Buttermilk Biscuits & Hurricane Sandy

Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe

While waiting the FrankenStorm out, what better way, to get your mind off the howling winds and rain, then to dust your hands with unbleached all purpose flour? Cold pats of organic butter in a bowl usually puts me in a happy mood. So my daughter and I, rolled up our sleeves, and made a nice mess in the kitchen. Biscuit Style!!!

                   

 Ingredients: 

2 Cups of unbleached all purpose flour 

2 Tbs of sugar

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda 

1 tablespoon baking powder (I use the one without aluminum)

6 tablespoons salted butter

1 cup buttermilk 

              Preheat Oven to 450: 

Combing dry ingredients together and mash together with a pastry blender, potato masher, or fork. It'll be a little crumbly until you add the buttermilk. Then it'll be a bit sticky. That's okay. If it's really sticky, add a tad bit more flour. If it's on the dry side, add a bit more buttermilk.

Pour some flour on your hands and on your board. Be generous until you form a dough ball. Gently pat, do not pull out that rolling pin! Fold the dough about 7 times and press down the dough until it's about 2 inches thick. Use a round cutter to cut into rounds or you can shape them with your hand. We like big biscuits over here.  Cook for 10-12 minutes. This recipe will yield about 6 big and flaky biscuits.


A few tips:

The longer you handle the dough, the tougher the biscuit will be. In other words, if you're mad the day you're making this biscuits, and you're pounding on the dough, like you want to pound someone's face....STOP! Back away from the biscuits! 

Everyone who eat them will suffer. Pounding away at the dough with your hands or a rolling pin will overstimulate the gluten in this dough and that's why (scientifically speaking) the biscuit will be tough and make others sad. Don't make others in your household sad.

If you only want to make 2 biscuits for yourself, just take the biscuits you already cut out, and place in a freezer bag. It'll last up to a month. Once frozen, increase your cooking time for about another 10 minutes, but remember, ONLY YOU, know your oven best. :)


What do you like on your biscuits? I prefer honey or strawberry jam on mine. Share your thoughts below!

This post is dedicated to my Great Aunt Josephine Conway. I'm going to tell you, the same thing she used to always tell me, "You Stay Sweet Now." 

                                *** Keep The Sun Shining In Your Heart***

Heirloom Vegetables?

Weird-Looking Heirloom Vegetables: Why They’re Important by Guest Blogger Grace Simpson 

If you've ever been to a farmer’s market, no doubt you've come across vegetables labeled as “heirloom.”  Heirloom is such an elegant words and it refers to something valuable passed down from generation to generation.

But if heirloom vegetables are so valuable, why do they look so darned weird?

Simply put, heirloom vegetables are a specific variety vegetable that has been grown for many years and is open –pollinated. This is in contrast to hybrid and GM (genetically modified) vegetables. Heirlooms themselves are not necessarily organic, but when you grow them using organic techniques, they most definitely are.

Because they are not modified or cross-pollinated to produce new desirable traits, they may not look as pretty as the produce we have come to expect at the grocery store. But the good news is they are usually quite delicious. They are also often selected for their ability to withstand extreme weather and produce high yields.

To understand this a bit better, we need to look at 3 types of vegetables, or more specifically, 3 types of seeds. This information will help you in deciding what type of produce to buy and then, in a later post, will be useful if you are trying to grow your own produce as well.

- Heirloom Seeds: These are seed varieties that have been cultivated for many years, passed down from generation to generation, having fairly predictable results from crop to crop. There is no agreed upon age required for these seeds, but some suggest 50 years, while others say it should be 100. A lot of people agree upon a date of pre-1945 because that marks the end of World War 2 when growers started hybrid experimentation.
- Hybrid Seeds: Hybrids sometimes occur naturally and other times, intentionally to acquire specific characteristics and hybrid seeds often produce high yields. It’s the cross-breeding of two species to produce a new plant. Hybrids can produce great results, but are problematic when home growers or small farmers want to use the seeds from their hybrid crop to create new crops. Seeds from a second generation hybrid plant simply do not produce predictable results. Thus, hybrid seeds are usually purchased again for each planting.
- GMO Seeds: Then we have the GMO seeds that are the intentionally genetically modified to produce very specific results. It’s the actual transfer of DNA from one organism (not necessarily other plants) to another to get those results. There are a number of debatable issues in regard to GMO ranging from ethics to ecology to economy.

