Strawberries, Pies & A Fun Interview

Published: Fri, 05/03/19

It's been another busy week here at the Hillbilly Housewife Household. School is winding down for the summer and that means plenty of meetings, tests, and various after-school activities. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for summer break. While I'm sure we'll be just as busy it will be nice to wake up on our own time. I'm usually the first one awake year around and I treasure those early morning hours in the summer when the sun is already shining and the house is quiet. I get some of my best work (and truth be told often my only work) done in those precious hours at the beginning of the day.

Earlier this week I was interviewed by one of my favorite clean romance authors - Jewel Allen. We chatted about all things Hillbilly Housewife, publishing cookbooks and a little about writing fiction. I thought you might enjoy reading it. You can find it on Jewel's blog here:

http://www.jewelallen.com/recipe-for-cookbook-success-with-hillbilly-housewife/

Speaking of Jewel.... I'm currently reading one of her latest books - Cowboy for Auction. It's a fun read and if this is your cup of tea (and your idea of relaxing on a stormy spring weekend), check it out.

In other news, it's strawberry season. I thought I'd share a couple of strawberry recipes with you today. Let's start with one of my favorites - Strawberry Shortcake.

Here's the recipe: https://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/strawberry-shortcake-recipe.htm

One of my favorite early summer memories is making strawberry freezer jam with my daughter. She was about five at the time, which is why we chose to make freezer jam instead of canning in the pressure cooker. It was a bast and I'll never forget the pride shining on her face when she fixed strawberry toast for us. Make some memories and make a batch of this delicious strawberry pineapple freezer jam with your kids.

https://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/strawberry-pineapple-freezer-jam.htm

Next, let's talk muffins - Strawberry Muffins to be precise. I love these for breakfast and as a quick snack. They are a great way to use up extra strawberries - as is this strawberry pancake topping recipe.

The muffins also freeze really well, making them great for school snacks. Throw them frozen in your child's lunch box and by the time they are ready to eat, the muffin will be thawed.

https://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/homemade-strawberry-muffins.htm

I've been in the mood to bake lately, bake pies to be more specific. One of my nieces asked me to teach her how to make pie crusts from scratch. I shared a chapter from my Pie Kindle cookbook with her and thought I'd share it with you as well. It includes two homemade pie crust recipes. One for a flaky crust using butter, the other for a tender shortening crust. I hope you try them both.

https://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/how-to-make-the-perfect-pie-crust.htm

I hope you've enjoyed the recipes, articles, and book recommendation I've shared with you today. For those wondering how my own fiction writing is going, here's a quick update. There's a lot to learn and everything is taking me a lot longer than anticipated. I still have the emails from those of you who offered to read my first novella. I made quite a few edits and improvements and am just about done with the last round of those. I've learned a lot in the process, much of it thanks to wonderful authors including Jewel who are happy to answer my never-ending questions, point me to invaluable resources, and are always there to encourage me to keep going. All that said, I hope to have the first novella published by the end of the month. The plan is to make it a free download so you can get a taste of my writing. The first full (paid) novel is coming along nicely as well. I hope to have it out in June. What a fun start to the summer would that be?

Have a great weekend!