Must be New England! PEN is having its year end picnic and they are honoring Kate Mattes, owner of the late, lamented Kate's Mystery Bookstore on Mass Ave in Cambridge.
I have a fleece pullover which will keep fall breezes at bay. Last night the folks at the ball game were bundled up. Fall, even late fall is here. I swore I wouldn't wear corduroys before Oct. 15th, but yesterday I broke my promise to myself. Ah well, no matter.
I'm making chicken/walnut/dried cherry sandwiches on wheat bread to take to the picnic. I think the recipe is from an old Gourmet. I used to save my food mags, and then all of a sudden (well, not really, it just seemed that way) I had twenty (20!) years of Gourmets. Now I save the Thanksgiving, Holiday and Barbecue issues and clip recipes I might try from the rest. Sometimes I'll keep a recipe for 10 or more years before the occasion arises, (like today) to make the dish.
Of course my clippings have become huge, and I've got them organized, but everything should really go into a binder. Ugh! More work, even more organization.
Right now, I have to don my bright yellow clogs and trek into the garden for fresh parsley and also empty the water out of the saucers, etc. We had a monsoon yesterday.
This week we will celebrate a wedding anniversary and will dine at Cilantro in Sharon, a wonderful jewel of a restaurant that always has creative fare and a warm welcome.
Warm is good. Think spring.
Grapeshot
Showing posts with label Kate's Mystery Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kate's Mystery Books. Show all posts
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Sunday, August 02, 2009
An Alert Reader
An alert reader wrote:
You took the Hy-Line, the movie theater was razed, and the last movie was the Poseidon Adventure.
You took the Hy-Line, the movie theater was razed, and the last movie was the Poseidon Adventure.
Apropos Nantucket. Did I misspell Traffik? See the cars, avoid the cars. Watch the cars trying to go up the one-way streets the WRONG way. Look at the blond women on their cell phones. Run fast!
I try to be meticulous in my novels, but not so much in the blog. Ye gods, who knows? Maybe literary agents are combing it for typos as a reason to reject.
Lots of interesting books reviewed in the NY Times today. No doldrums this August.
Smoked salmon (wasn't sure about the spelling of "lox") and bagels for breakfast today in honor of the houseguests. Me, I'm an Eastern Colorado girl who would just have soon have white toast and jelly.
The girl can't help it.
Some good thoughts for my novel's plot today. Sometimes a bit of down time is a good thing.
So sad, yesterday, at Kate's Mystery Bookstore, when all the authors that Kate has supported over the years arrived to help back. The famous and like moi, the not-so-famous. Kate has a generous heart and will sorely be missed by readers of the genre as well as us scribblers. Alas, alas.
Grapeshot
I try to be meticulous in my novels, but not so much in the blog. Ye gods, who knows? Maybe literary agents are combing it for typos as a reason to reject.
Lots of interesting books reviewed in the NY Times today. No doldrums this August.
Smoked salmon (wasn't sure about the spelling of "lox") and bagels for breakfast today in honor of the houseguests. Me, I'm an Eastern Colorado girl who would just have soon have white toast and jelly.
The girl can't help it.
Some good thoughts for my novel's plot today. Sometimes a bit of down time is a good thing.
So sad, yesterday, at Kate's Mystery Bookstore, when all the authors that Kate has supported over the years arrived to help back. The famous and like moi, the not-so-famous. Kate has a generous heart and will sorely be missed by readers of the genre as well as us scribblers. Alas, alas.
Grapeshot
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Deja Vu all over again
We just completed our annual trip to Nantucket. I liked how the Hi-Line called the slow ferry the "traditional" ferry and the high speed, of course, was the high-speed. Both were full on Friday morning. Windy and cool, but warm on land.
We ate, as is our wont, at the Rope Walk, right on the water, and the fish and chips were so good and the wine, a Pinot Grigio "Oggi" was fab. A walk up Main Street with some things the same and others different. Lots of "blingy" jewelry stores and less art galleries, a comment on the kind of money that has moved into town the last fifteen years.
I love the cottage gardens and the funk and that Murray's Toggery hasn't changed much in 40 years. Arno's still there, still crowded. The movie theater has been rased, where there is unfortunately a missing plaque commenorating that Grapeshot questioned the proprietor as to whether the popcorn contained "real" butter and was told of course. Never mind that the so-called butter was orange as a tropical sunset. The entire family agrees that the last movie seen there was The Posidon Adventure.
