I’m late this morning and here is why.  I have been consumed with taking out a half wall the last two weeks, a project that grows a little every day.  Moose…you can see him there, peeking around the counter’s end, is afraid of plastic and does not like a lot of strange men in the house.  I think this is a good thing.  But it means I have had to shuttle him back and forth to doggie day care, and try and get him to eat around the chaos.  And while you can’t tell it from looking at this picture, it’s almost done!!

This weekend I will be running in the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay.  I’m leg 2, 4.67 miles on a park road.  It’s flat.  That’s great, because the third leg is over the causeway bridge.  No thank you.  But here is the thing.  Last year, our team won our Senior Mixed Masters Division.  We were world champions of the Geezer Marathon Relay Teams primarily because there were only two teams.  This year, there are six.  The pressure is on to defend our world title, but dudes, I am the slowest one on the team, by a minute a mile.  So that means if we lose by minutes, You Know Who will be eyed suspiciously as the cause.  Oh, and by the way, if you haven’t visited Running for Burgers, I hope you will.

This morning I woke up at 4 am realizing just how much time I have to finish my WIP before deadline.  I can’t be doing remodeling projects while I am trying to meet a deadline!!  I have to stop the madness!

I will stop the madness, I promise I will, just as soon as I find a new rug to go with my new furniture in my new living room.  This has been tons of fun, but I wish I was spending someone else’s money.

What’s made you crazy this week?   What distractions are you dealing with?  Are you on target to meet your deadlines, whatever they are?

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It was an exciting week here at Casa D’Alessandro as our son graduated from college!  Yes, it is now official–the boy is a University of Georgia grad, with a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs.  YAY!   Thought I’d share a few pics of the event (’cause we only took like 6,000 photos ). 

My two boys

The ceremony took place on campus last Friday and to say that we were punch drunk with pride is an understatement.

This sign makes it official!

My parents came to the ceremony and it was great that we were all together (especially nice that I got to be with my mom on Mother’s Day!).  

The Grad and the Grandparents

That evening we dined at a lakeside restaurant then enjoyed the music of the jazz trio that plays there.  We danced and laughed and had ourselves a wonderful time.

I swear he was a baby only yesterday!

I hope your week is going well!  What’s going on with you? What have you been up to? 

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Winter is coming, she said. And at the same time she also said:

Last night we watched the final episode of Season 1, and it was awesome. There were no “Who Shot JR” sort of cheap cliff-hangers that abound in television today. Instead, for Season 2 (starting on April 1st on HBO), we get the start of new storylines, and new adventures for our intrepid heroes and heroines.

Dutifully, I reported the same to my husband (granted, we were about on episode 7 at the time). At about episode 9, our watching overtook my reading (I still have 2.5 hours of audiobook left to go). We watched episode 9, which ends on a rather, um, emotional note.

And decided to watch the last one, content in the knowledge that all would be reasonably wrapped up because, after all, Kathleen said so.

Ah, Kathleen … you know I love you, but you’re insane.

At the risk of revealing spoilers, let’s just say that in my opinion (and the opinion of my opinionated husband), pretty much nothing was wrapped up, except for the fate of one character and (considering that the dead have risen in this story, maybe his fate isn’t even settled).

No cliffhangers? Maybe… There was no sword about to slice down on someone’s neck. No child being born. No character lost in the desert, clinging to life. No heroine standing in the doorway with the reader not knowing if she’s going to pick guy one or guy two.

But I was hoping for resolution, and that I didn’t get.

Clearly, Kathleen was being, um, precise in her definition of cliffhanger. Fair enough. But now I think she owes me a latte. Fair is fair, after all!

Do you watch Game of Thrones? Read it? What do you think about the ending of Book 1/Season 1? Does Kathleen owe me a coffee beverage? Or am I being picky?

