Author Cara Putman & The All-Expense Paid Vacation to the World's Largest Kitty Litter Box

My guest today is Author Cara Putman. Here's Cara:

"My Mom – A Woman of Strength

I’ve always admired my mom. She homeschooled us kids as soon as it was legal – in the days when it was still very weird. She has always poured Christ’s love into others through homeschool groups, crisis pregnancy centers, church ministries and so much more.

But in 1990, I saw her strength in a whole new light. In August, my dad and his National Guard unit were at their two-week summer training when Iraq invaded Kuwait. At that time, I wondered if he’d even get to come home before being shipped overseas. He did.

It wasn’t until Thanksgiving week that his unit got called to active status. On three days notice, Mom went from a busy woman helping with our restaurants, homeschooling, community involvement, and more to a woman who’s husband was shipping to a war zone. Her support system was gone, and unlike when he served in Vietnam, she was left with four children and all her responsibilities plus much of the load Dad had borne for our stores.

That Christmas I got a stack of boxes from the nicest store at the Mall because Mom didn’t have time to shop in a dozen places like she usually would. My Dad’s unit shipped home in April – just in time for Easter. I barely recognized the man with the tan and mustache.

That six months was a challenge for each of us. Phone calls were so rare. Email barely existed. And regular letters were what we had to rely on for most of our communications. I remember making jokes about Dad’s all-expense paid vacation to the kitty liter box of the world in an effort to keep from crying when people would ask about him.

We all cope in different ways. But that period gave me a great respect for all the military families that are left behind when their loved one deploys. And it also revealed just how strong my Mom is."--Cara Putman

Here's Cara's latest book. What a fantastic cover!

Hollywood 1942. When attorney Audra Schaeffer's sister disappears, Audra flies to Hollywood to find her but instead must identify her body. Determined to bring the killer to justice, Audra takes a job with the second Hollywood Victory Caravan. Together with Robert Garfield and other stars, she crisscrosses the southern United States in a campaign to sell war bonds. When two other women are found dead on the train, Audra knows the deaths are tied to that of her sister. Could the killer be the man with whom she's falling in love?

About the Author

Stars in the Night is CARA PUTMAN's ninth novel and tenth book. An attorney and sometimes lecturer at a Big Ten University, Cara lives in Indiana with her husband and three children. http://www.caraputman.com

---

Author Elizabeth Johnson & Passionate Abandon!

My guest today is Author Elizabeth Johnson, a new Love Inspired Suspense Author. Here's Elizabeth:

"I’d like to tell you about my sister, one of the strongest women I know. She’s always been pretty amazing to me as my older sister and best friend. Like many sisters, while we were growing up, we fought and made up, battled and restored our relationship. By the time she got married at 21 and started a family shortly thereafter, our friendship had outgrown childish ways. But I didn’t have any idea how much I would admire the depth of her strength until very recently.

Four years ago my family eagerly anticipated the arrival of my first nephew, who was due on July 20. The nursery, adorned in fire trucks and Dalmatians, was ready for him to come home. My sister, the consummate planner, couldn’t have been more prepared with clothes washed and diapers stacked.

And then the unthinkable happened on June 17. The baby’s heart stopped beating. No explanations. No reasons. My sister gave birth to a perfect little boy, who weighed 5lbs, 5oz and had a full-head of dark brown hair. He was beautifully and wonderfully made. And gone.

I can’t even put into words the magnitude of pain that rocked our family. Sweet anticipation turned to heartbreaking agony, no one affected more than my sister.

Like it often does, time didn’t make us forget but rather helped to soothe the ache of such a great loss. Three years later, my sister found herself once again expecting a little boy and with that all the fear and anxiety from a pain still so fresh. While I wouldn’t have blamed her if she turned inside, focusing on her own fear and shutting the rest of the world out, she amazed me by opening her heart to others in need. Bringing together groups of people to reach out to those in need, she offered a level of compassion and kindness that could only come from knowing true loss.

