creativity

Musings of a Foodie Wannabe

| Melia Alexander

Welcome to Food and Wine Wednesday!

Yes, the days are getting a bit longer and the weather warmer. It’s usually at this time of the year that I’m downright jumping up and down waiting for summer to get here. Why? It’s all about the food, babe! Fresh summer fruit and veggies. Grilled meats. Outdoor dining. Need I say more?

Yeah, okay, maybe I need a life, but then again, I’m a Foodie Wannabe, so food’s become pretty important to me these days. 🙂 Especially when I really stop and think about the flavor of a tomato now versus what it’ll be in five or six months. Don’t know about you, but I think there’s a HUGE difference.

Of course, we’re lucky to live in a part of the world with fabulous farmers’ markets, so the freshness is always a short drive away. Check out these pics from last year:

Gorgeous, huh? I can barely wait until our local farmer’s market opens up again!

Well, for however long the newly awakened foodie-wannabe in me lasts, I’m soaking it up. Life, it’s said, starts with food. And, wow, I can’t think of a better place to be than the good ole Pacific Northwest when it comes to good eats!

Do you like to cook? What’s your favorite time of (cooking) year?

Happy eating,
Melia

Writerly Retreat

| Melia Alexander

One of the beauties of having such generous writerly friends is the chance to visit their wonderful get-aways. Or, in this case, writer-pal Delilah Marvelle‘s GORGEOUS home!

Set on eighty lush forest-y acres, Delilah and Mr. Marvelle are busy renovating the existing house on the property. Aaannd…I’ll have my own room in it! For when I come visit. Which will be often. Thanks, Delilah! 😉

Welcome to the Marvelle’s!
My very own room!
And the view outside my room!
Loving the invitation to explore the grounds!

I’m so looking forward to the peace and quiet, to the calming beauty, and the chance for La Muse to crank out some amazing pages.

Aren’t I lucky? I think so! 🙂

Happy travels,
Melia

Foodie Wannabe

| Melia Alexander

Welcome to Food and Wine Wednesday!

I blame it all on author-pal Tawna Fenske. She started me on this food kick ever since I spent the night at her place while we filmed four videos for our book launch last December. If you missed them, you can find the videos on her blog. (Because she’s so on top of everything!)

Anyhoo, if you were to ask my family, they’d tell you under no uncertain terms that chicken was on sale at our local grocery store this past week. How would they know? Take a wild guess what we’ve been eating most of the week? And, hey, at less than $1 a pound, how could I not buy the equivalent of what would feed a small army? 🙂

Course, that also means coming up with creative ways to prepare it so that it’d get past their lips and down the hatch. Tonight, I admit, I was stymied. After a week of chicken soup, roasted chicken, and chicken sauteed in butter, lemon, and parsley, it was time for something different. Something that would allow me to disguise that, for the fifth time in a week, we were having…chicken.

And then it happened. You know what I’m talking about. That moment when I’m going through the day, minding my own business, taking care of whatever recent crisis arises out of The Male Observation Lab, and then, KA-BOOM! Somewhere out of the ether comes the idea that’s been niggling in the back of the brain: what the heck am I gonna do about dinner tonight? The answer hit me like a lightening bolt out of a clear blue Pacific Northwest sky: Chicken Marengo.

Now, if you want the original recipe, you can find it here. I used it as a spring board…’cause I’m such a rebel that way! My variations included baking the chicken ahead of time (to make week day meal prep easier), using the chicken pieces instead of chicken cutlets (what the hell is a cutlet, anyway?), and using drippings from the baked chicken instead of beef broth. The results, if I do say so myself, were pretty awesome!

But since I can’t offer you a taste, or even a whiff, here are some pics:

Has cooking inspiration struck you in a similar way? How’d it turn out? Please share!

Happy eating, all!

~Melia

 

From SF with Love

| Melia Alexander

Well, hello there. Been awhile, I know! Gotta admit it’s good to be back, now that I’m done with this latest round of edits for the next book in my Glenwood Falls series…for now. 🙂

So. This Take me Back Thursday comes courtesy of a spur-of-the-moment trip Mr. A and I took to San Francisco several years ago. We had the most awesomest of times as we explored this super-fun city!

a005_5 (2)I love the memories that come flooding back to me! The trolley cars…fabulous food…Fisherman’s Wharf….

