Flip Clips: Linda Evans Shepherd

In this recent interview we learn all about Linda's Potlock Club series and the great recipes found in those books!

Grab Your Cape!

Waiting for Superman has made us all realize that change needs to happen within our educational system.  However, this paradigm shift in education will take time.  So what can be done immediately while a longer term plan is put into place?  The answer: Grab your cape and become a superhero! 

Growing up in Birmingham, Alabama during the late 1960s and 1970s, I learned the importance of education.  My mother was an English teacher at a local high school, and my father was then Dean of the Music School at Samford University.  My mother always taught me that “Education levels the playing field.”  That is why she would take an hour each week to sit down at the kitchen table with Flora, our African American cleaning lady, and teach her how to read and write.  Years later when Flora died from cancer, her sisters told my mother that a highlight of Flora’s life was learning how to read and write during those hours spent at the kitchen table with my mother.  Flora no longer had to sign her name with an “x” and she could read what she was signing. Even in her seventies, my mother still volunteered at local high schools and tutored at-risk students. She also designed remedial English programs to help struggling students understand the basic concepts of grammar.
 
My father also “grabbed a cape.”  He invested in the lives of students by setting aside and raising “seed money” to help educate students that otherwise couldn’t afford that opportunity.  In 1985, my parents flew to Rio de Janeiro to spend Christmas with me.  At that time I was earning a Master’s Degree in International Business at The University of South Caroline and was assigned to work at an international company in Rio as an intern.  My father was president of Palm Beach Atlantic University (then college).  During brunch, my father started a conversation with Edson who was waiting tables.   Edson had grown up in a favela, or rather one of the shanty towns made of cardboard houses on the hills of Rio.  A few days later, my dad offered Edson a full scholarship to Palm Beach Atlantic University.   However, my father told Edson that he must pay his own way to get to Florida.  My father knew the importance of a student personally investing in his/her own future to ensure commitment.  After a few years, Edson raised enough money to get to Florida and not only attended undergraduate school at PBAU but also earned an MBA there. After a successful career, Edson returned to Rio where he now helps educate children living in the favelas.  Education truly levels the playing field and empowers children with hope for a future. Learn more about that here.
 
What can an individual do right now?  Volunteer!  Check in with your local schools and offer your expertise.  Turn education into an action verb.  Grab your superhero cape!  Make a difference. In the process, you will change the nation one student at a time. 

Please share how you have “grabbed a cape” to make a difference.

Flip Clips: Exotic foods with Robin Jones Gunn!

During my agent's author retreat last week, I was able to catch Robin for a quick interview! Such fun!

Bread Crumbs of Grace

On Saturday evening, I went to my very first Steven Curtis Chapman concert at Harvest Bible Church in Elgin.  It was a night that I will always remember. Not only did Steven Curtis Chapman sing, but it was also a  family event. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Steven sang Cinderella and Heaven is the Face of a Little Girl.

The unforgettable moment of the evening was listening to Mary Beth Chapman share her heartache after the loss of their five year old daughter, Maria.  With candor and raw emotion, she spoke about her “freefall of faith” and how “bread crumbs of grace” helped her find her way through the darkness. I cannot imagine the deep abyss that must swallow one’s life after the loss of a child.  My heart weeps with mothers and fathers who have experienced that despair. Mary Beth Chapman’s book Choosing to See captures the journey of struggle and hope that she and her family experienced firsthand after Maria’s death. I couldn’t put that book down, and a lot of laundry went unwashed this weekend because of that. I highly recommend that you read this book, especially if you are going through a difficult time right now.

Read the rest of the post at the Pearl Girls blog.

Kitchen Chat Relaunch!

I'm whipping up something new in the kitchen over at Kitchen Chat! The show will be on a brief hiatus until February while my 'kitchen' gets a new location and a remodel. Excuse our mess during construction. :)  If you are looking for one of the podcasts or a recipe - those will be returning shortly as we get everything transferred over to the new location. Stay tuned for the new location and updated information.

In the meantime - enjoy a few of the past Kitchen Chat recipes:

Andy Andrews: Andy’s Smoked Fish Surprise.