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As the intelligence specialist for A-Tac, a black-ops CIA unit masquerading as Ivy League faculty, Hannah Marshall is used to working behind the scenes. But when a brutal murder hits too close to home, Hannah finds herself in the middle of the action, falling in love while racing to outwit a sadistic mastermind.

A KILLER CLOSES IN

After the death of her A-Tac partner, Hannah doubts everything she thought she knew about love and loyalty. When handsome Harrison Blake joins the team, she’s reluctant to trust him—or to act on her intense attraction to him. Then Hannah receives a podcast of a gruesome murder, and the only person who can help her find the killer is Harrison.

Harrison has spent years trying to hunt down the cunning monster who killed his sister. Now investigating with Hannah, he faces a shocking possibility—his sister’s murderer has resurfaced. As the danger escalates, Hannah and Harrison grow closer, and the desire simmering between them ignites. After Hannah disappears, Harrison has only one chance to save the woman he loves.

Deadly Dance is the fifth book in the A-Tac Series.

And check out www.deedavis.com for reviews, excerpts and more.

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When I first moved to NY—one of the things I missed the most was Tex-Mex food.  And at the top of that list were Texas tortillas.  You wouldn’t think there’d be a lot of variation in something as simple as a flour tortilla—but there is something special about those made in Texas—especially when they’re served hot off the griddle.  And so you can imagine my delight when I discovered the wonderful Homesick Texan blog and the following recipe for the some of the best tortillas I’ve ever made! 

Texas Flour Tortillas (From The Homesick Texan Blog, adapted from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison)

Ingredients:
Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Method:

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.  Slowly add the warm milk.  Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.  Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.

Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.  After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)
After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.

In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.

Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.  Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.

While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so.  Makes eight tortillas.

Tortilla fan?  Corn or white?  Plain or wrapped around meat and cheese? Favorite dish with tortillas?  Me I just like them plain with butter.  In fact, I’m heading to the kitchen right now…

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So as you guys already know, I’m a big fan of watching TV.   I love the escape and am often found at the end of a long day in front of the tube with a favorite show.  And the advent of DVRing has just made it better!

But one of the things I’ve always hated about American TV is that series often end without warning.  As if a book had been cut off in the middle of chapter ten with all the rest of the pages just ripped away.   It can be heartbreaking.  Especially if you’ve invested in the story and characters.  And since I cry at Hallmark commercials, we know that journey is a particularly easy one for me.

Sometimes with shows like Jericho—there is a fan outcry and thankfully, a finale of sorts is made.  (And according to the scuttle a revival on cable may be in the offing—sign me up!)  And sometimes as with the show Invasion, everything is just cut off mid-story leaving viewers hanging.   It seems to me like there should be a broadcast rule—all series must end.  It just seems fairer for the viewer.

And then there are shows like In Plain Sight, that are fabulous character studies, that keep our attention year after year, suck us in and make us love the people who inhabit the world of Albuquerque Witsec, that actually have a scheduled ending.  Only instead of the fiery conclusion hinted at in the overly tell-all previews, we get not a bang—but a whimper.   Years invested and absolutely no pay-off.   I fear this is what I have in store with the Closer as well.  It’s almost like television writers don’t know how to bring it home (witness the wildly off kilter ending of Lost—love it or hate it, it was hardly a pay-off).

So maybe there is no happy middle ground—maybe it’s either end with a whimper or leave hanging with a bang.  And either way, I’m dissatisfied.  Loved In Plain Sight, loved Marshall and Mary—thought the ending was blah.  On point, probably, but still without any kind of emotional resonance.  Which in a show that built itself on its fabulously quirky characters, seemed a disappointment.

Maybe I should only watch hit shows like NCIS where there’s no chance of an ending so they can go on forever—although I hate to think of what they’d do to Gibbs if the series ever ended.  I don’t know, maybe I just hate  the words “the end”  especially when a good story is involved.

Okay…enough with the musings.  My DVR is full of NCIS’s—I’m glomming the show from the very beginning.  That’s like nine years’ worth of shows… at least I don’t have to worry too much about an ending—for now.

