Happy Halloween!!!

 JENN McKINLAY: I love, love, love passing out candy and checking out the Halloween costumes that parade across my porch. My favorites are when entire family dresses up together, but I am a generous candy giver regardless. There might be an extra fun sized chocolate bar tossed into the jack-o-lantern bucket for obvious extra effort but otherwise it's all good and everyone's a winner at my house.

One of my favorite things about October is the costume pics that come across my feed, starting in September. Since it's Halloween today, I thought I'd get us all in the mood with a few recent favorites.

Being from AZ, this was a winner for me:

Look at those baby Granny faces: Cuteness Award!

For those who remember Ye Old Blockbuster:

After Wednesday's post, I fear this is me:

Brilliant couple costume and very funny:

Another one for the couple/group:

I think that's Kenough - LOL.

What about you, Reds and Readers? What are some of your favorite costumes that you've either seen or worn yourself? Lookin' at you, Karen!

Haunted Houses by Jenn McKinlay

JENN McKINLAY: I remember my first haunted house. It was put on by the boy scouts in our small northwestern Connecticut town. There was a lot of giggling and slimy stuff and jump scares. It was the length of the stage in the school cafeteria/gym but it felt like a mile to my seven-year-old self. 

Full disclosure: I was the kid who could never let a hand or foot be uncovered by my protective blanket lest the monsters that roamed my room at night grab me.

Needless to say, after one jump scare to many, I grabbed my mom's hand and death gripped it all the way through the exit where I turned to her in relief only to discover she was not my mom. Not a monster but not my mom. I was teased mercilessly about that for years.

When the Hooligans went through their first haunted house, oldest was fearless. Nothing scared him. Not the spiders climbing the walls, the snakes on the ground, the zombies trying to grab him, or the vampire rising out of the coffin. Youngest desperately wanted to go through but he was terrified. Our solution? I covered his eyes with my hand and we went through together and while he jumped at the creepy noises, he managed to get through it. Now, they both go to those elaborate Scream Farms, but I'm good. I don't see well in the dark and the potential for me to wet my pants is high (sorry for the overshare), so, no thank you.

             Tiffany Haddish and Andy Lassner visit a Haunted House

How about you, Reds and Readers? Are you haunted house fans or no? What experiences have you had in haunted houses?

We Need to Talk About the Cats.

 JENN McKINLAY: Happy National Cat Day to all who celebrate! 

True confession. I did not grow up in a cat house...wait, that sounds weird. Let me rephrase. I didn't grow up in a house with cats. My people were bird people and as such they did not like cats. It just was the way it was and I didn't question it. We always had dogs and a menagerie of other critters so I wasn't deprived. 

The first cat I cohabited with was in college when my roommate brought home a tiny little orange fellow that he named Chubby in the hopes that as the runt of the litter, he would bulk up. Spoiler: He did.

I adored him. Having never had a cat, I had no idea how funny, smart, snuggly, and all around charming cats were. I lived in a three family house, second floor, and usually got home from bartending at two in the morning. Chubs would sit on the portico roof waiting for me, which meant I had to climb out the window and retrieve him on my way into my apartment. Good times! Still, Chubs was an excellent ambassador for feline kind. 

My roommate took off to be a waiter on Martha's Vineyard for the summer, and naturally Chubs became mine. When I moved to Arizona a few years after graduation, Chubs rode shotgun. Here we are in 1992 having just arrived in our desert digs.

Chubs passed in 2005 at the age of 17. I was devastated. The house just wasn't right without a cat so the Hooligans picked out the next two, Patsy and Loretta. 

Then, of course, I found King George abandoned on our front stoop at just a few days old. Next I found a litter, three of the four of which stayed with us--Shackleton, Wynona, and Tiger--and then tiny Henry climbed up into the skid plate of Hub's car and now he's ours as well. Patsy and Loretta passed a few years ago, so it's just the five gray tabbies now. Just five. LOL.