And sharing all of these with someone so very special? That was the bestest part of all! Share one of your favorite travel memories with a special someone. C’mon! You know you want to!

Happy-almost-Friday,
Melia

Hello 2015!

| Melia Alexander

Happy New Year!

This Take Me Back Thursday comes to you from the point in my life where Mr. A and I would go to the opera on New Year’s Eve. It seemed a fitting, civilized way to greet the New Year…We don’t do that anymore.

Still, pics like this are fun to revisit.

P1040323From our home to yours, we wish you all a happy, healthy, joyful 2015!

Hugs,
Melia

Celebrating a First Born

| Melia Alexander

It isn’t every day that an author gets to see her first book published. Which was DSC_0429partly why I decided that a book launch party would be such a fun idea. ‘Course, I made this decision two days before MERGER OF THE HEART’s debut. AND, I decided to hold it the evening it released. Two words: Not. Smart.

I’ll attribute it to ignorance. After all, how was I supposed DSC_0428to know all the fine details of launching a story out into the world? Of the countless hours on social media, and of hitting the “refresh” key to get updates of sales stats on Amazon? Right? Right?

Midway through the afternoon I realized that: 1) People were due at my house in three hours. 2) There was no food and I had to make a grocery store run. 3) There was the whole set-up thing that involved tracking down platters and serving spoons (how did they get to be so danged dusty?), and 4) I had yet to bathe….

I have to admit I was impressed that it all got done – especially the bathing part! And as exhausted as I was, it was so much fun.DSC_0437 ‘Course, the first four guests were drafted into kitchen prep, but that serves them right for being on time! The cucumber got sliced, the salami was rolled, and the store-bought mini-cupcakes and cookies were artfully arranged.

The best part? People actually showed up!

Have you thrown a party together at the last minute? How’d it go?

Happy eating,
Melia

Winterscape

| Melia Alexander

Happy Travel Bug Tuesday!

Now, personally, I’d prefer the beach this time of year. And not anything like the Pacific Northwest type, you know. More like some place that doesn’t require a windbreaker over a really cute bikini.

But for those who actually like snow, a dear friend trekked through some hills in our part of the world, and sent me this pic:

WP952014122895026Don’t know about you, but I’m thinking there are at least a couple of great stories here. Stranded damsel in distress? Or maybe a stranded hero saved by the heroine? Maybe he was running from some bad dudes, or chasing after them? Maybe he was saving the heroine! *Sigh*

What do you all think? I’d be interested in what you come up with, so please step up and share!

Happy travels,
Melia

Yet Another Virgin Moment

| Melia Alexander

So. I’m pretty much dazed today. I mean, it isn’t every day that a writerMotH_500(2) gets to see her first book published. Excuse me a moment while I pinch myself…

OUCH!

Well. I’m not dreaming…And yet, the entire experience feels strangely surreal. Kinda like when you ask Santa for a Betty Crocker Baking Oven, swearing up and down you’re gonna be good, making deals that you’re gonna quit picking on your little brother as soon as you get the present you’ve wanted in FOREVER. And when it shows up, you’re actually stunned silly because it did. Yeah. That.

While I marvel at all that it took to get here – the 4 a.m. writing times, the weekend writing times, writer friends who encouraged, cajoled, and threatened (that’s a whole ‘nother story) – I have to admit I’m beyond thrilled MERGER OF THE HEART has arrived!

Okay. Gonna go try and calm down now…But if you’d like to read an excerpt, please click here.

Happy Mash-Up Monday,
Melia

 

 

Christmas Nails

Aside | | Melia Alexander

Welcome to Fashionista Friday!

One of the things I most love about being a girl are the chances to do girly-girl things like facials, shopping, and mani-pedis. Not that I’ve necessarily got the time or patience for them, mind you, but I can admire them, too, can’t I?

Case in point? These.

20141219_122642Aren’t they pretty? I love, love, LOVE the detail! And the artistry that went into them. Makes me wish I could sit down long enough to have my own nails done! Ah, well…I can live vicariously through others, can’t I? 😉

Do you take the time for a great manicure? What was your fave design?

Happy Friday,
Melia