For the purposes of my posts here, we all need to be aware that GMOs threaten the existence of organic crops through cross-pollination. Add to that, when large GMO producers like Monsanto hold patents on their seeds, they readily bully and sue smaller farmers when their GMO seed has been found to cross-pollinate with the crops of these smaller farms. Many of these farms simply cannot afford to fight these legal battles and are forced to either shut down or comply with buying their seeds from the GMO producers.

Earlier in 2012 a lawsuit including nearly 300,000 American farmers was launched against Monstanto and its practices, but the suit has been denied. The lawyers representing the farmers issued an appeal in July to take Monstanto back to court. Where this goes, is unknown, but it makes the protection of heirloom seeds even more important.

So the next time you see that gnarled carrot or misshapen tomato at the farmer’s market, consider giving it a home. This is the type of produce we need to support if we want to sustain organic cultivation.


                       *************************************************

We have only 6 more posts left in Grace's Organic Series and I'm so happy that she stops by every Friday with such interesting information! Thank you so much Grace!!!

Is It Really Organic and What Does That Mean Anyway? By Grace Simpson

Before you go out and buy a bunch of organic foods blindly, let’s really sit down and talk about what organic means.

According to Wikipedia organic foods are “Foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Organic foods are also not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.”

So organic food leaves out the things I talked about a couple of posts back. Organic foods are void of pesticides and fertilizers. They aren’t irradiated or processed chemically - all important stuff.

However, the word “organic” is not a legal term in the United States, so sometimes it seems quite meaningless. In the United States, the legal term for organic food is “Certified Organic.” Food can be certified by the USDA when it meets certain conditions set out by the National Organic Program (NOP)  (http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=ORGANIC_CERTIFICATIO).

Certified Organic produce must be grown using organic methods without chemical pesticides, genetically modified ingredients or petroleum or sewage-based fertilizers. It also can’t be processed with irradiation or contain prohibitive preservatives.

Certified Organic livestock must not be given antibiotics or growth hormones. They also need to have access to the outdoors.

When it comes to processed Certified Organic foods, 95% of the ingredients must be grown organically to contain the seal. And if a label says it is “made with organic ingredients,” it only needs to be made of 70-95% organic ingredients.

Food that bears this certification seal is generally thought to provide the consumer protection, but it’s not without its critics. Critics are concerned that the regulations deal with the way the food is grown, but offers no guarantee of the quality of the product. There are also reports that the certification standards are lacking and that includes a 2010 report from the Inspector General (http://www.cornucopia.org/USDA/OIG_AuditofNOP.pdf).

So what does this all mean for the consumer?

1. Products, especially non-food items, can be labeled as organic, but don’t meet the appropriate guidelines. Non-food products are not subject to the Certified Organic standards.

2. The guidelines may not be enforced properly, causing some foods to be labeled as Certified Organic when they really shouldn’t be.

3. Food that is organic may not actually be certified because the grower chooses not to get certified or isn’t able to get certified because they produce less than $5000 in products each year.

What can you do?

Given all these potential problems with organic labeling, it’s natural to wonder if it’s all worth it. The key is to read labels and be aware of word play. Stating things like “made with organic ingredients” is a typical way of making something sound good, when it may not be quite what it seems.  Above all, know where your food is coming from, buy locally and do your homework.

Organic Peach Pie & A Book!

 Organic Peach Pie 

I'm trying different ways of cooking and I'm really enjoying it! Using fresh and organic ingredients, not only makes my palate happy, but my family too! My neighbors have even become accustomed to walking into my home, sniffing around my dishes, and saying, "Mmm-hmmm, that smells great! Now what's in it? Black beans? Tofu? What's the catch?"

