Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

Whenever I have a cup of coffee in a cafe, I always check out the muffins. Any flavor will do as long as they’re fresh. If I manage to time it when they’re still warm from the oven so much the better. I think muffins are good because they’re reasonably healthy and don’t have as much fat as cream cakes. That’s my reasoning anyway. I also enjoy baking muffins because they’re quick and easy.

When I want to bake a batch I always turn to Alison Holst’s Marvellous Muffin cookbook, which contains recipes for both savory and sweet muffins. The following recipe is an adaptation of her Double Chocolate Muffin recipe. I call them Black Forest Muffins.

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa
¼ – ½ cup chocolate chips
¼ cup dried cherries

Place dried cherries in a bowl and add a little boiling water to cover – a few tablespoons. We want to reconstitute the cherries a little. Place other dry ingredients plus chocolate chips in a large bowl. Add the cherries plus the liquid.

100 grams of butter (about 8/10 of a stick)
1 egg
1 cup plain unsweetened yoghurt
½ cup milk
½ teaspoon vanilla

Melt the butter. Beat the egg and combine with the milk, yoghurt and vanilla. Combine with the dry ingredients, folding together until mixed. Do not overmix.

Spoon into 12 well-greased medium-size muffin pans or use paper muffin cups. Bake in a hot oven at 200C (400F) for 10 – 12 minutes until centers spring back when pressed lightly.

Enjoy with good company and a cup of tea or coffee.

In 1996 my husband and I decided we’d like a dog for both company and to give us an incentive to go for a walk each day. We had a very small section at the time and needed a dog to suit. We also decided to re-home an unwanted dog rather than purchase a pedigree animal and wanted an older dog instead of a puppy. With this in mind, our first port of call was the nearest SPCA. We visited on several weekends, but most of the dogs were larger ones with definite Pit Bull ancestry. Not quite what we were looking for.

Our search led us to the Humane Society next. Yes, they had three fox terrier-cross dogs that required homes. One was a confirmed digger, another was younger and quite nervous, but they thought the third dog might suit us—a female of around three years. She had lived on a farm and her owners had moved to a town. Her determined straying became a problem, and she needed a new owner. Would we like to meet her?

The following weekend we drove to Orewa, north of Auckland to meet our prospective dog. The first time I saw Scotty I thought what an ugly little dog. She looks like a fox terrier but is a little larger. She has a black head and a white coat with mottled black spots on most of her body. On her back toward is rump is one large black spot about the size of a tennis ball. She still has her tail, which pleased us very much since my husband and I like dogs with tails. It’s the personality factor for us. The interesting thing is that my husband thought she was a plain-looking dog too, but if anyone dared to say that to either of us now, we’d argue long and loud.

We ended up taking Scotty home with us. She settled into our routine very easily, the toilet training no problem at all. We decided we’d walk her morning and night and we’ve kept that routine up until recently.

From the start she never barked much. She didn’t like magazines near her, especially if they were rolled up or having her head touched, although she’s grown out of this. Scotty has a delightful personality, and I’ve never known her to bite anyone. When my husband used to work a lot of nights, Scotty would disappear around our usual bed time. I’d go to our bedroom and find that she’d jumped on our bed and dragged back the duvet cover and sometimes the sheets. I’d find her curled up in a ball, fast asleep. It was like having hotel turn-down service, but she only did it if my husband was working nights.

Fast forward in time. We’ve had Scotty for thirteen years and she’s now almost sixteen, a good age for a dog. Throughout the years, her health has been excellent. She has slowed down a lot, her face turning quite gray and both her eyesight and hearing greatly reduced. This year she’s lost a lot of weight and developed problems with her spine, losing much of the feeling in her hindquarters. She’s having trouble getting up and down, sometimes requiring help to get to her feet. She tends to lean on walls and other items of furniture for balance. We’re closely monitoring her condition and she’s on medication, which seems to help a little.

I’ve read that the measure of quality of life for a dog comes in the form of three questions.

1. Does the animal still have a healthy appetite?
2. Is the animal in pain?
3. Is the animal able to continue with normal toilet procedures or do they lie in their waste?

Scotty has always had a good appetite and this continues. She never complains and remains happy for us to pick her up if she falls over or for a cuddle. Mostly she’s pretty good with her toilet practices, although I have to be vigilant if she’s inside. If she goes to sleep in her basket sometimes she can’t move quick enough to get outside in time.

Her lack of mobility is a problem though. When she walks her spine is arched and her fur along her backbone is very erect all the time, as if she’s angry or about to attack. If she lies down for too long, she finds it difficult to get up and often falls over. When she is moving around she often turns in circles because her hindquarters don’t function as they should. And as I mentioned earlier, she has lost condition despite her good appetite.

While she seems relatively happy, there is no doubt her health is deteriorating quickly, almost weekly. It’s not fair to prolong a dog’s life (or any pet’s life) when their life lacks quality. The day is fast approaching when we’ll have to make the decision to have her put down, and it’s breaking my heart. She’s offered faithful companionship, given us incentive to exercise and even inspired the first book I sold to Ellora’s Cave. Life won’t be the same without her small furry face around the place.

