Housebound Writing and Heath Bar Trifle

Now is a perfect time to rejuvenate your spirit for writing. Think I'm going to tell you to "get writing" on these snowy, freezing, housebound days? Nope. Just the opposite. Don't write. Round up all those bits and pieces you already have started – notes made while driving, notes made in the middle of the night, pieces you began for your writing group. Round those up and type them up. Get everything typed and in your notebook. You do have a notebook, don’t you?

Ah-ha! Look at that body of work you have produced. Later, later, later if some pieces need rewriting, you have the work in a form where the revising and editing can be done more easily.

Don't think. (You know how I feel about thinking.) Don't think. Just type. Let me know how it goes.

And then, I have an idea for a next step. That will be for next week.

Meanwhile, thank you to all of you who called or e-mailed letting me know the website Calendar had not been updated. Unknowingly, I had shot the update into cybserspace to some unknown Jane person instead of to the right Jane person. Whew! All is now updated so you can find January and February classes at Calendar. Class locations are in Mission, Kansas; Leawood, Kansas; and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Note that I don't personally facilitate at every location, but I have personally trained every teacher and they are using my methods and materials with my enthusiastic support. So don't just sit out there in the cold alone. Join a class.

And thank you to those who let me know they were encouraged by the "Here Is Good" theme. Some of you have had a couple of years of illness, health close calls, job loss, and relocations; but, you let me know you plan to write yourself that Christmas letter and remind yourself that "Here Is Good."

If you want to continue e-mailing your comments, that is fine with me; but, just so you know, there is an option at the bottom of the page where you can post your comments to the blog. Some of you let me know you didn't do that because you had to open an account. I think that is just a matter of putting in your email address and a password -- you can choose something easy like spelling your childhood hometown backwards. I can't promise, but I don't think you will be hit with a bunch of extra junk mail.

Recipe

And now for an energy boost. You know what that means. A chocolate recipe. My friend and fabulous cook, Shirley, brought this to a Christmas luncheon. She said it was easy, and it certainly filled the bill for containing chocolate. I Googled the ingredients and found this recipe for Heath Bar Trifle at www.cooks.com. If this isn’t exactly Shirley’s recipe, it is close enough.

HEATH BAR TRIFLE

11 Heath candy bars
1 (21.5 oz) box fudge brownie mix
2 c. chocolate chips
2 lg. boxes (5.9 oz.) chocolate instant pudding mix
5 c. cold milk
2 lg. containers Cool Whip
1 c. miniature chocolate chips.

Bake brownies according to directions, except fold in 2 cups chocolate chips before baking. Bake in greased 9 x 13 inch pan for 28 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool completely. Cut into ½ inch cubes.

Make pudding mixture as follows: Mix pudding and milk together. Stir with wire whip or mixer 1 to 2 minutes. Fold in 3 cups of Cool Whip and 1 cup miniature chocolate chips. Place ½ of brownies in bottom of large trifle bowl, then ½ of pudding mixture, 4 Heath bars (crushed), and a layer of Cool Whip. Repeat layers. Decorate with crushed Heath bars. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. (Shirley made hers the morning of the luncheon.)

Shirley served hers in a regular clear bowl, and cooks.com suggested using a punch bowl.

Tip: Freeze Heath bars before crushing.

For more writing tips and resources go to the website www.angelinyourinkwell.com

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Copyright 2010

Here Is Good

WRITING TIP & A Recipe Tip

One of the many things I love about the Christmas season is Christmas cards. I like real cards the old-fashioned snail mail way, I like e-mail cards, I really like the animated e-mail cards from the company that has the black lab jumping around in the snow; and this year, I found I even liked the cards that came in the form of Christmas letters.

My aunt, who lives in Ada, Oklahoma, has the best touch with her Christmas letter. She clearly identifies everyone so it’s easy to keep track of whether the people are high school friends of hers or her grandchildren. On the back of the letter are a few photographs, again clearly identified as to person and place. It makes it like reading a little story, and you know how important I think “story” is in your writing.

Now I have to confess that in the past some of the letters I received made me feel like my life was lacking. But there is nothing like a potentially life-threatening health problem to make even the most mundane life seem miraculous. So, while this year I still have no European travel to report, no awards, and no promotions, I am so glad to be here that every pile of dirty snow on the curb, dirty laundry on the floor and dirty dishes in the kitchen sink seems precious. If the sun doesn’t shine, it’s okay with me. If the sun does shine, that’s okay too.

Still, I managed to get a few small things done this year; and I’ll bet you did too. (Maybe yours were large things.) Either way, here’s what I plan to do, and I invite you to join me. Write an end-of-year letter to yourself – for yourself. Maybe you tried a new variety of plant in your garden this year. That counts. Put that in your letter. My friend, Shirley's, elderly inlaws learned to use their Jitterbug cell phone. For them, that counts. They could put that in their letter. Maybe you got the wood rot repaired on your house. That counts. Put that in your letter. I talked to my friend, Shelia, in Wichita Falls, Texas this week. She was happy that she went to New York City, stood in the street, and hailed a taxi, all by herself. She can put that in her letter – as well as her trip to Nova Scotia.

