Pumpkin is a member of the Cucurbita family, which includes squash and cucumbers. Pumpkins are grown in most parts of the world. It’s rich in potassium and Vitamin A and contains 90% water. In the USA 80% of the pumpkin supply is available in October.
This is a shot of a small pumpkin market Mr. Munro and I discovered during our visit to Maine a few years ago. (The photo was scanned, hence the black surrounding).
We were fascinated because we don’t have anything like this in New Zealand. We don’t carve pumpkins or eat pumpkin pie (as a rule). As a child, we ate pumpkin whenever we had a roast dinner or sometimes we’d have mashed pumpkin. These days our favorite way to eat pumpkin is in a salad.
Here’s the recipe:
Pumpkin, peeled and chopped into 2-3cm pieces
2 tsp oil
300g can of Chickpeas, well drained
250g round green beans, blanched
1 small red onion, peeled and finely sliced
8 black olives (optional)
1/4 cup of your favorite vinaigrette dressing (we like a balsamic dressing)
150g feta cheese, diced
1/4 cup roughly chopped parsley
Method
1. Combine prepared pumpkin and oil, toss well until lightly coated, season with salt and pepper. Arrange on a baking paper lined oven tray.
2. Cook at 200°C for 25-30 minutes or until golden and tender.
3. Combine the chickpeas, cooked green beans, slices red onion, olives, add warm roasted pumpkin and vinaigrette dressing. Toss gently until well combined.
4. Arrange salad on a platter, scatter with feta and parsley leaves. Serve immediately.
My husband and I like this salad hot but it’s equally good cold, after the pumpkin and green beans have cooled. To vary the salad we sometimes use a can of mixed beans (with kidney beans, chickpeas etc) rather than straight chickpeas.
Do you like pumpkin? What’s your favorite way to eat pumpkin? If you’re in the US, have you carved a pumpkin this year?
I bet that title made you look. My post today is about stomachs, mainly because mine has been center-stage recently. I’m working to reduce the size of it. (on the outside) So, what is a stomach?
1. The stomach is a muscular organ. It can change its shape depending on the amount of food in it.
2. When you eat, food from your mouth goes down a tube called the esophagus into your stomach, where it is stored temporarily, then later digested. As the food arrives, the stomach wall starts its glands working. One type of gland gives off a mucus that lubricates the food. Other glands give off acids which kill any bacteria in the food; while still others give off special chemicals, called enzymes, to break down the food into tiny particles. (which sort of takes the shine off eating a chocolate bar!)
3. Tall, thin people usually have long, narrow stomachs, while short, stocky people have short, wide stomachs.
4. Most adults’ stomachs hold about one quart of liquid and food.
5. Once a female is past her teens, the stomach is naturally rounded.
6. Once you are an adult, your stomach pretty much remains the same size — unless you have surgery to intentionally make it smaller. Eating less won’t shrink your stomach. (I’m thinking that’s inside your body because outside you could lose some of the fat off it, right?)
7. I consulted my favorite characterization book, Building Believable Characters by Marc McCutcheon for some stomach descriptors. There are flabby stomachs, spare tire stomachs, love-handles.
8. beer-bellied stomachs
9. flat stomachs
10. middle-age spread stomachs
11. pendulous stomachs
12. toned stomachs
13. And my favorite – washboard stomachs.
14. Oh, and pregnant tummies.
What do you think of stomachs? If you’re a writer what sort of stomachs do you give your heroes and heroines, your secondary characters? Do you like your stomach?
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Here’s a question for all you writers out there – both aspiring and published. How do you keep track of a character’s physical attributes, their quirks and baggage? Their family history?
I’m forever forgetting what color eyes I’ve given my characters and little things like that. It’s becoming even more difficult now that I’m thinking about writing book eight in my Middlemarch Mates series.
So, how do you keep track of your characters? Spreadsheets? Notebooks? File cards? An incredible memory? A software program? How do you do it?
PS – Don’t forget to check out Christina Phillips post (just down the page a couple of posts) about how her witchy heroine came to her in a dream. Post a comment and go into a draw to win a download of her debut release.
San Francisco would have to be one of my favorite cities to visit. I’m running a bit short of time today so I thought I’d post a few photos from our recent trip. I think I like San Francisco so much because of its situation on the sea. The hills are killers to walk up and down. Believe me, I know because Mr. Munro made me walk up and down several!
