Being Grateful and Letting Go

Yes, I am grateful for what I have. My family, my friends, my circumstances. But why is it, then, that so often I find myself wrapped up in a bundle of negative emotions over something that I really can't do much about. Case in point: I have lived in California most of my life. Every 7-10 years, we have an extraordinary drought in California and it is so front and center on the news that it eclipses all but the most tragic stories about real human suffering. This is one of those years. Reservoirs are dry, we are seriously draining the underground aquifers, we are all going to become dehydrated, crazed zombies if we don't cut our water usage, NOW, damnit! Next year, or the year after, it will pour buckets for five months and they will be letting water out of the damns at an alarming rate. Honestly, water has always been a major issue for California, a state that is basically pretty arid and gets all its precipitation in three or four months. Here are some dramatic pictures of one of our local reservoirs:

Lexington Reservoir in Spring After a Good Rainfall Year

The reservoir, which is visible as you drive over Highway 17 between San Jose and Santa Cruz looks like this in late Spring after the winter rains.  By the end of Fall, it usually looks more like the picture below:

This year, in the middle of a severe drought, in the middle of July, it looks like this:

So, I definitely get it. Next year it will look like the picture on the top. Again. Maybe. Or maybe not. So I did some research. In our area, average rainfall is 15.86 inches a year. Since 1893, 66% of the years we got less than 15 inches. Only a third of the years did we get 15 inches or more. And the distribution of dry vs. wet years was pretty even over the last 100 years. Here's another newsflash. California's biggest industry is agriculture and, in fact, we produce something like 50% of all the food produced in the U.S. Farmers need water to grow food. So it's not surprising that their water rations are not cut. And I really can't argue with that. 

Here's my beef: Today, it was announced that Alameda County was one of the few counties in the bay area that actually cut their water usage by 20% like we were all asked. But now the water agency has a revenue shortfall, so they are raising the rates. That is really ridiculous. And here's my other beef: All over the bay area, politicians and city managers are approving horrendous high-density housing on every available square inch of land. Drive around and you cannot avoid these monstrosities. They are literally everywhere creating much worse than just vista pollution. California doesn't have enough water, but let's shove 3,000 more people on every other street corner along Stevens Creek Blvd. from Cupertino to San Jose. Let's add 10,000 more people across from Santa Clara's Central Park in a site that was the old Kaiser Hospital. (Okay, it may not really be 10,000, but it sure looks like it. And oh, BTW, look at the pictures on the website. This ugly, ugly massive block of concrete doesn't look anything like the small individual homes they show on the website. What gives?)

And then I got it. Cover up all the ground with concrete and we won't have any need to water our gardens. Oh, wait, but what are we going to drink? Martini's!  Okay, I'm in. And I'm grateful once again!

The Truth About Zucchini-Tinis

Recently, I forwarded a post from Food Network about a Zucchini-Tini that Claire Robinson did with an Asian Fusion dinner with Sake Steamed Sea Bass With Soy Buerre Blanc.  I tried the dinner a week ago and it was awesome!!  Here is the link:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/5-ingredient-fix/300-series/asian-fusion.html

I used halibut instead of sea bass but it was really out of this world. I had never made Buerre Blanc Sauce before and I must say, first: it is easy and incredibly silky and delicious.....and second: the Weight Watcher Police were at my door within minutes. But it was worth it, and you just can't feel that guilty about indulging in a few tablespoons of heaven on a fish that is already delicious. I had dreams about that sauce all night and was really upset when I found out my husband threw the leftovers away. I had visions of it on my egg the next morning.  Oh well.  Try it, you will love the whole meal.

I saved the Zucchini-Tini for the weekend and made them for my sister and niece and I.  It's not that I don't drink alone.....as many of you know....it's that I don't drink gin alone. In fact, I don't drink gin much at all since my going away party when I moved back to California from England (and that was 30 years ago!!!). But here it is:

Zucchini-tini

Looks good, doesn't it? Well to be honest, I was so excited, thinking I could use up all my garden zucchinis with this refreshing drink. The recipe called for one large zucchini. I used two huge ones and got one half cup of juice out of it after putting it through an industrial squeeze. Also, it called for simple syrup made 1:1 sugar and water. Too sweet! It also calls for both sake and gin. Well, I kept adding gin, and that improved it. But in the end, it just tasted like sweet zucchini juice. I poured some unsweetened lime juice into it which cut the sugar and masked the zucchini juice and voila......we drank rather fancy, doctored up gin gimlets. They were very refreshing. Honestly, I think this one was a bit of a dud. But do try the fish dish. It is outstanding.

