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Table of Contents
Letter From The Editor
Your
Tradition or Mine?
Vienna in Autumn
Home for the Holidays:
Military Style
Cookbook Recommendations
National Animal Shelter
Awareness Week
Writing:
Remember
What Your Mama Taught You
Holiday Stress: A Guide To Keeping
Your Cool
Fried Turkey: It's What's
for Dinner
Norman Rockwell got it
all Wrong
Groovy Love: Woodstock
Lives On
Tommy Turkey Treats
Sweet Mystery
Grandad's Country Ham
Sexercise 101
Household Tips
Fiction:
The Seeker
From Samhain
Publishing
November e-book releases
November print releases
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Household Tips
Charlee Boyette Compo
Easy Loading Leftovers~~ Freezer bags are an ideal
way to store things like chili, spaghetti sauce,
soups, and stews in manageable meal-size quantities.
But it’s always hard ladling the liquid into the
flexible, limp bags. Here’s a trick to help you
avoid spills: Use the 24 oz size can from any
Kool-Aid type drink mix. (The cans have a large
opening and can be used over and over again. I’ve
had the same can for fifteen years.) Unzip a
freezer bag, put it inside the can, and then spread
the edges apart and over the sides of the can. Ladle
or pour your liquid inside then close. Easy and no
cleanups are necessary if you don’t overfill.
Lazy Coffee Making ~~ I came up with this trick
over thirty years ago and it has saved me time and exasperation time
and again. You can make up your own packets of coffee to be brewed
each morning by filling your filters ahead of time. If you like your
coffee with two sugars, all you need do is put 1/3 cup of sugar in
with your usual two scoops of coffee. Using a pound can with a
re-closable lid, you can make up as many packets as you like just by
layering them one atop the other. See other coffee tip below.
Even Lazier Coffee Making ~~ For years, my DH
and I have made a gallon of coffee once a week by brewing two pots
and storing it in a plastic gallon milk jug. All we need so
whenever we want a cup of coffee is pour a cup and nuke it in the
micro. It tastes just as fresh as the day you brewed it. CAUTION:
Don’t try adding Coffeemate along with your sugar and coffee. It
will bubble out of your coffeemaker like seltzer from a shaken
bottle!!!!
Spice Up Your Coffee: If you like the taste of
vanilla, French vanilla, hazelnut, etc. flavor in your coffee, add 1
tsp. of the extract of your choice to the pot.
(Bring it on!) |
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The Seeker
Kai Andersen
Rap. Rap rap rap. Rap rap.
Ilyse’s head snapped up, eyes alert.
Outside, the wind howled and whistled through the
trees. It slammed against the windows, causing the
panes to rattle. Rain continued to pour down in
torrents; it didn’t seem it would be abating anytime
soon. The sky was so dark that it seemed almost
night.
Who could be out on a day like this?
On the other hand, it could be that loose branch on
that oak tree near the front door—
“Anybody home?”
Well, that ruled that out. |
She set aside her sewing and hurried to open the door, afraid that
someone had lost his way and was seeking shelter. Her cottage wasn’t
exactly situated in a place that was direction-friendly.
The man’s hand was raised, as if he was about to knock again. He was
soaked through from the rain, his clothes plastered like a second
skin to his body. His hair was flat against his skull, with water
running down in rivulets from the top of his head. He didn’t seem to
have the sense to carry an umbrella or wear a jacket to protect
himself from the elements.
His piercing blue eyes caught hers. They were the blue of the summer
sky on a cloudless day, clear and innocent. Carefree. God, she
couldn’t remember when she was last so untroubled. It was too damn
long. Even now, what she had at best was a kind of uneasy calm.
The strong wind gusted into her face, startling her from her
reverie. Fat drops of rain stung her cheeks. Unconsciously, she
gripped the door tightly, swaying as the wind threatened to carry
her along in its wake.
The deep timbre of his voice brought her eyes to his face. “Can I,
uh, get out of the rain? I know I’ll drip onto your floorboards,
but—”
Ilyse scuttled back from the door. “I’m so sorry. Come in, please.”
She practically pulled him inside the house to cover her
embarrassment. His skin was warm beneath her fingertips, burning
through her skin and slicing deep into her veins. “Take off your
clothes, or you’ll catch a chill.” Realizing what she had just said,
Ilyse turned a color that she hoped the handsome stranger won’t
notice.
A faint smile hovered around his lips. He inclined his head in a
nod. “I thank you.”
His old-world charm wormed its way into her heart and warmed her.
Afraid to examine these feelings he was arousing in her, she shut
the door against the howling wind. She skirted around him, bustled
to the far wall and fiddled with the dial to turn up the heat.
(May I have some
more, please?)
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