Oh, wait, then there's the yard cats that we share with our neighbors. Collectively, we trapped, spayed or neutered 25 cats in the hood. A tuxedo named Pepe, who never leaves our yard. We even got a collar on him. Then there are two Siamese old men, Sinatra and Deano, Mama (the mother of our found litter), Scooter, Pearl, Smoky, Tony, and Tom (aka Big Boy, who also rarely leaves our yard). None of them are homeable (way too feral) so we have built a cat sanctuary on the side of our house with little houses and a cat tree nestled under our grape arbor. Meals are served twice a day and they all show up - it's like a cat soup kitchen. A few of them let me pet them, the hairier ones allow me to brush them, and Pepe lets me pick him up. Just me, though, no one else.

So...I think it's safe to say I have become a cat person. Just don't tell my dogs!

How about you, Reds and Readers, are you a cat person or no? No judgement (well, maybe from the cats but not from me)!

WITCHES OF DUBIOUS ORIGIN release day!!!!

 

BUY NOW

JENN McKINLAY: What a long strange trip it's been (to quote the Grateful Dead) to reach this release day. As most of you know I have written A LOT of books but none have punted me out of my comfort zone quite as far as this book. 

What was different? The world building, for sure. In mystery, a dead body really moves a plot along. In romance, there're the conflict between the two people who are clearly supposed to be together, but in fantasy, well, it's whatever you want it to be. Honestly, it felt like there were no rules!!! At first, I was resistant and wrote a mystery with romantic elements but as I turned in draft after draft, my editor kept pointing out that the more fantastical elements, the better, so I went all in.

In the end, our librarian who desires a quiet non-magical life, ends up dealing with a sentient grimoire, a pesky raven, an undead Viking, a ghoul, ghost pirates, and a very evil dark witch. Not gonna lie, it was an absolute blast to write this fantasy. I'm working on WITCHES OF QUESTIONABLE INTENT right now and having just as much fun since I'm much more comfortable in the world I've created. Clearly, getting out of my comfort zone was a good move.

How about you, Reds and Readers, what's something you've done that is out of the ordinary for you?

The staff of the Books of Dubious Origin collection:

More about the book: 

When a librarian discovers she’s descended from a long line of powerful witches, she’ll need all of her bookish knowledge to harness her family’s magic, in this enchanting cozy fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay.

Zoe Ziakas enjoys a quiet life, working as a librarian in her quaint New England town. When a mysterious black book with an unbreakable latch is delivered to the library, Zoe has a strange feeling the tome is somehow calling to her. She decides to consult the Museum of Literature, home to volumes of indecipherable secrets, some possessing dark magic that must be guarded.

Here, among their most dangerous collection, the Books of Dubious Origin, Zoe discovers that she is the last descendant of a family of witches and this little black book is their grimoire. Zoe knows she must decode the family’s spell book and solve the mystery of what happened to her mother and her grandmother. However, the book’s potential power draws all things magical to it, and Zoe finds herself under the constant watch of a pesky raven, while being chased by undead Vikings, ghost pirates, and assorted ghouls.

With assistance from the eccentric staff of the Books of Dubious Origin department—including their annoyingly smart and handsome containment specialist, Jasper Griffin—Zoe must confront her past and the legacy of her family. But as their adventure unfolds, she’ll have to decide whether or not she’s ready to embrace her destiny.

Favorite Fantasy Series : Let's Discuss

 JENN McKINLAY: On the eve of the release of my first fantasy novel -- WITCHES OF DUBIOUS ORIGIN drops tomorrow, in case you have inexplicably missed me talking about it for the past six months -- I’m thinking about the fantasy genre in general and, frankly, what books landed me here. 

The earliest fantasy book I can remember reading is C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I still think it has the most perfect title ever and I know it was particularly compelling to me because it merged the real world with an alternate one. For me, having a fantasy novel that has one foot in the known world always makes it that much more compelling. The next most impactful fantasy of my childhood was A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, yet another perfect title. After that I was ready to step into a fully realized high fantasy which I did with Anne McCaffrey’s series the Dragonriders of Pern. From there, fantasy joined my love of mysteries and romance, making me a fully realized genre reader.

