Category: A Writier’s Life

From Mint to Mojito

Posted on August 31, 2016 by judyhudson@shaw.ca

Today we’re harvesting mint. 🙂 Let’s just call it that because of course we’re not having Mojitos after work on a week night. Oh no. We’re just getting our supplies in order for the weekend.

Mint spreads like a weed so be careful where you plant it, but I love having a patch in my garden. (You can tell it’s mint by the square stems.)

I make cold mint tea all summer from the mix of spearmint and the darker chocolate mint that grows beneath the blueberries, by pouring boiling water over a stalk of mint with leaves in a heat proof jug. Very refreshing.

Also refreshing are Mojitos, that wonderful combination of mint and lime and rum. I tried to order on the other night at a South Asian/ Indian restaurant (hey, they were on the menu) but our young server looked quite terrified and said, “I’ve never made one before.” In the end I didn’t order it, but I have been thinking about it ever since.

So I bought some white rum, picked some mint, got out a lime and got started.

Instructions:

Put a spoonful of sugar in a glass, squeeze the juice of a lime wedge into the sugar then drop in the rind. Add half a dozen mint leaves and muddle, or mush around, in the bottom of the glass to release the flavours.

Fill the glass half full of ice, add white rum to your liking and fill the glass with soda water and stir.

Garnish with a lime slice. It looks as refreshing as it tastes. I tried it last night and did tend to get mint leaves in my mouth, which explains the instructions I’ve seen to serve with a straw, or one picture of a Mojito strained and served in a martini glass. Not traditional perhaps but kind of classy nonetheless.

Find yourself a lovely spot outside this weekend, put your feet up and sip this sparkling summer drink while reading a good book. (Lake of Dreams ebook is still free online through the long weekend. Had to get that in.)

Join me in raising a glass to the harvest. Cheers.

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When your Zucchini get out of hand.

To celebrate the launch of The Good Neighbor, Book Two in the Fortune Bay Series, I’m continuing my week of late summer recipes with

Zucchini Bread, or

“what to do when your garden becomes the Little Shop of Horrors.”

The other day, my mother tried a piece of my Zucchini Bread.

“What is that flavor?” she said. “Mine has never been this nice.”

“Cloves,” I told her.

“I don’t like cloves,” she said. “But I love that.”

I have to admit it was particularly good batch. I usually grind whole cloves and if you are not diligent with the mortar and pestle, the flavour of the chunks of clove can over power the loaf.

This time I hadn’t been able to find whole cloves at the store, so I used ground and found it was better for this bread.

Also, I wrung out the grated zucchini just the right amount and the moisture level was perfect. Last time I was showing someone how to wring out the excess moisture in a tea towel, was over zealous and the bread was a touch dry. But do wring it out to prevent a soggy loaf.

Nobody likes a soggy loaf!

It’s a great way to use that excess zucchini at this time of year, or get a nice size one at the farmer’s market and knock yourself out!

In The Good Neighbor, (yes! out this week!) Stephanie goes out to her garden and finds:

The stump end of a mammoth zucchini peeked out at her from under a leaf. Not good. Zucchini were the jesters of the garden, growing to ridiculous, bulbous proportions when your back was turned…

Hefting a giant zucchini in one hand, she measured its weight, reminded of a childhood summer day spent grating the big ones for zucchini bread, the smell of cloves and cinnamon filling the air. She put the offender under one arm, the basket over the other, and started down the shoreline path to the cabin.

Cloves and spice, Aunt Augusta’s trademark. Stephanie must have the same recipe I have.

Enjoy!

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An Abundance of Figs

Posted on August 24, 2016August 24, 2016 by judyhudson@shaw.ca

I’m continuing my week of recipes to celebrate the launch of The Good Neighbor, Book Two in the fig tree Fortune Bay Series, with this post on what to do with an abundance of figs.

I realize not everyone has figs in their backyard, but I have a huge tree, and quelle coincidence!, so does Stephanie, the matriarch of the series, who has her own romance in this book. A romance that begins in the a cool green oasis of the fig arbor on a hot summer day, the perfect place for a simmering scene of sexual tension (how’s that for alliteration?).

Sunlight penetrated the translucent leaves creating a cool and ethereal bower.

“The figs are in!” Stephanie’s triumphant voice emerged from inside the tree. A stepladder with two feet perched on a rung halfway up, leaned against the arbor. Long, firm legs rose from there, ending where Stephanie’s baggy green shorts disappeared into the dense leafy branches.

“Help me,” she said, her hand appearing beneath the canopy of leaves, cupping a succulent green fruit.

You get the picture.

Way #1 to use Figs – Fig Leather

Last year, I was away for fig season and my wonderful friends picked for me. I came home to a freezer full of figs. I did make my famous Figand Ginger Jam (recipe to follow) but the rest of the figs couldn’t be dried whole in the usual way, so I put 7 figs (I only have one leather sheet for my drier) and the juice of half a lemon in my Ninja blender – I love my Ninja blender -it up and poured it on the drier sheet. Two minutes work and it makes really delicious tangy fig leather. I have yet to find anyone who doesn’t love it.