Can you touch your nose with your tongue? Well, can you???

To visit other Camera Critters go here.

Today’s theme for Snippet Saturday is characters at work or play or living it up. I’ve picked an excerpt from my sensual romantic suspense, Playing to Win. Lane and Kate, the hero and heroine, have traveled to Taupo, which is in the middle of the North Island. It’s a beautiful place where I enjoyed many holidays during my teens. If you’re interested in seeing some photos check out the photo essay for Playing to Win.

Playing to Win by Shelley Munro

By the time Kate pulled on her lime green bikini, she could hear the children laughing and calling out to Adam and Lane. Danielle had grinned at her and hurried outside a few minutes earlier. Kate scanned her reflection in the dressing room mirror and scowled. She wished she’d packed her other swimsuit—the conservative one-piece. This bikini might be fashionable, but it showed far too much of her autumn-pale body.

“Stop dithering,” she muttered. She pulled on a shirt, hoping to yank on some confidence at the same time. After giving her bikini briefs one last twitch, she walked outside to the largest pool where the others were already in the water.

“Kate, you’re missing all the fun,” Jamie protested.

“Who wants to try the water slide?” Danielle asked.

“Me!” Seth shouted.

“Me!” Jamie echoed.

“I’m game,” Adam drawled to his wife.

In an instant, the boys were off with Adam and Danielle trailing behind.

Kate peered through the swirling steam and self-consciously shrugged out of her shirt. After dropping it with her towel on the side, she eased her way into the pool, letting her body adjust to the heat.

Suddenly, a hand snaked out and tugged at her calf, making her yelp in surprise.

Lane’s gray eyes sparkled up at her. “You took your time.” His gaze took in her form in the green bikini. “But the wait was worth it.”

The intense heat in his eyes made Kate sink quickly into the water. Her flesh tingled as his arm skimmed across her ribs, the sensation of overheating nothing to do with the water temperature and everything to do with the man’s roving eyes and hands.

“My imagination didn’t do you justice.” He pulled back to read her expression and flashed a roguish smile. “You’re stunning.”

Kate made a small choked sound and edged away, but his arm reached out and curled around her waist, tugging her to him and fitting her against his muscular chest. In the dim light, the shouts and laughter from the next pool seemed miles away, her entire world consisting solely of Lane.

“Kate, I just want to hold you.”

The need in his voice touched a twin chord within her and she released her unease. Slowly, she reached out to place a hand on his chest. A shudder went through him, the solid muscle bunching under her touch. One masculine finger reached out to trace the line of her bikini top. Kate’s head jerked up to meet his magnetic gaze. The heat in his eyes stole her breath.

He wanted her and the knowledge made her blood sing.

“Touch me, Kate,” he whispered, his eyes holding a dare, challenge and the stirring embers of passion.

Heartened, she explored, smoothing hands over broad shoulders, tangling fingers in his chest hair. Exercising the freedom he granted, she fingered flat male nipples. She pursed her lips, fighting a smile at his sudden intake of breath. Her heart thumped and her gaze shot to his again. Invisible energy arced between them when their lower bodies touched. She shivered when his erection brushed against her.

“Kate.” He dipped his head, trailing a line of tiny kisses across her brow then angled his kisses down toward her mouth.

This time it was her who stifled a throaty groan. It felt so good. She wound her arms around his neck and arched against his hard body, relishing the slide of wet skin against her breasts.

A giggle jerked them apart. Lane lifted his head and Kate spied the two young girls playing at the shallow end of the pool. Chuckling softly, Lane clasped her hand and tugged her into the dark shadows of the deeper water where the combination of steam and lack of light screened them from most prying eyes.

Kate shivered, the warm buoyant water lapping around her shoulders. Lane’s chest nudged her breasts and their limbs entwined below the water. Her heart fluttered wildly as his lips descended.

Heat.

Hot. Heady. Seductive.

Her lips parted to taste him and she desperately wished her bikini top away so their chests were skin to skin.

“That feels good, Kate,” Lane said softly, his husky voice sending her nerves in a sensuous dance of delight.
His fierce arousal burned into her lower body, leaving no doubt as to the strength of his need. A throaty chuckle welled up from inside her and she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer.

“Excuse me, Kate!”

Kate jumped on hearing Jamie’s loud but guarded voice and thrashed against Lane’s chest. She swallowed a mouthful of water before Lane grabbed her.

Purchase link

To read other excerpts from authors participating in Snippet Saturday follow the links below:

Eliza Gayle, Jody Wallace, Kelly Maher, McKenna Jeffries, Michelle M Pillow, Moira Rogers, S. J. Day, Sasha White, Shelley Munro, Taige Crenshaw, Vivian Arend, Lauren Dane

I was cruising Amazon and Barnes & Noble earlier and it seems that Tea For Two is already instore and ready to purchase, a couple of weeks earlier than I thought.