LOL

They tend to ask what's the catch, because in a previous blog, I made brownies that had black beans & bananas in it and I didn't disclose the ingredients until after they sung their praises of the treat. Recently, I made a Strawberry Pie, and waited to hear my neighbor's opinion, before letting her know that it was sugar-free to which she said, "Whaaaaaa.....?" 

                                                         

Any-hoo..... I'm finishing up a book I won not too long ago called, The Last Supper Catering Company, by author, Michaelene McElroy. It's a story about B. Thankful Childe-Lucknow, who has the power to hear the voices of the departed. It only seemed right that I have a nice slice of Peach Pie & a cup of decaf coffee to go along with this haunting story! There's no 'shocking' ingredients, in this recipe, just sweet organic peaches and spices. Let me know a favorite book that you'd like to curl up with and what delicious drink or treat is on your night stand next to you? 

Organic Peach Pie & Crust Recipe 

First Up - The Buttery Crust 

Ingredients: 

1 Cup of Organic Pastry Flour

6 Tbsp of COLD Organic Salted Butter

6 Tbsp of COLD (brrrrr!) water 

and your hands, fork, or a potato masher 

Disclaimer: Because I didn't know how well this pie crust would turn out, I cheated a wee bit. I bought an organic pie crust for the bottom and then made this recipe for the top. It worked out so well, I'll use this crust for my next pie recipe. 

Combine the flour and butter in a bowl and crumble it up with your hands or mash them. 

<<<<<  It'll look a bit like this. 

Then add water a Tablespoon at a time, in order to get it to your desired consistency. The recipe on the back of the pastry flour bag said 3, but I needed 3 more Tablespoons. Be sure to add the water a Tablespoon at a time & if you add too much water, don't fret!!! Just add a little bit more flour. 

This makes a nice round ball. :) 

Place in a sandwich bag or saran wrap, in the fridge, until you're ready to roll it out. 

Peach Filling 

Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees. 

 I drained my peaches, so that it wouldn't make the pie crust bottom all soggy. I also squeezed a bit of lemon juice over the peaches so that they would not discolor while baking, but I guess people wouldn't care if I had brown peaches....OR WILL THEY?????? P.S. Be sure to get those lemon seeds out of the lemon before squeezing it all over the peaches. 

Then I brought in the BIG GUNS 

 Ingredients: 

(Playing The Cupid Shuffle in the Kitchen while baking is awesome, but almost led me to pouring Cumin in my pie as opposed to Cinnamon!)

2-3 Cups of peaches 

(I used one bag of Organic Frozen Unsweetened Peach Slices)

1/2 Cup of Unbleached Flour

3/4 Cup of Organic Brown Sugar 

1/4 Cup of Organic Cane Sugar 

1 tsp of  Organic Vanilla

2 tsp of Cinnamon 

1 tsp of Nutmeg 

a dash of Ginger 

1 Organic egg (separate the egg and yolk) 

Some Organic Salted Butter to pat on top of the pie before placing the lattice crust on top. 

Note: If using fresh peaches (or any peaches really), you may want to add 1/4 cup more sugar, if the peaches are not in season and tend to be on the bitter side. If they are bitter, you can wait a couple of days, and place the peaches in a paper bag. That'll get it all nice, sweet and juicy. 

Let's get ready to CRACK AN EGG. ONE HAND. ALL DAY. IN THE KITCHEN. EGG WHITE. NO SHELL. (It's a Kevin Hart thing, I'm sorry)

Combine your dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl 

Add your drained peaches and egg yolk. Don't worry about this mix being dry and that you drained your peaches. It will still come out juicy. Them peaches got a lot of liquid in 'em!

 Pour it into your crust and cut slices of butter on top of your pie. Then top with strips of the pie crust that you made.  Brush the top of your pie with the egg white that you had leftover. It'll make the top all brown and pretty :) 

You can also place the crust on top, instead of cutting strips, but make sure you prick holes in the top, so that the steam can escape though the holes. 

My oven gets hot, pretty quick, so I tend to burn items in the oven when I follow the baking instructions given for certain things. Most recipes I've seen called for the pie to bake for 45 minutes. I already know, that I couldn't do that. I baked my pie in the oven for 25 minutes at 450 degrees and then let it sit in the oven for another 15 after I turned it off. 

