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Sign up for my online class today and receive hands-on critiques from Yours Truly!

Title: Using the Rule of Six To Strengthen Everything From Plot to Titles
Instructor: Shirley Jump
Date: February 28 - March 25, 2011
Classroom: Foothills
For More Information:

DESCRIPTION: Capitalize on this technique marketing gurus have used for years to find the "thought not thought of yet" and avoid duplicating a plot line, character quirk or other idea already out there (that you may have seen subconsciously). Then learn how to use this technique to take your writing deeper and draw out more emotion, more conflict...more of everything! It's truly astounding when you see it in action. With this interactive class, New York Times bestselling author Shirley Jump will show you how to use "Shirley's Rule of Six" for everything from plot to word choice. The result? More powerful writing that has that unique touch editors today are looking to buy.

I haven't been cooking as much lately (darn deadlines, LOL) though I do have a fat free Carrot and Sweet Potato soup in the crockpot today. First time making it, so we'll see how it turns out. I also have a FABULOUS chicken recipe to share when I get some time.

In the meantime, in the spirit of Valentine's Day, a friend of mine wrote to share on the history of Valentine's day. Some cool tidbits about the reasons the holiday started, complete with a villain and a good guy and few broken hearts.

Join me for a month of revision that's fun and educational!

*PERMISSION TO FORWARD GRANTED AND ENCOURAGED!!***
WritersOnlineClasses.com is proud to present one of its two online February classes. To follow are the details of the Revision Can Be Fun with New York Times bestselling author Shirley Jump:

CLASS: Revision Can Be Fun
INSTRUCTOR: Shirley Jump
4-week class: February 1-28 COST: $30
Registration ends January 31, 2011

Class Description: REVISION CAN BE FUN
Learn how to analyze your writing with an objective eye and revise it, helping your book, article or short story become stronger and better. New York Times bestselling author Shirley Jump will give you hands-on tools, tips and tricks to revise your work, along with concrete examples to show you how to really take your book from blah to BLOCKBUSTER. This interactive class will have you polishing your novels, and learning how to fix a sagging plot, flat characters and a stalled storyline. Get hands-on with your book with Shirley Jump!


INSTRUCTOR BIO: New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shirley Jump spends her days writing romantic comedies (Vegas Pregnancy Surprise, July 2010) to feed her shoe addiction and avoid cleaning the toilets. As AJ Whitten (), she also writes horror young adult novels for Houghton Mifflin's Graphia imprint with her daughter (The Well, September 2009). She cleverly finds writing time by feeding her kids junk food, allowing them to dress in the clothes they find on the floor and encouraging the dogs to double as vacuum cleaners. Visit her website at or read recipes and life adventures at .

For more information or to register, go to
OR email [email protected]

WritersOnlineClasses.com Refund Policy: Cash Refunds only when requested within 30 days of initial payment. After 30 days, refund will be credit toward a future class.

CLASS: Revision can be Fun.
INSTRUCTOR: Shirley Jump
4-week class: February 1-28 COST: $30
Registration ends January 31, 2011

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Stop by the today, where I chat about New Year's Resolutions, offer up a little inspiration for dreamers, and offer a chance to win one of my books!

Shirley

Join me for the tonight at 9pm EST and a chance to win a free book! Ask questions about the writing process, hear all about , or get me talking about recipes ;-)

Shirley

Okay, lame name for this dish, LOL. Guess all my creativity got used up on the fiction writing today.

I made gumbo for the first time this week (thanks to for the Cajun spices!). I love Cajun food and had a great bowl of gumbo a couple weeks ago, and was dying to replicate the recipe. I took one of Emeril's (figuring he knows New Orleans cuisine pretty darn well) and added a few tweaks to it, based on the restaurant one.

Here's The one I had at the restaurant had ham hocks in it (which to be honest, the thought of even cooking with them had me totally grossed out, but I was a trooper, and decided to try it). Emeril starts with a roux--I browned the ham hocks in a little oil first, then took them out of the pan and followed Emeril's steps. I re-added the ham hocks with the sausage (I had to use kielbasa because I couldn't find andouille sausage). I also added frozen chopped okra, to beef up the vegetables. When the gumbo was done, I removed the ham hocks but diced up the meat and put that in. I kept the spice level low so the kids could eat it, so it wasn't as spicy as the one in the restaurant, but still smelled AMAZING and tasted FAB. My son loved it (DD wasn't home that night). My husband added some hot sauce to it, to increase the level of heat, but everyone had seconds.

If you want some more Cajun recipes, check out L. I'm looking forward to trying more!

I served it with homemade cornbread that I brushed with honey butter while it was still warm. A hit all around, and definitely has me looking forward to my trip to New Orleans where I'll be "Taking a Book from Good to Sold" on January 15th. If you're in the area, join me!

Shirley

I'm calling this soup a "bisque-ish" because I did add some cream to it, but not enough to push it into the bisque category. More to give it a bit of depth, without pushing it into the heavy-on-your-thighs department. I made this for lunch today (as part of my New Year's commitment to eating healthier after a LOT of cookies over the past month, LOL).

Anyway, I LOVED this soup. I had come across another recipe for it, and then read a few reviewer's comments on the soup, and decided on a few changes of my own.

