Gatekeeper's Texas Red Chili

 

Ingredients:

·         2-3 pound pot (chuck) roast (or other cut of beef: brisket, round sirloin, strip steak, etc.)

·         1 can diced tomatoes 14.5oz (use a second can of tomatoes if desired)

·         1 small can tomato paste 6oz

·         ½ to 1c tomato juice

·         1c beef or chicken broth

·         2 fresh habanero chilis

·         3 large fresh jalapeño chilis

·         1 diced onion (yellow or white)

·         1 red bell pepper

·         4-5 cloves of fresh chopped garlic or 1 large Tbs minced garlic (garlic powder is not recommended)

·         1-2 Tbs per pound of meat of Texas Red chili seasoning from Meat Church BBQ (Waxahachie, TX) Tip: some Ace Hardware stores carry Meat Church products.

·         Red cayenne pepper (to taste)

·         Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste while cooking…go easy and taste test it.

Trim extra fat from chuck roast…save trimmings.  Cube meat into 1inch squares. Lightly season meat with salt and pepper.  Chop one whole onion.  Chop garlic.  In a cast iron skillet, render the fat trimmings, remove the solids and sear the meat in the same skillet. Don’t crowd the pan.  I may take two or three batches.  Set the browned, seared meat aside. In the same skillet, sauté the onion until they begin to turn translucent…scraping the meat drippings into the onion, add the garlic for no more than 1 minute. Remove from heat and set it aside.

On a flat griddle, roast the fresh chilis and bell pepper after cutting them in half removing the seeds.  Mash the chilis flat on a very hot griddle using the cast iron skillet for weight.  Rough cut them after roasting.  Combine all these ingredients in a food processor or blender: tomatoes, paste, juice, broth, chilis and seasoning (add red cayenne to bring up the heat, if desired).  Blend until smooth.

Combine all ingredients in a cast iron or enamel Dutch oven.  Mix them well.  Add more broth if you want the rich broth to be a bit thinner (personal preference).  Cook in preheated at 250° (you can also cook it on a smoker or outdoor grill (indirect heat).  If cooking outdoors, keep the temp between 250-300°.  Cook for several hours until the meat very tender. Normally this will be 4 to 6 hours.  Stir hourly to prevent burning.  Add liquid if needed.

Serve in a heavy ceramic bowl with toppings of your choice:  Grated cheddar, cilantro, fresh chopped green onions, sour cream, etc. Enjoy.

Learn Something New

 2021 is quickly winding down.

Do you want to stay young between the ears?

Accept a challenge / Learn a new skill, or a new body of knowledge 

Don’t discount small beginnings! Take a step…just one, or maybe two. Repeat the steps, learning each time. Before you know it, they will become second nature…and you can move on. I learned to play the guitar just like this. I had minimal musical talent, but enough to keep time and stay on key. My dad gave me a guitar when I was in my thirties and told me to learn to play it. I did…for my own enjoyment. I started with 5 chords:  C, F, G, D & A. I played them until I could play them in the dark. You can play hundreds of songs with those 5 simple chords (F is a challenge for some). I will never be Chet Atkins or Glen Campbell, but I can play by the hour and sing along for my own enjoyment. It is very fulfilling. I am learning to cook the same way. I started with bacon and eggs, but I paid attention to detail and did them right. Now I can cook other things. It is enjoyable, and again, fulfilling. I will never beat Bobby Flay in a throw down, but who cares. I can cook some good stuff.

I am learning another skill…writing fiction! Many ask, “when will your book be finished?”  I get it, but its not like fixing your plumbing. I am learning what I am doing as I go. The answer is, “my book will be finished when I think I have learned to write in a style and with a skill someone might want to read.”  It takes time…the story is the easy part, learning the craft is a challenge. It took John Grisham six years to write his first novel, “A Time To Kill.”

Anyone who has learned to use a smart phone (get online, text, take photos, email and make phone calls) can learn most anything if you want to.  Don’t let your brain get old along with your body. Exercise it (my body could use some exercise, too). Learn something new...try it…take a few small steps. Don’t despise small beginnings! Who knows, someday you might be able to say, “let’s make that a true daily double.” 

