Artist's World, Author's World, Bookshelf, Favorite Reads, Gardening, Seasonal Delights, Watercolor Life

New Directions

Hello Everyone,

This weekend I downgraded my website since I didn’t need all the bells and whistles to bring to you my content.

Unfortunately, they removed my entire website! Not being the best at WordPress and their lingo I thought they would simply restore what I had and take off any extras like plug-ins and such, but they restored my older website.

Today, I meet with my daughter and website designer to take my older website and bring it up to date.

Good news is, I will not only be blogging about my books, Traveled Hearts, Sacred Terrain and my recent release- Unending Trails, ( available on Amazon.com) but also about my art and card making and gardening, maybe a recipe now and then.

So stay tuned!

Have a wonderful day and week!

Peace and Love,

Veronica

Artist's World, Author's World, Gardening, Seasonal Delights

Gardening

Good Monday Morning Everyone!

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Spring has come to my part of the world and I spent the whole weekend at the garden nurseries and in my garden!

It felt so good to get my hands in the dirt, rework my planters and plant some new flowers.🌺

My lilies are poking out of the ground and I only lost a few. Although  we had a cold and snowy February it looks like most of the gardens will survive.

Gardening feeds my soul and after a dreary winter it was very hungry for the newest of the spring season.😊

I will be working on revamping my website in the next few months so I may not be posting as often. It will be exciting to have a new look and new features. I look forward to sharing it with you❤️

Have a wonderful week!

Peace and Love,

Veronica

Author's World, Bake and Cook, Seasonal Delights

Easy Winter Supper Recipe

Good Monday Morning All!

So winter has hit here in the Pacific Northwest. We were lulled into thinking we’d get by with just some rain but the snow has hit us hard in the past week and there is more on the way.

Growing up in Massachusetts my mom had some good winter comfort recipes. Here is the one I recently made:

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I call it three layer casserole.

It’s a delicious combo of seasoned ground turkey, (she used ground beef) corn and mashed potatoes with just the right seasonings and spices. Simple.

You’ll need:

4 med. baking potatoes – washed then baked until soft inside -1-2 hours. Let cool slightly.

1 medium onion chopped

clove of garlic

1 pound ground turkey meat. I used ground turkey breast.

Tablespoon of oil – use whatever oil you like. The turkey is so lean you may even need a bit more.

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

One small bag of frozen corn or one can of corn drained. I use one bag of organic frozen corn. Set aside until layering.

Mix together: 1 teaspoon of salt,  1/2  teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon rosemary, 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon adobo dry spice.

I like to use more or less of the spices above- use your own taste meter.

Saute onion and garlic until onions are translucent. Add ground turkey, breaking the turkey up as much as you can. I like small pieces.

Add spice mix and Worcestershire sauce to meat and combine thoroughly. Set aside and prepare potatoes.

Empty potato out of skins and mash adding  salt and pepper to taste along with  1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, 2 Tablespoons of milk, 2 Tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of water. The water sounds weird but since these are baked and not boiled they will be dryer. They taste richer than boiled and easier to prepare. You can also use more milk and butter- I was trying to make this waistband friendly. Just make sure they are nice and creamy.

In a greased baking dish spread corn on bottom-no need to cook before hand. Then spread the meat mixture and top with mashed potatoes. Dot the top with butter. Or if you want you can add sharp cheddar cheese to the top! Yum!! Then  sprinkle with a little dried parsley and  Bake!

Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes or until the crust of the potato topping is nice and brown.

This will serve about six hardy portions or eight medium portions. We ate it for three nights in a row. It was so good! Comfort food for sure 🙂

Stay warm!  (and for all of you in Australia – stay cool!!)

Until next time,

Peace and Love,

Veronica

 

 

 

Author's World, Seasonal Delights

Writer’s World

Good Monday Morning All!

It’s February and I’m trying not to get the winter blues! ~The days are getting longer and soon I will be planting my sweet peas!

The winter white of the snowfall is making my world a picturesque wonderland. Luckily we don’t get much snow and it only lasts a few days on average. A snow day would be nice.

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I start back up on rewrites for the second in my book series of American Historical Fiction. I say start back because about ten days ago I was writing along, minding my own business when silver streaks shot out from the side of my vision. Blood splashed across my site. I thought I was having a brain hemorrhage!

Long story short and many tests later, it wasn’t anything to worry about, just a bit of eye tissue coming loose, tearing a vein… and I will heal. Trying to see clearly out of that eye until then is annoying.

I know stress can cause a bunch of weird stuff in that complicated universe we call our bodies. So, I slowed down and changed a few things in my life and fingers crossed I can stick to it. Feels good to push the reset button!

Wishing you all a great week and be carefuIMG_3375l of that stress!

Love and Peace,

Veronica

~~Ready for a snow day! Don’t forget the flowers 🙂 ~~

 

Author's World, Seasonal Delights

Gardening in the Winter

Good Monday Morning All!

The weather in my end of the Pacific Northwest had been beautifully sunny and mild for about four days now. The weather focasters warn us to not get use to it- we are not over the rain and winds storms.  (By the day this is published we’ll probably be there again).  Yet, I get restless to garden. I have planted a four season garden in my yard and it’s so encouraging to see the bright yellow flowers of the witch hazel bush and the cream- colored hellebores in clumps of dark green foliage while other flowers and bulbs are still sleeping.  The heather too adds to my spring fever!

We don’t get the harsher cold winters like a lot of the U.S. and it’s stays very green, but winter is winter and I always count the days until the sun will shine again until late into the evening.

Gardening can be very healing. Even if the world outside your window says “not yet” to gardening, a pot of herbs on the windowsill can be very uplifting.

What do you do to get through the winter months? Let me here from you 🙂

Have a great day and week everyone!

Peace and Love,

Veronica

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