So what about you?  Do you get addicted to shows and then find yourself frustrated when they’re cancelled without a conclusion?  Do you wish your favorite shows would come back on the air?   Did you watch any of the five billion Brady reunions?   Are you going to watch the final episodes of the Closer?  Are you going to watch the new Dallas?  Enquiring minds want to know.

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Today’s post brings back the use of the paragraph, and I know everyone will be happy. I’ve had a *long* and hectic week, but starting today, I get to poke my head up out of my whole and breathe in, which is awesome, because our rhododendrons and iris are just now starting to bloom, and this weekend, it is all about the garden, which I’m hoping to work in and get some veggies going.

Veggie Time!

So, you might think that Kathleen is going to talk gardening today, but you would be wrong. Nope, I’m talking libaries. I’m talking bondage. I’m talking bondage not being in libraries. Yes, the Brevard County library system has decided to ban the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.

This cracks me up, and makes me start humming my “Oh, Florida” state song (sung to the tune of Oh, Canada, but in a slightly off-key and the words are a whole lot different). Florida, Florida, Florida. If it’s not your hanging chads chapping America’s patootie, then it must be something else, mustn’t it? Florida, you are the wild one (RIP Maurice Sendak) of the fifty states (and four territories), finding some new hubbub to make the news, and in this case, it’s the librarians in Florida, who apparently got tired of all the strippers, hookers, serial killers, and misbehavin’ ball players, hogging the Florida limelight. Yes, the Brevard county library (Cape Canaveral area) has decided that Fifty Shades of Grey is “mommy porn” and “soft porn” and apparently they don’t collect porn. Hmmmph.

So today, I want to get the record straght. Fifty Shades of Grey is not “mommy porn”. Does anyone know what “mommy porn” is? Sure, mommies everywhere proclaim, “I know it when I see it”. Mommy porn is the sight of a French maid, bending over slightly as she pulls the clothes out of the dryer, where they have been washed to precise specifications and there is no shrinkage, especially not in the crotch region, because nothing is more uncomfortable than pants that have pulled up too far in the genitalia and you end up pulling at it all day because it’s binding in places, that, yes, YOU DO NOT WANT TIED UP! Chafing anyone? Hello?

What is Mommy porn? Mommy porn is the sight of your handsome Seattle tycoon pulling out his handcuffs, only to use them on your two year old in order to keep him out of the mud because you have people coming over for dinner in an hour, and you can’t afford to have the *beautifully* clean house messed up.

Mommy porn is a long, lazy morning in bed, (preferably Monday), with sheets smelling of lavender (or possibly spring rain), when you can actually achieve the recommended eight hours of sleep.

Mommy porn is coming home after a hard day’s work, and opening the door, only to find the sight of your man, dressed in an apron, with a fully cooked dinner on the table (including a set table that includes silverware, napkins, and appropriate condiments). That is enough to get my juices flowing. This is mommy porn.

So, I ask you, Florida Brevard librarians? Are you going to ban cookbooks (especially lushly illustrated ones with lots of color pics?) Because that is real mommy porn. Are you going to ban Real Simple (which is the Penthouse of Mommy Porn, complete with lots of white space, 30 minute dinner recipes, and organizational doo-dads that cost under $10)? Are you going to ban House Cleaning Tips” How to Clean and Declutter your home fast? And don’t even get me started on the gardening books! GAH. Talk about your *porn*. Page after page of erotic flowers, with their petals only starting to open. And red, ripe, bulbous tomatoes, bursting with juices so sweet, so tart, so full of lycopene that is not only low in calorie, but also proven to fight against cancer. This is *mommy porn*. This is guaranteed to make the women sigh.

