Foodie Friday 7/1/11

Welcome to the July 1st Foodie Friday, where recipes abound and copper is king--well, for this post, anyway.

I own few copper pieces and I use them every day. My pans might have a patina (I clean them once in a pale blue moon), but they're so practical and lovely, I use them for baking and serving.

When I wrote  Gone With A Handsomer Man (if you're new to FF, this is my most recent novel, and if you're an old friend and you're familiar with Teeny, you might want to skip this part), I gave the main character a deep longing for copper cookware, placing it right up there with love.

"All I ever wanted in life was true love, a set of copper cookware, and the perfect recipe for red velvet cake. The last thing I wanted was to end up on Charleston's six o'clock news, accused of murder and a slew of other crimes."

There's just something elegant and timeless about copper.

If you'd like a chance to win this teeny copper pan, leave a message about the type of cookware you love.

For other cool giveaways, visit The World According to Teeny. The Kindle contest ends July 10th, so there's still time to enter. The goodie-stuffed beach bag contest (which includes an autographed copy of GWAHM), ends July 10th, too.

Or maybe you'd love a "Teeny," vintage lemon coin purse (not the one in the book--that one will be given away later this summer)?

How about a sea turtle cutting board, egg cups, dishes, or Teeny's Lemonade Mix?
Here's a sampling of the giveaways:

To enter the giveaways, say hello to Miss Teeny at The World According to Teeny.

The Week In Review

What's going on in your neck of the woods? These days, I rarely leave home--I'm working on revisions for Teeny 2--and I'd love to know what you are doing this summer.

As for Bald Hill Farm, ducklings and baby pheasants arrived via US Mail. The PO guys were relieved when we showed up to collect the boxes, which were labeled "bio-hazard" and emitted relentless peeps. The PO guys eagerly helped us load the boxes into the truck.
UPDATE: A glitch in Blogger won't let me post comments, even to my own blog/s, but I wanted to mention that the ducks, geese, and pheasants are our pets. All of the animals on the farm are pets. We aren't gathering eggs this summer because we're encouraging our hens to "set" on their nests so we'll have chicks.

As for non-farming activities, I've been catching up on blogging. I write posts in batches, usually around 11 pm, and schedule them; but this week, Blogspot fired off my posts willy-nilly, ignoring my scheduling edicts. Nor would Blogger let me comment--even on my own blog.
How I Find Time To Blog and Write Fiction was published on the heels of Interior Design 101 for Writers, along with a bunch of Teeny posts, including part 2 of the Spencer-Jackson House's dish collection.

Then, last night, Blogspot started hiccuping again, and posts were eaten; others were accidentally published, including a test post for Foodie Friday. When I'm finished with the revisions to Teeny 2, I'll probably move the Acquainted With the Night blog to Wordpress. Has anyone made the move without regrets? If so, I'd love to hear your comments.

Just in case Blogger goes down again, I'm  posting Foodie Friday a bit early.

If you are a contributor to Foodie Friday's weekly recipe exchange, add your permalink below (look for the blue frog). Be sure to add a Foodie Friday link to your post. If you're new to FF, a TUTORIAL is available. As always, thank you so much for contributing your recipes and photography to FF. You are loved and appreciated. I hope you have a safe, fabulous July 4th weekend.

Win Teeny's Lemon Purse

 If you've read Gone With a Handsomer Man, then you know about Teeny's infamous

lemon purse:

"I stopped in a funky consignment shop and bought a red blouse, striped pants, and a purse shaped like a giant lemon."

Life may have handed Teeny a few lemons, but she's putting them to good use. She'll be giving away several one-of-a-kind lemon bags--some are vintage and some are handmade.  The winner will win a complimentary package of Teeny's Lemonade Mix, lip balm, and a teeny Sunblock, along with a mystery item.

To enter the contest, visit Miss Teeny, become her friend/follower, join the Teeny Mystery Club, leave her a message on the post of your choosing, and maybe you'll pick a lemon purse.

Good luck!

The contest ends July 18th.

Teeny's Lemonade

"The Best Free Lemonade in the South"

Summertime Blues: Coastal Tablescaping Ideas

 When summer heats up, add a cool splash to your table with blue glassware and white pottery. I like to mix 'n match creamy dishes and azure goblets for texture and fun. 

Next, I "shop" my house for beachy accessories. This is when I'm glad I have the packrat gene. I gather napkins, shells, whimsical items, odd plates, and votives--whatever catches my fancy.

Finally, I look for a vase. Since I live in the country, I like to pick weeds in the pasture--they're as pretty as any floral bouquet. I've also found wildflowers along the road--daisies and Queen Anne's Lace.