Where do the days go we ask, as we get older. Make writing this letter an annual practice and you will have a record of where the days went. If you are lucky (I now prefer the word blessed) the days went to living – every day. If the sun shines, that’s good. If the sun doesn’t shine, that’s okay too. You’re here. I’m here. Here Is Good.


Recipe

Even I have had my fill of chocolate so here is a quick tip for Deviled Eggs. Not only are Deviled Eggs good as a side dish, I think they make a great quick breakfast – for adults or kids. Cram a couple in your mouth on the way out the door, stuff a mini-bagel in your pocket for in the car, and you’re ready to “work like the devil,” – hence the name, Deviled Eggs. (Yes, I made up that part.)

EASY DEVILED EGGS - (Thanks to Lynda for this tip.)

Put cooked egg yolks from boiled eggs in a zipper top plastic bag. Seal, mash till yolks are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, and keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the bag, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.


For Writing Resources and Calendar, go to www.angelinyourinkwell.com

©2009, 2010 Angel In Your Inkwell®

Open Your Mind

WRITING TIP
Having trouble with a story element? Open your mind.
For several weeks a member of the Advanced Life Story Writing Group had been struggling with her stories. She felt they weren’t interesting, maybe even weren’t “stories.” Then last week she read a piece about an important event in her childhood. She had detail, a beginning, middle, and end. She had emotion and sensory detail. She had a theme that she carried throughout very nicely. Her listeners were enthralled.
After we had told her all the things we liked about the story, she was unresponsive. No comment. No smile. Finally, I said, “This is good. Your story was good. Why is this your response?”
Long silence. Finally, she said, “Huh.” Another long pause. “I’m just wondering how I can do that again.”
Of course, we all laughed because we have all had that same feeling. Something works. How did we do it?
Here’s what I think happened. Consciously, or unconsciously, she opened her mind. The story was written from a child’s viewpoint instead of from a proper, grammatically correct, composition conscious adult viewpoint. We were seeing events through the eyes of the child. She was right back there in her family home, seeing herself, seeing her brother, seeing household items and how they worked from a child’s perspective.
Don’t get me wrong here. The writing, spelling, punctuation, and grammar were all correct. But the explanation of events was through the sensibility of a child.
My advice to this writer was my favorite advice: try to go again to that place in your brain where you were when you wrote that. Or to put it my even more favorite way – Lose your mind and write as fast as you can.

WRITING PROMPTImagine you are your first grade teacher. Write about Little You. Imagine you are your brother or sister. Write about Little You. Imagine you are Little You. Write about your best friend. Open your mind. (See Quote.)

Great -- and Even Greater (flowers, writing, chocolate)

Great -- and Even Greater

These Stella Dora lilies bloomed under the birch tree in my front yard, through no effort on my part. They appeared just weeks after we moved in six years ago. This year, with ample rain and cool weather, they have spread and blossomed even more. How do they look? Good, huh? I am a great gardener. Perhaps even a genius.

Yet something about them reminds me of the first drafts of my writing. It bursts forth in wonderful glory. I love what I have written. It's perfect. I am inspired -- perhaps even a writing genius. Yes, a genius from whose pen (actually keyboard) a literary bouquet has sprung forth in full glory. This piece of writing, I assure myself, is ready for publication.

Look closer at the lilies. Do you see the ugly stuff in the lovely flower photo above? Yep, there it is. Dried, crinkly, used up blooms. Ah, well, they're not so bad are they? Besides, removing the old flowers would require all that bending and reaching and choosing.

In gardening, removing the imperfect flowers is called deadheading. If the plants are not deadheaded, they go to seed and lose vigor. Is it really worth it? Would the plants really look better?

What do you think? The photo above is Stella before deadheading.

Look at Stella after.

But it's writing we're talking about here. Back to the product of my genius -- having embarrassed myself a few times in the past, I wait. I look at the writing again in a few days, and there it is. Ugly stuff. Dead phrases. Limp metaphors. Fading verbs. Cliches. Endless prepositional phrases.

In writing, removing the imperfections is called editing. It's just as necessary in writing as it is in gardening. If the plants are not deadheaded, they go to seed and lose vigor. If the writing isn't edited, it too loses vigor.

No, I am neither a gardening genius nor a writing genius. I am simply an average woman -- so I will labor in the field and at the keyboard in the hope of producing a vigorous bouquet.

As I was working on this post, a writer called and our conversation turned to the creative process. She was feeling guilty for writing without an outline or plan. Sure, I can think of times when an outline is necessary; but mostly my suggestion is -- plant first, deadhead later.

