March is nearly here along with a spring forward adjustment to the clock which steals an hour of reading away! I’m dreaming of planting a little colonial garden but it’s too soon here in the Pacific Northwest. We’ve experienced one of the mildest winters on record. Rhododendron bushes were actually blooming in December! I missed our usual, beautiful snow, since we got a scant half inch this winter. But you need only look up from our foothills to see the Olympic Mountains dressed in white.

I made sure to put a snowstorm in my Christmas novella I told you about last post. I’m finishing the first draft now & adding historic quotes at the beginning of each chapter. To say I’m smitten with this story is truly an understatement. It highlights history at one of my favorite historic sites in the most festive way. But for now, back to spring & dreaming of new story ideas. If you have something in mind you’d like for me to write in future please let me know!

And please return to to this journal page for a title reveal soon for my next full-length historical romance with Revell releasing in January 2027! Cover reveal coming after that…

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Time is truly flying & somehow writing happens in the midst of it all. I wish I could slow time down & am often glad eternity has no clock. I can’t imagine it but I think it will mean we enjoy these fleeting joys forever! Every summer does have its own story & the blessings are many. American flags. Fresh strawberries. Book stuff. Sunshine. Long walks. Lake days. Good meals. The pool. Our garden. Trips to our unfinished little house down south near our boys. I could write a book about the blessings. There’s always a down side but it’s better not to dwell on it as Philippians 4:8 says.  And then there’s Paul’s words in James … Count it all JOY! And so I am. Hope you are, too.

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Every once in a while a story steals your heart completely. This is one of them. I’ve often asked which of my books is my favorite & I honestly can’t choose. I love them all for different reasons. But this one – A Matter of Honor – was such a joy to write that I’m hoping it’s a joy to read, too. It has all the hallmarks of my novels only in short form. A leisurely start, a slow burn romance, a happy ending, though many obstacles to get there. And always hope, period.

Amazon has the novella in both paperback and Kindle. I recently received a proof copy & it’s far lovelier in person! The evocative cover & the feel of it in hand with the matte texture are a delight.

Hurry up, July, & happy reading!

PREORDER HERE

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So, I’ve just returned from the Lucy Worsley tour. France has never been on my bucket list but that’s entirely my mistake. If I was younger, I’d become fluent in French & move there! While there, thanks to my hosts, I was blessed to visit the chateau that opens this upcoming Scottish novel releasing next January 2023. It was interesting to see how my pandemic research lined up with reality. Walking the grounds and gardens of this castle was an emotional experience for me. Setting is so important in my novels and actually being there was more beautiful and grand than I ever imagined it to be. I could easily envision my heroine moving along the chateau’s paths and parterres and fountains in her beautiful 18th-century gown!

I’ve been a Lucy Worsley fan for years, both her books and her BBC series. She really is the historical queen! As Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, her office, from what I understand, is Hampton Court Palace. She is a fascinating speaker and so personable.

I had a cheeky American moment & remarked that if she ever tired of British history I had some American I would give her;) But honestly, who ever tires of centuries of British history? She was gracious about my novels and took a bookmark from me. I now wish I’d gotten a selfie with her but I wasn’t that cheeky!

We experienced so many amazing things while in France like the Louvre museum, the palace of Versailles, Malmaison – the country estate or chateau of Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine, the little village of Barbizon which was the historical home to artists, the Conciergerie where Marie Antionette was imprisoned before her execution, and much more. French cuisine is delicious! Best croissants and coffee ever. I’m still not a fan of macarons but I did try Laduree!

I’ve been blessed to travel quite a bit since childhood, even attending school in England years ago, but the more of the world I see the less I know! If you’d like more photos, please visit me on Instagram. If you’re wanting even more photos, tap my Travel button on that page…

Laura’s IG

So thankful to be out & about in the world again!

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This quick bread is so rich and dense it tastes more like old-fashioned pound cake to me. I especially like the instructions to stir peaches in with a wooden spoon:) Though banana bread has long been a favorite, my husband prefers this every time…

BATTER:
3 cups organic all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
2 cups organic white sugar
1 cup coconut oil
3 cups fresh ripe diced peaches
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

TOPPING:
3 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
2-1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Dash salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix first four ingredients and set aside.
With mixer, cream eggs, oil, sugar, & vanilla.
Slowly add in dry ingredients.
Stir in diced peaches with a wooden spoon.
Divide batter between two greased loaf pans.
In separate bowl, combine pecans, coconut palm sugar, oil, cinnamon, and salt then sprinkle on top each loaf.
Bake 1 hour.

Happy Baking!

*I do skin my peaches and make both loaves & muffins. Freezes well.

From Garden of Life

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Easter is one of my favorite holidays for so many reasons, including this delightful cake. It’s been a tradition in our family for many years and recipes vary. I’m including two favorites, one from scratch and one that borrows a mix. Served on this vintage milk glass plate, it reminds us of Easters past.

Fresh Strawberry Layer Cake

1 Box White Cake Mix
1- 3 Ounce Box Strawberry Jello
4 Large Eggs
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Fresh Strawberries Finely Chopped
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup Milk

Preheat the Oven to 350 degrees. Line 3- 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray {I prefer the baking nonstick with flour}. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix all cake ingredients with an electric mixer on low until just combined. Scrape the side of the bowl, and increase mixer to medium and beat for 3 minutes.

