Tag Archives: Life

Other Posts, County Fair, Gulliver Station Box Set: Monday Blog Post

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Home grown peaches with homemade coconut yogurt

Newest News:

I meant to post my blog titled Life Tips: https://wp.me/p6LAko-1bu, for Sunday, but somehow or other posted it Friday, with another post. No idea why I did that but there it is. Then on Saturday, I wrote and posted my monthly Chicklets in the Kitchen blog, this month on three ingredient coconut yogurt. You can check that out at: https://wp.me/p6LAko-1bz. All of that to say, I thought I wouldn’t have to write another post for Sunday, but nope. Had to write a new one on Saturday. Good thing, I cranked out words on Saturday! LOL!

The Northern Gila County Fair (Sep 6 – 8) set up is in one week. As the Director for the Exhibits (non-livestock), I start working on Tuesday, September 4th. By Thursday, when the fair opens at 5pm, I’m already exhausted. By Saturday at 9pm when the Exhibits tent closes, I’m done but still, have to show up Sunday so exhibitors can pick up their exhibits. Don’t get me wrong. I love the fair. So many people have great talents in so many areas and I certainly hope that if a visitor sees something they are interested in, they’ll contact that exhibitor or the hobby group to get involved and learn more. That’s the best thing about the fair—the chance to pass along expertise! Hope you can come; www.NGCFair.com for schedules of events and operating hours.

This week I’ll be finishing the Gulliver Box set. Sunday I finished formatting the edited version for Amazon. This week will be getting the new one up on Amazon and on Smashwords (https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/conniecockrell) then formatting the paperback version and getting it up on Createspace. Awesome! Done just before the fair. After the fair I’m editing Slave Elf and putting my new covers on the Brown Rain books. Also changing the interior files to add cute little graphics to the beginning of each chapter. That particular project should go quickly as the books are short. Wish me luck!

Giveaways:

The 2018 Authors/Bloggers Summer Giveaway is in progress at https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/. There’s $80 as a Grand Prize Paypal Cash and 27 books and 27 prizes available to win.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. You can buy it at Amazon today. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads. It’s critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Three Ingredient Coconut Yogurt: Chicklets in the Kitchen Blog Post

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Home grown peaches with homemade coconut yogurt

I have to say, the last three to four weeks I’ve pretty much blown off doing my paleo lifestyle. I re-introduced grains in the form of gluten-free bread and pizza crust, have been eating ice cream with homemade chocolate shell, and even gotten into the Reese’s Peanut Butter cups. (Peanuts are a no-no on paleo, not to mention the sugar.) Sigh.

Then I’m also stressed about the upcoming Northern Gila County Fair. I’ve introduced on-line exhibit registration and from what I can tell, it’s not being used. That means it’s going to be a lot of hands-on exhibit registration again this year. But I’ll have to input all of that hand-written stuff again, manually, into the fair database. Another sigh.

Anyway, this month I decided to do a video about this three-ingredient coconut yogurt. You can see from my face the result of eating the grains and dairy and sugar. Ugh. Back on the paleo I go. In the meantime, though, I’ll have lots of this delish yogurt to help me stay on my path. Clear skin, here I come.

 

Three Ingredient Coconut Yogurt

Hardware

Saucepan

Large Pot

2 Quart Measuring cup

1 Cup Measuring cup

3 One-pint canning jars

Tongs

Rubber Spatula

 

Ingredients

1 T/1 package unflavored gelatin

3 Cans (40.5 fluid ounces) coconut milk

4 capsules live probiotic (The more strains of probiotic the better. I used Solaray, mycrobiome probiotic, 30 billion live cultures, 24 strains. Live probiotics are kept in the refrigerated section of your local health food store.)

1/2 cup water

 

I made my first ever cooking video to show you how to do this. The video is hilarious as I made all sorts of mistakes. No matter. I think you’ll get the gist and you’ll have a laugh with me as you watch. See it here: https://youtu.be/0f-E_E41I24

Directions: See the rest here!