The Golden Gate Bridge is an icon and known worldwide. During the summer months it’s also often shrouded in fog.
Pier 39 is a fun place to wander. Lots of great ways to empty the wallet here! This is a shot of the merry-go-round. A shot of the resident sealions follows. You can smell them before you see them.
Coit Tower is another icon. It’s fun to climb to the top and see the views of the city.
This is a shot of Lombard Street. This end of Lombard Street is known as the crookedest street. It’s also very steep. There are traffic jams here as tourists queue to drive down the crooked street and grab a photo or two.
Alcatraz Island is known worldwide. A trip out to the island jail is fascinating, although you need to book well ahead. This is a very popular trip.
Cops on the beat.
Here’s a statue of The Thinker. It’s at the Legion of Honor, a fine-art museum.
Have you visited San Francisco? If so, what’s your favorite place to visit in the city? If not, which place or thing in the city would you most like to see in person?
I’m very excited to introduce Christina Phillips as my guest blogger today. Foretaste of Forever is Christina’s debut book and it was released at the end of last week. I can’t wait to grab some time and read my copy. Foretaste of Forever is a paranormal tale featuring a witch heroine. Christina tells us why she chose a witch as her heroine.
FORETASTE OF FOREVER – A Witch’s Tale
Thank you Shelley for inviting me onto your blog today to talk about my debut release, FORETASTE OF FOREVER, a dark erotic romance published by the Scarlet line at The Wild Rose Press.
Blurb:
Elyesha, last surviving descendant of a line of powerful witches, finally finds the only man she’s ever loved, the man who deserted her countless years before. But Ben is torn between desire and despair when Elyesha, his only love, eventually penetrates his protective retreat. He knows what she wants, but the price of their love is too high. At midnight, on the beach, a battle of wills and erotic seduction ensues as each confronts the other’s darkest fears.
So why did I decide to write about a witch and her emotionally tortured lover? Well, when Elyesha first came to me in a dream I had no idea she was a witch.
Yes – this story came to me in a dream! And it was a perfectly gorgeous dream, in vivid color and with sound effects. Midnight, on a storm tossed beach with the moon casting silver threads across the chilly sand. And her hero was breathtaking. Dark, dangerous. Powerful. And an utter mystery.
I loved everything about this recurring dream. But after a while – like, four years – it began to drive me mad. Because this couple never got any further! All I knew was the heroine would do anything to be with the man she loved, and the hero was too blinded by his sense of honor to see his destiny when she was standing right in front of him.
So I decided to do some sleuthing. And gradually I discovered the heroine was the last of her line, descended from a powerful matrilineal family of witches.
The whole concept fascinates me and I spent ages reading about ancient beliefs, particularly the goddess culture, and specifically Hecate the goddess associated with witches.
But what kind of man could captivate a woman like Elyesha?
I started digging into the hero’s past. Not only was he more than a match for my heroine, but he was immune to her magic, much to her frustration. And while he loved her more than anything else in this world or the next, it was that very love which drove them apart.
Contest: For the chance to win a download of FORETASTE OF FOREVER, all you need to do to go into the draw to win is comment on this post. The winner will be chosen and announced on Thursday 30th October.
I have this theory: people who like books (both readers and writers) love stationery. They like pens and paper and all things found at a stationery shop. This is certainly true of me. Even as a kid I loved getting my book list at the start of a school year. I’d take all my brand new exercise books home and lovingly decorate them. There’s nothing better than opening a new book and writing inside it. Even now I like new pens and notebooks, highlighter pens and Sharpies. Whenever I visit the US I make a point of visiting either Staples or Office Depot or both. This time I came home with a container of pretty paper clips and some special ones in the shape of feet and others in the shape of musical notes. I got really excited with the pink binderclips. What can I say? I love pink! I like exploring the different things. I like the smells in the shop. And I totally loved Staples pick ‘n mix option. I crammed lots of cute clips into my container.
One of my favorite shops in New Zealand is Whitcoulls. They sell stationery, but they also sell magazines, books and DVDs. I visit Whitcoulls just about every week.
Here’s a You Tube of a recent Whitcoulls ad. It’s one of my favorites. If you look closely you can see Whitcoulls packaging about halfway through the ad.
Do you like stationery and stationery shops? Do you covet pens and notebooks, special clips and the like as much as I do? Is my theory right?
