Please welcome the fabulous Wendy James to my blog – I am so excited to have her featured here today.
Wendy’s latest novel is The Golden Child – a book that is racing up the charts. I loved this read- the manipulations, the twists, the brilliantly developed characters. I asked her a few key questions regarding her characters and how they are created/evolve. As a reader I am fascinated with the writing process and what inspires my favourite authors.
Are you a “people watcher”? Do you imagine the life histories/futures of strangers? Do you read a book, a news item and imagine a scenario, a narrative? Let’s hear what Wendy has to say.
Deliciously Ella with Friends by Ella Mills RRP $29.99 published by Hachette Australia on 31 January 2017
“These noodles were quite a revelation to me. They’re so much heartier, more filling and more like conventional pasta than everyone’s favourite courgette noodles, and this satay sauce really brings them to life. It’s so incredibly creamy, with subtle hints of chilli and tangy lime. Together they make for the best pick-me-up dinner, healthy but comforting and bursting with flavour. You will need a spiraliser for this recipe.” p.86
SWEET POTATO NOODLES WITH A CREAMY PEANUT SATAY SAUCE
Serves 2
FOR THE NOODLES
olive oil
1 celery stick, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, crushed
2.5cm root ginger, finely grated
pinch of salt
250g mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 small sweet potatoes, about 200g each, peeled and spiralised
100g baby spinach
FOR THE SAUCE
3 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
(or almond butter also works)
70ml almond milk, plus more if needed
1 teaspoon tamari
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp honey
a little olive oil, if needed
Heat a glug of oil in a large frying pan, then add the celery, garlic, ginger and salt and sauté over a low heat until the celery is softening. Add the mushrooms once the pan has been bubbling for a couple of minutes.
After a minute or so more, add the sweet potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes.
COMFORT & SPICE
Next, make the satay sauce. Simply place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, adding oil if it helps to process the sauce, then add salt to taste.
Once the noodles and mushrooms are tender, add the spinach and the satay sauce. Stir until the spinach has wilted and the sauce is warm. If the sauce feels a little thick, add a splash of water, olive oil or almond milk and stir it in until it reaches your desired consistency.
CLEVER COOKING
Slice the ends off the sweet potatoes to create flat surfaces at either end before spiralising, it makes the process so much easier!
Deliciously Ella with Friends by Ella Mills RRP $29.99 published by Hachette Australia on 31 January 2017
Indian Feast
Chana Masala
“Absolutely delicious and filled with incredible spices that really transform the chickpeas. I also add leeks and spinach, as I love getting the extra veg in and they add a great flavour, plus the green of the spinach makes the meal look beautiful, too. I love this served alongside my Aloo Gobi and Coconut Rice (pages 130 and 133), with a generous dollop of coconut yogurt.” p. 129
DELICIOUSLY ELLA WITH FRIENDS by Ella Mills (Woodward). Hodder & Stoughton 2017.
CHANA MASALA
Serves 6
NUT-FREE
5 tablespoons olive oil
6 curry leaves, or 1 teaspoon curry powder
1 leek, finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons garam masala
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 onion, finely chopped
2.5cm root ginger, finely grated
5 garlic cloves, finely grated
2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato purée
2 green finger chillies, halved lengthways
plenty of salt and pepper
2 x 400g cans of chickpeas,
drained and rinsed
250g baby leaf spinach
juice of ½ lemon
fresh coriander leaves, to serve
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and throw in the curry leaves, if using. Let them sizzle away and release their flavour for a few minutes, then drop in the leek and stir.
Next add the dry spices – including the curry powder if you’re not using curry leaves – and stir so that they’re mixed nicely with the leek. Let this cook for a few minutes before adding the onion, ginger and garlic; at this point you can add 1–2 tablespoons of water if things are starting to stick to the pan. Cook for a few minutes before adding the canned tomatoes, tomato purée, green chillies, salt and pepper. When you’ve poured in the tomatoes from their cans, swish a little water around in each to get the remaining juice, then add this to the saucepan, too. Let everything bubble away for 20 minutes.
Add the chickpeas and cook for another
10 minutes.
Stir in the spinach, just until it wilts. Let cool slightly, then stir in the lemon juice and serve in shallow bowls, sprinkling coriander leaves over the curry. INDIAN FEAST CLEVER COOKING
Make extra so that you have leftovers. As with most curries, this tastes even better the next day, as the flavours have had a chance to develop further, so it’s worth saving some to enjoy in your lunch box!
FEASTS p 129
Healthy recipes to love, share and enjoy together.
The much-anticipated follow-up cookbook from Deliciously Ella, the inspirational bestselling healthy food writer who has taken the cookery world by storm.
In the follow-up to her amazing bestseller DELICIOUSLY ELLA EVERY DAY, Ella makes it easy for you to prepare delicious healthy food for you, your friends and family, whatever the occasion. No more wondering whether certain dishes go together, Ella makes life simple with her menus – whether you are planning a laid-back brunch, a last-minute lunch or a fancy supper, Ella has it covered with wonderful hearty and filling recipes that celebrate her healthy eating philosophy.
