5 Foody Tips for a Successful Writer's Retreat (Recipes!)

By Lisa Alber

Oh hey, before I get down to the topic, this week I've got blog posts up in a few spots. If you're curious about how my novel is coming along, read here. If you're curious about general news regarding award nominations (you can vote!) and such, read here. Also, I'll be hosting a cover reveal giveaway (YAY!) soon. You can check in on that on my website.

My morning spot.

There's nothing like a writer's retreat to rejuvenate my writing process. No overstuffed laundry hampers and dog-pooped-upon lawns begging me to do something about them. No pesky social obligations, or family obligations, or anything obligations -- except to the writing. Other than posting pretty pictures, I ignore Facebook and Twitter. I check email once a day and that's it.

I spent last week on retreat at Rockaway Beach, Oregon, a wee village with nothing much to it except railroad tracks running along a not-so-highway-ish Highway 101. Two writer buddies and I stayed at Colonyhouse, a retreat house sponsored by the Oregon Writers Colony.

We all know that location and compatible retreat mates (if any) are crucial to a successful retreat. Location-wise: I need the coast, that's about it. But any beautiful setting with a view and walking opportunities will do. Mates-wise: Please, be the quiet sort and the pick-up-after-yourself sort. Double please, don't be the person who is so addicted to social media that you can't stop yourself from commenting all day long to no one in particular about what your friends (or worse still, celebrities!) are wearing or buying or whatevering.

OK. Enough said. Let's talk about food. My thing is that I don't want to think about it once I'm in super-duper writing mode. I don't want to run to the grocery store. I want meals that are easy to fix. All this assumes that you're driving to your retreat, of course.

1. Coffee, big yes! I bring my own ceramic one-cup dripper that I set on top of my coffee cup. My coffee, my filters, my milk/creamer. It just makes me happy first thing in morning, which is better for my writing. Besides, then I can make my coffee on my schedule and fresh.

2. Breakfast: Oatmeal, but not just any oatmeal. I consider myself quite the genius for thinking this up even though it might be common: double-boiled (so to speak) crock pot oatmeal that's ready for me, warm and gooey and lovely, when I wake up! (Recipes below, by the way.)

3. Lunch: Before leaving for the retreat, I made a big batch of zingy beans, in, yes, my crock pot. (Do you see a theme here?) Tortillas, cheese, anything else you want to bring, and -- ta-da! -- quickie, healthy lunch burritos! Yum!

4. Snack: There comes a point in the afternoon when I get restless and/or start eyeing the bed for a snooze. Snacks help. I like mine to be more decadent than I allow myself to eat at home, just cuz making all aspects of the retreat feel special helps keep me motivated and writing. I brought those peanut-butter-stuffed pretzel thingies that Trade Joe's sells. A tad addictive, but I'm happy to report that I didn't eat the whole bag!

5. Dinner: Crock pot again! I threw everything into the pot in the morning and that was it except for roasting broccoli for extra veg. I made an enchilada casserole. Soo easy. And it made for great lunch leftovers that we shared. Soups are great too. One of my mates made a lentil soup to die for, and I had that for lunch on one of the days.

See how that works? It was utterly perfect. BUT, I forgot something:

6. Wine! I love wine, but I don't drink on a daily basis. It felt special to celebrate my productivity with wine before/during/after (eh hem, yeah, don't sue me for overindulging a bit) dinner. The three of us hung out together at day's end, watching the sunsets, talking writing, and helping each other brainstorm plot problems. We all looked forward to dinner; it was the come together social time.

When I was a kid, my Irish-Catholic aunties from Chicago visited now and then, and the only topic the adults seemed to talk about was the next meal. Boooring. I didn't get it. At all. Now, obviously I do. :-)

Do you have any crock pot recipes or particular food rituals that you perform when on vacation? Any tips and tricks welcome!

Crock Pot Delish Oatmeal
In a bowl that fits inside your crock pot, place the following ingredients in the following order. Do not stir.
1. Sliced apple.
2. Brown sugar and cinnamon to taste.
3. Pinch salt.
4. 1/4-cup steel cut oats
5. 1/2 cup each of water and your milk of choice, plus about 1/8 cup of water to account for evaporation.