I came across an article in our local paper about killer heels and how quite a few models were falling off their heels on the catwalk. This article inspired my TT today.
1. In 1533, Italian born Catherine de Medici brought high heels into vogue for women when she insisted on having heels made for her in Florence prior to the wedding. The 14 year old vertically challenged bride set the rage in Paris for the new “It” shoe.
2. Renaissance man Leonardo Da Vinci is rumored to be the inventor of high heels.
3. In the mid 1500’s, chopines became popular. Chopines are an extremely tall shoe that reached heights of 24″. The higher the woman was in social status, the more restricted her movement was, forcing woman to carry canes or servants to help them.
4. High heels tend to give the aesthetic illusion of longer, slender and more toned legs.
5. High-heels come in a wide variety of styles, and the heels are found in many different shapes, including stiletto, pump, block, tapered, blade, and wedge.
6. Reasons for not wearing high-heels include:
they can cause foot pain
they can create foot deformities, including hammertoes and bunions
they can cause an unsteady gait
they can shorten the wearer’s stride
they can render the wearer unable to run
7. Reasons for wearing high-heels, which are almost exclusively aesthetic, include:
they change the angle of the foot with respect to the lower leg, which accentuates the appearance of calves.
they change the wearer’s posture, requiring a more upright carriage and altering the gait in what is considered a seductive fashion.
they make the wearer appear taller.
they make the legs appear longer.
they make the foot appear smaller.
they make the lower leg muscles more defined while wearing tight pants.
they make the wearer look flexibly strong.
8. Podiatrists often comment that 75 percent of their business is caused by females wearing tall high heeled shoes.
9. There’s nothing worse than a woman who can’t walk properly in a pair of heels. Practise! In How to Walk in High Heels Camilla Morton recommends the supermarket aisle as a place to practice your high-hell glide, with the trolley as your balancing tool.
10. Wear shoes that fit! Shoes that don’t fit are one of the biggest causes of blisters, calluses and corns. Shoes that are too big will make you stretch your feet out and may lead to an unladylike trip. shoes that are too small hurt like hell.
11. Don’t wear your heels all day and all night. Give your feet a break. You need to know when to call it quits and pull out the flats.
12. Scholl Party Feet (or any similar gel pad) should be a close acquaintance when wearing high heels because they help to minimise the burning pain on the balls of your feet.
13. Don’t drink and heel. It’s a fact that killer heel face-plants are more common after a few drinks. If you’re planning a night out maybe try shoes that don’t require you to concentrate to maintain balance?
And a final extra:
If you’re a shoe fan, check out Gemma Halliday’s High Heel mysteries. Here’s the link to the first book in Gemma’s series. You could also check out a DVD called Kinky Boots. It’s a really funny look at cross-dressing and an English shoe manufacturer. I highly recommend both Gemma’s books and the movie.
I have to admit, I’m not a shoe person. All my life I’ve had trouble finding shoes to fit because I have big feet. When it comes to shoes I go for comfort but I do suffer from shoe envy at times. Some of them are very pretty.
Are you a shoe person? If so describe your favorite pair of shoes. If not, tell me your worst shoe experience.
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
The lovely Tempest Knight invited me to guest blog at Midnight Moon Cafe today. My post is about cats and black cats in particular. I’m also giving away a download of Cat and Mouse. I hope you’ll visit me there.
And speaking of my Middlemarch series, I’ve received three reviews today.
At Alternative Reviews.com WitchGiggles said about Assassin: “Ok, this has some of the most interesting shifters, secrets, hot sex, and incredibly interesting characters and premises I’ve read in a bit. I was intrigued by Isabella and the secret borne by her, charmed by Leo and his family and can’t wait to read something else by this talented author.”
At Romance Junkies: : “ASSASSIN has proven to be an erotic as well as sensual read. Ms. Munro continues to satisfy her fans so completely. There is passion, intrigue, mystery, romance and all of them intertwined with the paranormal element. To top it off it has a realistic flare to it that gives you the sense that such could actually be happening behind closed doors so to speak. This story was very well done and I look forward to more in the MIDDLEMARCH MATES line of stories.”
And at Romance Readers Connection, Gloria said: “CAT AND MOUSE is everything you want in a shape shifter story. Shelly Munro gives us strong, independent Lana, and helpful, understanding alpha male, Duncan. The story has adventure, sex, humor, more sex, and romance. CAT AND MOUSE is one you don’t want to miss.”