Here’s the blurb:

Lies and secrets have a way of returning to bite a girl in the butt…

Hayley Williams thought she was past the screwing-up stage of her life.
These days, she wears her good girl persona well—except when she moonlights as a gypsy tea leaf reader in order to earn money to buy her own home. There’s something about Sam Norville, though, that prods her inner imp back to life. A chance meeting, a margarita…okay, two…a stolen kiss, and suddenly she’s back in hot water.

Sam, a successful businessman, doesn’t believe in love at first sight. Not anymore. For him, involvement with any woman means risking a run-in with the tabloid press. But his mysterious gypsy lover keeps him coming back, keeps him prodding her for more…like the truth. Of course it’s not love. No, sir. Sam only does lust.

Hayley knows she shouldn’t want Sam, especially since she lied to him. The right thing to do? Shove that naughty imp off her shoulder and come clean. But that pesky imp just won’t budge…

Warning: There be lies and secrets ahead, wrapped in pretty bows with margaritas, a one-night stand, fortune telling and a gypsy. Oh, and tea. Lots and lots of pots of tea.

Find an excerpt here.

Go forth and shop! Have a great weekend.

Last week author Jess Dee blogged at Samhain about 15 reasons she hated winter. Since it’s winter here in New Zealand, I thought I’d borrow her timely topic and do a list of Thirteen Things I Dislike About Winter.

1. It’s cold.
2. The cold means I have to dress in layers and I end up looking like a round blob just trying to stay warm.
3. It rains a lot more than usual.
4. I get cabin fever when I can’t go outside.
5. We’ve had more frosts in the last two months than we’ve had in the last five years.
6. My feet get cold.
7. It gets really windy and I can’t cycle some days.
8. The little dog and Mr. Munro leave footprints on the floor.
9. I tend to eat more. ‘Nuff said!
10. It’s dark when I wake in the morning and gets dark by late afternoon.
11. It’s difficult to get the washing dry. (I don’t have a drier)
12. The dog hates getting wet and leaves things to the last minute. I’ve learned to read the signs, but that means I have to go outside and wait. I feel mean making the wee dog stay outside in the rain because she’s old.
13. It’s not ice cream weather.

What do you dislike most about winter?

Last month, I did an online class with John Foxjohn through the Kiss of Death chapter. The course was called Eight Steps to Murdering a Manuscript and it covered all the things a writer should do during the editing stage. One tip I’d like to pass on related to dialogue.

Characters shouldn’t chitchat about the weather or what they did last week at work. Dialogue should advance the plot. A tip to make sure your dialogue does its job is to delete everything from your scene apart from the dialogue (or just highlight all the dialogue) and read it out loud without all the narration. Does it give the reader new information? Does it advance the plot? If so, great job. If the dialogue is just a lot of chitchat then think about reworking.

I’m blogging at Access Romance and giving away a print copy of Tea For Two.

I also have a new interview with author Fran Lee at the Examiner.

And finally, I got together with three other New Zealand writers to do free bookmarks. Readers can download the file and print it out. Here’s the link to download your free bookmarks. Please do let me know what you think of them!

When we were in the supermarket at the weekend, hubby and I debated purchasing some fresh ravioli. We decided it was too expensive and thought that maybe we should try making our own. Tonight hubby searched through our recipe books, made the pasta dough and filled it with ricotta cheese, spinach, pumpkin, nutmeg and a little cheddar cheese. We don’t have a round cookie cutter so it was difficult cutting out circles of the pasta dough. In the end, we did squares or triangles. Cooking them was easy, and although we worried about the filling squirting out while they boiled, this didn’t happen.

End result: They were delicious, although next time we’d try to roll the dough a bit thinner. We had a little of the filling over and that’s for tomorrow night’s dinner – we’re putting it inside jacket potatoes.

Have you ever made your own pasta? Do you like pasta, and if so, what’s your favorite kind?

I don’t know about you, but there are times when I’m terrible at procrastinating and my usual “Just Do It” attitude hides at the bottom of the garden. It can be writing procrastination or housework related or perhaps the ironing pile. When I find things are out of control, and I’m not getting anything done, I turn to my trusty egg-timer. (Actually, it’s the oven timer but either works)

So here’s my hint for people who are having trouble fitting writing into a busy day or aren’t getting certain hated household chores done. Set your timer for half an hour and write this entire time or iron or whatever chore you’ve put off. It might be difficult at first, but do keep it up because gradually you’ll get past the procrastination. Half an hour passes quickly, and you’ll be surpised how much you’ll get done if you’re focused and concentrating. You can also apply this to children – perhaps they can tidy their rooms for half an hour while you’re writing. No? Okay, I’m good but not a miracle worker!

What strategies do you use to counteract procrastination?

Congratulations to the following:

Gayle O – The Shadow
Valerie B – The Second Seduction
Ruby D – The Shadow
Clare N – The Second Seduction

Thanks to everyone who entered my newsletter contest – I’ve notified the winners via email. If you don’t receive my newsletter and would like to, subscribe by filling out the form on the right (at the top of my blog). I don’t share your addresses with anyone, and I promise not to fill your inbox with mail. I send out my newsletter every one to two months.