Pour cake batter into prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Cool cake in pans on a rack for about 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely. Or refrigerate cakes until completely chilled before frosting.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting:

1 Cup Unsalted Butter Softened
2 16-Ounce Packages Powdered Sugar
1 Cup Fresh Strawberries Finely Chopped

In a large bowl, beat the butter at medium until it’s pale yellow and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and strawberries and beat at low until well combined and creamy. Set in the fridge for about 5-10 minutes to firm.

Spread one of the layers of cake with frosting then refrigerate. Frost the second layer and refrigerate until the frosting on both layers is firmer. Assemble all the layers and frost the top and sides. Serve!

Fresh Strawberry Sheet Cake

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups cake flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill Organic)
2 tablespoons strawberry gelatin
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup chopped fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Beat butter and gradually add sugar then eggs. Beat in lemon juice and vanilla.

Stir together next three ingredients. Add to butter mixture and alternate with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour/dry ingredients.

Grease and flour a 13×9 pan lined with parchment paper with a 2-3 inch overlap along sides. Spread batter in pan.

Bake 30-40 minutes. Cool on wire rack 30 minutes. Lift cake from pan using paper sides as handles. Invert cake onto wire rack and gently remove paper. Cool 1 hour. Spread with frosting.

Fresh Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 8-oz. cream cheese
¼ cup vegetable shortening
½ tablespoon lemon juice
3 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped fresh strawberries

Cream butter, cream cheese, shortening, salt, and vanilla. Add lemon juice then gradually include confectioner’s sugar. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries. If frosting is too soft, place in fridge for half an hour before frosting cake. Refrigerate finished cake.

Happy Spring!

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Every spring we sow several rows of pea seed in our garden. One of my favorite things is shelling peas on the porch and then steaming them for supper. I just add a wee bit of butter and some salt and pepper before serving. Until I went to a Colonial Culinary Workshoprecently at Fort Boonesborough. Those early settlers ate high on the hog as we Appalachians like to say and this historic recipe is no exception! I even had seconds:)

PEAS FRANCOISE

The English Art of Cookery 

by Richard Briggs, 1788

Take a quart of young peas, put them in a stew-pan, with a large Spanish onion, if you have one, or English ones chopped fine, and two cabbage or Silesia lettuces cut very small, with half a pint of water, seasoned with beaten mace, nutmeg, pepper and salt, cover them close, and let them stew gently for half an hour, then put in a quarter of a pound of butter mixed with half a spoonful of flour, a spoonful of ketchup,* cover them close, and let them simmer half an hour, then dish them up.

VOILA!

*Ketchup was not the same then as now. Back then it was mushroom-based, more like Worcestershire. Tomatoes were even regarded as poisonous at that time. Here’s the product used in the workshop:

George Watkins Mushroom Ketchup

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So the pages came today, that last version of the book prior to print. The next step is holding the actual novel in hand. For now, I have 407 pages to peruse. I open the envelopes that have been Fedexed overnight and put all the pages together. And because I’d rather be playing in my sunny garden like Lark in the novel, I run out into the eighty degree day and gather up handfuls of my favorite flowers and herbs and one especially lovely chocolate-colored sunflower.

First line: As the sun slid from the sky, Lark pressed her back into the pockmarked cliff on the island’s west shore.

Last line: Truly, there was nothing she could possibly ask for other than him and this very hallowed moment. 

And they lived happily ever after!

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Colorful clothespins. Line-dried sheets. Warm porch planks. Cold Coke. Strings of party lights. Red geraniums. A barrel of blooming lavender. New potatoes and peas. Garden to table. Birdsong mornings. Warm wind. Open windows. Cherry tomatoes. Wildflowers. Wild blackberries right outside your door. Good books. The Good Book. Sunsets. Letter writing. Long walks. Creek music. Children’s voices carrying through the trees. Children, but not my children who are grown. Long stretches of solitude and sunshine. Sweet sleep.

We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives who thinks most ~ feels the noblest ~ acts the best.

~P.T. Bailey

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Cooking is at once child’s play and adult joy. And cooking done with care is an act of love.

~Craig Claiborne

I had high hopes of bringing you an epic road trip post but alas, all that seems like ancient history now that I’m back in my Washington kitchen! We zoomed through 10 scenic states in 5 incredible days. Please peek at my Instagram account for details!

Returning to a big kitchen after the small quarters of the Kentucky cabin is such a refreshing change. One of the joys of my life has always been gardening and canning and creating an Amish pantry of sorts, even though I’m not Amish. There’s something so restful and fulfilling about having room to make and bake bread, hearing those lids pop & seal when they land on the kitchen counter after canning, and even weeding the garden. It’s quite Lael-like! (The Frontiersman’s Daughter).

So far our garden has given us a bumper crop of radishes, spinach, and chard. I’m about to dig potatoes, another favorite task. I’ve canned salsa and corn relish but green beans, beets, vegetable soup and many other things await.

I can honestly say the most fulfilling task of my life has been keeping house. We’re also in the middle of a major remodel after 25 years. Now that our nest is newly empty and Paul is at basic training in South Carolina and Wyatt continues as a firefighter in the Seattle area, it’s very quiet even with contractors working. I love quiet! I also enjoy opening the fridge and finding food inside!

Taking the summer off social media is a very refreshing thing. I’ve committed to posting on the Journal page as I can. Lest you think I’ve forgotten about writing, I’m about to get galleys for A Bound Heart on my desk then continue editing that frontier story in West Virginia that’s due November 1st. Am loving my new hero and all that 1770 wilderness history!

Please stay tuned for a post on the new historical fiction I’m most excited to add to my shelf. The covers just appeared online and I have to share. Till then…

Happy start of summer to you!

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