I thought I’d get in on the spooky fun and do my own version of Halloween. Today I’m talking about two ghostly tales I’ve read recently.
But first – I’m guest blogging with JK Coi today. My post is about afternoon tea, the Ritz in London and I have a recipe for Neenish Tarts, which is one of my childhood favorites. You can see my post here.
The first book I read was The Remains of the Dead by Wendy Roberts. It’s the first book in the Ghost Dusters Mystery series.
Sadie Novak owns Scene-2-Clean, a crime scene cleanup company. Wiping up after murders is spooky enough, but she can also see and talk to the ghosts of victims. While cleaning up after the murder-suicide of Trudy and Grant Toth, she meets a man. Her interest is piqued—enough to date him. The appearance of Trudy’s ghost also grabs Sadie’s interest and soon she’s after the real killer. One problem—someone wants her to stop.
I enjoyed this book very much. It’s a mystery rather than a romance. Sadie’s occupation is very different and fascinating, albeit a bit gruesome. I don’t think it would be on my list of jobs to investigate! The characters really grabbed hold of me, and I’m looking forward to reading another of Ms. Roberts’ books. Always a great sign.
The second book I read was a young adult one: The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong. This is also the start of a series. What can I say? I seem to be a series junkie.
Chloe Saunders has a gift. She can see ghosts—they’re attracted to her. She can also summon them because she has a talent. After Chloe sees a ghost at school and freaks out, her aunt and father put her in a home called Lyle House. It’s a home for disturbed kids but as Chloe learns there are some strange things going on there. Are they really being helped or are they being held prisoner?
I also enjoyed this book. Some of the questions aren’t answered and the book reads like a serial with part two to come. That said, I’ll read the next story to find out what happens to the kids now that they’re on the loose with their different magical powers.
And finally, I’m going to mention a story I’ve written. Curse of Brandon Lupinus has a very special ghost. The hero is a werewolf ghost who finds love, but is living under a curse. There’s no happiness in sight for him unless he can find a way to break the curse.
Curse of Brandon Lupinus is available as a download from Ellora’s Cave or in print as part of the Midnight Treat anthology.
Do you have a favorite ghostly tale? Have you read a good one recently?
Running update: I went for my first run today. Unfortunately, I left it quite late and Mr. Munro arrived home. He decided he was going to run with me and nothing I did or said shook him from his resolve! We walked/ran around the circuit we normally walk. At a fast walk it takes 30 minutes. Mr. Munro complained I ran too slow and helped me along with gentle pushs. It’s no secret I ran out of puff early and never got it back but I struggled gamely around our circuit. On arrival home I slumped on the couch before dragging my sweaty self off to the shower. An interesting aside – you seem to get runners high even if you walk/run. I was quite proud of myself.
One new laptop later, I’m back in business. I had to dip into my holiday fund, which is a big pain, but the new laptop is very good. I’m not finding Windows Vista too bad so far. I also have a new external hard drive to use for backups along with my old flashdrives.
Mr. Munro and I had a busy weekend. We computer shopped – boy, what an experience that was. You really have to shop around for the best price. The service varies so much from shop to shop.
I threw away my old crosstrainer shoes when I was in the US since they were worn out. Rebel Sports had a sale so I’ve replaced them with a pair of running shoes. Yes, it’s true. I’m going to take up running again. When I was younger I used to run up to 10km a few times a week. I don’t know why I have the urge to start running again, but I decided to go with the flow. Any other runners out there?
Yesterday we stopped at our local Farmers’ Market before heading to visit family. The weekend just seemed to vanish. Suddenly it’s Monday again. The good thing is that I seem to have my writing mojo back. It’s returned from holiday and I’m looking forward to completing the book I’m working on at present.
Christina Phillips interviewed me a couple of weeks ago. You can read my words of wisdom here.
My Dynamic Trio buddy, TJ Michaels is having her annual Holiday Hotties contest. I’m giving away a download of Cat and Mouse. Find the details here.
I’m very excited to introduce Christina Phillips as my guest blogger today. Foretaste of Forever is Christina’s debut book and it was released at the end of last week. I can’t wait to grab some time and read my copy. Foretaste of Forever is a paranormal tale featuring a witch heroine. Christina tells us why she chose a witch as her heroine.