Don't Sell Out

 

A major temptation and failure of those in ministry

There has been much said, written and graphic illustration of moral and ethical failures concerning those in vocational ministry.  Ministry, as I am using the term here, is specifically Christian vocational ministry; pastor, deacon, overseer, bishop, etc.).

            In my experience, I have seen people (men and women) in ministry stumble, fall, rebound, and perish over several issues.  You can pretty much boil it down to three categories:  Money, Sex & Power (Richard Foster wrote an excellent book on this very topic...with this title). I highly recommend it.

One area of failure that often goes unseen and is rarely addressed is selling ministry for money, or something that is profitable or a perk to the minister.  I have been tempted to do this myself. This is where you will give favors or ignore behaviors and activities because someone has something that would benefit you or has given you something of value.  In doing this, you lose your moral ground to be fair, impartial, and just with everyone.  Preferential treatment and giving undue favors will result. Things of value can be given generously and compassionately from folks with a benevolent heart, not because it buys something for them down the road.  Payback is not the way to do business. Keep your hand out of another’s pocket, even if they invite you to put it there.  Some folks will gladly give you things to be close to you.  It feeds the image they want to project to those around them. Don’t sell the ministry.  I have had many perks from people who are generous and want to give from their heart and their prosperity. That is not always wrong. Just make sure it isn’t for a future payback. I have taken trips, flown first class, enjoyed vacation accommodations, attended concerts, played golf on world class courses, eaten at fine restaurants, etc. All from folks who wanted to show appreciation and give me a special gift that I could never afford. It was always offered. I never asked for it. That is OK. Never have I taken anything that interfered with my ability to look at that person (or family) and say, ”you are wrong,” or “you need to confess and make this right,” and so on.  No one can look me in the eyes and say, “after all I’ve done for you, and now you say this to me.”  I can say anything that needs to be said to anyone because it is right, ultimately helpful and the loving thing to do. Don’t sell out.

The last of my sixties

 The Last of the Sixties...Bring on the Seventies

I am thinking of my last few hours of life in my sixties (it concludes at midnight). By any standard, I am solidly a senior citizen and will continue to be for as long as I am breathing air. There are loads of pithy quips and quotes about age and the aging process that I mostly ignore. I have this moment, today...nothing more, nothing less. I am good with that.

I had a very delightful breakfast yesterday with two of my favorite young men...Jordan and Cody Gentes. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I forgot about my hearing aid follow-up appointment at Costco. I talked right through it. How appropriate is that? Most of the conversation was about choices and decision for them in the days, months and years ahead. Cody is twenty-four, and Jordan is a brand new father...what a terrific time in their lives. In a nutshell, my encouragement to them was to get out of the kiddie pool and go for the deep end...jump in over your head. It is where you really learn to swim...because you have to. As I look back, much of my life had been lived in waters that were over my head, but I survived.

I don't see my self as a great risk taker, and certainly not as adventuresome as my wife, who paddle boarded several miles down the Salt River on her 70th birthday. I have taken life as it has come to me...stepping out in new territories and with new experiences. I have been blessed to have traveled the world doing what I love most...ministry. I have, over the years, accumulated the absolute best friends a person could ever hope to know, and I can go back anywhere I have been and folks seem to enjoy seeing me again. I am still walking out my life as a disciple of my KING...Jesus Christ. I am loyal. I don't like much pomp and circumstance. I prefer the simple ways and the rural lifestyle. I am, and always have been, a cowboy at heart. There are few things l'll bleed for but if you cross them, be ready for a fight.

I told my longtime friend, Kyle, just yesterday...I am not afraid to die, yet neither am I anxious for the experience. Strumming my guitar and singing a few good songs is comforting to me beyond reason. Being retired is not boring, and with any kind of "luck" I'll finish my novel before I expire. That's about it....bring on the SEVENTIES.