Fill the crock pot 1/4-1/3 full with water, set the oatmeal bowl in the water (if it floats, pour out some of the water), and cook on low overnight. Genius, right? No crock pot cleaning!

Crock Pot Delish "Refried" Beans
One onion, peeled and quartered (no need to chop)
1 1/2 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
1 jalapeño or 1 Anaheim pepper, seeded and chopped
3 Tbsn (or more! to taste) minced garlic
2 tspn salt (or to taste)
1 tspn black pepper (or to taste)
1/8 tspn cumin
4 1/2 cups water

Put everything in the crock pot and cook on low overnight, approximately 10 hours. With a submersible blender, blend until smooth.

Crock Pot Delish Yam and Chorizo Enchilada Casserole
I made this vegan style, but you can layer in shredded cheese too:
1 large yam, thinly sliced
2 12-oz jars of enchilada sauce
bag corn tortilla chips
1 12-oz package of soy chorizo (or use regular chorizo)
2 15-oz cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

Oil the crock pot and coat the bottom of it with enchilada sauce. Then layer the ingredients in the following order, three times: layer of chips, chorizo, yam, beans, enchilada sauce. End with one more layer of corn tortilla chips and the remaining enchilada sauce. Cook on low for 4 or 5 hours.

BOOK LOVERS' BUFFET BOUQUET OF BOOKS

by Lois Winston

As you’re reading today’s post, I’m getting ready to attend Malice Domestic, a wonderful yearly convention of mystery authors and fans that will be held in Bethesda, MD May 3rd-5th. I’ll be taking part in Malice-Go-Round, speaking on a panel about how season affects story, and doing a book signing. At the conclusion of Malice Domestic, I’ll be heading to Oakmont, PA for the annual Festival of Mystery on Monday, May 6th.

However, there’s also something else going on over the next three days that I’m very excited about -- the Book Lovers’ Buffet.

A group of authors, many of them bestselling and award-winning authors, have gotten together to offer the Book Lovers’ Buffet, a special “Bouquet of Books” sale running from May 1st through May 3rd. During these three days, more than 175 e-books are reduced in price to just .99 cents. Categories include contemporary romance, young adult, mystery & suspense, historical, paranormal, and more.

I’m taking part in the sale with Hooking Mr. Right,one of my award-winning contemporary romances, written under my Emma Carlyle pen name. Hooking Mr. Right is a story about a guy, a girl, and a matchmaking cat. And because some people believe the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, there are also some mouth-watering recipes included.

If the chance to buy over 175 e-books for only .99 cents each isn’t enticing enough, there are also prizes galore. Visit the Book Lovers’ Buffet website for a chance to win gift cards to your choice of online retailers. $400 in gift cards are up for grabs! A total of twenty-two gift cards will be given away-- one $100, two $50, four $25, five $10, and ten $5 cards.

So click on over to the Book Lovers’ Buffet and fill up your Kindle or Nook full of great summer reading before the sale ends. After May 3rd these books will go back to their regular prices.

Holiday Weekend Recipe

I hope everyone has lots of fun plans for the long weekend.  I will spend my weekend reading manuscripts and hanging out with friends.  And hopefully I can drag someone along to see a Twins game with me.  :)

Ah, long weekends...  the anticipation is lovely.  If I were home in Wisconsin this weekend, I would be attending graduation and birthday parties - and eating a lot of homemade desserts.  I love rhubarb and this is the season for it.  Here is a yummy recipe for bars just in case you have a little time on your hands and 3 cups of rhubarb!

Go Anywhere Rhubarb Squares

Ingredients:

1 c. flour
1/3 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. butter

Filling:

1 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. finely chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb

Procedure:

Combine flour & powdered sugar; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press into the bottom of a greased 11-inch x 7-inch x 2-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes. For filling, combine first four ingredients. Stir in rhubarb; pour over warm crust. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm if desired. Store in refrigerator.

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Happy Memorial Day everyone!!  Have fun, be safe.  Eat a lot and thank a vet.  :)  See y'all next week.