As I thought about my sister, I began thinking about the heroines in my books The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn and Vanishing Act, who also had to decide how they would move forward in the face of loss. I realized that strong, brave women, aren’t promised not to face pain. Rather, the Bible assures us all that trials will come. Strong women simply have the courage to let that trial mold them into women who love God and love others with passionate abandon.--Elizabeth Johnson

Thank you, Elizabeth, for this story of your sister, a truly amazing strong and brave woman. For more about Elizabeth's writing and life, drop by www.lizjohnsonbooks.com

Book Monday--To Be a Mother-Author Ruth Axtell Morren

Today's book is To Be a Mother, one novella of a pair under that title by Author Ruth Axtell Morren. Here's the scoop!

Rianna Bruce is a strong woman. She watched her husband die, nursing him in a Washington, D.C. hospital at the height of the Civil War.

But she couldn’t leave then, not after witnessing the desperate need for nurses. So, she remained for the rest of the war. She couldn’t have survived this ordeal without a strong faith in God. It was during this time that she began a closer walk with the Lord through the friendship of a fellow nurse.

This faith kept her going, even when she felt unsure and inadequate, even when she lost the baby she carried, and during the years of self-imposed exile from her native village of Woods Haven, Maine. This was the one area of her life where she felt weak, too weak to come back home an evident failure: a childless war widow. So, instead, she continued nursing private patients for several years after the way.

But always a part of her yearned to return home…home not only to her family, but to the young man who’d first awakened her heart when she was barely fifteen. She’d heard he was a widow. What she didn’t know until she came back was that he also had a little girl…who now needed a mother.


Ruth says:

To write this story, I drew on the kind of strength I read about in history books of the women of the past century. I also wrote this from my own experience in my thirties, when my walk with the Lord deepened and I discovered the fullness of God’s Spirit. Rianna’s joy is a reflection of the joy I felt when I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and came to understand how real and how very near God is to us daily in whatever circumstances we go through."--Ruth

To find out more about this book, drop by

http://www.ruthaxtellmorren.com

http://ruthaxtellmorren.blogspot.com

http://www.amazon.com/Be-Mother-Mountain-Rose-Historical/dp/0373828330/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270813981&sr=1-1

Thanks, Ruth!

How many of you enjoy a second chance at love stories?--Lyn

Authors Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck & The Sweet By and By

Jade Fitzgerald left the pain of her past in the dust when she headed out for college a decade ago. Now she's thriving in her career and glowing in the light of Max Benson's love.

But then Jade's hippie mother, Beryl Hill, arrives in Whisper Hollow, Tennessee, for Jade's wedding along with Willow, her wild younger sister. Their arrival forces Jade to throw open the dark closets of her past--the insecurity of living with a restless, wandering mother, the silence of her absent father, and the heart-ripping pain of first-love's rejection.

Turns out Beryl has a secret of her own. She needs reconciliation with her oldest daughter before illness takes her life. In the final days leading to the wedding, Jade meets the One who shows her that the past has no hold on her future. With a little grace, they'll meet in the middle, maybe even before that sweet by and by.

Review blurbs:

"...heartwarming collaborative debut." - Publishers Weekly

"This Southern mother-daughter story is refreshingly well written and will easily engross readers of women's fiction." - Library Journal

Bio:
Multi-platinum recording artist Sara Evans has garnered such honors as ACM's Female Vocalist of the Year, CMA's Video of the Year, named one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People," and she was the first country star to compete in ABC's Dancing with the Stars. This is her first novel. Sara has said that the redemptive message always attracts her to a given story. It's the story she's cares about most in the songs she records and sings; it's the story of her life; it's the story she looks for in the faces of those she meets.

"I've been a Believer since I was 21. My faith has been everything to me in my life since then. In my marriage, my motherhood, my career, and just dealing with everyday life, God is my constant companion and friend. I find myself praying constantly prayers of gratitude and guidance. As a mom and a career woman, my life is filled daily with choices and decisions to make that will affect lots of people. So I rely on God to guide me!"