So, Brevard County librarians, the next time you think about banning “mommy porn” take a good hard look at Martha Stewart who is the head dominatrix in the world of “mommy porn”. Examine your gardening books for signs of well-thumbed pages, and skeevy fluids (“I Swear it was only the organic growing stimulant! I read it in Whole Earth!”). Take a note of the women hanging out in the cookbook aisle, furtively glancing around while they read over the recipe for Easy, Delicious, Low-Cal Chicken Enchiladas. Wake up to the real subversive world of Mommy Porn. Because sometimes, porn is actually *the devil you know*.

Flowing Juices

That is all.

So, for everyone out there? Do you live in Florida? Have you ever lived in Florida? What’s your idea of real mommy porn?

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I know you guys have heard me complain about the half wall between my kitchen and living area that I despise.  It doesn’t serve any purpose but to block the sight of people in the living room, and to block the sight of people in the kitchen.  Tell me how ridiculous this is:

So I decided to have the wall taken out.  I talked to a few people who do this sort of thing.  The guy I went with had some really great ideas for lighting and what to do with the columns that would remain.  He had such great ideas that I asked him about some other things that were bothering me.  Like…a recessed wall where the TV is supposed to go, but where nothing really fits.  He said, easy-peasey.  An entertainment center is what you need.  We can get it built, finished, delivered and installed.  I said yeah yeah, do that.  And what about that front door that’s all glass and people can see all the way to the back of my house and they look in?  He said, simple solution.  You pick a door and I know where to get it cheaper than anywhere, quality construction, installed.  I said, okay, let’s do that.

This has all been really fun, but last week, I went to see some of this guy’s work.  The woman was happy to show me (and the work was excellent).  She had expanded her kitchen, enclosed an old patio and added walls and taken down others to make it part of the now swank den, then expanded her patio and put in an awning.  Oh, and she redid the master bath.  But she said something that sobered me:  She had called this contractor because she really wanted to put in a double oven in her kitchen.  This all started with a double oven.  A double oven!  And I figured she was well into six figures now, which started with a renovation that might have been a couple of thousand dollars.

I thought about my wall, which currently looks like this (almost gone!):

And the entertainment hutch thing.  And the door.  And how I toyed with the idea of a new bathroom.  And some changes upstairs.  It was a cautionary tale, sent to me from the universe.  It whispers, stop.  Stop now.    I needed to see how a double oven could become an entire construction project with no one to help me pay for it but me. Whew!  Dodged a bullet there!

Have you ever done a renovation project?  Have you ever gotten carried away on a grand scale and watched an enormous snowball forming?  What about your house would you change if you could? What is your house missing?  What do you love about your house?

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Way back when, in November 1999, just a few weeks after the publication of my first book (Red Roses Mean Love), I was interviewed by Jill Vejnoska, a features reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  I was really excited about it, and Jill was extremely nice and witty during our phone interview.  She told me the story would be in the Sunday paper, on the front page, “unless there’s a war,” she joked.  A few days later a photographer from the paper came to the house and snapped some pics to accompany the article.  Totally cool!  On Sunday morning, I ran outside to snatched up the paper from the driveway.  Back in the house, I pulled out the Living section and looked on the front page.

No story, no picture.

My stomach felt like it crashed to the floor.  I turned to my DH and said, “Holy crap, we’re at war.”  I rifled through the other sections of the newspaper to find the main section to find out what country we were at war with.  And this is what I saw:

No war. Me.  Yes, that’s ME.  Sitting at my desk.  On THE front page of the AJC.  I about passed out.  I had no idea Jill had meant THE front page of the paper!  My husband and I couldn’t believe it.  I shook my head and said, “I bet I’m the only Yankee who’s ever been on the front page of the AJC without having committed a heinous crime.” 

Needless to say, we bought about 20 copies of the paper.  I laminated the article and have it in a frame along with a cover flat of Red Roses Mean Love, as well as the pages from the New York Times and USA Today when I hit those print lists with the anthology It Happened One Night.  The frame hangs on my office wall and I get a tingle of pride every time I look at it.   And I tell you all this because I’ve kept in touch with Jill  all these years, but we’d never met.  Until yesterday.  She’s doing another story about romance writers and she came to my house to do another interview.  We marveled over the fact that the last time she interviewed me, my son was in third grade–and he’s graduating from college this Friday.  Here’s a photo of  Jill and I standing by the framed article of our last interview.

