Word Game - guess what it means

Nefarious - do you know what it means?

Take a guess.


Then scroll down to find the answer...



Further....



FURther....



FURTHER

ANSWER: Wicked or criminal: "the nefarious activities of the organized-crime syndicates".

Synonyms wicked - villainous - vile - infamous - mean - evil

Mango Sticky Rice - Super Simple and Oh So Yummy

People want to make it sound hard and I don't have time for that. I need EZ-Smeazy or forget it. I'm not going to be doing it. I have other things I want to do than spend all day in the kitchen but I still want food that tastes yummy.

So, when I looked up how to make Mango Sticky Rice I was exhausted after just reading the recipe.

That's no recipe for me. It even had a difficult name "Khao Niaow Ma Muang".

Okay, maybe it is a classic Thai dessert but I just wanted to make it for my family not learn an entirely new language.

The recipe I found gave all sorts of strange (difficult) cooking instructions. Such as:

1) Insisting on making sure I got the "right" rice for this dessert - they said "regular (savory) rice will not work; you need sweet rice"

(I JUST BOUGHT LONG GRAIN ENRICHED WHITE RICE--THE NORMAL STUFF I ALWAYS BUY)

Then the recipe I read said:

2) Soak the rice in 1 cup water for 20-30 minutes, OR up to 4 hours

(20 MINUTES TO 4 HOURS--THAT'S A DRASTIC TIME DIFFERENCE--EVEN FOR ME)

The more I read the more I thought, "Hey I don't think I can make this stuff" but then I figured, rice is cheap - what's the worst thing that could happen? So, I decided to experiment myself.

I took three cups of rice and cooked it in four cups of water (in my regular rice cooker--the way I always do)

Then I poured one can of sweetened condensed milk over the rice when it was finished cooking and about one can of coconut milk. Then I cut up a couple mangos and put it over MY MANGO STICKY RICE...It was super YUMMY! And EZ-Smeazy!

KIM'S KILLER RICE RECIPE:

My ingredient list:

1) 3 cups of cooked white rice
2) 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
3) 1/2 can of coconut milk
4) 2 mangos (sliced up) to be put over the sticky mango rice.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1)  After cooking 3 cups of rice, stir in 1 can sweetened condensed milk and 1/2 can of coconut milk.

2)  Top with slices of fresh mango.

WAH-LAH!!! You will be enjoying Mango Sticky Rice in less than a half hour.

It may not be the same exact melt in your mouth - out of this world -  Mango Sticky Rice that you get in your favorite Thai restaurant but, believe me, it's close...real close.

In fact, I served this at my Renewing of My Wedding Vows Celebration and I had people calling me and texting me for my recipe. No kidding.

Writer's Contests, Agent and Editors Wishlists, and Writers Conferences

There's a lot going on in the writerly world.

There are contests like the one over here and agents and editors listing their wishlists here (and it's not even December) and conferences galore, like the Willamette Writers Summer Conference.

So much to do, read, and write, if only we all had a little more time.

SCBWI The Great Critique

It was a wonderful morning, filled with inspiration, words of wisdom and new friendships.

It all began at 9:00 a.m. at the TaborSpace in Mt. Tabor. Over 30 writers got together to share their work and have other writers critique their pages.

Oh and it started off with donuts...of course, from VooDoo Donuts (another of course). So with coffee cup in hand and pages all around I sat down to listen to writers read their first five pages.

It was so much fun to see what other people are interested in and hear what they all had to say. It was a great time of sharing, caring and further preparing...because writers are never "finished" with their story. It goes on and on, writing, rewriting--or revising--and then reading and then going through the process all over again.

I think everyone had a good time and we all learned a thing or two.

So until the next Great Critique session...I'll be at my computer clicking away.

The Great Critique

Another chance for writers to be mentored and critiqued by a professional and their peers. We did this in January and it was so successful that attendees asked for a repeat, so here it is!
Location: The Dining Room, TaborSpace, 5441 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97215
Time: 9:00 to noon.

Never been in a critique group? Wish you could be critiqued by someone who is ahead of you in the publishing game? Want to strengthen your work? Need a fresh set of eyes and ears on that oft-revised piece? Want to have your manuscript ready for the May conference? This is your chance. A published writer will lead each small group and critique your manuscript. You'll also hear others' work and get feedback from those writers too. Plus you'll learn from the comments by the critique leader about the work of others.

Cost:

SCBWI members - $10.00 (That's less than the price of a Friday night movie!)

Nonmembers - $15.00 (If you bought any refreshments, your movie night would cost way more!)

How it will work:

1. Sign up now with the kind of manuscript you'll be bringing. You may bring a maximum of five double-spaced pages or 1200 words. DO NOT bring more. Use standard manuscript format, which means your first page will not be a full page. For picture books, we suggest you bring no more than 750 words.
2. We will do our best to place you in a group of 5 or 6 peers who write in the same genre and with a published author who writes in that genre.
3. We'll let you know how many copies of your manuscript to bring to the meeting.
4. We'll also send you some basic critique group guidelines.
5. At the meeting each of you will have a chance to pass your work around to your group and read it aloud.
6. Each person in the group will make notes on your manuscript as you read. They'll write down what they like, mark errors they see, indicate where they are confused or what doesn't work for them.
7. The professional writer will verbally critique your work. If time, other participants may comment.
8. You'll receive your copies with written comments from each one in your group. Take them home and let the ideas simmer.
9. You might even make some new friends or find those to form a critique group.
   

"Can’t imagine sitting with a group of strangers and reading your manuscript aloud? It should be harder to imagine sending an untried, unedited, unrevised bit of your soul out on submission!" – Jenn Bailey, children's writer and social media expert

PAL AUTHORS CRITIQUING include Carolyn Conahan, Cat Winters, Emily Whitman, Mike Thaler,Susan Hill Long and Suz Blackaby.

Cork Floor

Okay, a friend sent me this picture of a super-sustainable floor. If you look closely you'll see, it's made entirely from corks. So, at first I thought WOW! That is fantastic. What a way to think outside the box...or outside the bottle ;D

But then I started to think about it. How much wine would one have to drink to have so many left over corks that they could make this floor? I don't know but that might be a sign of more than sustainability...

Still, I think it's a great way to reuse something and the floor would be so springy and comfortable.  So, if this does nothing more than simply act as inspiration, that's okay too.

Remember you don't have to throw away, save that cork for another day...or floor ;D

Nightshade

Plants have been used throughout the ages to heal, energize and even create a little magic.

Myths, magic and legends surround gardens.

Vampires are compelled to stay away by merely hanging garlic cloves at every window and werewolves can be taken down with simple wolfsbane, also known as monkshood, the Devil's helmet, or wifesbane.

Where else do gnomes, fairies and imps live but inside the flowers? Even leprechauns are known to live in the woods. Perhaps its the beauty found in the forest, garden and flowers that make people associate magic with this realm but maybe there's more to it than that.

Plants have hidden powers, for instance foxglove can be toxic and it can also be used to help people with heart disease.