Best selling, award winning author Rachel Hauck is known for well-written stories that paint real-life characters facing real-life challenges. She writes with depth and humor. As an author, worship and prayer leader, it's Rachel's heart to spread the love and fragrance of God to those she meets. In person or on the page. His plans for each individual are vast and good. "I have one goal in life. To seek His face. Everything has come together for me because of seeking Him. Even in my weakness, He is strong. I'd like others to know the same success."

Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband, a teacher and pastor, and their ornery pets.

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Sara-Evans/dp/1595544895

Rachel's web site: www.rachelhauck.com

Sara's: www.saraevans.com

Q: How did this collaboration come about?

RH: Really? God. Thomas Nelson approached Sara about a fiction project, then approached me about writing with/for her. My career was in a place of make-it or break-it, and I'd just prayed one of my "surrender prayers" to the Lord and was ready to go anywhere, do anything. Not having children, I am pretty much 100% available to pick up and go whenever and wherever. Knowing the Lord would take my husband and current writing and worship commitments into account, I was ready to go! It was very freeing to say, "God, I have nothing. What do you want to do? I'm 100% available. You're so good, whatever it is You want for me, I'll love it."

I've loved this journey writing with Sara. I struggled in some of my weaknesses from time to time, but this was one of the easiest books I've ever written even though I'd never written women's fiction. Never written flashbacks. Never written a continuing character series.

Q: What was Sara's part of the process?

RH: She cast the vision. We sat down and talked about what she wanted in the book, what kind of story she wanted to tell, and hashed out an overview. I went home and added the details and did the writing. If I was unsure about something, I'd email her and ask for her input. For example, we ended up dealing with a controversial social issue in this book and I wanted to know she was ready to assign her name to it.

Q. What do you want readers to take away from this story?

RH: God is good. There is always hope and redemption. While our past can impact our present, we don't have to carry the burden of pain and sin into the future. God truly does work all things together for our good.

Q. What's next for you and Sara?

RH: The second book, Softly and Tenderly, is written and releases January 2011. We are collaborating on two more books to be released January 2012 and 2013. They will be a continuation of the series. Book two is really exciting. Hit's the ground running.

Q. As an author, how did this book impact you and your work?

RH: I learned a lot about myself. Going back to the original prayer of surrender, I had to see that when God brought something to me to do it might not center around me! Maybe He wanted me to use my gifts and talents for others. At the same time, what amazing grace and peace He gave me.

My writing had to take on a different flavor and tone. I learned to write about two women instead of a romance with a hero and heroine. I had to develop back story that worked on stage instead of through dialog. This project forced me to work on a much deeper emotional level. I was exhausted when it was done. But I loved the process.

Q. Who is your favorite character?

RH: Well, Jade, the protagonist, of course. But her sister Willow really captured me. We had to back her up a bit or she'd steal the show! I also really had an affection for the character Dustin.

Q. What's next for you? Any solo projects.

RH: Yes! I have a late 2010 release from Thomas Nelson, Dining With Joy, about a cooking show host who can't cook.

Author Amber Stockton & Her Mom

My guest today is Author Amber Stockton, a real live wire. Here's Amber:

"Hi! Lyn has invited me here today to share a bit about the strong women in my family as well as one of my strong heroines in my latest book. It seems to me that heroines in novels usually stems from two places: your own background or a lacking in your experiences. You either portray aspects of your life through your heroines, or you make up for what was missing in your life by giving your heroines everything you didn't have.

I had a rather strong woman as an example set before me. My mother always had it all together...or made it appear that way. From the time I was 8 years old, she went to work, managed the finances, prepared meals, took care of the 3 of us kids (at the time; a 4th came 5 years later), and kept a good control over the household.

As the only girl with 3 brothers, I helped out quite a lot. Learning alongside my mom created an inner strength I still carry with me today.

But there were times growing up where I resented the fact that my mother expected so much of me while allowing my brothers to slide by on so many things. It felt like she valued me more for what I could do around the house than for who I was as her daughter. But, she is an adult child of alcoholic parents with a mom who basically drank herself to death after my mom turned 12. By the time Mom was 19, she'd lost her mother. So, she had to be strong. Not knowing how else to respond, she raised me the same way she remembered growing up--handling it all.