If you'd like a blue arrangement, just place white, long-stemmed flowers in tepid water and add food coloring.  You'll need to do this in advance because it can take a while for the dye to reach the petals. My oldest child did this 30 years ago for an elementary school project; if you have small ones around the house this summer, they'll get a kick out of watching the petals slowly absorb the color. (Tip: Spread plastic on the counter and use plastic cups for the dye. Keep paper towels handy for spills.)

Here's a video showing a time-elapsed transformation:

Here, I've mixed antique glassware with butterfly pottery from Big Lots.

Layered white pottery against a sandy-beige placemat.

White-on-White

Visit BNOTP's Tablescape Thursday for more tablescaping ideas.
The tour of the Spencer-Jackson House's fantastical dish collection continues in Part II--with a giveaway (service for 4 white dish set).
Say hi to Teeny at http://teenytempleton.blogspot.com/2011/06/dish-giveaway-plus-dish-collection-at.html

Win a Set of Egg Cups

It involves a "not-in-the-book" adventure with Teeny, tequila, and triple sec.

I've enabled comments at Teeny's blog if you'd like to enter the eggcentric contest.

http://teenytempleton.blogspot.com/2011/06/teeny-and-coops-eggcentric-day-at-beach.html

Interior Design for Writers

During the last year, several folks have emailed me about Designs by Gollum. Has it become a book blog? Or food only?

Many people asked if I've stopped posting about home decorating.

So this post is for you all. :-)

 For the last the few years, I've been creating fictional interiors.

 When I write a novel, I'm part-author and part-interior designer.

I don't have a budget and the rooms don't require dusting or vacuuming.

I don't need home owner's insurance, don't pay property taxes, and never need to call a repairman.

Building a fictional setting is similar to shopping for a real house. I spend a long, long time shopping. During this "pre-writing" period, which can last months, I must find a home that defines my character's character.

Once I nail down a house style, I start adding details. Sometimes I find them in magazines or online.

Hand's down, I prefer to use real settings.

And, because I love animals, I'll add a dog. Sometimes I use a real-life dog as a prototype, such as "Zap" from Mermaids in the Basement, but that's a topic for another day.

 I love shopping for houses. But when I'm writing, this is a different kind of shopping because I've been hired to find a home for my character.
Every detail matters. Colors and decorative objects can't be chosen arbitrarily. 

 It was a challenge to decorate a vampire's manse in Acquainted With the Night--how would a wealthy immortal deal with sun-filled rooms?

Would he hire an architect to seal the windows? Or would that cause gossip? Would a human designer kiss-and-tell? What if she created a horrible room? Would the vampire bite her? Perhaps it would be better to hire a designer who works after sunset and intimately understands the need for dark interiors.

 Of course, as a writer, I can't put all of my research into a book, so I have to paint rooms with bold strokes. I don't do this quickly. I can't throw in extraneous details. When you read a book and come upon a fictional room, chances are those objects have been hand-picked by the author.

Writing professors advise authors to add colors and objects that deepen a character and/or move the plot forward. It's as if you've gone to the best tag sale in the world, and you only have a certain amount of money to spend.

Authors agonize over these hard choices.

But that's part of the process.

Unlike real decorating, an imaginary designer must select items that add layers to a character or setting--details must work behind-the-scenes and resonate in a reader's subconscious. Writers must also understand and utilize the psychology of color.

In Gone With a Handsomer Man, Coop O'Malley is a rule-following lawyer, but he secretly wants to see the world in a thousand shades of gray. He didn't rent this beach house on a whim. It says everything about the man he hopes to become.

But the beach house's interior is filled with black-and-white vases, furniture, and paintings. True, his mother, Fat Irene, decorated it, but a mother can shape her son's worldview (as we'll see in the sequel).

It's relevent that Teeny's house is pink with a gray front door. And each time Coop passes through Teeny's gray door, his character transforms.

Readers see fictional rooms and homes in their mind's eye. If the author has done her job, the reader will notice the main items and add their own details.That's the best kind of fictional decor--where authors and readers are co-designers.

So a writer might describe an old world kitchen, and in passing she might mention a fireplace at the far end of the room, with copper pots hanging from the rafters.

Someone, somewhere, will read the book and add these details:

The kitchen in Something's Gotta Give has become an iconic symbol. I blogged about it three years ago, and people are still blogging about it. You can see the photos HERE.
Notice how the white furnishings perfectly depicted the character's world view? All of that ambient white wasn't accidental, was it? By the end of the movie, Diana Keanton's character had stopped wearing white turtlenecks. And she was adding color to her shell collection.

Do you have a favorite fictional decor? Leave me a message, and your name will be added to the drawing for the Kindle, beach-bag giveaway, bird house, turtle cutting board and copper turtle cookie cutter, and the rest of Teeny and Piper's giveaways. If you've left previous messages, your name is already in the bowl, but for each message you write, I'll add your name again.

A sampling of current and future giveaway items at DBG, Acquainted With the Night, and The World According to Teeny.