Author Christina Berry & Her Grandfather's Advice

My guest today is Author Christina Berry who asked to tell us about some advice she made good use of. Here's Christina:

"This advice didn't come from a strong woman. In fact, it came from my darling grandfather, but it's about being a strong woman.

I had been dating a boy for a few years, and though I was only a senior in high school, my grandparents could tell I was very serious about him. During a visit to their house in South Lake Tahoe, my grandpa took me out to the Keys and parked the truck looking over the water. "Christy, no matter what, you finish college. You get a degree."

Of course, I will, I thought, but I promised anyway. There was never a time when I considered dropping out ... not when I married the boy during Spring Break of my freshman year ... not when I had our first baby during my last semester. But I always heard my grandpa's voice and knew I wanted to please him and keep that promise.

Here I sit, 15 years later, as a single mother who is grateful beyond words to have a college degree. I've come to see that a strong woman plans ahead for her future. While others might not face divorce, their spouse might die or get laid off. Part of strength is the putting aside of talent and training for such a time it is needed.

Love you, Grandpa!"--Christina

That was good advice! And I'm glad you followed it. Christina's first book, The Familiar Stranger, is out now.

Drop by

www.christinaberry.net OR
www.authorchristinaberry.blogspot.com OR
www.ashberrylane.net

to learn more about Christina and her book!--Lyn

Debut Author Christina Berry & Chicken Chalupas ala Grandma!

My guest today is Author Christina Berry whose first novel The Familiar Stranger will be available soon. This sounds like a delicious recipe I plan to try out! Here's Christina:

"Doritos chips, cream soups, and green chilies—doesn’t sound like the most appetizing mix of ingredients, does it?

My grandmother made this dish decades ago, passing the recipe down to my mother, and then to me. She labeled it Chicken Chalupas, though it’s nothing like what you’d receive if you ordered a dish by the same name in a Mexican restaurant.
Chicken Chalupas
Nacho Cheese Doritos
4 chicken breasts, baked and shredded
1 c. sour cream
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of mushroom
½ c. chicken broth (I use what’s left from cooking the breasts)
1 small can diced green chilies (I use mild)
½ c. chopped onion
grated cheddar cheese ( as much as you prefer)

Grease a 9 x 13 pan, cover bottom with several layers of broken chips. Sprinkle shredded chicken evenly over the chips. In a separate bowl, mix sour cream, soups, broth, chilies, and onion. Pour over the chicken. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 for 35-40 mins, until chips begin to blacken. Serve with tomato wedge garnishes.

Both my mother and grandmother have handed down quite a lot of things to me besides recipes: faith in Jesus, the ability to go through hard times with trust in an Ultimate Good, a love of card games, a slightly risqué sense of humor … but they’ve shown me how to be a strong woman.

In the last five months I’ve gone through a divorce, a close loved one’s arrest, entering the part-time work force, placing my home up for sale, and moving forward to adopt a foster child. Add to this my first book release EVER coming in less than two months. I’m so thankful to have a legacy of strong women to emulate!

Kind of reminds me of my heroine. She doesn’t think of herself as a strong woman at first. Just like this recipe, Denise Littleton’s marriage has ingredients that don’t seem to go together.

Poky chips of uncertainty concerning her husband’s love, spicy chilies of unrest about finances, stinky onions of bad circumstances … but when it’s all baked together in the oven of hard times, though the end product isn’t fabulously good-looking, the flavors have melded in a marvelous way.

Happy cooking! And please come by AshberryLane and subscribe to my infrequent, humorous newsletter for a chance to win an autographed copy of The Familiar Stranger. Or drop by my blog or my editing services.

Thanks Christina. You sound like you've been on the "dartboard in hell." That's how I always describe those periods when it's just one thing after another and none of them happy.

I'm thrilled about your first book. Now that's something to be happy about! I wish you much success and many happy readers!--Lyn

To pre-order The Familiar Stranger, click ChristianBook.com