THE ZUCCHINI THAT DEVOURED NEW JERSEY

The first thing you have to know about me is that I’m a city girl exiled to the suburbs. I’m much more comfortable in a concrete environment with mass transit than the land of malls and minivans. The second thing you need to know about me is that I have two black thumbs. With few exceptions, plants see me coming and commit suicide rather than suffer a prolonged death at my hands.

Heaven knows, I’ve tried to develop a green thumb, but I swear there’s a conspiracy in the Garden State. Whatever I don’t kill, the squirrels devour. Along the squirrel grapevine the word is out; my address is passed from varmint to varmint. They hold conventions in my driveway and feast on whatever I dare to plant, leaving my neighbors’ gardens full of flowers and produce.

One day I arrived home to find what looked like cloves of garlic scattered all over my front porch. On closer inspection, I discovered they were the remains of the spring bulbs I had planted the day before. Every single bulb had been dug up, and while I was running errands, the squirrels had been throwing an all-you-can-eat party on my porch.

Another morning I looked out my kitchen window to find a squirrel perched on my gas grill, a green tomato between his thieving paws. I went outside to shoo the little bugger away and check my two tomato plants that the day before had been loaded with green tomatoes. Every single tomato had been yanked from the vine, chomped a few times, then discarded in the dirt.

After years of gardening frustration I finally discovered the one plant that seems to be both Lois proof and squirrel proof -- zucchini. The first time I planted zucchini, I made the mistake of planting three, figuring that if the garden gods were smiling down on me, one might survive. All three not only survived but thrived. And that’s a heck of a lot of zucchini. Zucchini is the gift that keeps on giving. And giving. And giving. And giving.

The strange thing about zucchini is its rate of growth. In the morning it’s the size of your pinkie finger, and by evening it’s big enough to feed your teenager’s football team. There are only so many ways you can disguise a zucchini and fool your family into believing they’re eating something other than those green things taking over the backyard. So that first year I wound up giving away a lot of zucchini.

Ever since then, I only plant one zucchini each spring. Still, I have a bumper crop of zucchini from early summer to late fall and continue to give away almost as much as I serve. But I’ve become very adept at zucchini camouflage. You wouldn’t believe the dishes I hide zucchini in. Remember the scene in Forest Gump where Bubba rattles off all those different ways to cook shrimp? I now have just as many ways to serve up zucchini. Here’s one of my favorites that even the most vegetable-hating kid will enjoy:

CHERRY CHOCOLATE CHIP ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

(makes 24)

3 cups flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 eggs

2 cups grated zucchini

¾ cup vegetable oil

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

¾ cup chocolate chips

½ cup dried cherries

Beat eggs, then stir in oil and vanilla. Mix all dry ingredients together, then add gradually to egg mixture, mixing until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips and cherries. Coat muffin tins with non-stick spray. Fill tins 3/4 full. Bake 15 - 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

New Jersey is known for its Jersey tomatoes. I’d love to be able to grow my own instead of having to resort to the supermarket. It would also make a nice break from zucchini. If you’ve got a sure-fire way to keep the squirrels at bay, I’d love to know your secret.

Inkspot News - March 20, 2010

The 4th volume of the Chesapeake Crimes short story collection is having its official launch from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 10th. The event will be held at the Southgate Community Center, 12125 Pinecrest Road, Reston, VA. All are welcome to join the party. InkSpotter G.M. Malliet's short story, entitled "Bookworm," is in this collection of 20 stories, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley.

InkSpotter Keith Raffel's author blog, Dot Dead Diary, was named one of the 50 Best Blogs for Crime and Mystery Book Lovers over at Court Reporter. Speaking of Dot Dead Diary, Keith has posted photos and commentary on last week's Left Coast Crime Conference over there. In her interview of Keith on Southern City Mysteries, Michele Emrath gets him to 'fess up on everything from first love to religion. And finally, Keith's appearance on NBC TV's Press:Here was the show's most downloaded videoclip last month. You can watch it here.

Beth Groundwater will be a guest blogger at Mystery Lovers Kitchen on Sunday, March 21st, with two recipes, one for a Mystery Lovers Gift Basket and one for a Whirling Fruit Basket Shooter alcoholic beverage. Also, Beth was interviewed by the Southern Colorado Literature Examiner about her favorite independent bookstores in Colorado Springs. See what stores she recommends.