Thursday 13 December 2012

Merry Christmas, Mum

It's my birthday early next week. A major one, a horrible one. One with a big round 0 at the end. Next Monday I shall reach the age where, once, I could have retired, only nowadays the Government keeps putting back the age of retirement, so I expect to be at least 102 before I reach it.
I'd hoped to be able to slacken off a bit by now, but this Christmas will find me and Sir, yet again, driving 80 miles northwards to spend Christmas with my mother.

Ah, yes. My mother. Now, sadly, a widow, my mother is 84 years old and shows signs of outliving us all. Which is hardly surprising, considering. When I say we spend Christmas with her, what I mean is we'll go there and cook for her. Not just on Christmas day, but dinner on the 23rd when we arrive, and all meals for the next three days. Once upon a time that wasn't a problem and the menu for Christmas lunch used to look like this:

Various Hors d'Oeuvre:
Vol-au-vents
Crudites & Dip
Pickled Niftys on Sticks
~~~~~
Smoked Salmon
~~~~~
Beef Wellington
Roast potatoes, roast parsnips, Brussels sprouts, mashed potato, and peas.
~~~~~
Christmas pudding and cream
 
 
The hors d'oeuvre and first course would be served with Champagne and the beef with red wine.
 
Whilst Sir cooked the beef and chopped mushrooms and onions for the duxelles mixture in the food processor, I'd be peeling sprouts and potatoes, rolling out pastry, slicing veg for crudites, and jamming anything edible that wasn't otherwise spoken for, onto cocktail sticks. By 2 o'clock in the afternoon, I'd be prostrate on the sofa, more from sheer exhaustion than any over-indulgence.
 
Mother, meanwhile, would sit at the kitchen table, talking. Though, to be fair, she always peeled a few of the sprouts.
 
Well, not anymore. I'm getting far too old for any such mullarky, and this year we're cheating. Oh, yes, we're still having Beef Wellington - but they're individual ones, bought frozen from our local Aldi supermarket. So are the hors d'oeuvre. Gone are the crudites and pickled wossnames to be replaced by filo prawns and brie and cranberry wedges. The roast potatoes, the Brussels, and the peas also come frozen.
 
At least this year I should be able to grasp my knife and fork with palms free from cocktail-stick-inflicted puncture wounds, and enjoy my Christmas lunch without feeling the need to sleep for a week after I've eaten it.
 
All we need to do now is buy my mother a bigger freezer in time for Christmas. Or, better still, a cook!

Sunday 2 December 2012

Sneak Preview

I wanted to let you all have a sneak preview of the cover of the next Verity Long** book, Organized Murder. So, here it is.

Designed by the very talented Australian arist and writer, Katie W Stewart, I think it fits in really well with her cover for Strictly Murder. The elements are all in place to make my covers an identifiable brand.

Katie is a delight to work with, never happy until the customer is 100% satisfied. You can see more examples of her work on her website : www.katiewstewart.com

I'm hoping to publish Organized Murder later this month or early in the New Year. I'll announce it here when I have. In the meantime, I'd love to know what you think about the cover.


** The Verity Long books are funny whodunits/cozy mysteries with more than a dash of chicklit!

Strictly Murder
Organized Murder
Scouting for Murder