We had ice cream at the Juice Bar and it wasn't beach weather, so we didn't go, but we prowled thru the town and our small guest bought a few souvenirs and I found a brown t-shirt, so practical but hard to find. That's Murray's for you.
Traffic terrible, and people on cell phones and otherwise clueless. (see next post).
I was very tempted by a big-assed wind gong at the Whaling Museum that sounds like the bell buoy coming into the harbor, but was fearful the neighbors might object, as it was damned loud.
This morning my cute little hummingbird was at the NEW feeder, and he ate and ate. Fighting the tomato blight. Most seem all right. First the rain then the fungus. Weird orange stuff growing in the wildflower garden. Pretty but deadly looking.
I went to Kate's Mystery books to help pack up the store which is closing. The end of an era. Alas and alack.
We ate, as is our wont, at the Rope Walk, right on the water, and the fish and chips were so good and the wine, a Pinot Grigio "Oggi" was fab. A walk up Main Street with some things the same and others different. Lots of "blingy" jewelry stores and less art galleries, a comment on the kind of money that has moved into town the last fifteen years.
I love the cottage gardens and the funk and that Murray's Toggery hasn't changed much in 40 years. Arno's still there, still crowded. The movie theater has been rased, where there is unfortunately a missing plaque commenorating that Grapeshot questioned the proprietor as to whether the popcorn contained "real" butter and was told of course. Never mind that the so-called butter was orange as a tropical sunset. The entire family agrees that the last movie seen there was The Posidon Adventure.
We had ice cream at the Juice Bar and it wasn't beach weather, so we didn't go, but we prowled thru the town and our small guest bought a few souvenirs and I found a brown t-shirt, so practical but hard to find. That's Murray's for you.
Traffic terrible, and people on cell phones and otherwise clueless. (see next post).
I was very tempted by a big-assed wind gong at the Whaling Museum that sounds like the bell buoy coming into the harbor, but was fearful the neighbors might object, as it was damned loud.
This morning my cute little hummingbird was at the NEW feeder, and he ate and ate. Fighting the tomato blight. Most seem all right. First the rain then the fungus. Weird orange stuff growing in the wildflower garden. Pretty but deadly looking.
I went to Kate's Mystery books to help pack up the store which is closing. The end of an era. Alas and alack.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Kate's Mystery Books
This evening, Kate of Kate's Mystery Bookstore in Cambridge, MA will throw her annual holiday party, a soiree not to be missed. The crime-writing literati of the Boston area will gather to chat with fans, autograph books, nosh, schmooze, and yes, imbibe.
Kate is Boston's best known promoter of the mystery genre. Her wide umbrella shelters thrillers, cozies, horror, true crime and of course the traditional mystery. Her collection of black cats (statuary) is totally awesome.
With the book business in crisis, this is an opportunity to buy personalized (signed by the author) holiday gifts the recipients will actually read and enjoy, support local authors and give a leg up to one of our local booksellers. Kate can always recommend books that you or your gift list will adore, a knack born of many years in the business. Her knowledge is encyclopediac and her inventory is vast.
The party is from 5:30 - 7:45 at Kates (2211 Mass Ave in Cambridge). Close to Porter and Davis Squares. Lots of eateries and drinkeries nearby. The party becomes a mob scene but is ever so much fun. You literally rub elbows.
I'm bringing my spicy empenadas, a riff on Paula Deen's recipe. The dough is resting in the fridge and the filling is waiting for the diced tomato. The party food is always toothsome. One year there was a meatloaf to die for.
Look for me. Ah, hell. You'll probably be gazing at Robert Parker or Dennis Lehane. So will I.
With the book business in crisis, this is an opportunity to buy personalized (signed by the author) holiday gifts the recipients will actually read and enjoy, support local authors and give a leg up to one of our local booksellers. Kate can always recommend books that you or your gift list will adore, a knack born of many years in the business. Her knowledge is encyclopediac and her inventory is vast.
The party is from 5:30 - 7:45 at Kates (2211 Mass Ave in Cambridge). Close to Porter and Davis Squares. Lots of eateries and drinkeries nearby. The party becomes a mob scene but is ever so much fun. You literally rub elbows.
I'm bringing my spicy empenadas, a riff on Paula Deen's recipe. The dough is resting in the fridge and the filling is waiting for the diced tomato. The party food is always toothsome. One year there was a meatloaf to die for.