 

NOTE: You’ll notice that aside from canning jars, I don’t use any equipment you don’t already have in your kitchen. Canning jars are generally available by the dozen in your local hardware stores, but I know I can also find them in the local thrift shops. ALWAYS use new canning jar lids (the flat part with the thin rubber circled edge.) This is essential to making sure you get a good seal on the canning jar. (This is less critical for the yogurt.) If you’re canning fruit or vegetables or jam/jelly, you have to get a good seal to keep the food safe. The rings that hold the lids are reusable.

Enjoy that fresh tangy flavor. In addition to having it as a snack or breakfast with fruit and nuts, you can also use your yogurt in homemade salad dressings, in place of some of the mayo in your macaroni or tuna salads, as part of your pancake toppings and so much more.

Thanks for stopping by Chicklets in the Kitchen. Do you have a favorite snack or dessert to serve family or guests? Please tell us about it in the comments box below if you feel so inclined.

My name is Connie Cockrell and I write SciFi, Fantasy, Mysteries, and a lot of other things and you can find links to all of my books at www.ConniesRandomThoughts.com.

Storm, Box Set, Flash Fiction, Fair: Daily Blog Post

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Lightning in the Night Sky

Hey!

Wednesday morning, 1:30am, we had another monsoon hit. Nothing like dashing around the house, half-awake, shutting windows to keep the blowing rain at bay. There was lots of thunder and lightning. The wind was blowing hard and the rain was just pounding down. When I got back up this morning, there was still some rain, sprinkles mostly, keeping everything wet. I don’t have a rain gauge, my last one sprung a leak, but I suspect we got a nice amount of rain. I wandered around the front yard this morning and found some critter had dug into one of my planters, uprooting a plant. Surprising thing, when I dug into the pot to put it back, the dirt was pretty dry. I have no idea why, everything else is wet. Sigh. Mysteries in my own yard.

I managed some work on my Gulliver Station box set on Tuesday. With luck I’ll get some more done today. I also need a story for Friday’s flash fiction post. I don’t have an idea yet. I usually don’t until I actually sit down and focus.

It’s just 2 weeks until the Northern Gila County Fair. I love county fairs and hope that if you’re in the area, you can come by and see the fabulous work our local ranchers, farmers, backyard gardeners and crafters do. The associated horse show is this weekend, the 25th. You can find out more about our fair at www.NGCFair.com.

That’s it for today! Hope your Thursday is just fantastic!

 

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. You can buy it at Amazon today. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads. It’s critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy my Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Rain, Casino: Daily Blog Post

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Monsoon River in my Back Yard

Hey!

Tuesday morning a big storm, with a lot of thunder and lightning blew in so we cancelled our regularly scheduled hike. Hubby and I went to the parking lot and for the few people who showed up, told them to take the day off. We received a nice bit of rain, which we always appreciate, and I worked on my Gulliver Station box set and this blog post.

Another Tuesday activity is going to the local casino. Does your town have a casino? My town does and mostly I’ve pretty much ignored it. However, hubby and I now participate in two of their promotions. Tuesday’s is 25 for 25. This is where we must use our own money to acquire 25 points on our member cards. Then we take it to the member desk and they give us $25 in casino cash to play with. It’s a bit of fun. We sometimes meet friends and have some lunch while we wait for the computer system to post us our casino cash. It’s a pleasant but short interlude after hiking, then we go home.

Hope your Wednesday is just fantastic!

That’s it for today!

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. You can buy it at Amazon today. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads. It’s critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy my Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Air Fryer, County Fair, Box Set : Monday Blog Post

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Air Fryer with Mushrooms

Newest News:

So hubby and I purchased an air fryer. I see so many recipes on Pinterest for air fryers that I decided to get one. We’ve been experimenting over the weekend with both mushrooms and sweet potatoes and they’ve come out very well. I think this is a new favorite kitchen gadget.

I’ve been working on the Northern Gila County Fair (Sep 6 – 8). www.NGCFair.com  Primarily setting up an on-line exhibit registration through the ShoWorks. It was a struggle but late Friday afternoon I got it up and running. That should make it much easier for exhibitors to register their items to show. I’m pretty pleased with myself. I had hubby do a test run while I hovered over him. He liked it pretty well and found it easy to do. Yay!

I’m still working on the Gulliver Station Box Set. I have one more book to edit, then it’s update the Amazon set, and put the Smashwords set up. Then I can work on formatting the paperback version. There’s progress, slow as it may be.