My Criminal Life

            I must have been about eight years of age…maybe nine.  I was invited along on a camping trip with my uncle and aunt.  They had two children at the time.  My uncle was my idol. He was a former Marine who had served in Korea.  My memories of that are vague.  I remember a letter or two we received from him that had the little red and blue ribbon like border edges on the envelope.  My mother read the letter out loud, but my recall can’t pull up any details.  He had come home safely and gotten a college degree.  He was now in a job that involved working with young criminals, or those with significant momentum in that direction.  He new when a kid was in trouble, or soon would be.  He worked for the county probation department.

            I was a farm boy.  A good boy by all accounts, though you would never prove that by the declarations of my paternal grandfather.  We lived on the same farm.  I was a curious boy which often led to things being broken, turned off, turned on, lost or misplaced. Something in my DNA demanded that I try things no matter how ill-advised it might be.  In short, whatever happened on that farm was automatically my fault.  Sometimes, not often, I had never even touched or seen the object that was missing or broken. My “go to” line was, “I didn’t even know they had a freezer,” when my grandparent’s freezer contents had somehow become unfrozen.  I just accepted the blame for everything.  It was easier that way.  My redeeming trait was that I was entertaining to the family.  They all liked me.  Being the third born, I was the poster child for characteristics of the youngest in the family.  The rules didn’t apply to me.

            Keeping the above characteristics in mind, it is important to note that I grew up in a hunter/gatherer kind of family.  We grew and killed things and ate them.  When I would see an undomesticated animal my first thought was often, do we eat that, and can I kill it.  I wasn’t violent. I was a hunter at heart. 

            I noticed when we chose our camp site there were numerous nondescript birds flying around that, no doubt, had learned there would soon be scraps of food when humans came.  I was intrigued watching them. Inside my mind there was a conversation taking place.  Can I catch one, and how would I go about it was the burning question.  I decided the use of a projectile would be the best choice.  I scattered some crumbs on the ground a few feet away, found a suitable throwing rock and hid behind a bush. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before a bird landed to take what had been left.  I let fly with the rock in my hand and hit the bird squarely as it was picking up the crumbs.  It flopped a bit and could not fly away.  A clean hit…a kill.  Well not yet a kill, but with another rock I finished the task very quickly.  I looked around and my two much younger cousins were watching me.  I had just murdered a living creature.  They were town kids. They were horrified.  I was promptly ratted out and to say the least, I became “persona non grata” for the rest of that camping trip.

            I am sure that my actions deeply troubled my uncle.  He knew that any kid who would kill or torture animals would likely become the next serial killer.  It was only a matter of time until I would face him in juvenile hall.  I guess he didn’t consider my offense anyway similar to his when he showed my older brother and me how to make sling shots to shoot feral cats who were making tracks all over his new car.  Not an approved activity for a probation officer, but we loved it. 

            I never became a serial killer.  In fact, I no longer hunt. I don’t need the meat and I get no pleasure from killing animals for the sport of it.  I have no problem with those who do, as long as they process and use what they kill.   In fact, I have never been arrested for a misdemeanor, vandalism or even a curfew violation.  To be honest, I should say I have never been caught in any of those activities.  Since my career as a lifetime criminal never panned out, I became the next best thing…a preacher. 

It You’ve Got Leaving On Your Mind

 The Changing Church Culture

The late, great Patsy Cline recorded a song entitled: “If You’ve Got Leaving On Your Mind.” The lyrics continue: “….tell me now, get it over, hurt me now, get it over…if you’ve got leaving on your mind.”

Every church has experienced it this past year and a half, and despite the spiritual language pastors use to cushion the blow, it just hurts! The culture of “church going” is changing folks…it has changed. The needle is continuing to move and none of us know exactly where it will settle. Sermons and articles are being crafted to expound the importance of coming back to fill the large, sophisticated buildings that are half full, or less. Messages on “forsake not the assembling of yourselves," are rampant. The machine must be fed, and it is a BIG machine in many, many cases. Therefore, we need a teaching (a theology, if you will) that supports the need to pay for the machinery we’ve constructed. The tail is wagging the dog, to some extent.