Look for me. Ah, hell. You'll probably be gazing at Robert Parker or Dennis Lehane. So will I.
Cheers!
Grapeshot
Grapeshot
Monday, September 15, 2008
On the Literary Scene
A moment of silence for David Foster Wallace, a victim of depression. How deadly this disease can be. How sad for anyone, and especially when we lose one of our great writers. It is hard.
I continue to struggle, but in a good way, on my newest novel. It is my sixth, and I currently have three unpublished babies that want to be adopted. They are feeling like ugly stepchildren, wanting love and appreciation.
Tomorrow night, if you're in the vicinity of Cambridge, MA/Somerville, MA, drop in for a drink and some appetizers at Redbones Barbecue and meet three Boston mystery/suspense writers. My friend Sibylle Barrasso will be signing Dark Waters, along with two fellow writers. The company can't be beat and the food is to die for. Sponsored by Kate's Mystery Books.
A confession is now in order. Saturday I made the appetizer that my main character in the new book is taking to a party and I carried it to not one but two parties. It is called Shrimp Butter on Toast, and it actually tastes quite yummy. The shrimp butter is made out of shrimp and butter with some seasonings, and dumped into the Cuisinart, and the toast is made with little triangles of sandwich bread brushed with butter and toasted in the oven. It's a fairly simple thing if you have a Cuisinart, and isn't too fancy or complicated, because my character is not a gourmet cook, only an adequate cook. Fancy is when you garnish it with tiny shrimp and a bit of parsley.
My character is eating in a restuarants where I ate and living in my friend's father's old condo. It's nice when you don't have to make everything up, and I need a bit of local Florida color.
Don't forget The New England Crime Bake if you're a mystery fan or writer. See the website for details, www.crimebake.org.
The Red Sox are creaming Tampa Bay, and I have to watch the last inning.
Grapeshot
I continue to struggle, but in a good way, on my newest novel. It is my sixth, and I currently have three unpublished babies that want to be adopted. They are feeling like ugly stepchildren, wanting love and appreciation.
Tomorrow night, if you're in the vicinity of Cambridge, MA/Somerville, MA, drop in for a drink and some appetizers at Redbones Barbecue and meet three Boston mystery/suspense writers. My friend Sibylle Barrasso will be signing Dark Waters, along with two fellow writers. The company can't be beat and the food is to die for. Sponsored by Kate's Mystery Books.
A confession is now in order. Saturday I made the appetizer that my main character in the new book is taking to a party and I carried it to not one but two parties. It is called Shrimp Butter on Toast, and it actually tastes quite yummy. The shrimp butter is made out of shrimp and butter with some seasonings, and dumped into the Cuisinart, and the toast is made with little triangles of sandwich bread brushed with butter and toasted in the oven. It's a fairly simple thing if you have a Cuisinart, and isn't too fancy or complicated, because my character is not a gourmet cook, only an adequate cook. Fancy is when you garnish it with tiny shrimp and a bit of parsley.
My character is eating in a restuarants where I ate and living in my friend's father's old condo. It's nice when you don't have to make everything up, and I need a bit of local Florida color.
Don't forget The New England Crime Bake if you're a mystery fan or writer. See the website for details, www.crimebake.org.
The Red Sox are creaming Tampa Bay, and I have to watch the last inning.
Grapeshot
Friday, December 07, 2007
Sucking It Up is a Universal Experience
Proust, Joyce, and others have had to suck it up, too. Even F. Scott Fitzgerald.
http://www.columbusalive.com/?sec=upfront&story=alive/2007/1206/u-mental.html
I don't compare myself to them, novelist of computer crime as I am, but it's nice to be in good company.
Grapeshot
Recipe en route, as well as photos of last night's broccoli-mushroom quiche. So stop by again soon.
Tonight it the party at the local mystery book store (Kate's) and I'm taking a lovely appetizer.
Grapeshot
http://www.columbusalive.com/?sec=upfront&story=alive/2007/1206/u-mental.html
I don't compare myself to them, novelist of computer crime as I am, but it's nice to be in good company.
Grapeshot
Recipe en route, as well as photos of last night's broccoli-mushroom quiche. So stop by again soon.
Tonight it the party at the local mystery book store (Kate's) and I'm taking a lovely appetizer.
Grapeshot
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