Spicy Tomato Crab Bisque-ish

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 fennel bulb, fronds removed, bulb diced
2 onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 6 ounce can crab meat (or fresh if you can get it)1/4 cup half and half
chili oil, for drizzling

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium. Add onions, fennel (reserve the fronds for later) and garlic. Saute 10-15 minutes, until softened. Add the tomatoes (do not drain them; add the sauce too) and broth. Season with salt and pepper, then add cumin and cayenne. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, then simmer for 15 minutes. Add more broth if the soup is too thick.

I pureed the soup a bit at this point; just to make it smoother but not to totally mush up the vegetables. Then I added the crab meat, cooked it for a couple minutes, then stirred in the half and half (and FWIW, I used reduced fat half and half). Taste and season again wtih salt and pepper, if needed.

Serve with minced fennel fronds and if you like it spicy, a light drizzle of chili oil. (LIGHT, because that chili oil is spicy stuff :-)

Shirley

I promised yesterday to blog about Soup-a-Palooza, so here I am :-) I had held one a month or so ago with my friends--basically, I made a bunch of soups (, , and French Onion) and invited over my friends, telling them to bring something to go with soup. The party was a hit--lots of different types of soups to fit each person's tastes (a beef, a chicken, an Asian and a vegetarian style), and it was fun to have something so earthy for a party.

My daughter, whose friends I normally invite to my theme nights (and had forgotten to invite to this one) asked if I'd do the same thing for her friends. Dubbed Soup-a-Palooza Dos, I let my daughter dictate the menu, and let her create the guest list. Lots of teenage girls made for lots of laughter and chatter, so it was a blast. One of them brought rolls, another made this yummy dessert Christmas bread that we baked while we were eating. I made the soups and the .

I served three soups: , which I've put on the blog before, , also a previous blog appearer, and a new one--Lemon Chicken Rice (a Greek soup, aka Avgolemono). My dear friend (a husband-wife writing duo) makes this all the time and said that I had to make a long kissing sound while adding the egg mixture to the soup or it would be ruined (I love those kinds of quirky customs). Since the soup was a hit (two of the girls took home leftovers), I think the kissing noise paid off ;-)

Before I made the two chicken based soups, I made a Simple Chicken Stock:

1 whole chicken
1 onion, peeled and halved
1 full head of garlic, halved
4-6 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4-6 black peppercorns

Put chicken in a stockpot or dutch oven. Add other ingredients. Add enough water to cover the chicken. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and simmer for one hour. Remove the chicken and shred the meat. Strain the stock and use in soups or freeze to use later.

Trust me, it makes a HUGE difference to use homemade stock. And it seasoned the chicken nicely, so it tasted perfect in the chicken and dumpling soup and the Lemon Chicken Rice Soup. It only takes a minute to put a stock together, and just a little over an hour to cook. Do it a couple days before if you want. I've even made it in the Crock-Pot (turning the CP to High).


Easy Avgolemono Soup (Greek Lemon Chicken Rice Soup)

6 cups chicken broth (reserve extra for later; the rice expands and I added a cup of stock at the end)
1 cup long grain rice
2 eggs
Juice of 1/2 of a lemon (reserve other half to add more lemon juice if you need it)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

Bring stock to a boil, add rice, then reduce to a simmer and cook about 20 minutes, until rice is tender. Add the chicken, then make the egg mixture (it will thicken the soup and give it a nice, creamy texture).

Separate the eggs. Whisk the whites until they're frothy, then add in the yolks and the lemon juice. Add one cup of hot cooking liquid, whisk, then add another cup. Pour egg mixture into the soup (making that kissing sound if you want). Season with salt and pepper, add parsley. Serve.

Shirley

During my a couple weeks ago a friend of mine asked if I was making white chocolate macadamia nut. I've eaten plenty of these in my lifetime, but never made them, so when I got a few free minutes (my Christmas presents are all bought and wrapped--yeah!), I made a couple batches of these.

I had a bunch of my daughter's friends over last night for "Soup-a-Palooza Dos." I'd held one a month or so ago (and just realized I didn't blog about it...sorry! Will remedy that in the next few days). Anyway, I made these cookies as dessert to go with the soups. They were light and sweet, the perfect compliment, IMO.

I know Macadamia Nut cookies generally call for White Chocolate chips, but I had trouble finding those in the store...for some reason there weren't ANY. So I mixed half white chocolate chips that I had left in my cabinet and half Vanilla Chips, which is what the store had. I think it gave the cookies another dimension of flavor, and each chip was a little surprise, with the two working together nicely. Hence the name "Yummies." :-) You can do a little of both, as I have in my recipe below, or do one or the other (total is one cup of chips)

Macadamia Nut Yummies
Makes 2 1/2 dozen

1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour (plus a little extra if the batter is too wet)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 1/2 ounces macadamia nuts, chopped
1/2 cup vanilla chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, Beat in the egg, then the vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda, then add to the batter a little at a time. If the batter is too moist, add another 2 or 3 tablespoons of flour. You want it pliable but not sticky. Stir in the nuts and chips.

Cut a sheet of for each cookie sheet (trust me, it's worth it. You end up with pretty much zero cleanup). Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the ungreased sheets, about two inches apart. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on the sheet for one minute before transferring to a wire rack.

I made 2 1/2 dozen with this recipe. You can get more or less, depending on the size of your cookies. Or how much raw batter you eat (not recommended by lawyers, salmonella and all that) while waiting on the first batch to cook ;-)

Shirley