Introducing.....the infamous Organic Peach Pie! 

Keep The Sun Shining In Your Heart...! 

Guest Blogger Grace "Going Organic" Simpson is Back Again

How to Eat Organic, Even if You’re on a Budget

A lot of people tell me they love the idea of organic food and would start eating it in a heartbeat but their budgets simply don’t allow it. It’s true that organic food can cost considerably more than conventionally grown food…absolutely. The one glimmer of hope is that there has been a downward pricing trend as organic foods became more popular. Still, the prices aren’t low enough for many people, so how can you eat organic when you’re on a budget?

Here are a few ideas you can start with.

- Start with one thing at a time. Going organic doesn’t mean you have to go all or none. Take small steps to where you want to go. I also recommend downloading the EWG (Environmental Working Group) Dirty Dozen list that shows you the produce that is most likely to be grown with the most pesticides, so either avoid those or purchase them organically. The list includes items like apples, bell peppers, peaches, potatoes, blueberries, spinach, celery, strawberries and more. They also keep a list of produce that is least likely be grown with as much pesticide, so you may not have to rush into organic versions of those.

You can get the list or download a mobile app here: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/

- Buy from farmers markets. There are many organic options at farmer’s markets and they are often more affordable than organic fare found at regular supermarkets. You can search Google for “[your town] farmer’s market” or use the http://www.localharvest.org website to find markets in your area.

- Cut out expensive, processed foods. While processed foods may seem like a great deal because they save time and they appear to be inexpensive, they often don’t provide a lot in the way of portion size or nutritional value and can really eat up a food budget if you rely on them. Try reducing the amount of processed foods you buy and eat more nutrient dense whole foods. It’s good for the budget and good for your health.

- Stock up when things go on sale and then can, dry or freeze it. It’s the same money-saving concept that people have been using for years and you can apply it to organic foods as well. Invest in a food dehydrator, canning equipment and freezer-ready containers, so you can store organic foods for later eating.

- Make it a goal to eat a fully local and/or organic meal each week. It’s an idea borrowed from http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/latest/green-diet-local-meal-44013008 and it’s a good one. If you just try for one meal, you’ll be making a difference without a lot of cost. Plus, leftovers and extra ingredients can be stretched out to additional meals.

- Eat more vegetarian meals. I know it’s scary for some meat lovers, me included, but eating more meatless meals gives you so much more money in the food budget. Or if you’re not ready to do vegetarian, consider using smaller portions of meat in your meals. Try things like stir fries and similar meals where meat is simply an accompaniment, rather than the main focus of the meal.

- Pick your own. Don’t be afraid of a little manual labor. Using “you pick” opportunities allows you save a lot of money and stock up for canning, drying and freezing. You can pick a variety of fruits and vegetables. You can look for you picks in your area by visiting http://www.pickyourown.org, but do confirm they are organic growers first.

Every little bit helps and the better you get at picking the right foods, the more affordable it can be. And remember, the long term health benefits of eating more naturally will likely save you plenty in health costs in the long run.

Just one thing before you head out and stock up on everything…we should talk about what organic really means and we’ll do that in my next post. See you next Friday!

Cornbread Muffins Made with Real Corn

Traditional cornbread muffins are made with cornmeal, if you don’t have any on hand or prefer fresh corn, you can still make cornbread muffins. This recipe is easy to make and the results are delicious!

I’ve made them with whole wheat flour, but all purpose flour can certainly be substituted.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups corn kernels. You can use fresh, canned or frozen. Just defrost first.
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• A pinch or two of salt
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk
• ½ cup vegetable oil

 Makes: 24 cornbread muffins

How to Make Them

Start by preheating the oven to 400 F.

Next, chop up the corn until it looks something like this. I've used a big kitchen knife and pretended I was a Samurai Chef Master (yes, there was bloodshed, but not my own. I'm totally kidding, no one was hurt with my gigantic kitchen blade).  

