Autumn is a wonderful time to cook chili, savory stews, soups and creamy chowders. There’s nothing like the aroma of homemade chowder simmering on the stove. Cook books are filled with many delicious options, as well as online, which is where I found this simple recipe.
My Recipes – http://www.myrecipes.com – is one of my favoirte sites to discover new recipes. I found this Simple Clam Chowder recipe there. This particular dish features crispy bacon! YUM!
In my first novel, Keeper of My Heart, Bessie, a secondary character in the book, loves to cook this savory dish for the herione – the fiesty and adorable, Katie McCullough.
Here’s a bit about the story…
Katie McCullough doesn’t know it, but Max Sawyer, the over confident, insufferable thief who outbid her for the lighthouse property, is none other, than her mystery lighthouse sailor. The one man who captured her heart five years earlier, the one man who has since been the plumb line for every other unsuspecting male who has crossed her path. Unfortunately for Max, he doesn’t measure up either.
Still reeling from losing the property she’d planned to call home, sparks fly when Katie assumes Max is turning her beloved lighthouse compound into one of his ‘Serenity Spa Resorts.” Outraged, Katie sets out on a mission to dismantle the property…and his plans.
Except Max’s plans have absolutely nothing to do with hotels and everything to do with winning Katie’s heart.
In honor of my short story release, Sealed With a Kiss, here’s a photo of one of my all time favorite first kisses on film. I was thirteen and this on-screen kiss influenced how I thought first kisses should be. So. When I had my First Kiss, I was sorta expecting the same reaction but, *ahem* that’s not exactly how mine went. But, back to Audrey and Peter! *sigh*
How to Steal a Million via IMDb
Peter O’Toole and Audrey Hepburn are iconic film stars. How to Steal a Million is one of my all time favorite films. It has it all! Romance, humor, comedy, a great story, and fun supporting characters.
How to Steal a Million via IMDb
It’s one of the most entertaining romantic comedies you’ll ever see. And if you haven’t seen it, here’s the movie trailer to tempt you! This is not just a chick flick by the way, my husband loves it just as much as I do.
Sadly, Peter O’Toole passed away in London, yesterday. But I will always remember him like this.
How to Steal a Million via IMDb
Do you have a favorite movie “first kiss”? Please tell us about it. First kisses are special, even if some of them are ‘just pretend’. 🙂
Sealed With a Kiss – Prequel to Keeper of My Heart
COVER REVEAL!
My new short story, Sealed With a Kiss, the prequel to my novel, Keeper of My Heart, is now live on Amazon. My heroine, Katie, experiences a kiss that changes her life. It’s her first kiss and you’ll have to read the story to find out more about it. 🙂
What is it about first kisses? They stick in our heads and whether they’re good or not so good, we never forget that very first one.
Writing about Katie’s kiss got me thinking about my first. Not nearly as magical as hers. But memorable just the same.
Freddie (not his real name) and I were in eighth grade and had been in school together since first grade. He was my second grade crush and all through my childhood I thought he was soooo cute. 🙂 So, in eighth grade when he asked me to be his girlfriend, I was pretty excited. My second grade crush, the boy I’d thought was the cutest thing I’d ever seen, wanted ME to be his girlfriend.
He offered to walk me home that day but on the way we stopped at one of the many canals in New Orleans. He led me to one of the trees that lined the canal and told me he wanted to kiss me.
As you can imagine, I was pretty nervous but also excited. My heart raced and stuck in my throat as his lips neared mine. His kiss was not sensual or sexy. It was a boys kiss. From a fourteen year old teenager still trying to master the technique. But, for me it was a dream come true.
But, after it was over and my beating heart slowed to normalcy, he did something that shocked and appaled this starry eyed fourteen-year-old girl. He took out a notebook from his shirt pocket and told me I was number eleven. Then he went on to explain that in order for him to kiss me, I had to first be his girlfriend. I guess in his mind, that made it all right.
I stood there and watched him check off my name from the list and if that wasn’t enough, he read the list to me.
*Sob*
He was racking up points. I was nothing more than a conquest, another of his ‘bragging rights’ to his buddies. Then, to top it off, he told me he couldn’t finish walking me home.
I was crushed. Humiliated. As I tearfully walked the rest of the way to my house, I decided I would NOT be his girlfriend. When I got home I went to my room and burst into tears.
Today, I love that story. I wouldn’t have wanted my first kiss to be with anyone else or have happened any other way. I think it’s both hysterical and cute and the essence of teenage, hormonal awkwardness. I have to say, having raised a son, I soooo get Freddie. All the things I didn’t understand about boys while growing up, I had the privilege of learning firsthand from my son. But, I digress. That’s another post for another time.
Today, Freddie is married to one of my childhood friends, has beautiful grown children and precious grandchildren!
I would love to hear about your first kiss. Come on. Don’t be shy. Tell us all about it!
A few days before I got married, my sweet mother tried frantically to teach me to do the laundry! Yes…I was spoiled. 🙂 I went to college four blocks from my home and every Thursday I’d bring home my laundry, have a home-cooked meal and watch Hawaii 5-0 on TV!
From original Hawaii 5-0, 1968-1980
Ah, those were the days. All I had to worry about were a few term papers, if the LSUNO Privateers would win their next basketball game ( I was a cheerleader, so this was important), and if I’d have a date on Friday night.
