Homemade Caramel Corn - YUM!!!

Caramel corn connoisseurs beware, this is a highly addictive recipe. I'm not going to lie to you; it spoils you.  It's the homemade buttery, caramel sauce and the ratio of caramel sauce to popcorn that makes this the fairest caramel corn in the land. Personally, I can't stand caramel corn that doesn't sufficiently cover the popcorn with enough caramel sauce.  Made correctly, it really can't be beat.

You'll need:

1- Aluminum roasting pan. The disposable kind you buy at the grocery store, but you won't be throwing this pan away. I use mine over and over again until it dies, which takes years.

Popcorn - choose your favorite popcorn.  I use plain microwave popcorn.  You need enough popcorn to fill the roasting pan to the top so it will be level with the rim of the pan.  You don't want it heaped. I've found that keeping it perfectly level is just the right amount of popcorn to get the popcorn to caramel sauce ratio just right.

Important!!! Unless visiting the dentist is your idea of a fun time, I HIGHLY suggest after popping each batch of popcorn you sift through your popped corn and remove all unpopped kernels.  I use a large bowl for this. I pour my popped bag of corn into a large bowl and sift through it over and over again searching for those hard kernels that can crack a tooth. When I am satisfied I've found them all, I transfer the popcorn with my fingers to the roasting pan.

Recipe:

2   sticks of butter
2 - cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Directions:

Melt butter, corn syrup, brown sugar and salt over medium heat in a large saucepan.
Cook for 5 minutes, or until 280/290 degrees is reached on a candy thermometer (light crack stage).
Remove from heat and add baking soda.  As you mix in the baking soda, the sauce will grow in volume (it will double).  Make sure you mix the baking soda in well.  Then, begin to pour the sauce over the popped corn and mix well.  I generally pour a layer over the top, mix it into the pop corn, pour more sauce and mix, and repeat until all of the caramel sauce has been used and I'm sure all pop corn is pretty well coated.  You have to work fairly fast.  Hint: Coat your mixing spoon with butter to help avoid everything sticking to the spoon

Next, bake in a 200 degree oven for one hour, stirring mixture every 15 minutes.  When finished, let cool, then break caramel corn up into pieces and store in a airtight container.

Book Length - What's your preference?

It's always fascinating to me to hear editors talk about keeping a book around three hundred pages. I'm sure they have their reasons, know the statistics for what readers of each genre like.  For me, and I consider myself a relatively normal reader, I prefer longer books, stories I can get involved in, sink my teeth into and that provide me with a wonderful world in which to escape for the time I'm reading the book.   Remember, Under the Dome by Stephen King?  I nearly broke my wrist trying to read that book at night holding it up. It was close to a thousand pages.  It was then I realized the true value of a Nook or Kindle and purchased one, something I thought I'd never do being such a bibliophile.  Or, how about Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett? Again, a book of almost a thousand pages. These books provided adventures and the very nature of the story necessitated their length.

I'm often asked, how long is the book your writing going to be?  And my answer is always the same, it will is long as it needs to be to tell the story.  I thought that was true until I met with an editor that had a specific word count in mind.  When you're writing a story there are elements that seem crucial to the writer.  I mean after all, these books are like our babies.  But, a clear headed editor, sees the book from another point of view.  My husband is still complaining about the backstory of the main characters in The Reluctant First Lady, Ashley and Michael, being cut.  He liked knowing how they met and how they negotiated their way through life up to the point of Michael running for President.

It's always a balancing act.  Writing to tell the story, giving the reader enough information to get the nuances you've built into the dialogue, yet not bogging down the story with a lot of backstory that is uninteresting to the reading.  Like I said, it's a balancing act.

So, I'm asking.  Do you have a preference for the number of pages you like the books you read to
be? Is there a certain point, where you decide, that's too many pages for me to get involved with?
What's your opinion?

Advice for Women Who Do it All!

Here's a question that I have been asked a lot in my life, but especially since The Reluctant First Lady has been published.  This is an excerpt from a question that Fresh Fiction, a blog site for readers and writers, published this past week on their site.

Q: Ashley is a very determined woman with a solid career. Did you face some of the same issues in your career?  What advice would you give to women that feel the need to be it all? (Wife, mother, and career driven)

A: Yes, there is a very real correlation between Ashley and me.  I loved working and I loved being a wife and a stay-at-home mom.  I didn't want to live in the shadow of my husband.  I wanted to maintain my own identity.  I think many career women and mothers have similar feelings.  We love our families, spouses, significant others, even our pets; we're thankful and blessed for their presence in our lives, yet we want a piece of the world that still reflects us.  This is the conflict in The Reluctant First Lady.  It's how one woman works through her dilemma when the stakes are about as high as they can get.

