Recipe Friday: Sweet Potato Pudding

"The proof of the pudding is in the eating. By a small sample, we may judge of the whole piece." Miguel de Cervantes

This pudding's so good, you might want to eat the whole dish in just one sitting! Last Friday I featured a savory recipe using sweet potatoes. This week I'm posting something sweet! This scrumptious pudding can be served as a side (at Thanksgiving and Christmas) or a dessert.

Lots of people aren't familiar with sweet potatoes or don't realize their versatility. I, for instance, didn't know they could be used in savory dishes until I was grown.  A blogger from the UK said she'd never eaten them sweet.

Each Friday this month, I'll feature a recipe highlighting the versatility of the sweet potato. There's more to it than just being a plain old baked sweet potato or a fry! 

Sweet potatoes taste great any way you slice them (sorry, couldn't resist), and not only are they delicious, they're nutrtious, as well!

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) ranks the sweet potato number one of all vegetables. It scores 184, the next closest vegetable only ranks in at 100.  Points were given for dietary fiber, naturally occurring sugars and complex carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium.  To see the complete article I've used  for sweet potato nutrition from foodreference.com, click here.

Today's recipe is a slimmed down version from one of my favorite cookbooks, Spoonbread and Strawberry Wine. Hope you enjoy it!

Sweet Potato Pudding

5 medium sweet potatoes
3/4 cup of sugar
6 egg whites
3/4 fat free cup evaporated milk
1 t cinnamon
2 t vanilla extract
1 t rum extract (optional)

Bake sweet potatoes in 350 degree oven until soft (about 90 minutes to two hours).  When baked, let cool, then slice open and scoop out flesh. Mash with a potato masher until smooth.  Add sugar, stir well until mixed. Then add egg whites and beat well. Stir in remaing ingredients. Pour into 2 quart casserole sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Makes 8 servings.

Have you ever had sweet potato pudding?

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Twist Endings: Can You Figure Them Out Before the End?

"Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That and surprise." Julia Cameron

I'm hopeless when it comes to figuring out the twist ending of a movie. In a book, I'm usually fed enough clues to correctly guess the conclusion before it's completely revealed--but of course by then, I'm almost finished reading!

My husband, however, less than half way through a movie, will tell me the twist. "He's in on the scheme." "He faked his death." "She's got a split personality." Sometimes he's wrong, but most of the time, my husband's either on the right track, or he's nailed it completely.

I suppose our brains work differently.  I enjoy seeing the story unfold. I love being surprised, shocked and scared. I'm too busy being entertained to think about unraveling the plot. Also, I'm vulnerable and take things at face value.

In Derailed, Jennifer Anniston pays for Clive Owens' train fare near the beginning of the movie. My husband started suspecting something right then. Not me! If I'd had an extra $9.00 and someone (a stranger who didn't look suspicious) had forgotten his wallet, I would've been a good Samaritan and helped him out--just like Jennifer!

When the twist is finally disclosed, I'll rethink my way through the movie to make sure the screenplay was consistent, and the conclusion realistic. And sometimes, once armed with the knowledge of the ending, I'll watch the DVD all over again.  Then I'll see stuff I missed the first time around, and understand little things I paid no attention to before.  Shutter Island, The Sixth Sense and The Others all have to be watched more than once!

Despite my inability to figure out the twist, these types of movies are my favorites! Nothing like the element of surprise.

If you a good love twist ending, be sure to rent these if you haven't already seen them: Shutter Island, Derailed, The Secret Window, The Illusionist, The Sixth Sense and The Others.

Can you figure out the twist before a movie ends? What are some of your favorites (books or movies) that have twist endings?

Tweet me @: maria_mckenzie. Thanks for stopping by!

Writing Your Author Bio

"There is properly no history; only biography." Ralph Waldo Emerson

You've finished your novel--that was the easy part! Now you've overcome your fears and written the query letter. In addition, you fought the idea of condensing your "baby" to five pages, but finally did and wrote a synopsis.

Good to go, right? In some cases yes, but not when the agent/publisher requests an author biography!  Writing your bio isn't as daunting, as it is challenging for those of us who lead average, run of the mill lives. 

Some people have experienced exciting and adventurous lives as army brats, or pursued glamorous professions such as corporate law or international business.  Even some not so glamorous professions can be rather exciting, such as truck driving or jail wardening.

But if we're not  lawyers like John Grisham, or doctors like Robin Cook, how can we make our lives (as housewives, sales clerks, accountants, insurance salesmen, etc.) sound a little more--robust? 

First of all, you're not required to write a book! Usually no more than a paragraph is expected. You can take any significant experience in your life that has shaped you as a writer and put it in your bio. 

Include your education if relevant to your writing background or your subject matter.  If you were an English major or have an MFA, great!  If you're a nuclear physicist, who's written a thriller about a nuclear physical disaster, by all means, state that.

Even if you don't have an MFA, or didn't go to college, you can take the life you've lived and work with it.  However, don't "toot your own horn." Author bios are written in third person. Your mother may think you're the greatest writer alive, but leave that to the agent/publisher to decide.

A previous published article (even if you weren't paid) and where it appeared can be mentioned in your bio.  Working in a job that used (or uses) your writing skill is also relevant info (such as news script writing for a local news station).

If you're a native of a notorious town (Las Vegas), popular tourist destination (San Francisco), or a historic city (Cincinnati), that fact can be used in crafting your bio.  Perhaps your hometown's crime history, famous prison, or relationship with the Underground Railroad tapped into your creative juices as you wove your story about the Mafia, Alcatraz, or an escaped slave.