I am not speaking against big churches, big buildings, multi-million dollar operations, etc. I am just saying, “the times, they are a changing.” Pastors, of both large and small congregations, are hurting. It hurts when people leave us, no matter how it is nuanced. "….you can't hide those lyin’ eyes, and your smile is a thin disguise…” No criticism here…I hurt for you. I am retired from the day to day, keep the church alive effort, so it is easier for me to speak about it.

Where is it all headed? Hang on…the many changes we are seeing are not over yet. Millions will be choosing to “do church” differently than in the past. Many church people have “leaving on their mind.”

What Is Church?

 

Enjoying the service today with the Anaheim Vineyard (10am).  Worship, with Kathryn Scott leading, was glorious, and the message by Alan Scott is inspiring me well as challenging me to engage in my world as a follower of Jesus Christ.  I am not a fan of “online” church, but given the situation we have been in, it is a reasonable thing for me at this time.  There are many flavors of church expression, and you, no doubt will see some you enjoy and some, not so much. That is OK.  For me, the Anaheim Vineyard embraces the values and engages the kind of worship and message that captured me back in the early 80s and continues to speak to my heart today.

            Worship is not 17.5 minutes (or whatever the current figure is) that experts have determined is the optimum time a person can engage before they need a change of program.  The message is not a specific 22 minutes, and no longer, because folks can’t listen to a monologue that stretches that limit.  It’s just the way it is…it is how we are culturally programmed.  Sorry, but I don’t buy into such nonsense.  When the Spirit of the Lord is in the place and His people are crying out to Him in genuine praise and adoration,  and when lives are in need, no one is looking at the seconds to see if this portion of the program is about over.  Doesn’t happen. 

            Are there “up” and “down” Sundays?  Of course.  However, it is not because we didn’t do the program effectively and punctually. We come with our head and our hearts open to what God wants to do in us, and through us. And, we come to honor and praise Him no matter what is going in and around us. 

            So, some of us are more traditional, and some of us are more contemporary.  That is just our preferences. The presence of God is not about either kind of program or format. We don’t dictate to Him how, when, and why He shows up in the place we gather.  He is there because he loves us extravagantly, and He invites us to give the same love back to Him.  In that time and place, where the presence of God is obvious,  our slick programs, music and floor shows are a poor substitute for His power, His mercy, His grace and His love.

Gatekeeper's Meatloaf & Glaze

 

Set oven at 350°

1lb ground beef (85/15 recommended)

1 cup Ritz crackers…crumbled  (saltines are OK, too)

½ cup chopped white onion (l like it medium fine)

½ cup chopped red bell pepper (any bell pepper will work, but the red is sweeter)

Two small eggs, or one big one

Spice combination: salt, black pepper (fresh ground), onion flakes/powder, granulated garlic The amounts are not crucial, but go sparingly on the salt, since other ingredients also contain sodium.  I don’t measure these…add them by sight, mostly.  Lawry’s Seasoning Salt can be used.

½ cup BBQ sauce…not too sweet, 2TBL ketchup & 1TBLS Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, 1TBL honey (mixed together)

Splash of  Worcestershire and Dale’s steak seasoning (optional to taste) I love these flavors.

In a small mixing bowl, mix eggs with fork and add seasoning, Worcestershire and Dale’s, and half the BBQ sauce mixture (save other half as a glaze).  Put ground beef in a stainless mixing bowl and add the mixed ingredients, chopped onion and pepper, and cracker crumbs.  Using a fork, or a fork and a table knife, mix the ingredients.  Do not mix with your hands. It will result in a loaf that becomes too dense.  Slow and easy, and mix thoroughly to evenly distribute the ingredients and to break down the ground beef.  Put the mixture in a small, 8 inch cast iron skillet. Using a fork, mash gently until it is evenly spread in the skillet.

Cover with aluminum foil and cook for 1 hour

Remove and drain any extra fat/grease…simply pour it off

Apply glaze to top and put back in oven for another 15 minutes

Optional for crispy sides: Raise oven rack to 2^nd setting and set oven on BROIL at 500° for 3-4 minutes…checking it often.

Remove and allow to set for at least 15-20 minutes before serving.