And now -- chocolate: Let's call this recipe

GREAT -- AND GREATER CHOCOLATE

Recently I attended a bridal shower where luscious-looking cupcakes were served. The hostesses, Judy and Brenda, confided their secret. The cupcakes were made with just three ingredients: a box of cake mix, a can of pie filling, and 3 eggs. For the shower, Judy and Brenda used Swiss chocolate cake mix and cherry pie filling. They made the cupcakes in silver foil cupcake "papers." It's what they did next that made the little cakes so appealing. They were frosted with chocolate frosting, from a plastic "can." Then, the tops of half the cupcakes were generously covered with slivered almonds and topped wth a maraschino cherry, with stem. The other half of the cupcakes were embellished with a purchased, foil-wrapped truffle, and for a final touch a pirouette cookie was inserted like a little straw. Super simple yet super attractive.

Judy says the cake mix, pie filling, and eggs are beaten with a hand mixer and can then be baked in a bundt pan, as cupcakes, or whatever strikes your fancy. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes for a bundt cake. Brenda baked the cupcakes in dark pans, at 325 degrees for 22 minutes. Arrange these on a tiered plate as Brenda and Judy did and your guests will be wowed.

For writing tips, writing prompts, fun stuff for writers, resources and life story writing tips, go to my website, http://www.angelinyourinkwell.com/.

Copyright 2009 Carol Newman

A Day at the Beach

Can it already be three months since my gentleman friend and I took a few days away to La Jolla Cove, just north of San Diego? This little guy must have felt the same urge to get away from it all because he was working his way away from the ocean and up the people steps to the park. I guess a day at the beach isn't always a day at the beach if every day is a day at the beach. You followed that, right?

Variety. That's what we're looking for. Something new and different. That's what we're looking for in life and it's what readers and editors are looking for from writers.

A gentleman in a recent life story class wrote about a family car trip back in the days before automobile air conditioning. He and his siblings were packed into the back seat for what would be a hot, summer trip across several states. Okay, I knew where this was going. The young brothers in the back seat were going to fight their way across the country. But no. That's not what happened at all. It was the two adult brothers in the front who got into the fight and provided a spectacle for the kids. Ah-ha. A fresh approach. Not your usual day at the beach.

If you want to read some fresh writing, read Three Cups of Tea, a nonfiction book by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin or Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, a novel by Jamie Ford. Three Cups of Tea is about Greg Mortenson, the fellow who became lost after failing to summit K2 in Pakistan and in gratitude to the village that saved him, began building schools in Pakistan and now Afghanistan. Writer David Oliver Relin did a wonderful job of describing all the rugged mountain terrain and the mountain villages and people so they all didn't blend into sameness.

Here is an excerpt: He leaned over the side of the truck . . . and saw . . .straight down fifteen hundred feet to the bottom of a rocky gorge, where a coffee-colored river foamed over boulders. He looked up and saw they were hemmed in hard by granite walls that rose ten thousand feet on both sides of the river. . .Mortenson, . . .could see the truck's rear tires rolling a foot from the edge of the gorge, spitting stones out into the abyss . . .

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, a first novel by Jamie Ford, is about the internment of Seattle's Japanese families during World War II. Here the families are being taken away: Trunks, bags, and suitcases stacked almost as high as the roofs of the silvery buses that rolled by. Families were arguing about how much or how little they were allowed to bring. The excess found its way to the top of the ever-growing heap. Next to the mound was a truckload of confiscated radios. Giant Philco consoles and small Zenith portables with bent wave-magnet antennas were piled up in the back like discarded shoes.

Not your same old day at the beach -- or walk in the park -- or any other cliche.

And the little guy on the steps at the beach -- lifeguards blocked off the steps to protect him from the human animals. Animal rescue came and took him away to rejoin his kin -- back to the same old routine he had been trying to escape.

Here is a recipe that is not routine. It is from an ad for this year's Southern Living Christmas Cookbook. Yes, there is chocolate in it. Even though this is from a Christmas cookbook, I think it would be great for summer. Sounds cool and yummy. Why not skip all that mixing and just substitute ice cream?

Turtle Trifle makes 10 servings

8 oz mascarpone cheese, softened -- or 1 (8-oz.) pkg cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 (2-lb.) frozen pecan pie, thawed and cut into 1-inch cubes

1/3 cup chocolate fudge topping

1/3 cup caramel topping

1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

1. Beat mascarpone cheese, whipping cream, and vanilla extract in a large bowl at medium speed with a heavy-duty stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth and firm. (Oh blah, blah. I think an electric hand mixer would work just fine.)

2. Place half of pie cubes in bottom of a 4-qt. trifle dish or any pretty clear glass bowl. Spread half of whipped cream mixture over pie cubes. Drizzle with half each of chocolate fudge topping and caramel topping. Sprinkle with half of chopped pecans. Repeat layers.

3. Cover and chill at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.

Eat this while close to a chair, sofa or bed as I think it is likely to render one unconscious.

Visit my website, http://www.angelinyourinkwell.com/, for Writing Tips, Writing Prompts, Fun Stuff for Writers, Life Story FAQ and Resources.

copyright2009Carol Newman