Category: blogging

Repeating Yourself

~ Meg ~ 30 Comments

Do repetitive phrases waste the reader’s time? Here are some common phrases that are  redundant.

  • advance planning: planning must always be done in advance
  • ask the question: is there ever anything else that can be asked but a question?
  • assemble together: a group cannot assemble any other way but together
  • cash money: cash is money
  • combined together: just like assemble together, there is no way to combine apart
  • each and every: as adjectives, these words mean the same thing
  • end result: results only happen at the end
  • fewer in number: fewer only refers to numbers
  • large in size: large denotes size, you don’t need to say “size”
  • mix together: like combine and assemble, things can only be mixed together
  • month of November: everyone knows November is a month
  • red in color: can red be anything other than a color?
  • square in shape: square is its shape
  • sum total: if you have a sum, you have a total

Many of these phrases, however, are used in every day speech. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a cooking show where the host hasn’t used the expression “mix together” or “combine together.” What does that mean for a writer?  Expressions like these are grammatically repetitive, yet common in usage. So for example, if you are writing dialogue between two average people, it might be perfectly acceptable to use phrases like these. Why? Because that’s how people talk. On the other hand, if you are writing narrative, you probably want to avoid them. Reading your work out loud will expose some of the clumsy phrases and awkward grammar that might have crept into your writing. Happy editing my friends!

Le Boulangerie de Marguerite

~ Meg ~ 57 Comments

“How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like kleenex?” Julia Child

Let’s forget about calories, carbohydrates and gluten* for just a moment shall we? Bread is the stuff of life. There is nothing like the aroma of warm loaves fresh from the oven. Cut a slice of that crisp crust and smear it with butter, let it drip down your fingers as it melts and savor … Accompanying hot soup on a cold day, with aged cheese and good olives for an hors d’oeuvre, good bread is one of life’s small pleasures.

Like my character Maya, in Breaking Bread, I love to bake. And even more than sweets, I love to bake bread. I fantasize about living in Paris in an apartment over un boulangerie, waking every morning to the smells of bread and strong coffee…. and in an effort to bring that fantasy as close as I can to reality (at least until I figure out a good plan to fake my own death, collect on the insurance and make my escape…) I have been baking my own bread for the last … well, a long time.

Some of my favorites: A simple baguette – water, salt, flour and yeast. A brioche – sweet and rich with eggs and sugar. Challah – braided and risen in a pretty pattern. And a simple maple buttermilk bread, perfect for toast in the morning. Oh, and home made deep dish pizza…

 

J’adore le bon pain. Avec un cafe, sil vous plait!


*unless of course you are intolerant to gluten or have celiac disease

It was a dark and stormy night…

~ Meg ~ 57 Comments

Week 48 in The Year of Drinking Adventurously. Ginger beer.

Right about now you’re asking yourself what business ginger beer has being part of a drinking adventure. Ginger beer, as well as ginger ale is a non-alcholic beverage. Right? Right? Well, it so happens, ginger beer is a product of fermentation and as such does contain a trace amount of alcohol -less than 0.5%, the legal threshold for marketing something as non-alcoholic. And in fact, ’twas not always the case. Ginger beer, when it originated, was a much more potent potable than its modern day counterparts. Today’s ginger beers are heated to kill off the fermenting yeast and to boil off the majority of the alcohol, leaving a scant remnant behind.

51fffcpqPZL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_According to our guide, several ginger beer brewers have returned to their roots and rather than halt the fermentation process, are allowing the yeast to work its magic and produce more alcohol. I was unable to sample the products recommended, however, but I’ll list them here in case you want to give them a try: Crabbie’s, Ginger Grouse, Hollows & Fentimans -all companies in the United Kingdom. Maybe Lula had better luck…

I do occasionally indulge in a cocktail that makes use of the ‘non-alcoholic’ ginger beer, however, and this is the connection to Snoopy if you hadn’t figured it out…

The Dark and Stormy: dark spiced rum (I like the Captain Morgan Black Rum) over ice mixed with ginger beer. Basically it’s a Cuba Libre with ginger beer instead of Coke. And it’s definitely better in the summertime by the pool. But why not sip as you sit in front of the typewriter,  composing your noir thriller.

And an update from a couple weeks ago… Remember the pickle back? A shot of whiskey or other spirit followed by a shot of pickle juice? Well, in an attempt to be a good sport, I tried it. I had a shot of Woodford reserve bourbon followed by a shot of Klaussen’s kosher dill pickle juice. And…. it wasn’t awful. I can’t quite grasp the point of covering over the flavor and warmth of a nice whiskey with the brine of pickle, though. At least I can say I’ve tried it. Cheers!

Image (of course) from Peanuts by Charles Schulz