Smoked Fish Salad
Start with your favorite white flesh fish. Squeeze lemon juice over fish, sprinkle with black pepper and brown sugar. Smoke fish on hickory wood on Low heat approx 200 – 250 degrees until done. Cool fish then crumble by hand

Assemble:
Mix mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish into crumbled fish to desired consistency
Mix with a big fork for best results.
Salt to taste
Serve on Sociable Crackers

Suzanne Woods Fisher: Whoopie Pies

4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup shortening
1 cup cocoa
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup thick sour milk
1 cup hot water

Cream together sugar, salt, shortening, vanilla and eggs. Sift together flour, soda and cocoa. Add this to the first mixture alternately with water and sour milk. Add slightly more flour if milk is not thick. Drop by teaspoons. Bake in hot oven at 350 until done.

Once cool fill with whip cream or your favorite frosting or filling.

Dallas Jenkins: Foolproof Steak

Pour some garlic salt and Lowry's seasoning on one side of the steak while you're heating up your frying pan, which should have been lightly coated with some olive oil, at very high heat. Once it's very hot, put the steak on, seasoned side down. Give it a minute or two, then pour the same seasonings on the exposed side before turning it over. Give it another minute or two--this sears both sides, which will trap the juices in. Then cook on low heat, turning the meat over every few minutes, until you have it where you want it.


Carl Raymond: CHICKEN BREASTS AND WILD MUSHROOMS IN MADEIRA SAUCE

Serves 4

3 tbsp butter, divided

4 chicken breast halves

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lb wild mushrooms such as shiitakes, chanterelles or cremini, sliced

Juice from ½ lemon

2 tbsp chopped shallots

¾  c Madeira wine

¾ c heavy cream

¾  c shredded Gruyere cheese

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat 2 tbsp butter in a large skillet.  When butter has melted and stopped foaming, add the chicken and sauté 5-6 minutes on each side until golden brown.  Transfer to a 7” x 11” baking dish.  Add a bit of wine to the skillet and scrape up any carmelized juices on the bottom of the pan. Add the liquid to the baking dish.  Brush the mushrooms to remove any dirt, slice (remove stems if using shiitakes), and toss with lemon juice.  Add the butter to the skillet, stir in the shallots and sauté on medium heat for 2-3 minutes until softened.  Add the mushrooms, increase to medium-high heat and sauté about 5 minutes until they begin to brown.  Pour in the remaining wine and add the cream.  Continue to cook 3-4 minutes, stirring often until the sauce reduces and thickens slightly. Mix in ½ c of the cheese and stir until melted.  Pour the sauce over the chicken in the baking dish and sprinkle the remaining cheese on the top.  Sprinkle lightly with chopped fresh thyme if desired.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until chicken has cooked through and sauce is bubbly.

TOMORROW on Kitchen Chat: Editors Beth Adams and Ginger Kolbaba

Welcome to this week's Kitchen Chat - Be sure to tune in on Friday at 11:00AM Central! To listen, follow the link and click on the player in the upper right hand corner.

I'm thrilled about our guests this week - two amazing women who are both editors and authors. Best of both worlds I'd say! The first half hour we'll hear from Beth Adams who is an Editor with Guideposts. The second half of the show will feature Ginger Kolbaba, who is an editor for Kyria.com. All you aspiring authors (myself included!) have your questions ready. Call into the show (1-877-864-4869), tweet them (@mcsweeney) or leave them on the segment post.

About Beth: Beth Adams is a senior editor at Guideposts Books. She works on primarily on inspirational fiction. She hails from California, and lives in Brooklyn with her husband.


About Ginger: Ginger Kolbaba is editor and manager of discipleship and women’s resources, including the newly launched Kyria.com, and Marriage Partnership.com, an award-winning publication and website of Christianity Today International, both with more than 2.5 million unique visitors annually. She is also a freelance book editor for several major publishing houses and a former editor of the award-winning publication Today’s Christian Woman.