How about you, Reds? What are your favorite fantasy novels or are you a hard pass?

RHYS BOWEN:  when I first learned to read it was the Faraway Tree and the Wishing Chair. Then, like Jenn, the Narnia books, all leading up to the Lord of the Rings, my favorite book ever!!! As an adult I have enjoyed Anne McCaffrey and Ursula LeGuin but more recent fantasies have either been too dark or seem like pale copies. You know: Tom the fisher boy is the only one who can save the kingdom from the curse of Yurg! 

LUCY BURDETTE: First let it be said that I’ve preordered Jenn’s book and can’t wait to read it! But…when I read the question, I thought, I don’t read fantasy. Then I read further…of course I read and loved THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE  and A WRINKLE IN TIME. Plus, funnily enough Rhys, I’ve downloaded THE LORD OF THE RINGS and we are listening to it on our way south!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Yes, so excited about Jenn’s book and I have it pre-ordered! I do read fantasy, and it sounds like we have most of the same fantasy lineage. I think my first foray was A WRINKLE IN TIME, then the Narnia books, then THE HOBBIT and THE LORD OF THE RINGS, then T.H. White’s THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING. I read McCaffrey and too many other fun things to name. I love Phillip Pullman’s AMBER SPYGLASS trilogy, and now there are more books continuing Lyra’s story. Apparently they are read by Michael Sheen so I think I’ll be going with the audio version of those! Lucy, I’ve been listening to THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING and have almost finished it–the narration is so good!

HALLIE EPHRON: I’ve been a huge fan of fantasy, starting with The Wizard of Oz which I read to myself when I was in fourth grade, along with the 15 or so sequels (The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz…) by L. Frank Baum (not so much the sequels by other writers.)

JENN: I remember reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to the hooligans when they were little and I was SHOCKED to discover the ruby slippers are...silver!!!

Later, The Once and Future King. The Golden Compass. The Golden Compass. All the fairy tales, especially the ones Disney adapted. Most of the works of Roald Dahl (The BFG! The Witches…). And of course, the Harry Potter books. 

And me, too! I’ve pre-ordered and cannot wait to dig into Jenn’s Witches of Dubious Origin.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Jenn, I loved all those series you mentioned! Some others I’ve loved enough to read over and over: Lois McMaster Bujold’s Sharing Knife and World of the Five Gods series. She made her mark as a highly regarded SF writer and is just as gifted at fantasy. 

I adore Sharon Shinn’s Twelve Houses series, and after umpteen years she has a new novel set in that world coming out, so it’s the perfect time to catch up! Suzanna Clarke knocked me and the rest of the reading world out with JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL. Katherine Addison (pen name for Sarah Monette) has an amazing five book series that began with THE GOBLIN EMPEROR, which was shortlisted for all the major Fantasy/SF awards. 

JENN: LOVED both Addison's and Clarke's books. SO good!

And finally, another of my fave SF writers, Martha Wells, has begun a new fantasy series that I loved almost as much as I love her Murderbot books. WITCH KING is the first novel, and its sequel, QUEEN DEMON, was just released this month!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, yes, you chose some wonderful and foundational examples!  Let me add The Diamond in The Window by Jane Langton–it’s in the “smart kids use their wits and determination to succeed” genre–my fave, especially for a nerdy kid like I was. Am.  Also The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron!  Oh, an my very total complete and life-long favorites are the Edward Eager fantasies–The Time Garden, and Knight’s Castle (where the four smart kids find themselves in Ivanhoe, and since one of them has read it, they know what to do) and Half Magic, where the secret amulet or coin or whatever it is will give you your wish, but  only half of it. So you have to wish for twice as much as you want. Which can be difficult–how to do you ask to be half-again twice not-here?