One Liners for life

 

TEN “One Liners”

principles for life

 

1.      Learn to think like the Book

2.      Travel light  (leave your heavy baggage at home)

3.      When in doubt, do the generous thing

4.      Say “no” to at least one thing every day

5.      Be honest…it’s too much hassle not to be

6.      Think right, act right, feel right

7.      It doesn’t cost any more to be nice

8.      Money is a commodity, not a possession

9.      Know who you aren’t, not just who you are

10.  God is not only right….He is smart

Gatekeeper's Rich Potato Soup

 

INGREDIENTS

        2 ½ lbs raw potatoes, peeled (russets or your choice)  or left over baked potatoes

        4 cups chicken stock

        2 cups milk

        1 cup heavy cream

        ½ cup sour cream

        1/3 cup all purpose flour

        5 green onions

        1 bell pepper  (½ red ½ yellow or orange)

        3-4 cloves of fresh garlic

        4-6 strips of bacon (depending on thickness)

        4 TBL butter

        1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

        1 ½ tsp coarse or ground sea salt

        1 tsp of Gatekeeper’s Original Meat Rub (smoked paprika base)

        1 cup grated cheddar or mixed cheese

 

INSTRUCTIONS

            Cut potatoes no larger than 1 inch cubes.  Medium dice ( ½ inch) bell peppers and green onions. Keep the white and green parts of the onions separated (can use medium diced white onion if you have any in partial ones in the frig…to taste).  Set the green onion stems aside for garnishing. Mince garlic.  Chop bacon into small pieces.  Sauté bacon in cast iron Dutch oven until crisp.  Remove bacon. Leave bacon grease in Dutch oven.  Add butter and sauté onions, peppers and garlic (3-5 min) in bacon grease.  Sprinkle flour and stir/whisk until smooth.  Add chicken stock, milk, cream, Gatekeeper’s Original Meat Rub, salt & pepper, and potatoes. Bring to boil and cook until potatoes are fork tender (often I boil the potatoes separately, drain them, and then add them to the soup...either way). Use emersion blender or hand potato dicer and mash about half of the potatoes (a blender or food processor will almost always over blend the potatoes).  Add sour cream, cheese and about half the bacon (use the rest to garnish when serving). Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with green onion, bacon and cheese (a dollop of sour cream if desired).  To make it vegetarian, just eliminate the bacon and sauté in butter and olive oil.
Serves 6-8 people

I have ONE secret ingredient that is not listed here.  Also, this is a "suggested" guide which can be altered in various ways with a good outcome.  I never make this soup exactly the same way twice. I like to experiment...which is how I came up with my "secret" ingredient.  

OpenTheGate Egg Bake Casserole

with options

Ingredients

1 pound of pork sausage (optional)

6-7 eggs depending on size

½ cup sour cream

1/8 cup heavy cream (half & half or milk)

Coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper (preference…1 tsp each)

3 full green onions medium chopped

½ red bell pepper

½ green, orange, or yellow bell pepper (orange is my pick)

1-2 cloves of finely chopped garlic (fresh is better than granulated)

1 cup fresh spinach chopped

2 medium Roma tomatoes chopped

1 cup grated cheese.  Cheddar or grated blend of your choice

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray 9X9 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine eggs, sour cream, cream/milk, cheese, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl and whisk until mixture is combined.

If you are including sausage, brown it in a sauté pan. Remove sausage and sauté onions, bell peppers, garlic, tomatoes and spinach in the same pan for about 3-5 minutes.  Add sausage back in and gently stir. If you want a vegetarian dish, just eliminate the sausage.

Add the sautéed ingredients into the egg mixture. Stir briefly until well mixed.

Pour mixture into 9X9, greased, pan and cook for 35-50 minutes.  Cook until the sides have a slightly brown crust and the middle is firm on top.  Check the center with a toothpick…if it comes out clean, it’s done.  Remove from oven and let set for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

 

NOTE:  This recipe can easily be altered to include or eliminate other ingredients, fresh herbs and spices. It can be made with meat or as a vegetarian dish.  It can also be doubled for a larger crowd and prepared in a 9X13 baking pan. This size will easily serve 4-6 people.

