A Foodie Friday Christmas

Twas the night before Foodie Friday,

and all through blogland, 
cooks set their tables with care.

The dishes were placed on tables with a plan,
in hopes that none would show dust, thumbprints
or even wild cat hairs.

The napkins were all nestled in bows and beads . . .
while dust motes danced and dazzled over their heads.

I love any kind of Christmas dish--edible or otherwise--but I especially love the ones that tell a story. The dishes in today's tablescape illustrate "The Christmas Poem." The pattern is "A Christmas Story" by Portmeirion, and each plate is embellished with artist Susan Winget's inimitable flair.

I've gathered a few festive ideas for you today:

Beribboned sugar cookies 

 

Be sure to leave a message and tell us what you cooked today for Foodie Friday. Don't forget to describe your recipe! What did you love about your dish? To add your link, click on the blue Inlinkz icon. Please not that it can take a little while for your image to process. If you've come to peruse the holiday dishes, I wish you happy recipe hunting and Happy Holidays!

Foodie Friday

Photo: Bacon chutney from Rattlebridge's kitchen.

 

It's been a wild week here at Bald Hill Farm. I'm the head nurse in the Yorkie Hospital, and I'm doing my best to help Zap with his blood glucose, which has been on a roller coaster ride for the past few weeks. My husband accidentally stabbed his finger with the insulin needle, and on impulse, we checked his blood sugar. It was almost as high as Zap's.

(I won't mention Dr. G's weight. Or mine.)

So we started an ADA diet today. I had to take away the poor guy's sugar, Reeses Cups, sweet tea, and Little Debbie Hostess cakes. And he hates Splenda. But I'm confident that we'll get his weight and glucose down.

Tonight I prepared chicken salad and low-cal dressing.

I suppose this is somewhat food related because my granddaughter found Acquainted With the Night, my latest novel, in a North Carolina Harris Teeter. What a cutie! Her parents report that Annabel is a great junior publicist--she even sold a copy!
I've been on a virtual book tour, and I've enjoyed writing guest posts about the science of vampirism. It's not food related, but if you're interested, you can read Jude Barrett's research journal (it isn't in the novel, by the way)online. Just click on The Science of Vampirism. To be sure, I put my RN degree to good use while I figured out the physiology of a vampire.

I've also blogged about the European settings, writing habits, and how Daphne Du Maurier's Manderley influenced the homes (and one vampire mansion) in my fiction.
If you'd like your funny bone tickled, check out the tongue-in-cheek post at Rabid Reads about how to shop for a vampire. Hint: a hot item at Toys-R-US is a talking Dracula doll, who says such phrases as, "Bring me a bat, Renfield" and "Miss Lucy is smokin' hot!"

This review gives good insight into AWTN without giving away any spoilers (after all, it's a thriller and a mystery).

Today my editor at St. Martin's, the divine Jen Enderlin, told me that Gone With a Handsomer Man was selected as one of the best cozy mystery novels of 2011 by Suspense Magazine in their annual round-up. The GWAHM paperback will arrive in stores on Valentine's Day 2012, followed by the sequel, A Teeny Bit of Trouble in April. Here's a peek at the cover--love the white kitchen:

They used a white kitchen for the photo shoot. Isn't that cool?

 



Thank you so much for stopping by Foodie Friday today. I can't wait to see what everyone has cooked! If you are contributing a recipe to Foodie Friday, click on the blue Inlinkz frog (below) and follow the instructions. If this is your first time to participate in Foodie Friday, or if you aren't sure how to add a permalink, a short tutorial is available. If you are linking a recipe to Foodie Friday, please add the FF button to your post (see below). The button can be found on the sidebar.

Happy Recipe Hunting!