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Colleen Coble writes romantic suspense with a strong atmospheric element. A lovable animal of some kind--usually a dog--always populates her novels. She can be bribed with DeBrand mocha truffles.
Denise Hunter writes women's fiction and love stories with a strong emotional element. Her husband says he provides her with all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too.
Diann Hunt writes romantic comedy and humorous women's fiction. She has been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, chocolate, her dog, and well, chocolate.
Cheryl Hodde writes romantic medical suspense under the pen name of Hannah Alexander, using all the input she can get from her husband, Mel, for the medical expertise. For fun she hikes and reads. Out of guilt, she rescues discarded cats. She and Mel are presently taking orders from four pampered strays.
17 Comments:
I got in a rut, too, of not cooking, after years of loving it, and even writing a cooking column for a New York Times subsidiary.
But awhile back, I decided to get consistent with my cooking. I like to cook quick meals. Yesterday, I went in the kitchen at four thirty and had supper on the table at five. (Milton had a counseling appt. and that's why supper was so early.) I had BBQ chicken (pan sauteed), steamed broccoli, rice with butter (we eat lots of rice in the South and it's so easy to fix), and chunky applesauce. We downed it faster than I cooked it. Sigh.
Oh I hardly ever cook any more either. I never did like it much, and now that the kids are grown, I let Dave cook--which means eating out.
Cooking's not my favorite either. When Eric's traveling I use it as an excuse to do fun things with the kids like go to Chick-Fil-A, McDonald's and every other restaurant in their vocabularies. And the funny thing is my family has restaurants and I grew up working in them. But there's something about cooking for a town, that then makes cooking at home REALLY unappealing :-) I don't think I'll ever be a threat to Betty Crocker.
LOL, Cara!!! Love it!
Kristy, the mention of your dinner made my mouth water! Yum!!
Colleen, Dave and Jim cook a lot alike, did you ever notice that? :-)
Boy do I relate, Diann! When my hubby retired, he started cooking and I got out of the habit. I used to love to cook ... when I did nothing else but cook and raise kids. I used to bake all our bread, too. What was I thinking?
Now? Now, it's catch as catch can. We get hungry at different times, so we each graze when the feeling hits. LOL I cook something light and easy maybe twice a week ... if we're lucky. :o)
Two Words: Bread Maker.
With an automatic timer so that you can pour in all the ingredients in at bedtime and wake up to warm homemade bread.
I like to tell others that I do it for that sweet man of mine and our two little bread eaters. But secretly, just between you and me, I like to set the timer and wake up to the delicious smell wafting up the stairs, and pretend that the cook started early and has made that fresh bread and hot cup of coffee (also on auto) just for me.
A girl might as well dream BIG!
My wife and I are always trying to make cheap meals that are quick to prepare and easy to do. Take a Chicken breast (or two or three) and soak it over night in a marinade consisting of Lite Italian salad dressing, soy sauce (no too much), white wine (go cheap or get cooking wine…the alcohol is going to get cooked out any way) and add garlic, pepper, (no salt, there’s enough in the soy sauce) and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper (or curry). The next day, grill the chicken on a low fire and keep the marinade hot. Dip the chicken in the pan each time you turn it over…serve with wild rice. My wife and I cook together so that later I can write and she can research.
Kellie and Allen, you are totally making me hungry! I would LOVE to get a bread maker, Kellie, but I'm trying to avoid bread (which I love), so that won't work.
Got to love being over 40--okay, 50. Shoot.
For about the last year or so, I cooked every night. Sometimes, I even made three meals a day. But seeing as how, I was usually only cooking for myself or myself and my boyfriend, I got over that. He moved to Chicago, and so he wasn't coming over anymore with that look on his face, so I quit.
My mother says that I'm in trouble because when we get married I won't cook. I'm only 26 years old and I could never do another domestic thing in my life and I would be okay.
Then someone reminds me of the Proverbs 31 woman. Is she real?
I enjoy cooking (if I have time), but I definitely get a little habitual about grocery shopping. I find myself walking down the aisles tossing the same stuff in my cart week after week (because that is the way you do it when you do not make a list).
Have you heard of the commercial kitchen concept? It was new to me, but I am going with some friends to try it tonight. We have already placed our orders for eight meals each, and we will prepare them while we are there. All prep work (cutting veggies, etc.) will be done prior to our arrival, and then we assemble the meals.
I'm too busy and tired for cooking dinner, too, but with young kids and a hubby who doesn't like to eat out (he doesn't even like store-bought prepared foods!) I'm pretty much resigned to it. My one word answer: CROCKPOT. (Or is it two words? Oh, I hate being an editor sometimes.)
I got that "Fix It and Forget It" cookbook and use it all the time. It's great to be sitting at my computer working, smelling my dinner cooking itself over in the kitchen. Boy, do I ever feel productive. Talk about multitasking!
One saving grace is that hubby is a firefighter... (he's oly been one for about two years.) He has to cook for all the guys sometimes, so he's getting good at cooking! Finaly, we can share the kitchen duties and I LOVE it!
Thanks for the book title, Rachelle! I love cooking in the crockpot--it makes me feel so domestic without spending the whole day in the kitchen. :-) I'm going to get that book!
Anonymous, I'd be interested in hearing more about that commercial kitchen concept!
I'm a crockpot cooker myself, and when I need it sooner than the crock I use my roaster. Nothing beats throwing everything in one pan and letting it cook on its own.
Now that my Dh is in Iraq, I find myself reluctant to visit the kitchen. My total drive for cooking was for him, and when he's not home, I don't like it. But I have four kids to feed and feed well, so cook I must. Now with school starting and soccer in the evenings, I'm finding it harder still to make a meal from scratch.
My fav meal of all time is Crockpot lagsana (SP?) Make it like you normally would, but in a oblong crockpot. I always put in Ragu Parmesan and Mozzeralla sauce instead of the cheese. It normally takes 4 hours to bake, but it can go longer if you desire. This is my Dh's all time fav meal and his eyes light up when he smells it cooking.
When we first got married (in our mid-30's), my husband said, "I'll cook. What job do you want to do around the house?" An offer like that is one that cannot be ignored or refused. We have been married for 20 years. He is still cooking and I'm still doing laundry.
Pete is an OK cook--but it's not gormet. He tends to make up kooky (that's kook-y not cooky) recipes rather than read a cookbook. Some things he's served have been inedible, but I try not to complain. If I say something negative, I might be ushered to the kitchen to cook.
my oldest is now old enough to cook us dinner! and is still naieve enough to think it's great fun cooking mom, dad and siblings dinner! i dread the day that novelty wears off
Diann-
The commercial kitchen place was fun...here is their website to give you an idea of how it works:
http://www.thymefordinner.com
I have been told that there are other companies using the same idea, so there might be one in your area.
Pam, you are blessed that your husband can cook. My husband can make cocoa wheats. Period. Sigh. Oh well, as long as there are restaurants, we're good. ;-)
Thanks, Anonymous, for the commercial kitchen info. I'm going to check it out!
I actually went shopping yesterday to look for that cookbook, "Fix It and Forget It."
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there IS hope for this woman! :-)
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