LAST day of the first month of the year already! How did that happen so quickly and what have you achieved? Or are you waiting for February to get going on that ambitious list of yours? Here’s a tip – get OFF the f*n phone. Easier said than done I know.
The Plan
For various personal reasons (one of which was being called ‘fake’) I’ve taken a step back from social media and reclaimed an awful lot of time. The ambitions are as follows:
Blog post once a month
With a catch up and a recipe, where would I be without food?!
This month’s recipe is Slow Cooker Moroccan Beef Stew
Edit of my romance novel ‘Good Enough’
This is well underway, basically there are some minor errors that shouldn’t be there so these are being fixed
Promotion of my podcast of ‘Good Enough’ novel
This starts today 31 Jan. Basically the podcast is complete and you can listen to the entire Romance Novel ‘Good Enough’ being read (by me!) for FREE. I just need to promote it and get the word out.
Continue work on the sequel to ‘Good Enough’
This is underway with plans to complete writing by end of 2023 and edit in 2024.
I am very excited about this project but as I work full time this will be slow and I will enjoy the process with intent
Instagram once a month
It used to be twitter that made my time disappear but there is no navigating that in any sensible fashion these days so I find that grand to just dip in and out of for news etc without going down a rabbit hole. Basically it’s a bit of a jumbled mess and I don’t stay there for long
Instagram on the other hand is just far too beautiful for her own good and a pond into which I could continually gaze.
What have I learned from my time off instagram? I am missing NOTHING. I am looking forward to dipping in later on this evening, perhaps creating a reel. I really like instagram but there is no need for me to visit every day. I am very interested in the accounts that I follow and looking forward to seeing what they’ve been up to. Like catching up with an old friend.
Good Enough Novel Podcast Promotion
My first novel ‘Good Enough’ is a feel-good romance and the recorded chapters on the podcast vary in length but on average are approximately 30 minutes. This could be an ideal listen if you’re getting out there walking or could be a good listen on a long drive.
You will find it everywhereyou choose to listen . (PLEASE begin with CHAPTER ONE ! )
First up, these pastry bites are made with a roll of ready-made puff-pastry. You will find these in the chill cabinet in the supermarket or in the frozen food aisle (if frozen will need to defrost in the fridge overnight). Follow the instructions on the pack for the pastry. The one I used required to leave the chilled pastry out for 10 minutes before use and it comes on its own baking paper which is very handy to line the trays. Space the pastry squares out on the baking trays, make sure your oven is pre-heated. Use an egg wash of beaten egg and milk to brush around the border of each pastry square.
I made Brie & Cranberry Pastry Bites for a Christmas Party, other good combinations are red onion relish topped with goats cheese or sundried tomato / pesto topped with mozzarella
Next up are some delicious Parma, Cream, Cheese & Pickle bites – these are from a Mary Berry recipe that I saw on a show about Christmas Party entertaining a few years ago. A very simple Christmas Party Food recipe.
So simple that a recipe is hardly required, just chop some basil, parma, sundried tomato and mozzarella or buy the small mozzarella balls (called bocconcini) and assemble on a cocktail stick before dipping into some basil pesto. Delicious and simple for your next Christmas Party Food.
Parma, Mozzarella, Sundried Tomato & Basil bites for easy Christmas Party entertaining
Easy Christmas Party Food Recipe No.4 – Galia Melon & Parma bites
Finally, these melon & Parma bites are really simple and tasty. I like to season them with cracked black pepper just before serving. A melon baller would be a really handy gadget when it comes to putting these together and I really like to use Galia melon as the strong peachy colour is so pretty and the taste works really well with the Parma.
Serve With – mashed potatoes or boiled rice, boiled green
Method:
Preheat the oven to 150oC / Gas Mark 3.
Peel and finely chop the onion.
Heat the olive oil in a large casserole pot and gently fry the onion for 5 minutes over a low heat.
Raise the heat to medium, push the onion to the sides of the pot, add the beef, and brown for 2minutes.
Peel and crush the garlic and finely chop or grate the ginger and then add it to the centre of the pot to cook for 1 minute.
Add the ground cinnamon and ground coriander and cook for 1 minute.
Add the tomato puree, canned tomatoes, water and honey and mix well.
Cook the casserole in the oven for 2 hours with a lid on. Check it after an hour and if there are any signs of it drying out, add some more water.
(Good with buttery mashed potatoes or boiled rice, with a side of green beans.)
Next the romance.
Fridays have become my writing days. Though busy with the real job in admin I am making time for one of my other big loves which is romance fiction writing. I’ve started working on the follow-up to ‘Good Enough’ my debut romance that was just about to be published this time last year – where does the time go !!!
To write the sequel I am rereading ‘Good Enough’ to revisit my characters and remind myself of all their idiosyncrasies etc and as I started to read a few weeks ago I also started to record. What this means is that there is now a ‘Good Enough’ podcast that you can listen to for free wherever you choose to do that – check out the links down below.
Two chapters are being published every week until Christmas and I do like to think it’s a perfect read/listen for the holiday season.
Links to find the ‘Good Enough’ novel podcast by Sheila Kiely – start on chapter One :