Once and Future King–I bet I think of that every day. And of course, Narnia. And all the Phillip Pullman, I could not believe how incredible the The Golden Compass is. (NOT the movie!)

Recently, though. Hmm.  

But of course Jenn’s is pre-ordered!

JENN: Hank, I loved The Diamond in the Window - I can still see the cover in my mind and remember finding it on the library shelves when I was a kid. So good!

Thank you all for the enthusiasm!!! It's very exciting to leap into a new genre.

How about you, Readers? Fantasy lover or no?

Cooking is infinitely nuanced: A Sunday post by Celia Wakefield

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Does she need an introduction? Ladies and gentlemen, Celia Wakefield.

 

It’s now more than four months that I've been away from my kitchen. No place to cook in my tiny apartment as a dead two ring electric burner, plus electric kettle and toaster together with a tiny fridge and microwave does not kitchen make in my eyes.

Writing and testing a recipe for you has been my JRW Sunday joy over the past few years. Now despite of my lack of a kitchen Julia has taken pity on me and has accepted my commentary on cook books, thank you Julia. (Editor’s note: I told her the JRW readers would riot if they couldn’t get a Sunday column from her.)

 

 "When I am not cooking, I'm reading." Asked about my passion, that is my first response and I would guess that it applies to many of us here at JRW. I would guess that we own or have owned The Joy of Cooking. In my case the British equivalent was Constance Spry Cookery Book. My copy was a twenty first birthday present from my aunt who worked at Winkfield, the finishing school owned by Mrs Spry and Rosemary Hume. (Winkfield closed back in the ’90’s). 

 

The Constance Spry Cookery Book is a most comprehensive book covering a huge range of house wifery skills too numerous to list. It is still available. So imagine my surprise to discover small book called RATIO: TheSimple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, by Michael Ruhlman. Having reviewed it on line I promptly ordered 2 copies; one for me and one for a newly married friend who is cookery challenged.

 

The "kitchen" is next to the table!

Here for example is the ratio for bread: 5 parts flour: 3 parts water." even after the hundreds of books on food I've bought, skimmed, read and even recommended, this was an approach I hadn't considered. I wanted to write about this approach and share the RATIO idea with you.

 

While I consider myself to be a bit of a 'toss it in' type cook and I have encouraged you to follow your instincts when faced with the 'what’s for dinner' conundrum, I accept that to bake, it makes sense to follow the recipe carefully. Here is Mr. Ruhlman stating that we can do it all by Ratio. The following is at the beginning of the book.

 

The Ratios -

Doughs 

Bread = 5 parts flour: 3 parts water (plus yeast and salt)

Pasta Dough = 3 parts flour: 2 parts egg

Pie Dough = 3 parts flour: 2 parts fat: 1 part water

Biscuit = 3 parts flour: 1 part fat: 2 parts liquid

Cookie Dough = 1 part sugar: 2 parts fat: 3 parts flour

Pâte à Choux = 2 parts water: 1 part butter: 1 part flour: 2 parts egg

Batters Pound Cake = 1 part butter: 1 part sugar: 1 part egg: 1 part flour

Sponge Cake = 1 part egg: 1 part sugar: 1 part flour: 1 part butter

Angel Food Cake = 3 parts egg white: 3 parts sugar: 1 part flour

Quick Bread = 2 parts flour: 2 parts liquid: 1 part egg: 1 part butter

Muffin = 2 parts flour: 2 parts liquid: 1 part egg: 1 part butter

Fritter = 2 parts flour: 2 parts liquid: 1 part egg

Pancake = 2 parts flour: 2 parts liquid: 1 part egg: ½ part butter

Popover = 2 parts liquid: 1 part egg: 1 part flour

Crepe = 1 part liquid: 1 part egg: ½ part flour 

 

Stocks and Sauces 

 

Stock = 3 parts water: 2 parts bones

Consommé = 12 parts stock: 3 parts meat: 1 part mirepoix: 1 part egg white

Roux = 3 parts flour: 2 parts fat

Thickening Ratio = 10 parts liquid: 1 part roux

Beurre Manié = 1 part flour: 1 part butter (by volume)