Now combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, including the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Then, add the beaten eggs, milk and vegetable oil. Stir until well combined. 

Then fold in the corn, until it’s evenly distributed.

Now, you can pour the batter evenly in the 24 muffin tins. The paper muffin cups are optional. I like to use them for easy clean up and then we put the papers in the green recycling bin when we’re done. 

Bake at 400 F for about 20-25 minutes. They’re done when you gently press your finger on the top and the muffin springs back.

Serve warm. Add a little butter for an even more special treat.

If you tried it and like it, please comment below! If you throw corn in with your Jiffy mix, tell me that too! If you just want your mouth to water at the screen, please grab a napkin beforehand...Your monitor really hates drip-page! 

~Keep The Sun Shining In Your ❤~

Freebie Books from WLC!

I'm sharing the love for my fellow authors! Check out these freebies! Click the picture to go to the website or copy and paste this link into your browser 

http://bit.ly/3FreeEbooks

                                                    

                                 Happy Reading!   

Renting College Books Saves You Money!!

My beautiful younger sister is currently in college and called me recently to voice her frustrations about how much school really costs. Often times, we think about tuition, lab fees, and what we could possibly get for less than $5 to eat because we ran out of the house before eating. But, not about buying books for classes or the fact, that the books could cost hundreds of dollars! Even if you sell it back to the school, you NEVER get back what you paid for it. Boy, do I remember those days! 

Bummer, right?

She said this book pictured above was $80 and that she barely uses it for class! It's hurtful when you're told you need something, to find out that, you may only glance at it occasionally or could have reduced your expenses by renting the book versus buying.  

Campus Book Rentals offered this book to rent for half the cost of this book. Just $40 dollars. That's a big difference when you're trying to decide between gas money, food for the week so you can cook food instead of eating out, or just saving it for the next book rental! 

There are plenty of textbook rental options you can utilize, but what I loved most about Campus Book Rentals is that they give a portion of each book rental to Operation Smile.

If you've never seen the posters for Operation Smile in the mall or on a billboard,I'll tell you about them. They are a worldwide children's charity organization that helps treat facial deformities such as cleft lips & cleft palates. It's nice to know that you can help them and yourself while on a budget! It's a win-win. :) 

Here are some more perks:

Some perks are:

-save 40-90% off of bookstore prices

-free shipping both ways

-can highlight in the textbooks

-flexible renting periods

-they donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rented

-etc...(you can find more perks at their website :)

    

                      

Want To Be FB Friends with Campus Book Rentals?

Facebook 

Want To Follow Campus Book Rentals on Twitter?

Twitter

Have you guys rented books before or have money saving college tips to share, please comment below!!! :) 


Got more questions, but tired of reading? Check out this video  or copy and paste this link http://www.youtube.com/embed/xfNgvwOtjrg?rel=0

Guest Blogger: Grace “Going Organic” Simpson Is Back!

Happy Friday!

Eight Reasons Eating Organic is Important to You…and the World around You

It seems like everyone is talking about organic foods like it’s some kind of buzz word or status symbol. I suppose for some, it might be. But for many of us, it’s a way of life that takes us back to a more natural way of living and farming. One that has been destroyed by the machine food production has become today. 

Now, I don’t mean to sound like one of those doom and gloom, anti-establishment types. I don’t disparage anyone for choosing the foods that they do. Sometimes it’s an economic necessity. Other times it’s simply not having enough information about what’s really going on with our food. Sometimes it’s just apathy. 

“Science may have found a cure for most evils; but we have found no remedy for the worst of them all, the apathy of human beings.” ~ Helen Keller

I’m not sure what I can do about the apathetic, but for people like you who may have budgeting obstacles or are trying to find more information about what’s going into you bodies, I am here to help. 

So the first natural question is…why go organic? 

Organic eating has a number of benefits and here are just a few of them:

- Buying organic allows you to support your local economy and farmers. This is good for you because you get fresher foods and also reduces the pollution that results from food transport.