Stuffed Trout

I love beef. Given my choice of meat, beef wins every time. But I like fish and, as I am trying to lose some weight, I recently decided to try to eat more fish. In the past, I have pretty much stuck to the two S's, salmon and shrimp. Safe enough. But when we were kids and went camping, we'd often go fishing with our Dad and enjoy the spoils for dinner. I watched Nancy Fuller, the chef on the Food Network show, Farmhouse Rules, catch and cook trout for her dinner one night. I was inspired to modify her recipe below.

Meet My Trout

I got butterflied trout at Whole Foods, then seasoned them and stuffed them with chopped mushrooms, shallots, dill, parsley and lemon zest mixed with a tablespoon of olive oil and the juice of half a lemon.

Then I placed sliced lemons on the trout and wrapped them with bacon.

I

I cooked them in a cast iron skillet that was lightly oiled on the stove on medium high for 3 minutes and then in a 425 degree oven for 25 minutes.  It was really delicious.  For you Weight Watchers, this was 8 points.

More of these kinds of recipes, and I might not even miss beef.....NOT.  But really, how can you go wrong with anything wrapped in bacon?????

The End Result

A Rose Between Two Thistles

The thistle is the floral symbol for Scotland.  While doing research for my books, I am learning so much more about this lovely country.  Immediately charmed by it, I became more intrigued each time I visited.  I don't get there much anymore, but continue to live vicariously through my books and research.  I am hoping to get there for a few days this fall when I am taking a trip to Europe.  But I am definitely planning a longer trip next year.  In the meantime, I thought it would be nice to share some of the symbolic history of this lovely country and perhaps you can understand why I choose to make it the center stage of most of my books.

Thistle grows abundantly at Coyote Creek Golf Course in San Jose

The symbolism of the thistle stands for nobility and in Celtic folk lore, damaging a thistle was cause for punishment.  Although the details of the punishment were not explicit in the tale, try grabbing one around the neck and believe me, your hand will be punished!!

The thistle has been the flower symbol of Scotland since the reign of Alexander III (1249-1286) and the symbol for the Scottish police force for many years.  One of the legends about this beautiful plant is that when the Vikings tried to invade Scotland, they crept close to the villages at night to overcome them while they slept.  They crept quietly, on bare feet. Unfortunately, they did not see the thistles surrounding the village and some of them let out cries of pain, waking the Scots and bringing them to battle, victoriously.

Thistles are biennials, which means they flower in the second year and then die. They do reseed easily and each year, it seems they get more abundant and beautiful along the cart path at Coyote Creek's Tournament Course.  They are a beautiful sight here, in the dry hills, seemingly unaffected by the drought.

Plum Crazy

I started canning last year.  I'm no expert and I don't can a lot.  But I do like taking advantage of preserving some of the fresh foods of summer, and now that I am growing some of them myself, it's especially rewarding.  Last summer I canned tomatoes, put up lots of different kinds of jams and preserves, chutneys and sauces.  

My sister's neighbor has a plum tree that works in overdrive this time of year.  She calls my sister to tell us that the plums are dropping and we go over with a big box and pick up the undamaged ones on the ground and then start picking the ones off the tree.  Here's one big bowl that were not quite ready for prime time.  This was what was leftover after we made a plum crisp for dessert.  More about that in a minute, because as you can see, the first order of business, before we got started cooking, by the way, was the plumtini.

As you can see, I almost forgot to take the picture before I had the thing polished off, but well, here was the second half of it.  We made a simple syrup with sugar and water and added a few meaty plum pits to the concoction and let it steep.  That's what made that beautiful color.  To mix the plumtini, we used one part vodka, one part marshmallow vodka, one part simple syrup.  It was pretty sweet, so we tried it without the marshmallow vodka but it didn't taste nearly as good.  So we added ginger ale to it to cut the sweetness.  Much better.  Still a bit on the sweet side, but very refreshing!  Next time, we're going to make the simple syrup with one part sugar to two parts water to cut the sweetness, instead of one to one.  If you try it and build on it, let me know.