Deep down, I resented her for that and unbeknownst to me had built a wall around myself, not allowing people to get too close. I had assumed an air of confidence and conveyed the appearance of having it all together as a way to mask the inner turmoil and desire for acceptance.

It took years before I was able to forgive her and shift our relationship into one of friends. When that happened, we established an amazing friendship that has only grown better with time. We would chat on the phone, send emails and talk via instant message all the time. Now that I'm married and living 2000 miles away, the relationship has seen another change, but the strength and bond is still in tact.

In my latest release, my heroine struggles with helping a young man who has caught her eye return to his faith after a crippling loss makes him falter in that faith. Feeling helpless, she turns to her mother, and the conversation that ensues is similar to one I had with my mother when I was making that lifetime decision on who I was going to marry.

But that conversation didn't come early in the book. In fact, the heroine had sought advice from several others and had even distanced herself from her own mother almost without realizing it. She had chosen to rely on her own strength and abilities to help this young man change his mindset, but it seemed to only end in disaster. When she took the time to speak with her mother and seek God, the situation started to turn for the better. A few more obstacles still remained, but this time, she was up to the challenge.

In many ways, this heroine is her own creation. I often take bits and pieces from several women to create my characters. That inner strength and determination, though, came from my own experiences. When I set my mind on something, I go for it. Annabelle Lawson is the same way!

Amber Stockton is an author and freelance web site designer who lives with her husband and fellow author and their baby daughter in beautiful Colorado Springs. They also have a vivacious Border Collie mix named Roxie.

Amber has sold eight books to Barbour Publishing with more on the horizon. Other writing credits include writing articles for various publications, five short stories for Romancing the Christian Heart, and contributions to Grit for the Oyster and 101 Ways to Romance Your Marriage. A born-again Christian since the age of seven, her faith in Christ has often sustained her through difficult experiences. She seeks to share that with others through her writing. Read more about her at her web site: www.amberstockton.com.

Book blurb:

William's is a true riches to rags story...

Once members of Detroit's elite society, the Berringer family lost everything they had in the financial crash of 1893. From a life of influence and privilege, they now find themselves working a potato patch alongside immigrants and other destitute folk on borrowed land. William's resentment toward his current situation—and mostly toward God for allowing it—simmers barely beneath the surface. All it takes is one charitable visit to the fields from a lovely society darling to burst his façade of acceptance. Annabelle Lawson, convicted by her pastor's admonishing words, begins delivering food and water to the workers on her father's donated land. But as she learns the stories of the people who work there, she becomes increasingly drawn to their plight. Especially that of the inscrutable William Berringer. Can Annabelle and William overcome the stigma placed upon his family by a society that once embraced them? Will her parents remember their own meeting or forbid this budding romance altogether?

Web site: www.amberstockton.com

Books page: www.amberstockton.com/books.html

Book excerpt: www.amberstockton.com/excerpts/hhexcerpt.html

Thanks, Amber!

Author Birdie Etchison & Her Mother's Advice

My guest today is a Heartsong Presents Author Birdie Etchison and she has a story we can all identify with. Here's Birdie:

"My mother was a heroine in many ways, but I tended to forget that as we fought like crazy during my growing up years. Determined to be right, we clashed visibly and often.

My little sister, always the peacemaker, disliked conflict and suggested ways to solve our differences. As I grew older, I realized I thrived on conflict. It was a way of getting attention.

So, even as I railed at my mother, I think back now to advice she gave me, which helped me to grow, to learn, to function in the role women find themselves. With me it was being a wife and the mother of six. And later a freelance writer.

One thing mom did was not let me give up the typing class. I would need these skills later – how ever did she know? When you find yourself at the bottom of a class of 40 students, it’s disarming. Because I stuck it out – had no alternative - I ended up being the fastest typist at the end of the first semester. “Stick to what you start,” was her motto.