Gatekeeper's Grilled Chicken Wings

 

The Gatekeeper's 

Here are some suggestions for making grilled chicken wings. This is not a recipe. These are suggestions for you own creativity.

Preparation

·        First, prepare your wings, and I prefer to grill with the tips cut off and the drummie and 2 bone wing section intact.  I cut them after they are cooked. You have half the turning when you do that, and inevitably they are cooked more evenly.

·        Marinade if you choose. Make your own or use a ready-made, such as Lawry’s Caribbean Jerk. Marinade for about an hour.

·        Take wings out of marinade and dry them on a rack with a paper towel.  You want them pretty dry for the grill so you will get a good sear (crust).

·        Season with salt and pepper, or a seasoned salt.

·        Sprinkle with a dry rub for chicken.  I use my own, but very sparingly, because you are not looking for a “smoke ring” on your grilled wings.  Flavor is what you are after, and you don’t want to overwhelm them with a strong rub.

 

Read For The Grill (about 400-500 degrees) You must stay right with the wings for the first 10-12 minutes….don’t be involved in another project or dish…you WILL burn your wings.  Watch for flare ups…avoid charring them.  You want a good brown colored crust, not black char.

·        Grill for approximately 4 to 5 min skin down (until you get a good brown crust)

·        Turn them and grill the same time with skin up

·        Put a grill mat on your grill and set your temp to medium….400 is fine. Put your wings on skin down and cook for approximately 6 minutes, but watch them….don’t let them burn or char).

·        Turn them and cook the underside the same amount.  The grill matt should keep the flames off  the wings and allow them to cook clear to the bone.

·        Turn your wings one last time and baste the skin side with a honey/hot glaze (again, I make my own). Get the heat you want, and the flavors you want.  Honey, Frank’s Red Hot and a touch of soy sauce is a good beginning.  Add spices sparingly.  The glaze will tighten up during the last 5-6 minutes and be a bit sticky when you take the wings off the grill.

I look for a total cook time of about 25 minutes with the lid down, except for turning, and depending on the size of the wings and heat of the grill.  DON’T OVERCOOK THEM…that will get you chopped!

Remove from grill, cut them into drummies and 2 bone pieces.  Serve with bleu cheese or ranch….along with some celery sticks (which are very useful for applying the dressing on the wing).  Don’t be afraid to be creative.  Make them your wings!  ENJOY

Great fictional characters

 

Sooley….another great character from the mind and pen of John Grisham
Just finished Grisham’s new novel, “Sooley.”  A very entertaining read, in my opinion. I am amazed at the stories that keep coming from him, as I am with many prolific writers.  John Grisham and David Baldacci remain at the top of my list for creating good stories and great characters (along with Lee Child’s Jack Reacher). These inspire me as a novice writer of fiction. As I inch forward (it took Grisham 3 years to write his first, A Time To Kill) with my first novel, I had no idea if I would ever attempt such an undertaking again. However, even before the first one is finished, I have a second one outlined and “thought” about with some detail. It’s all about my man, Clay.

My main character (at this point) is a mid-fifties man named Wesley Clayburn….”Clay” for short.  He is an cast-out preacher/pastor who lives, emotionally and spiritually, on a razor’s edge. He has many losses and sorrows in his past. Most are of his own doing. His closest companion is a pre-war, vintage Martin flat top guitar. Nobody is checking on him to see if he is OK.  However, there is something inside him that he cannot escape…a calling, if you will.  He seems to find situations (or they find him) in which help is needed, and he is uniquely gifted to make a life changing difference.  He is raw.  He is earthy. He lives off the grid.  He is weak. He is strong. He is Clay.

Grisham and Baldacci write many “lawyer” type stories, because its what they know. I am writing about a minister. It comes from what I know and have seen.

Why is it taking you so long...

As a hopeful writer, I get many questions like:  “How much more do you have to finish your book?” And, “When will it be done?” “Are you half through yet?”  “I like the teasers I’ve read…can you hurry up and finish it! 

