Bars

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 can pear halves, drained and diced

1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1 cup flaked coconut

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

Combine 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup brown sugar and cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Pat firmly into buttered 9″ square pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat eggs until light. Gradually add remaining brown sugar. Mix together remaining flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into egg mixture. Fold in remaining ingredients and spread over warm baked mixture. Put back in oven and bake 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool and cut into bars.

If you want to take a stroll down memory lane, or dive into some “retro” fun, check out Lucky Shot, available now on Amazon. You can get it in eBook, through Kindle Unlimited, in paperback, or hardback!

What’s a girl to do when her aim is true?

As a registered nurse at the Boise VA Hospital, Grace Marshall is devoted to her patients, but some wounds require more than medical care. A patient too stubborn and angry to accept the help he needs storms out of her exam room, ruffling her feathers. Yet, when the man returns to apologize, something about him tugs at her heart.

Levi Gibson left for war young and idealistic but returned from Vietnam with physical scars and a haunted soul. He tries to banish the darkness brewing inside him with hard work on his family’s potato farm, but it’s a young nurse’s kindness that brings unexpected light and joy into his life. If Levi can open up to Grace and let her see his pain, could she be the key that unlocks a future full of hope instead of mere survival?

After her father sends Grace a legendary pistol, target practice provides an excuse to spend time with Levi during the summer of 1972. As his shadows overwhelm him, it will take far more than a lucky shot for Grace to hit love’s mark.

If you could travel back in time,

what year would you visit and

what one food would you look forward to enjoying?

Post your answer then pop over to this link for a chance to win a big

Lucky Shot prize pack that includes an autographed hardback!

 

Karen’s Favorite Things

by

The interior of my home will never grace a magazine page or a blog post about design style. My aesthetic is far too eclectic and practical. My home is furnished with hand-me-down family items mixed with a few new purchases made over the last thirty years. However, some of my favorite things are the little cowboy touches sprinkled throughout my home. My home is more traditional American than rustic western overall, but I’ve collected quite a few decor items over the years that add a fun touch of cowboy chic that leaves me smiling. Especially since my husband is the one who has given me the vast majority of these.

Let’s take a tour, so I can show them off.

We start in the entryway, just inside the front door. To your right you’ll find a cowboy and cowgirl kneeling in prayer at the base of a cross. To your left is a wall hanging featuring a gun belt, three Texas stars, a cowboy kerchief, and a pair of girl’s bonnets. The bonnets were made for my daughter’s Little House themed birthday party when she was about 8 or 9. I have a couple in my bedroom as well. Couldn’t let them go to waste!

Next, we move to the kitchen and my prized salt and pepper shakers. I use these almost every day. My husband and I bought them in a gift shop when we were traveling to some western-ish place that I have since forgotten.

Moving to the living room we find my favorite piece of cowboy art. A gift from my husband several years ago.

As we move down the hall, you’ll see a stash of my books on a shelf along with a pair of miniature boots that a reader gave to me. They add the perfect touch!

Coming into my bedroom, you’ll see some western flavor on my dresser, also gifts from my Texas hero. Love the pen holder and little keepsake box. (Apparently I didn’t notice that the lid was backwards when I snapped the photo. Ha!)

And we can’t forget the bathroom. Every western writer need to be able to brush her teeth in the proper frame of mind.

I have a few items in my day-job office as well. I have a small collection of decorative pencil sharpeners that have I picked up at various gift shops over the years, and the pencil holder on the right is one of the first western decor items my husband ever purchased for me. It’s my favorite!

~GIVEAWAY~

Leave a comment about your favorite decor item (western or otherwise) for a chance to a win this pair of western hooks.

 

Favorite Things – Kari Trumbo

by

I’m sorry this is later than usual. It’s been quite the weekend so far. Frankly, this weekend kicked off with one of my favorite things, my birthday. I don’t know why it is, but I love that fresh-start feeling that comes for me with a birthday.

I’ve actually talked about my favorite things in other posts, just not as a revealing “this is something I love” but more so, “my characters do this”. I will occasionally weave things that I love to do in my stories, because that makes the story more real. One of those things is knitting. I’m not as fond of crochet, but only because I never got the hang of the patterns and stitches. Knitting was more straight-forward to me.

I’m currently knitting the Elisabeth Zimmerman Pi shawl (though mine is not knit in the round, there’s a slit to make it easier to wear). I’m close to binding it off. I love all the blue colors. It reminds me of my recent releases.

Another of my favorite things is music. When I need something to calm my brain, music is my go-to. I love Laura Story, Crowder, and Mercy Me. When I want to just listen, not sing, classical is my jam. Occasionally, when my brain is in squirrel mode, I need the sound of water moving to get my thoughts flowing in the right direction. It’s amazing to me what sound can do for you.

My two favorite things are calming. Are your favorite things more calming or exciting?

Petticoats & Pistols