Another thing – while still in high school, I complained that the popular girls didn’t like me. She asked, “Do you ever initiate a conversation?”

“Well, no,” I replied.

“Then do so – walk up to someone, smile and say ‘hello’.”

That’s what it took. I heard later that the girls not realizing I was shy, thought I was stuck up. Imagine.

Another habit she taught me was to be frugal. “Waste not, want not,” was one of her favorite sayings. I find myself saving scraps of paper, good sturdy boxes in various sizes. Oh, there’s more, but we’ll stop there.

Mom was not a practicing Christian, though I heard she gave her life to Jesus when she was a young girl. One of her most important decisions was to say “yes” when a friend asked to take me to Sunday school when I was eight. That one move altered my whole life.

Though gone now, my mother’s rules, her standards live on through me. Her negative ways created a positive spirit in me. Her lessons also taught me to instill love and independence in my four daughters. Yet the stick-to-itiveness is what caused me to continue writing after two years of rejection. And to date I have sold 21 books and countless short pieces. God is good!"--Birdie

I love this story, Birdie, and I love your name. Drop by http://www.heartsongpresents.com/ to learn more about Birdie's books.--Lyn

Author Laurie Alice Eakes Honors Her Mom

Today's guest is a new acquaintance of mine, Author Laurie Alice Eakes. Here's Laurie:

"Many strong, courageous, and inspiring women have passed in and out of my life, from my mom, to teachers, to people I have known for mere moments on the subway or in a beauty shop. In these brief words, I wish to talk about one of these women, who inspired me to rise above adversity and move forward with life, with love, with strength of mind and spirit.

In her mid twenties, she found herself a single mom with two children—two children who were blind. She worked full-time and had support from a few family members like an older sister, and from some people at church, yet that was for things like someone to watch one of the girls when they were too ill to go to school, not to keep the house spotless, help with homework, put meals on the table. She managed all of that and more. She read to her girls and she made their lunches; she sang in the church choir, and she did other things to help people.

Even later, when she remarried, she didn't stop working nor ensuring her family ate nourishing, homemade meals, that the laundry was done, and her girls received the support through reading schoolwork and other materials necessary. She made it to parent-teacher meetings and school events, and, although she wasn't a home room mother, she never failed to provide baked goodies for school parties.

Perfect? No. Always cheerful? No. She was human with faults and weaknesses, which makes her all the more inspiring. She was a woman of faith, who ensured her daughters grew up with a faith strong enough to set them on their way in life—and more. She provided an inspiration of, "Yes, you can," when life seems impossible.
Without this strong woman's influence in my life, I know I would not be where I am today.

Looking back at some dark times in the past couple of decades, I know her prayers protected me even when I turned my back on God and those who cared about me most. Without her life story as an influence, I would never have kept going after what I wanted and see my dreams of becoming a published author coming true. Of all the strong women who have touched my life, this one's influence is the greatest."

Award-winning author Laurie Alice Eakes does not remember a time when books did not play a part in her life. Besides selling eight other books in the "sweet" historical romance market and CBA publishers like Barbour Publishing and Baker/Revell, she has also sold articles and essays. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and assorted cats and dogs, but is soon moving to Texas, where her husband will begin his law career.

To read her latest news, opinions and a free story at http://www.seizethechance.blogspot.com

http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com

Thanks, Laurie--Lyn

Reader Amber Pays Tribute to her mother

Another reader shares how her mother drove her nuts for her own good. (That's one of the things we moms hate to do but it's out job!) Here's Amber:


"I wanted to tell you a little bit about my mom, the strong woman I have come
to respect more and more as the years go by. My mom and I always "butted"
heads while I was growing up. She was out-going, and I was a book worm who
liked to keep to myself. Over the years, she pushed me past my comfort zone
to become independent and self-reliant. I fought her all the way because I
just didn't want to have to take responsibility for things that may have
been easier for my mom or dad to take care of. Still, she kept up the
persistence, even when I made it difficult for her with my teenager
attitude.