Also an accomplished author, Ginger has written more than 300 articles and has written or contributed to more than 16 books, including the best-seller Refined by Fire, which received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly and was nominated for a Gold Medallion award. Her most recent novel series, Secrets from Lulu’s Café, includes Desperate Pastors’ Wives, A Matter of Wife and Death, and Katt’s in the Cradle.

Ginger also teaches and speaks across the country. She’s been quoted in Newsweek and the Chicago Sun-Times and has appeared on national venues such as CNN’s Nancy Grace and Court TV’s Catherine Crier Live, as well as Chicago’s top rated talk radio station WLS, Family Life Radio, and Moody Radio’s Midday Connection.

She is a graduate of Anderson University (Anderson, Indiana), and worked as a professional actress and singer before making the transition to more sane and solitary roles behind a computer.

When she isn’t chained to her computer, Ginger enjoys spending time with her husband motorcycling through the countryside, visiting Yellowstone National Park, walking her Doberman, reading good books, and talking theory with her friends about the television series Lost. She believes one of her greatest accomplishments would be dusting off her piano and treadmill and using them both—at least once this year.

Visit her at www.GingerKolbaba.com.

About Ginger's latest book: Four pastors' wives. All desperate for something.

Is it possible that their desperation will lead to hope?

Mimi, Lisa, Jennifer, and Felicia all live in the fishbowl of Red River, Ohio. Everyone expects something from them. Gourmet casseroles. Perfect husbands. Well-behaved children. They expect even more of themselves.

The constant demands and always-ringing phones are enough to drive any sane woman crazy. Add to all that the condescending Katherine Fleming Katt -- self-promoting pastor's wife of the town's largest church -- who loves to flaunt her superior position. In the midst of such chaos, will each woman find the one thing she longs for?

When the unflappable Kitty Katt starts showing up at odd places, the four friends get suspicious. Is Kitty hiding something? What secrets lie behind her "perfect" exterior? But even more significant than unraveling Kitty Katt's secrets is finding answers for themselves.

Win an on-line membership to Kyria.com and a copy of Desperate Pastors' Wives, the first novel in the Lulu's Cafe series. Leave a comment {HERE} and don't forget to include your email address.

For so long I have lived my life in fear...

My Lesson from a Horse Whisperer

On Kitchen Chat a few weeks ago I interviewed Dr. Lew Sterrett, an internationally acclaimed horse whisperer. Little did I know that this show would transform my life.  As someone who is afraid of horses, I did not miss the irony that I was interviewing a horse whisperer.  When I was ten years old and went to a church camp, I rode a tall horse for the very first time.  This horse trotted away.  The saddle was not completely tightened and it slid down the side of this large animal. I fell off. Like a heavy tumbleweed, I rolled through the dusty dirt among the gravelly rocks.

So what did Dr. Lew Sterrett say that changed my life perspective?  In the last segment of the show, I asked him to please help me get over my fear of horses.  He “whispered” me through my fear by saying that it wasn’t the horse’s fault.  The people that worked at the barn should have been more careful.  However, he said that my real fear wasn’t horses, but rather the fear of being out of control.  His words hit me straight in the heart.

During my whole life, I have had this need to be able to control my environment so nothing bad will happen to me or my family.  I even keep my dogs on a short leash, fearful that if they venture too far they will be attacked by the coyotes that live in the woods behind our house.  For so long I have lived my life in fear.  In essence, I am filtering my faith, i.e. limiting God.  Ouch!

So what does this have to do with writing my first novel?  Everything!  My theme throughout this book is “to let go and let grow.”  However, how can I authentically write about this if I myself haven’t been able to let go of my own fear?  While editing my manuscript, I realized how fearful and reserved my main character is.  She has to be in control.  Perhaps I have held back my characters from being who they really are, too.  I have kept their emotions reined in (please pardon the equestrian pun).

During these next few weeks before ACFW, I plan to rework the pages not only of my novel, but also of my life. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement along the way.

What fears keep you reined in?

Dr. Lew Sterrett’s insights into applying the principles and techniques of building trust with a horse are applicable to all relationships.  You can listen to my interview with this horse whisperer for free here.