As an avid reader, you can mention the authors who've influenced your work, such as Thomas Fleming and Eugenia Price for historicals, or John Grisham and Scott Turow for legal thrillers.

If you experienced an exciting trip to an exotic locale (this can be a trip in the mission field, or that trip to Europe you took with the high school senior class), you can describe how that experience inspired you in creating your story. Perhaps the people, the history/culture, or the art made an impression upon you.

Lastly, if you belong to a writers' organization (e.g. Romance Writers of America), and a critique group, place that in your bio.  This shows that your serious about your writing career and are working to improve your craft.

Here are a few basic points to keep in mind:

• Write in third person
• List facts
• Cite relevant experience
• Write tight

For more help, check out this link and this one. Both provide some great information for writing a compelling author bio!

Have you written your author bio yet?

Tweet me @maria_mckenzie. Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe Friday: African Chicken Stew

"He who pursues a chicken often falls, but the chicken has to run." African proverb, Amaka

Today's recipe is a delicious chicken stew that can be served alone, over couscous, or over rice.  It's hot and hearty featuring a fall favorite--sweet potatoes! 

Growing up, I always ate sweet potatoes as a pudding or souffle. But as an adult, I've discovered lots of recipes that use them in savory dishes, which my husband prefers over the sweet ones.

This stew is easy to prepare, but unfortunately involves a little cutting and chopping (so just pretend it's therapeutic).  I've adapted my version from one I originally found in Woman's Day Magazine. Hope you enjoy!

African Chicken Stew

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 t onion powder
3 sweet potatoes
3 t garlic powder
1 1/2 t chili powder
20 ounces canned diced tomatoes
12 ounces frozen peas
1 1/2 T lemon juice
1/2 cup peanut butter

Season chicken with salt pepper and onion powder. Coat a large pot with cooking spray. place over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook about three minutes until browned.

Peel potatoes and cut in bite sized pieces; set aside. Sprinkle chicken with garlic powder and chili powder. Cook about 30 seconds or until fragrant.

Add potatoes and tomatoes. Bring chicken to the top. Bring pot to a boil, reduce heat. Cover and simmer about thirty minutes, or until potatoes are soft and chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with peas, cover and cook 10 minutes longer. Add peanut butter and lemon juice. Stir until blended and hot. Makes 4 servings.

How do you like your sweet potatoes, sweet or savory?

Tweet me @:maria_mckenzie. Thanks for stopping by!

Interracial Love: Conflict Supreme

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Denise Turney on her Off The Shelf Radio program. We discussed interracial relationships, which is what I focus on in my novels. You can click to here for a link to the interview.

Talking with Denise brought this blog post to mind that I wrote back in November of 2010. If you missed it the first time around, hope you'll enjoy it today!

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies." Aristotle

Who doesn't love a good love story? But what drives one to make it great? Conflict!
And when you throw an interracial element into the mix (pun intended) you have an intensely compelling and emotionally volatile story.

Several films address this topic including, Come See the Paradise (Japanese/white American), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (white/black American), Mississippi Masala (Asian Indian/ Black American), Something New and Jungle Fever (both white/black American).

Othello

Throughout history, interracial love has been a topic of great literature. In Shakespeare's Othello, a Moor is married to Venetian, Desdemona. Here racism is seen as Iago schemes to break up their marriage. Hoping to spur Desdemona's father Brabantino to annul the union, Iago tells him "an old black ram is tupping your white ewe."

In Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, the slave Cassie is repeatedly raped by her master Simon Legree.  But she's also been in a previous relationship with her former master, who she loved. "I became his willingly, for I loved him!" Cassie says in chapter 34.

Sinclair Lewis's Kingsblood Royal tells the story of a bigoted character who discovers he has a small percentage of African blood, then falls in love with a black friend named Sophie.  When he held her hand, it was "warmer than any hand he had ever known," and when she kissed him, "he had not known a kiss like that..."  For more interracial love in literature, see Doug Poe's post on Interracial Sex in Classic Literature here.

Out of all multicultural combinations, perhaps the most explosive in our country is black and white. Make it a love story in the American South of the past--and POW!

Something New

I'm black, and my husband is white, but many years ago I began to think how sad it would've been if we'd lived a century earlier. Back then, we couldn't have married. That thought inspired me to write my first novel, Escape, about the abolitionist son of a wealthy merchant who falls in love with a slave he helps to escape.

After reading Essie Mae Washington Williams's memoir Dear Senator, I wrote my second novel, The Governor's Sons. Ms. Williams's memoir told of her black mother's love affair with her white father, future South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond.  In my novel, a rich white law student plans to sacrifice everything and move overseas for the black woman he loves.

All through our country's history, interracial love has ignited conflict.  Forbidden Fruit by Betty DeRamus and  Martha Hodes's WhiteWomen, Black Men are two fascinating non-fiction accounts on the subject.

The topic of Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson's black mistress, was swept under the rug by history, and Jefferson's white descendants, until DNA tests revealed that her descendants, were Jefferson's as well.

Although there was an enormous amount of rape and exploitation of black women by white men in the United States (especially the South), there was also love.

If a plantation owner chose a slave as his "wife" and actually lived with her, he'd become an outcast from the community.  To prevent being ostracized, some white men, assuming the facade of bachelors to friends and family, would set up separate housing and provide financially for their black "wives" and children. And then there were those white men who chose to have two families, one white and the other black, hidden away in the shadows.

Thank goodness it's a different time!  Although still a touchy topic among both the black and white communities, at least as human beings we can freely love whomever we fall in love with.  As the old cliche goes, "love has no color."

Do you know of an interracial love story to share?

Thanks for visiting and have a great week!