With ideas and inspiration for every foodie occasion, including cosy nights in, easy kitchen suppers, flavoursome feasts, birthday parties, picnics and mocktails and cocktails, this is the go-to book for anyone who lives a healthy lifestyle and loves sharing food with friends and family.
My View:
Ella Mills (Woodward) is my go to author for great plant based recipes. I eat a balanced diet, a little bit of everything with a healthy a spin (90% of the time). 🙂 We are omnivores, with vegetarian offspring – so delicious, easy to make, plant based recipes are regularly included in our menu planning.
Ella’s style of cooking busts the myth that vegetarian food is boring and salad based. Ella’s number one tip for encouraging friends and family to eat healthier is: “FOCUS ON FAMILIAR FOOD. If you’re having a real sceptic for dinner or trying to get an unconvinced family member to try a healthier meal, then always cook something that looks and feels familiar to them. Choose a classic dish with a healthy spin on it. Something like the Indian feast in this book with bowls of coconut rice, chana masala and aloo gobi. This is a perfect meal and your guests are never going to look at this and think ‘What is that, it looks terrifyingly healthy!’ and decide they don’t like it before they try it, plus it is really satisfying and hearty, which means everyone will go home full. So remember to go easy on everyone, don’t leap straight to raw food, or anything too unfamiliar and scary looking.” P. 11 A great tip Ella, and the Indian feast – perfect – this si a meal that can be enjoyed by all my family and friends alike.
A great book full of tasty easy to make recipes that will hold a treasured place in my cook book library.
The wonderful people at Five Mile Press and Bonnier Publishing sent me this delightful assortment of children’s books this week and I cant wait to share my reviews with you. These books are gorgeous – the illustrations are award winning, in some the irony and humour will even have some adults smiling as they read to their little ones and the narratives are charming and educational. Look out for these books when thinking of gifts for the 3 + children in your lives.
Sandy would love to hear about your successes and motivators – check out the raffle copter giveaway – leave a comment – 1 entry or subscribe to Sandy’s newsletter – 3 entries. Giveaway ends 27th Feb 2017.
How far would you go to save a child that wasn’t yours?
Mild-mannered kindergarten teacher Neve Botticelli leads a double life. Thanks to a childhood tragedy and her paranoid father, she’s a trained warrior with extreme survival skills who lives off the grid.
When self-made billionaire Micah Kincaid storms into town in search of his son, Rowan, he’s pushy, entitled, and stands for everything she despises. Micah can’t believe a kindergarten teacher is barring the way to him getting crucial information or even just a glimpse of the boy his cheating ex kidnapped. They share only one thing in common: either will do anything to protect the four-year-old, who they soon discover is being held for ransom by an outlaw motorcycle gang.
But as they work together to get Rowan back, they start to see beyond each other’s masks. Could falling in love be even more dangerous than hunting down deadly criminals? My View:
An action packed read – experience the rush!
Author Sandy Vaile has created a pulse raising, action packed romantic suspense narrative that surprised me with its intensity, mystery and physical action, this was not what I was expecting from this genre.
Bold and fearless main characters that are larger than life, filled to the brim with qualities that we all admire; compassion, integrity, selflessness, courage, bravery, determination, reliability and confidence with a side serve of eccentricity and vulnerability that are endearing and engaging and you have the recipe for successfully creating characters the reader cares about. And care we do! As the action ricochets off the pages we are consumed by worry and fear.
Outlaw motorcycle gangs make the perfect antiheroes – there is so much material to work with here, to install fear into the bravest heart and Sandy Vaile incorporates our worst fears into this read with authority and emotional impact.
The authors love for speed, thrills and adventure is obvious in this narrative as is her passion for South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, with its scenic vineyards, rolling hills and rugged bush terrain all showcased at its alluring best.
Sandy Vaile, author of romantic suspense, is here to chat about her new book, “Combatting Fear”, and what drives her.
Sandy Vaile is a motorbike-riding daredevil who isn’t content with a story unless there’s a courageous heroine and a dead body. When she’s not devising horrible things to do to fictional characters, she writes procedures for high-risk industrial activities, mentors new writers through the Novelist’s Circle critiquing group, judges romance writing competitions, presents literary craft workshops, and writes the odd article and blog.
Combatting Fear is Sandy’s new book.
How far would you go to save a child that wasn’t yours?
Mild-mannered kindergarten teacher, Neve Botticelli, leads a double life. At home with her paranoid father, she is a combat trained survivalist who lives off-the-grid.
When self-made billionaire, Micah Kincaid, storms into town in search of his four-year-old son, Rowan, he’s pushy, entitled, and stands for everything Neve despises.
But something far more sinister than a cheating estranged wife, is lurking in rural Turners Gully, and it has its sights set on little Rowan’s inheritance. It turns out there is one thing Micah and Neve can agree on, and that’s keeping Rowan safe.
As they work together to free Rowan, they glimpse beneath one another’s guises, and realise that falling in love could be even more dangerous than hunting deadly criminals.
Reading, Writing and Riesling 