Way #2 to use Figs – Judy’s Famous Fig & Ginger Jam

This recipe uses lemon and ginger to add zing. For those who don’t like ginger (seriously?) you can leave out the candied ginger and add instead 1 cinnamon stick, 2 cloves and 1/2 tsp ginger. Or a quarter cup Grand Marnier. I’ve had good luck with Fireball Whiskey too! You get the picture. Anything goes.

But this Fig & Ginger is amazing on toast or with chicken or pork, or by the teaspoonful right out of the jar!

Click here for Fig & Ginger recipe.

You can buy The Good Neighbor in eBook or paperback on Amazon, kobo, and nook. TGN COVER MED

And don’t forget, for this last, beautiful week of summer, Lake of Dreams is free in eBook form on online retailers until the end of August. See the sidebar. No excuses!

Happy eating, and good reading,

Judy sig

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Celebrate the Launch of The Good Neighbor with Pesto!

Posted on August 23, 2016August 23, 2016 by judyhudson@shaw.ca

What better way to celebrate the launch of The Good Neighbor today (cue the fireworks!) than by sharing some of the August recipes from the book, beginning with – PESTO!

The Good Neighbor is Frankie and Sean’s story (characters I introduced in Summer of Fortune).

In this book, Sean moves into Augusta’s cabin while he searches for the daughter he gave up for adoption fifteen years ago, and struggles to come to terms with the fact that he just might not find her. How, then, can he stand to see Frankie and her father so estranged, when a simple phone call might be all it would take?

The Good Neighbor begins in August, and since Sean is an excellent cook and there are a lot of cooking and gardening references ,

PESTO seemed like the perfect choice of a recipe to feature on today’s blog. And let me tell you, good pesto made from freshly picked basil is truly a gift.

basil If you don’t grow basil in your garden (yet) or don’t have room for a garden, you can treat yourself to a meal of fresh pesto before the summer is over by buying a plant, sold at most grocers at this time of year.

Once you try pesto made in your own kitchen with garden fresh basil leaves, you will never go back to the store bought variety.

And it’s easy! Since tastes and ingredients vary (types of basil, sizes of cloves of garlic & lemons, amount of salt) every batch will be slightly different.

You be the final judge of exactly how much of each ingredient to add. And with these ingredients, how can you go wrong?

I will be featuring more recipes from The Good Neighbor all week, so stay tuned.

Click here for pesto recipe.

To read the “meet scene” at the start of the book, click HERE to go to The Good Neighbor page.

You can buy The Good Neighbor in eBook or paperback on Amazon, kobo, and nook. TGN COVER MED

And don’t forget, for this last, beautiful week of summer, Lake of Dreams is free in eBook form on online retailers until the end of August. See the sidebar. No excuses!

Happy eating, and good reading,

Judy sig

Save

Celebrate the Launch of the Good Neighbor with Pesto

What better way to celebrate the launch of The Good Neighbor today (cue the fireworks!) than by sharing some of the August recipes from the book, beginning with – PESTO!

The Good Neighbor is Frankie and Sean’s story (characters I introduced in Summer of Fortune).

The Good Neighbor begins in August, and since Sean is an excellent cook and there are a lot of cooking and gardening references ,

PESTO seemed like the perfect choice of a recipe to feature on today’s blog. And let me tell you, good pesto made from freshly picked basil is truly a gift.

If you don’t grow basil in your garden (yet) or don’t have room for a garden, you can treat yourself to a meal of fresh pesto before the summer is over by buying a plant, sold at most grocers at this time of year.

The best ingredients make the best pesto.

Once you try pesto made in your own kitchen with garden fresh basil leaves, you will never go back to the store bought variety.

And it’s easy! Since tastes and ingredients vary (types of basil, sizes of cloves of garlic & lemons, amount of salt) every batch will be slightly different.

You be the final judge of exactly how much of each ingredient to add. And with these ingredients, how can you go wrong?

I will be featuring more recipes from The Good Neighbor all week, so stay tuned.

To read the “meet scene” at the start of the book, click HERE to go to The Good Neighbor page.

You can buy The Good Neighbor in eBook or paperback on Amazon, kobo, and nook.

And don’t forget, for this last, beautiful week of summer, Lake of Dreams is free in eBook form on online retailers until the end of August. See the sidebar. No excuses!

Happy eating, and good reading,

Save

Judith Hudson – Author

your spot for Romantic Women's Fiction and Exciting Travel Mystery

Category: A Writier’s Life

From Mint to Mojito

Put a spoonful of sugar in a glass, squeeze the juice of a lime wedge into the sugar then drop in the rind. Add half a dozen mint leaves and muddle, or mush around, in the bottom of the glass to release the flavours.

Fill the glass half full of ice, add white rum to your liking and fill the glass with soda water and stir.

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