Giveaways:

The 2018 Authors/Bloggers Summer Giveaway is in progress at https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/. There’s $80 as a Grand Prize Paypal Cash and 27 books and 27 prizes available to win.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. You can buy it at Amazon today. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads. It’s critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Sunday: Daily Blog Post

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A flower for your Sunday.

 

Hey!

It’s a quiet day here. Am soaking my stove burners in ammonia to rid them of burned on gas black stuff. I found the tip on Pinterest and thought I’d give it a try. Do you Pinterest? I’m at https://www.pinterest.com/conniecockrell/ if you’d like to follow me.

Finally figured out why the coconut yogurt I made came out thin. HA! I forgot to put the gelatin in it. Duh! I had the printed recipe right in front of me and totally forgot to put any in. Silly me. The batch tastes good, it’s just not thick like the regular greek yogurt I like. Next time.

Hope you enjoy your Sunday!

That’s it for today!

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. You can buy it at Amazon today. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads. It’s critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy my Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

The Week Begins: Daily Blog Post

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Just for fun!

 

Hey!

Monday was busy. Hubby had blood tests at 10am. He’s had stomach problems (an old issue), which have resurfaced over the last week. The docs are trying to identify the current problems.

I had a book festival meeting, also at 10am. We went over status of where each department is at this point and reviewed the feedback from authors and attendees. Lots of good comments there and a few good ideas for improvements. Then I went to lunch with one of the committee members and her husband. That was fun.

On the box set, I have one more book to edit and I can update the Amazon copy, publish the Smashwords copy, then re-format for the paper box set and get that uploaded. There is an end in sight! Yay!

A reminder: The 2018 Authors/Bloggers Summer Giveaway is in progress at https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/. There’s $80 as a Grand Prize Paypal Cash and 27 books and 27 prizes available to win.

That’s it for today!

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. You can buy it at Amazon today. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads. It’s critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy my Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Friday’s Fun: Daily Blog Post

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Hey!

Friday is a bit of a fun day for hubby and me. Our local casino offers a Veteran’s Promo on Friday mornings and we go down there for that. We meet up with a couple other of our friends, gamble a little until we meet the required point goal, go get our casino cards updated, get a free $5 comp that covers our breakfasts, then go back to gamble the $10 in casino dollars they give up.

We spend more time at breakfast than gambling but that’s all right with me. Friday morning I won $5 and hubby won $15. Free money, free breakfast and a meet-up with friends. A good start to the day, I say.

Also yesterday, when I returned home, I processed more peaches into peach puree for smoothies (or those bellini’s I mentioned a few days ago.) I still have more peaches in the fridge and have given up getting the last of the peaches from the tree. I can’t reach them and by now they’re too ripe to pick. Let the birds and the bees have them.

Then I wrote this blog, and will continue to edit my Gulliver Station series. I’ll have to be done with this box set sooner or later. Sooner, I hope.

That’s it for today!

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. You can buy it at Amazon today. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads. It’s critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy my Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Hiking: Daily Blog Post

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Hey!

In my Jean Hays series, Jean and her friend Karen like to go hiking. They even found a body on a hike in Mystery in the Woods. I love to go hiking. I like being out in the woods, or because I live in Arizona, the desert, and listen to the quiet. Tuesday is a regularly scheduled hiking day. I go out with the C Group of the Payson Packers. This hiking group has been around over 25 years and grown to the size such that we break up into groups based on hiking ability, desire for hard or easy hikes and length of hike. My group, led by my hubby, does easy-moderate hikes of 4 – 6 miles in length over easy to moderate, occasionally hard, terrain.

Yesterday we went to a spot called Jones Crossing. This was a 6.5-mile hike on level terrain through a ravine with a streambed. No water in the stream this year as we’re in a drought though there were a couple of pools that had polywogs in them. And, it was hot! Probably about 95 degrees as it was 99 in Payson. At any rate, the turn around point has a slot cave where many sat and had their snack as it was quite cool in there.

There was no writing on Tuesday. I was just too worn out from the heat. I’ll pick it up today.

That’s it for today!

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. You can buy it at Amazon today. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads. It’s critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy my Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.