Now, at 24, I see the sacrifices that my mom made to help me become a
strong, faithful, convicted and respectful woman. I am proud to tell people
I am her daughter. I was never a rebellious child when it came to drugs or
hanging out with the wrong crowds, but I would hurt her with words and
actions of indifference toward her. I know now that my mom and dad could
not have gotten through the difficult growing-up years without their faith
in God and each other.

My husband and I were married last October, and I can only hope that
we are able to raise our children with the same consistency and moral
values that my parents instilled in me and my brother. Now, my mom is the
person I go to when I need that wonderful, motherly advice and she has
never given up on me or made me feel unworthy. She is the strongest woman
that I know.

Thank you, Mom--Amber"

Thank you, Amber, for sharing your story and your mom.

Merrillee Whren & Her Mom & Homecoming Blessings

Today another Love Inspired author guests. Here's Merrillee Whren:

"Thank you, Lyn, for inviting me to share on her blog today as I talk about one of the most influential people in my life—my mother.

My mom Gladys Luft went to be with her Lord over twenty-five years ago, but her influence lives to this day. I have many fond memories about this woman of quiet strength. Photographs, memories and the values she instilled in my life are ways that I remember her. One of my fondest memories is of the time she read to my brothers and me before we went to bed when we were small children. My favorite story was Old Bones the Wonder Horse. She gave me the love of stories that ultimately led me to write my own.

She became a wife and mother during the age of June Cleaver from the television show, Leave It To Beaver. Although she didn’t wear pearls to do housework, she often wore her “house dress.” It wasn’t until I was an adult that I would see her wearing pants on a regular basis. Although she had a career as a beautician, when she married and started raising a family, she joined the majority of women of that time who were stay-at-home moms. Home, family and her faith were her priorities.

When I was thirteen, my father had a heart attack. Because of my father’s health, my mother took a job as a receptionist for a beauty shop. When my parents moved, she found work as a clerk in the bakery of a grocery store and finally as a salesperson in ladies’ better dresses in a local department store. She did whatever she had to do in order to benefit her family, even though it may not have been her first choice. Then tragically, she became a widow before my youngest brother graduated from high school.


Although my mother was reserved and often stood in the shadow of her husband, and even her children, she had an inner strength born of her faith that carried her through the difficult times. She always opened her home to a myriad of family and friends who remember her hospitality. She is my heroine because in her quiet way she encouraged me and gave me the confidence to reach for my dreams.

Ashley Hiatt, the heroine of my April book, HOMECOMING BLESSINGS, is also a strong, quiet woman. Against her father’s wishes, she decides to become a teacher on the mission field instead of taking a job with his construction firm. The story begins when she has to return home because of unrest in the country where she works as a missionary. She has to deal with what appears to be her father’s attempt to once again manage her life when he pairs her with Peter Dalton to administer a new mission project. Although she initially resists the idea, she sees God’s calling in her father’s endeavor and signs on with an enthusiasm that makes Peter reexamine everything about his life. Her quiet faith makes him want to be a better person. She also makes him realize, despite his past hurts, that he wants to love again.


I hope you’ll pick up a copy of HOMECOMING BLESSINGS and read about a strong woman whose quiet witness is affective in a way she doesn’t anticipate. See how she has the strength to face her own faults and let God lead her in a new direction."

Thanks for sharing your mother's story, Merrillee. As we draw closer to Mother's Day, I want to remind our blog readers that there is still time to request me to send a Mother's Day card to a special woman in their lives and also to send me a story to post in May about their own mothers, grandmothers, etc.

Each story posted here gives me a lift and I hope it does the same to you all.

Margaret Daley and her Mom

Today, Margaret Daley, a multi-published inspirational author, shares the story of her very special mom:

Margaret Daley:

Catherine David

As I thought about writing this blog and talking about a woman who was brave, I immediately thought about my mother. In fact, no one else came to mind except her. She’s been dead for over eight years now and I miss her every day. But I’m comforted by the knowledge that she touched so many people’s lives.