I get it, but I had no idea what a journey I began a couple of years ago, when I retired and decided to write a fiction novel. Let me give you a glimpse of why it is taking me a LONG time, and why the next one (if ever) would be considerably quicker.

             All I had ever written was sermons. Over two thousand of them.  That is vastly different from fiction (snicker, snicker…in some cases, not so much different).  I had not had any writing classes. No training. No experience and frankly, I didn’t know what most writers don’t even realize they know.  I had to learn it. I’m still learning it, and I’m not Mensa material.  So, it takes some time to, as I like to say, “build my wagon while I’m riding in it.”

            I have availed myself of 6-8 online MasterClasses from some of the best writers of fiction today. These are video classes with a syllabus to follow the lectures. These are on all aspects of writing fiction.  Very helpful…and time consuming. Each class is 8 to 15 videos. I have read books on point of view, plot, fiction in general, and numerous articles. I have done numerous exercises suggested in some of these books, and they have been helpful.  I have also purchased and read several novels just to see “how they did it.” Examples:  To Kill A Mockingbird, The Joy Luck Club, and reviewed others I’ve already read…for writing style. The research is daunting. I have spent months of research to make sure my “made up” story is plausible.  I have picked up many pointers. 

I also have the help of a writer’s group (about 4 of us who meet occasionally to go over our stuff and share ideas, etc.  I have a writing coach…my long time friend and retired high school English, literature, writing teacher…Beta Thompson Noel.  Spending time with her and her husband, Mike in Oklahoma City has been extremely helpful. She is really smart, but I try not to make a big deal out of that. She throws little suggestions and comments at me that I’m sure most writers know, but they are gold nuggets to me.  Another friend, Sarah Bunn, has helped me organize my many chapters into a chronological order that can work and keep me on track. Others have read a chapter here and there to give me insight and feedback. My question is:  if you read this…would you put it down or want to read more?  Bonnie has read most, of not all of it so far. She reads tons of books, so I figure if she would read it, its got to be OK.  She has been very encouraging.

            So, you can see, though the book is taking some time, I have not been sitting around doing nothing. If I knew it was going to be this involved, I’m not sure I would have had the courage to start.  However…NOW…I’d shoot myself before I’d quit.  Too much work behind me.

            Oh…I forgot…THE STORY.  That takes time, too.  The “think time” is incredible.  To create and get into the lives of each character and make sure they have a unique voice. My characters are REAL to me at this point. I know them inside and out.  I also have to try and make the story jive with all the times, dates, places etc…it all has to fit or readers will pick that up instantly.

            C.J. Box (writer of the Joe Pickett, Wyoming Game Warden series) writes 1000 words a day to crank out two novels a year.  In case you haven’t figured it out, that would be about 3 pages of most books. You have to know this stuff.  That doesn’t seem like a mammoth amount, but I struggle some days to write ONE GOOD PARAGRAPH. The trick is, KEEP WRITING…every day write something.  Put it down.  Keep going.

            Other than all this, and much more…its easy!  Oh, did I mention, that I also had the COVID-19 virus along the way.  So the next time someone says to you, “you should write a book,”  look them directly in the eye and swear profusely at them.  If that doesn’t shut them up…shoot them.  If you get thrown into prison, you might just have time to write a book.

Shrimp Alfredo with Pasta

A 15 minute meal 

1 cup cream:  821

8oz pasta:  300

3TBL butter:  306

1 egg yolk:  55

½ cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese:  216

20 medium shrimp:  100

Pinch of salt

Pinch of nutmeg

Granulated garlic (optional)

 

Total calories for 2 servings:  1798

Calories per serving:  899

 

Melt butter in sauce pan. Add cream over medium heat. Add cheese…stirring continually until melted. Add spices. Slowly stir in whisked egg yolk. If you desire a thicker sauce, you can add a 1 tablespoon of corn starch with ½ cup water. Add to the sauce. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the fully cooked and thawed shrimp to the sauce.  Spoon the sauce and shrimp over al dente cooked pasta (linguini or rotini).