Slurry = 1 part cornstarch: 1 part water (by volume)

Thickening Rule = 1 tablespoon starch will thicken 1 cup liquid 

 

The Farçir

Sausage = 3 parts meat: 1 part fat

Sausage Seasoning = 60 parts meat/fat: 1 part salt

Mousseline = 8 parts meat: 4 parts cream: 1 part egg

Brine = 20 parts water: 1 part salt

 

Fat-Based Sauces

Mayonnaise = 20 parts oil: 1 part liquid (plus yolk)

Vinaigrette = 3 parts oil: 1 part vinegar, 

Hollandaise = 5 parts butter: 1 part yolk: 1 part liquid 

 

Custards 

Free-Standing Custard = 2 parts liquid: 1 part egg

Crème Anglaise = 4 parts milk/cream: 1 part yolk: 1 part sugar

Chocolate Sauce = 1 part chocolate: 1 part cream

Caramel Sauce = 1 part sugar: 1 part cream.

 

Ratios printed above have been taken from Ruhlman's book.

 

However even if my cooking is via toaster or microwave, I still love to read about it. Over the past few months I haven't been buying much food that can be microwaved but I have been buying several cookbooks which give me great joy.

 

 

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat was made into an entertaining Netflix show with plenty of important tips on what foods work well and how to enhance your meals. She has just written a sequel of her experiences - Good Things, Recipes and Rituals to Share with People you Love. It has been very well reviewed. Samin is quoted, "Once I had these off to you these recipes are no longer mine." She sees her act of writing as a connection, an invitation to sit and eat together. I heartily agree with her.  I have shared many recipes with JRW over our time together. Some are my originals or my take on a particular recipe and some come directly from other authors, bloggers or publications. I always try to acknowledge the provenance.

 

This led me to cooking dinner during my last visit to Maine when Julia and the boys were staying to keep me company. As the temperature had dropped significantly I chose to make tomato soup served with raclette cheese paninis. Julia asked me for the recipe so I am reproducing it here.  But this is my take and doesn’t have much relation to the commercial tomato soup of childhood. (Editor’s note: Thank God!)

 

Tomato Soup for Julia

16 oz jar of sweet basil tomato sauce; I used Boves Sauce

Half a sweet onion chopped

8 Garlic cloves peeled and chopped in half 

Doz. plus cherry tomatoes cut in half

 3 Tblsp olive oil

2 Tblsp or to taste Italian tomato paste – the good quality kind in a tube

1Cup water

1 Cup heavy cream and more to taste at

Sugar, salt, pepper to serve as needed

 

In a heavy bottom pot heat the olive oil on a low heat

Add onion and garlic, stir to mix and cook on a low heat for 15 or so minutes till soft and clarified, don't allow to brown

Add tomatoes and stir, staying on low heat til softened.

Add tomato sauce and stir together

Pour water into tomato jar, tighten lid and shake to remove sauce in the jar, 

Add to pan, mix and continue to cook over low heat

Add tomato paste as season to taste

Cook another five minutes then add cream and mix

Serve hot and top with your choices of sour cream, Parmesan, cilantro or spring onions, even some pesto would work.

 

But to get back to the cookbooks. One stand out feature is the beautiful book presentation.  Just look at the end pieces of Stanley Tucci’s, Taste: My Life Through Food. Who could resist those gorgeous tomatoes? Another book is Amanda Hesser’s, The Cook and the Gardener, Recipes and Writings from France, telling the tale of 22 year old Amanda at the beginning of her outstanding career in food, which encompasses a James Beard Award, time at the NYT, as well as Founder of Food 52. Who could pass such a storied book by? The illustrations alone are worth the price. 

What are your favorite cook books or cooking stories, Reds? I’m giving away a copy of BOURDAIN: The Definitive Oral Biography, to one commentor.