Here's the plum crisp, which was delicious, but a bit runny.  We made the recipe up.  Plums, sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon covered with a standard crisp topping of oats, brown sugar and butter.  The ripe plums were pretty juicy and I think we should have drained them longer.  But still, very good. 

I haven't had a chance to do it this year yet, but last year, with the overabundance of the plums, I made plum sauce and it is out of this world.  This recipe makes about 4 pint jars.
 2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 T. finely chopped chili pepper (I used a jalapeno which I seeded)
2 T. mustard seeds
1 T. salt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 T. grated ginger root
10 cups finely chopped pitted plums

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil.  Continue to boil gently for 1.5-2 hours until it is thick.  Fill sterilized canning jars with the hot sauce, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.  Remove bubbles and clean the jar rims if necessary.  Screw tops on finger-tip tight.  Process in your canner for 20 minutes.  Remove canner lid, let rest 5 minute.  Remove cans from bath and let cool.
This makes a great sauce for any kind of grilled meat and can be used as a barbecue sauce as well.  

Fetteresso Castle

I always knew I was meant to live in a castle.  This intriguing place is Fetteresso Castle.  It just so happens that my maiden name is Fetter.  This castle is in Scotland, outside of a town called Stonehaven, south of Aberdeen.  The castle is steeped in history, with the original structure having been built in the 13th century.  The area around the castle is covered with Bronze age cairns (thought to be burial grounds) and stone circles.  Sounds like just the place to set the next Mick Malone Mystery, doesn't it?  I've already started!

I would like to thank so many of my readers for their wonderful encouragement and kind words.  In the last book I took an idea sent to me by one of my readers and wove it into the story.  So if you have an idea, speak up.  And if you haven't read it yet, you can get it at the link to my Author's Page.

All four books are now available at Barnes and Noble as well as Amazon.  And the third book, The Mystery of Loch Duny, is now available at Smashwords and will be available soon on all major e-readers.

I recently did an interview with Smashwords, a large e-publisher.  Here is an excerpt from that interview:

Who are your favorite authors?

I love to read all kinds of books. Not surprising, though, mystery series are my favorite. Martha Grimes, Caroline Graham and Elizabeth George are among my very favorite authors. I also like Dorothy Cannell and of course the classics like Agatha Christie and Dashiel Hammett and many more. But I also love Stephen King and most recently have become quite a fan of David Rhodes.

What inspires you to get out of bed each day?

I feel very grateful for all the things I have been given in life. But there is so much I still want to do that I am anxious to get as much of it done as possible before the runway runs out. I have a sign in my office: "What are you waiting for?" I look at that every day and it inspires me to keep doing new things. 

What is your writing process?

I am a very visual person, so I draw a line similar to a graph on a piece of paper and fill in the major ideas for the story from beginning through to building suspense, then the climax and conclusion. Since I write a series, I also write down the big things that are going on with my characters. Once I have a good visual outline, I start writing and usually the story details unfolds pretty readily as I go. The most important thing for me is to sit down and start writing. Even if I think I have writer's block, if I just sit at my computer and start to type, the story usually comes.

If you're interested in reading more, here's the link:Interview with Smashwords

The Mystery at Oyster Point

I am very excited to announce that the next Mick Malone Mystery is now published

 and available on Amazon.  The Mystery at Oyster Point, the fourth in the series, takes place primarily in San Francisco.  Oyster Point is on the shore of San Francisco Bay, near South San Francisco.  Once home to abundant oyster farms, this area is now a beautiful little marina with a lovely park and a ferry terminal.  On the shore, the quiet fishing businesses have long since given way to large buildings that house multinational biotech companies.  But the area maintains its beauty and charm.

 After completing a security job in London, Mick Malone and his partner, Jock McDuff are anxious to get back to Scotland for a little rest and relaxation. But Mick’s plans are diverted, when he gets a ransom note. Someone has kidnapped Dr. Finfrock, an orange tabby cat that an ex- roommate left with Mick when she moved out. The kidnapper has instructed Mick to meet him at the Ferry Building in San Francisco if he wants to see the cat alive. Flying to San Francisco, Mick finds the kidnapper and is pulled into a much deeper plot, one that skirts the darker side of prescription drug trials.

For more about this book, visit  My Website