Women have asked me the second part of this question many times.  How did I balance it all?  How did I do it all?  The truth is somewhere between the lines.  I've managed to do a lot of things, but not all at the same time.  When my children were born, I took off five years with each of my three sons to stay at home until they entered school.  (My sons are spaced widely apart, nine years between the first two, and eight years between the second and third child.)  Once they started school, I went back to work.  It was my choice to stay at home, but I can't say I wasn't resentful at times over the fact that having children didn't affect my husband's career like it did mine.  I was lucky, though, I was able to stay at home when my boys were young.  So many women are the breadwinners for their family unit and have to work.  I highly admire them.  But every woman, and I believe for the First Lady of the United States, it should be a choice not an assumption.  That's not always possible for financial reasons, but in regards to the First Lady, I do think it should be a choice for the President's spouse.  What will happen when one day we have a female president?  What will the husband do?

Birchbox and Ipsy - A Fun Way to Try New Things

Have you heard of Ipsy?  Birchbox? I hadn't until my daughter-in-law and son gave me a gift subscription to Birchbox for Christmas.  It's a 5" X 7" box that comes monthly with special products, sample size, for you to try.  Once you sign up, you're asked to fill out a profile of your interests, beauty products? hair products? anti-aging products? Gasp! bath products, etc. You fill out your profile with your likes and dislikes; what you're interested in, and your coloring, etc.  Then monthly you get this little package of goodies tailor made from your profile to try.  If you like the sample, you can order a full size product.  I've actually purchased several products so far that I wouldn't have tried if hadn't received samples. And the box is wonderful. Very sturdy and perfect to reuse for small gifts you may want to give.

Then I heard about Ipsy.  Same idea but it comes with slightly bigger samples of name brands and it always comes in a little carrying case, which is different every month.  The above picture is my first delivery in May. It also comes monthly, and I'm already in love with the "hey honey, take it off" mask.  It's wonderful and I plan to order it ASAP.  Plus, for you crafters.  It comes in the shiny pink padded mailer that can be used again as a mailer for anything your imagination can dream up.  All for $10.00 a month.

There's only one slight downside especially if you're impatient. When I first tried to sign up for Ipsy, I was put on a wait list.  I think their company is growing so fast it's hard for them to keep up with the demand. I was on the wait list for three months then got an e-mail telling me me I would start receiving my Ipsy Bag monthly, and sure enough about the middle of the month it arrived.  I'm
enjoying the samples and think it's a great way, as I said above, to try products I might not know about.  I'm sure the younger generation is all over this! Below are the links to both Birchbox and Ipsy.

Birchbox: The best way to shop for beauty and grooming products

ipsy: Exclusive Beauty Finds by Our Stylists for YOU

Family Favorite Recipe - Enchilada Pie

This recipe is a huge family favorite, plus whenever I've taken it anywhere as a main dish people ask me for the recipe.  Originally, this recipe was served at an elementary school that my sister attended and where our mom worked in the kitchen.  Really?  Can you imagine a school that made lunches from scratch and served it piping hot to the students?  The enchilada recipe was made to serve 100, and my mom thought the recipe was so good she cut it down to serve a family.  It's tricky to say how many servings this recipe serves.  As you all know, it depends on who's eating it.  When my three sons were at home, it was pretty much gone the same night I made it.  Now, that they're gone, and it's just my husband and me, I would say it serves eight (8).  My husband and I eat it for dinner then cut the rest up into 6 servings and wrap them individually to freeze for later meals.

Enchilada Recipe

Sauce:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 - 8 oz can Hunts Tomato Sauce
1 can water
2 TBSP chili powder (or to your own personal taste)
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1 TBSP Dried minced onions
Sugar - just a bit to cut the acid in the tomatoes

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat.  Add flour until incorporated well and bubbly.  Remove from heat.  You just made a roux.  While off the heat, add tomato sauce, mix well, then add the can of water and all of the spices.  Mix well again and return to heat to thicken on a medium/low heat. Set aside.

Ingredients:

8 Corn or Flour Tortillas (both kinds taste good, just different)
1.25 lbs. hamburger meat
2 cans pinto beans
1-2 cups grated cheddar cheese

13" X 9" buttered casserole dish    Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes until bubbly.

Directions:

Make the sauce and set aside.  The secret and wonderful taste in this recipe is the homemade
sauce. Brown the hamburger meat, breaking it into small pieces.  Add drained pinto beans,
mix well, then add the sauce and mix well again.  Now it's time to assemble the dish.

On the bottom of a 13" X 9" casserole dish lay down two tortillas at each end of the dish.
There will be some overlapping, but parts of the dish will show through.  To cover the bottom,
divide a third tortilla into fourths and put it into the corners of the casserole dish, and divide a
fourth tortilla in half and lay the straight side down along each long side of the casserole dish.
I wish I could draw you a picture, but the main thing is cover the bottom solid with tortillas.

Now pour half of your meat, bean, sauce mixture on top of the tortillas and spread out to the edges.  Next, create another layer of tortillas placing them like the bottom layer and pour the rest of the meat, bean, sauce mix on top and spread out to sides.  Top with grated cheese and bake for approximately 25 minutes at 375 degrees.

Blog Tour Begins Today

Today marks the beginning of the Blog Tour for The Reluctant First Lady.  It runs until May 31st. Each day a blog site will highlight the book for their readers and in some cases have interview questions that they have asked me to answer.  See the blog site schedule below.