- Organic produce is free of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Even if you wash your produce, you cannot remove all these harmful chemicals that can affect your nervous system, cause cancer and more.  Also consider that conventional farming which uses harmful chemicals can contribute to the contamination of our water supply, so supporting organic, you are also supporting a cleaner water supply for all.

- While people may not be quite as concerned, eating organic can help you avoid foods that have been irradiated. Government bodies tout the irradiation process as helpful in reducing harmful bacteria, preventing spoilage and increasing shelf life of foods. However, irradiation reduces the nutritional value of your foods and there is growing concern by researchers that the process may not be as safe as previously thought.

- Avoidance of genetically modified foods or GMOs (genetically modified organisms). While huge biotechnology companies like Monstanto will have you believing that they are increasing the viability of crop growing, there are long-term dangers in GMOs that have caused them to be banned by much of Europe and Japan.

- Organic livestock is fed its natural diet, rather than potentially contaminated grains, antibiotics and hormones. This is in contrast to conventionally-raised livestock that get hormones to help them grow faster and antibiotics are given en masse as a preventative measure to illness. The scary thing is that the preventative measure may be necessary given the poor hygienic conditions of the animals. With organic, animals are raised more humanely and more naturally, eliminating the need for these potentially dangerous situations for both livestock and human.

- Organic growing contributes to improved soil quality. A lot of people don’t realize it, but our soils are so depleted that we no longer get the nutrients we did from our foods a few decades ago. In order to obtain the certified organic label from the USDA, soil must be free of prohibited chemicals for three years and the increased soil quality is a necessary goal for organic farmers. To learn more about a variety of soil studies, check out http://www.ota.com/organic/benefits/soil.html

- Organic farming is more wildlife friendly. From animals to plant species, a more natural ecology is supported through organic methods. There are many studies supporting this including a study from the University of Oxford that found that there is increased biodiversity on organically farmed land.
  

There are so many reasons to go organic and this post touches on just a few of them. Here’s the most immediate one that people can really appreciate. Organic foods simply taste better. This is real food, free of all unnecessary human interventions and inventions. It’s nature’s perfection and once you try it, you probably won’t want to go back to your other options.  

Of course, this still leaves the issue of cost and how organic food seems unforeseeable to many families today. Well, that is exactly what we’ll be talking about in my next post. 

A Red Hot Seals Novel! Meet Author of Forged in Fire, Trish McCallan!

I'm interviewing Trish today as part of her Forged in Fire book tour with SupaGurl Books and I couldn't be happier. As a firm believer in dreams that come true, I was super excited to pick this author's brain about her book since the main character Beth has premonitions and even shares a few experiences of her own. Here's a short blurb about Forged in Fire: 

Beth Brown doesn't believe in premonitions. But her recent dream feels too real to ignore: a commercial airliner is hijacked, and a handsome passenger is shot dead. Beth hasn't met the mystery man in her dream; she would never forget a gorgeous face like his. But she can’t deny the bizarre connection she feels. Now awake, and unable to allow for the violence she’s convinced is impending, she races to the airport…and comes face to face with the man of her dreams.

Zane Winters lives for his job, using his uncanny psychic powers to carry out missions for elite SEAL Team 7. Yet the constant adrenaline highs can’t drown out the numbness seeping into his life as he yearns to find a woman he can trust. All that changes when he meets a beautiful stranger who sets his soul on fire—and somehow knows he’s about to die.

To thwart the global crisis the hijacking will unleash, Beth and Zane join forces. But even amid the danger, they can’t deny the powerful force drawing them together. Is it merely attraction…or destiny?

Are you as psyched as I am to put this on your 'To Read' list? Check out our chat session. 

When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

A: When I was in first or second grade. My mom used to read to us every night, and encouraged us to practice our letters and words by making up a story and then she’d help us write the words down on paper. I used to illustrate the pages with crayons. Eventually, I just started making the stories up and writing them down on my own. I think I've wanted to be a writer since my mom helped me get that first story down on paper. 

What do you like most about writing in the Romantic Thriller  genre? 