She told me the story won’t be on the front page this time but that’s okay.  We had a terrific time together and it was great to meet her in person.  I’m not sure when the article will be in the paper, but I’ll keep y’all updated.

So, lots of excitement here at Casa D’Alessandro–newspaper interviews, my parents arrive on Wednesday, and on Friday we’ll see our baby boy graduate from college–I really can’t believe it.  What have you been up to?  Ever been interviewed?  How did it go?  Any graduations coming up for friends/family?  Seen any good movies?  What’s going on in your life?  Enquiring minds want to know!   

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Is there any better way to welcome Monday? Kidding. I started with a breakfast smoothie, tequila free.

Check out Smoothies 101 at my other blog, Sherri and Charlotte. 

But Saturday was Cinco de Mayo and Kentucky Derby Day, and both occasions called for celebration here at Casa Erwin. Especially with my dad staying with me all weekend.

Dad’s a bourbon fan, so we had the Derby drinks covered. My husband and I have been brushing up on tequila after falling for a few samples (no, not literally) at a tequila tasting in a little place called La Cava del Tequila (Mexico pavilion, World Showcase, Epcot, Walt Disney World). Up until last year’s visit to La Cava, my thinking was that tequila was for margaritas. And they do make some fantastic margaritas at La Cava. Looking for a new margarita recipe? Try their avocado margarita! Tastes like banana, weirdly enough. It’s smooth, creamy, yummy, and unique. 

Avocado Margarita
1/2 ripe Haas avocado
2 oz. white 100% agave Tequila
1 oz. Midori melon liquor
juice of one lime (about 1 oz.)
1 oz. Agave Syrup
Ice

Blend all ingredient in blender until very smooth and creamy. Serve in a salt-rimmed glass (or without salt, if you prefer).

Thanks to La Cava del Tequila, now I know that there are some good, smooth sipping tequilas that go down like aged whiskey. I loved La Cava’s sangrita, a tequila chaser shot, so much that I got the recipe. Make it a day or two in advance to give the flavors time to meld then serve it with your favorite tequila. You might find that tequila is not just for margaritas anymore.

La Cava del Tequila’s Sangrita

Makes 1 gallon

Ingredients:
24 ounces Tomato Juice
6 Serrano Peppers (very fine chopped)
Half of a Red Onion (very fine chopped)
17 Mint Leaves (very fine chopped)
7 ounces Fresh Lime Juice
7 ounces Fresh Grapefruit Juice
7 ounces Fresh Orange Juice
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients together and shake well. I like to give them a whirl in the food processor to ensure a smoother blend (it can be a little chunky, but you want a texture you can comfortably drink).

Unfortunately, I did not pick the winner of this year’s Kentucky Derby. We never actually bet anyway, but we like to watch and choose a few favorites. This year, I went with Bodemeister (2nd place) and Creative Cause (4th). The winner was the appropriately named with Cinco de Mayo in mind, I’ll Have Another.

I won’t have another. Now what I’ll have to have is plenty of exercise to atone for my weekend diet sins. Maybe Julia London’s Running for Burgers can inspire me to get back on track. Leslie of KC, are you out there? We haven’t heard from you in a bit, and I was thinking of you this weekend (your love for horses).

ADDED: I just caught this week’s episode of Girls. Well done! I have to say that maybe it had to start off with our Girls as Girls, learning those life lessons. Last night’s show made me glad I stuck with it. Episode 4 delivered some payoff. Big cheers for character development! And setbacks, of course.

Did you enjoy Cinco de Mayo? Watch the Derby? Do you love margaritas? Tequila fan or foe? Do you enjoy a good breakfast smoothie now and then? Have you joined Running for Burgers yet?

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