Signing More Books!
Books-A-Million opened their new Richmond, VA store and invited Natale Stenzel and I to sign as part of their grand opening celebration. We had great fun and I must say the new store is gorgeous!
Kitchen Redo
I’m getting ready to gut my kitchen. The kitchen is over thirty years old and even though I’ve replaced appliances here and there and even painted the farm-house cabinets a lighter color, the time has come to redo the whole thing. I’m dreading the mess and the chaos that comes with a project like this but already I am looking forward to the extra cabinet space, a larger refrigerator and a double oven.
In the spirit of cleaning out the cupboards for the demo crew, I came up with these bar cookies. Until the remodel I’ve promised myself that I’ll only cook with what remains in the pantry. I wasn’t sure how these bar cookies would taste but they turned out to be very easy to make and tasty. The hardest part was letting them cool before I sliced them.
Chocolate Almond Bar Cookies
Crust
1-1/2 cups of all purpose flour
½ cup of butter
2 T cream cheese
1/3 cup brown sugar
Filling
3 large eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon rum extract
2 cups chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups of crushed almonds
Mini Marshmallows
To Mix the Crust: Using a pastry cutter, two table knives or a fork and cut together the flour, butter, cream cheese and brown sugar until the mixture is crumbly. Press the crumble mixture into a greased 13 x 9 pan. Bake in a preheated 350 F degree oven for 12 minutes.
To Mix the Filling: In a large bowl, mix the corn syrup, granulated sugar and rum extract and then slowly beat in the melted butter. Add in chocolate chips and almonds. Pour filling over warm crust and bake in a 350 F degree oven for 25 minutes. When the cookies are just out of the oven, sprinkle mini marshmallows over the top and put back in the oven for about a minute. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, spread softened marshmallows out like an icing. Let the cookies cool well—at least an hour—and then slice into bars.
FBI Citizens’ Academy
Just wrapped up the six-week Citizen’s Academy sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Richmond, Virginia Field Office. I’ve got to say the course was the best! FBI agents offered sessions on the Victim Witness Program, Firearms, Counterintelligence, the Critical Incident Response Group, White Collar Crime, ID Theft, Forensics, Islam, Domestic Terrorism and Counterterrorism. If you ever get the chance to take a course like this is your area, I highly recommend it.
RT Booklovers Convention
Just returned from the RT Booklovers Convention in Orlando, Florida. Great people, great weather and a great time!
MB at at the Saturday Author Signing.
MB with Victoria Arias Fraasa from Circle of Seven Productions after the Faery Ball.
Mad Anthony Writers Conference
I traveled to Hamilton, Ohio (40 miles north of Cincinnati) for the Mad Anthony Writers conference. The event featured a Writers Police Academy on Friday which included trips to the county morgue, tours of the police station and a canine demonstration. Saturday was just as jam packed with tracks for aspiring writers as well as research sessions (e.g. SWAT, High Risk Traffic Stops, and Crime Fighting Technology). If you get the chance to go to this conference next year, GO!!
MB in a Hamilton police car with sirens blaring.