After my father died when I was twelve, she moved us to Mississippi so she could be nearer her family. There were three of us and she always was there for my two brothers and me. She’d taught nursing in Kentucky where we had lived. When we arrived in Biloxi, she went to work as a nurse. She filled several different positions in various hospitals over the years and even taught nursing at the junior college on the coast.

One year she was a school nurse for the Biloxi School District. That was the year Camille, a hurricane with winds over two hundred miles an hour, struck the coast and destroyed a lot of my hometown. She spent hours helping people get back on their feet as a nurse and friend. When something had to be done, my mother was at the front of the line volunteering to do it.

When she would talk about one of her patients dying, you would have thought it was her best friend. That was the way she was. She felt deeply another’s pain and was there to help the person get better. She was a caregiver and a deeply religious woman whose faith in the Lord never wavered through loss, illness and destruction (more than Hurricane Camille wrecked havoc on the coast where she lived).

When my mother retired from being Director of Nursing at Biloxi Regional Medical Center, the Board of Directors said:

Catherine David has been an inspiration to the nursing profession. She was a moving force and leader in the establishment of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Coastwide. She had shown genuine concern for the welfare of the patients and has demonstrated support and concern for physicians, employees and people of the community.

That was my mother, a caring, loving, concerned Christian. I miss you every day, Mom.

Blessings,

Margaret Daley

What Sarah Saw, Love Inspired Suspense, January 2009

http://www.margaretdaley.com

http://margaretdaley.blogspot.com

Second half of Coffee Cake Recipe & My Mom

Second half of Coffee Cake Recipe & My Mom

Hey! This is the day I launch my first story of a strong woman and half a recipe.

Now for the recipe first. I posted the ingredients on a brand new blog today, called Craftie Ladies of Romance by Love Inspired Authors. So if you want the ingredients, go to http://www.craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/

And here's the how to:

Spray bundt pan with non-stick oil. Open tubes of biscuits, pat each biscuit larger, then put about a teaspoon of cream cheese on each, fold over and seal with fingertips. Dip in butter and then in nuts. Arrange in a row around the bottom of the bundt pan and sprinkle each layer with cinnamon sugar. This recipe should make around 3 layers in the pan. Then bake at 400 F. for 20 minutes. Take out and upend on holiday dish.
Optional glaze: Take 1/2 cup of orange juice and mix with 1-2 cups of powdered sugar. Should be pourable. Pour over cake.
Done!

Now this recipe can be tailored to your family's tastes. I used honey-nut cream cheese this time and I had some apple and cinnamon and sugar juice I had poured off a few pies that were overflowing their pie shells (oops I didn't say that, did I?--My pies never run over!)
so I used it with the powdered sugar. You could also substitute lemon juice or a buttery mix of cinnamon, sugar and water warmed and stirred till sugar is dissolved. Be creative! What would make this a favorite with your family? And if you have younger children or grandchildren, this is a perfect recipe for them to help with.

Now to finish this post.

I have known many strong women in my life. However, I think it only right that my first post of a strong woman be my mother. She passed away over a year ago. Unfortunately, her last years were clouded with dementia and its paranoia. I'm sure many of you have had similar experiences. After her funeral, I began remembering all the remarkable things about her. And especially what a fun mom she was when my brother and I were kids. I grew up in Waukegan, IL, which is on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee. Waukegan had the most wonderful beaches! These were the days before pollution took its toll on water quality. Waukegan's North Beach had beautiful white sand, a WPA built bathouse, a lovely shady picnic area and miles and miles of shoreline.

The highlight of summer were the days when the usual westerly wind would shift to an east wind. An east wind drove the warmer waters back to the shore in HUGE waves that gave us hours of fun. My mother was running the family business (May's Floors), kept a spotless house, cooked fantastic meals and still took time for afternoons at the beach. And she didn't even like to wade! So it was just me and Bobby. Whenever I hear the call of a seagull, it takes me back to those wonderful times, dancing in the waves, shouting and laughing and splashing and making friends with every other child lucky enough to be at the beach. Did you have a fun mom too? What is your best childhood memory that your mom made possible?