But I digress. Back to laundry…I was still a student when I married Tom and had no idea how to execute some of the “expected” tasks of being a homemaker. I never needed to, since my mother was happy to have ANY excuse to have me come home.
I remember standing at the washer and dryer next to her while she explained about the colors, the whites, how much detergent per size of load, if I should use hot, cold or warm water, use dryer or hang dry? And if dryer, how hot? This type of fabric need this, that type of fabric needed that.
Laundry Day via darcyflynnromances.com
No problem. Easy Peasy. I had it down too, until the second week of married life, when I shrunk my honey’s favorite white shirt. 😦
The poor guy had to give me a laundry lesson right there in the basement of the apartment where we lived. I felt so badly about ruining his shirt and to this day, I never wash anything in hot.
Fast forward about 20 years. My son was eight (for you mothers with young children…that’s when chores are fun, by the way). I was determined he would be prepared to take care of himself in the basic life skills, so… I taught him to wash cloths and to clean the house. He’s 24 and still does a good job. My only regret, is that I didn’t teach him to cook. 🙂
What do wish you’d learned while you were young that would have made your adult life a bit easier?
Do you have any laundry or house hold tips you could share?
I used to love to scour antique malls and flea markets for that special something. For years I’d haunt antique booths from local fairs, to antique malls all across the country. And when I lived in London, I frequented the famous Portobello Road, as well as the surrounding countryside.
Recently, I partnered with a girl friend to stock her booth at an antique mall in Nashville.
After a week of major de-cluttering, I unloaded 12 boxes in her booth, filled with china, 1940’s and 50’s vintage table cloths, occupied Japan figurines, baskets, garden accessories , rattan chairs, paintings, and picture frames. I could go on, but you get the idea.
Stuffed to the Hilt!
Memory lane doesn’t even come close to my experience packing, unpacking and displaying those objects. As I unpacked each box, I relived the moment where I bought each item. Who I was with, what time of year, the town. Some of the objects have sweet stories behind them.
My mom and I were in a toy store in New Orleans in the early 60’s and I was trying to decide which Chatty Cathy doll I wanted Santa to bring me. The blond or the brunette? I couldn’t decide so she told me Santa would know.
Chatty Cathy sits waiting…
Today, almost 50 years later a perfect brunette Chatty Cathy, still dressed in her original dress and shoes, sits in a booth in Nashville waiting for her new owner.
Between me and you, I hope she doesn’t sell. 🙂
For those of you who’ve read my posts on de-cluttering, you know how much I labor over getting rid of things. Then I got to thinking of how excited I used to get when I’d find my precious a special treasure.
So, when I stess over parting with something now, I just think about that young homemaker, mom or professional who love to go ‘junking’, hoping to find something special. And when they see that thing, that object that they love, I can almost feel their excitement as they buy it and take it home.
There were many “someones” years ago who parted with, every special item I ever bought at an antique mall or second hand store. They made the choice to:
Scale down.
Clean out.
Let go.
Now the years of shopping, perusing dusty shelves with best friends, have come full circle. Now, it’s my turn to let go and let someone else enjoy the ‘precious’.
Years ago while visiting Gettyaburg, I spotted a set of small green depression bowls at a street fair. I had been looking for these for several years and here they were stacked on a table in the historic town near the battlefield. I use them EVERY DAY!
Green Depression Glass Bowls
I was thrilled to find them. The lady selling them told me her mother had almost kept them but at the last minute let them go. She told me her mother would be thrilled to know that a young woman who’d been looking for them for years, would now be the owner.
I left many beautiful and sentimental items in my friends booth.
I feel like I moved!
I’ll imagine that whatever sells, will be to someone who loves that object and that they’ll be pleased to have finally found it.
Where is your favorite place to go junking? Are you still gathering treasures or are you cleaning off your shelves? How is your de-cluttering going? Is it hard to let things go? Tell us!
Starting today, Keeper of My Heart is FREE exclusively on Amazon!
Eeeeeeee!
If you don’t have a copy, now’s your chance. What could be better than FREE!
Katie McCullough doesn’t know it, but Max Sawyer, the over confident, insufferable thief who outbid her for the lighthouse property, is none other, than her mystery lighthouse sailor. The one man who captured her heart five years earlier, the one man who has since been the plumb line for every other unsuspecting male who has crossed her path. Unfortunately for Max, he doesn’t measure up either.
Still reeling from losing the property she’d planned to call home, sparks fly when Katie assumes Max is turning her beloved lighthouse compound into one of his ‘Serenity Spa Resorts.” Outraged, Katie sets out on a mission to dismantle the property…and his plans.
Except Max’s plans have absolutely nothing to do with hotels and everything to do with winning Katie’s heart.
Please share with your friends on Facebook and Twitter! Text them, email them, Skype them, call them on the phone, carrier pigeon…you get the idea!
insufferable thief who outbid her for the lighthouse property, is none other, than her mystery lighthouse sailor. The one man who captured her heart five years earlier, the one man who has since been the plumb line for every other unsuspecting male who has crossed her path. Unfortunately for Max, he doesn’t measure up either.
Darcy Flynn 