In The Reluctant First Lady, Ashley, the wife of the newly elected President of the United States, chooses not to be the First Lady, keeps her job in Manhattan, and creates a maelstorm of issues for her husband, herself, and the media.  A national debate begins over her decision while she and her husband try to keep their marriage on an even keel and deal with her decision.  In writing this book, I loved dealing with the unexpected.  We are used to the wives of our Presidents becoming the First Lady, but what if they didn't?  Would anything really change?

I'm interested in knowing from readers what you would do.  Would you choose to be the First Lady, or would you be more like Ashley and follow your own path?  If you haven't already read, The Reluctant First Lady, read it and decide what you think.  For more information, see my website at:
www.venitaellick.com

May 12 - www.myfictionnook.com - Book Spotlight

May 13 - www.storeybookreviews.com - Book Spotlight and Review

May 14 - www.kariannalysis.com - Review

May 15 - www.kariannalysis.com - Author Interview (Still need questions)

May 16 - www.rottitude.com - Review and Author Interview (Still need questions)

May 16 - www.asyouwishreviews.blogspot.com - Review

May 17 - www.midwestbookreview.com - Review

May 18 - www.seawitchreviewsfromthebookshelf.wordpress.com - Book Spotlight and Guest Post

May 19 - www.sweptawaybyromance.com - Book Spotlight and Review

May 19 - www.firstpagetothelast.com - Book Spotlight

May 20 - www.myreadinglounge.blogspot.it - Book Spotlight and Guest Post

May 21 - www.freshfiction.com - Guest Post

May 22 - www.zeemonodee.blogspot.com - Book Spotlight and Guest Post

May 23 - www.manicreaders.com - Book Spotlight and Guest Post

May 24 - www.sherrygomeswrites.com - Book Spotlight, Review, and Guest Post

May 25 - www.forewordreviews.com - Book spotlight and review

May 26 - www.sarahaisling.com - Book spotlight

May 26 - www.ashleynemer.com - Book spotlight

May 27 - www.bookaholicanon.com - Book spotlight

May 27 - www.fromthetbrpile.blogspot.com - Book spotlight

May 28 - www.wotverge.com - Book Spotlight

May 28 - www.booksandfandom.com - Book Spotlight

May 29 - www.bookaholicbabe.com - Book Spotlight

May 30 - www.michbookreviews.wordpress.com - Book Spotlight

May 31 - www.tattooedbookreview.com - Book Spotlight

Family Heirloom Recipe Book - Project

     My sons, who are grown, used to continually call me to ask for the same family recipes over and over again.  Generally, they were on their way to the store to buy the ingredients to make the dish that night and couldn't remember them so would call me in a rush.  "Mom, what do I need to make...?"  Of course, hearing the words Mom or Mother was like hearing a siren's call, and as a card carrying mother I HAD to answer the call for help no matter if I was up to my neck in paper mach paste, or whatever.  After several years of this behavior, I finally decided to make them a family recipe book with all of their favorite recipes from their childhood for a Christmas present.  I took a giant leap from making cards to creating a scrapbook of recipes for my three sons.
     What follows are pictures from the project, which started small and grew and grew like most things tend to do.  My goal was to not only give them the recipes they hounded me for, but to share with them where each recipe originated in the family.  To that end, I included some journaling about the recipe and added a picture of the person who gave me the recipe if I had it.  I wrote an introduction explaining all of this, so in a way, the family recipe book also became a historical document.
     It was a lot of work, but the end result was well worth it, and looking for all of the little embellishments that tied things together became a quest.  I hope you enjoy the sample pictures that follow.  I'd be happy to share information about where I got what if you're interested.  Enjoy!

Scrapbook with cover themed for cooking

Introduction and divider page.

Divider page for desserts with a list of the recipes found
included in that section.

Thanksgiving Cornbread Stuffing

Grandma's Enchilada Pie recipe

My recipe for Deep Fried Burritos

Grandma's Icebox Cookies, a favorite at Christmas

The Halloween Ghost Cake.  Turn out the lights. Light the
sugar cube soaked with lemon extract
 located in the half eggshell eyes.  Spooky.

Southern Banana Pudding with Vanilla Wafers

Hello and Welcome!

      Hello and welcome to "Venita's View."  This first blog entry is like my maiden voyage into the blogasphere minus the bottle of champagne to break on the side of my computer.  Perhaps, I'll just tap it lightly with my pen and you can do the same to your viewing device and we've hurdled the first step of bonding.
     You may ask, what can I expect from "Venita's View?" The answer is basically everything including the kitchen sink.  Like most of you, I have a wide range of interests and I'm forever bouncing between one creative project to another.  I love writing and reading, which is pretty obvious, but I'm also interested in and curious about almost everything.  So, in future posts you will see craft projects, recipes, household hints, make-up hints, family stories, etc.
     I'd love to hear from you, and if you have something to share, please share it here for all to see and learn.  Lastly, but not least, again WELCOME!