A: I love the mix of suspense with romance. I love the sense of satisfaction at the end when the bad guys have been defeated and the good guys are starting a new life together. At heart romantic suspense celebrates human resilience and the human spirit. It illustrates how people can go through periods of pure hell, and come out stronger for it, and without losing their innate ability to love one another. 

Is there a character you feel like you associate with in this book?

A: I associated with Beth through the book. Like her, I’m a woman who lives a fairly boring life, so I had a good sense of what her reactions would be through the course of the book. For the most part, they mirrored what my reactions would have been.  I’m also an avid romance reader. 

In your book, the main character Beth, has a premonition/premonitions. Do you believe in them or have you had one? 

A:  I've dreamed about two events that came true. But both these events were mundane, nothing life or death about them. One was when I was about ten or so and I told my parents we shouldn't bother going out to weed, since Janie and Bruce (my mom’s step sister, and step brother-in-law) were going to stop by and we’d go out for pizza. My parents thought I was trying to get out of weeding (which I was! LOL) because Janie and Bruce lived about eight hours away and they always called before visiting. It wasn't until my parents asked me where I’d come up with this info, that I realized I’d dreamed about the visit the night before. We headed out to weed and sure enough within minutes, Janie and Bruce showed up and yep- we went out for pizza. 

The second time happened when I was in college. My parents had a Japanese exchange student named Yuki. One night my mom called and during our conversation I casually asked how Yuki was, whether he’d recovered from the bee stings. She asked what I was talking about and I suddenly realized I’d dreamed the night before that Yuki had gotten stung during a school hike. My mom went really quiet and then said Yuki had just told her about the hike that afternoon. Yuki ended up not going, but the boys who did go, disturbed a nest of wasps and were stung repeatedly.    

What books do you have coming up next? 

    

    I'll be self-publishing a paranormal romantic suspense in December called Yesterday’s Child. My editor called Yesterday's Child an intriguing mix of Twin Peaks, Pet Cemetery and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. LOL

    Here's a quick Blurb: When her son vanishes without a trace, Deborah St. James is the prime suspect in her child’s disappearance. Until nine years later, when he walks back through her door: without having aged a day, wearing the same clothes he disappeared in, and with no memory of the previous                      nine years. 

    

    The second book in my Red-Hot SEALs series is scheduled for release on March 5th of 2013. This book continues the story arc from book one in the series, but through the POV of Lieutenant Marcus Simcosky (Cosky) and his heroine Kaitlin Littlehorse. 

   (Sorry to interject, but readers, how HOT is this cover??? ) 

If you could offer advice to another writer about quitting their day job to pursue writing full time, what would you tell them to consider first?

A: I would recommend that before quitting their job they come up with a solid business plan that details how much money they need to earn each month to survive, how many books they need to sell each month to earn that amount of money, and how many books they need to release each year to meet their quota. I’d also recommend that they set up a production schedule and live on a shoe string until they can funnel enough money away in savings to give them a nest egg. Living off your writing income is a feast and famine business. The profession is much more comfortable if you have a year’s worth of living wages socked away in case sales bottom out for a while.  

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and giving my readers a glimpse into your world! Hope to do it all over again when your other books come out. Good luck in all your endeavors and keep the sun shining in your heart. ❤

Here's a little bit more about this intriguing author Trish McCallan!

Trish McCallan was born in Eugene, Oregon, and grew up in Washington State, where she began crafting stories at an early age. Her first books were illustrated in crayon, bound with red yarn, and sold for a nickel at her lemonade stand. Trish grew up to earn a bachelor’s degree in English literature with a concentration in creative writing from Western Washington University, taking jobs as a bookkeeper and human- resource specialist before finally quitting her day job to write full time. Forged in Fire came about after a marathon reading session, and a bottle of NyQuil that sparked a vivid dream. She lives today in eastern Washington. An avid animal lover, she currently shares her home with three golden retrievers, a black lab mix and a cat.

    Website- www.trishmccallan.com
Blog- http://trishmccallan.blogspot.com/
Twitter-https://twitter.com/@TrishMcCallan
Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/trish.mccallan
Purchase Link- Click Here And It Will Open Up A New Window 
Genre- Romantic Thriller