Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 03-31-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily
column at: DearReader.com



Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

Dear Reader,

Pesky snails nibbling on the roots of my beautiful Pentas and Impatiens, book club reader Shirley Phillips suggested: "Put out a pie pan filled with beer. They will get drunk and drown themselves."

Yes, Shirley, I used to do that and years ago I even wrote a column about it. But I think the snails in my yard have all joined Alcoholic Anonymous (and I applaud them for doing so.) But that leaves me with sober, hungry snails.

My original Belly on up to the bar column:

When I was planting geraniums in front of my house the other day, feeling all calm and relaxed, it started to drizzle and the drizzle turned into a pretty good rain. But I kept on working anyway until all of a sudden, in the middle of the downpour, I was surrounded--they were everywhere. Snails! Slimy, disgusting, huge--I'm talking Texas-sized snails crawling all over the very plants I'd just been lovingly tending.

I've never been squeamish about garden creatures before. Bugs, grubs, they've never bothered me. Big, fat night crawlers--no fear--I bait my own hook, and I even talk to them when I'm gardening, "Keep up the good work, guys. Thanks for hanging out in my dirt." But apparently I've met my match, because when I saw an army of snails crawling all over my geraniums--I freaked.

It's no exaggeration. 'What to do, what to do?' I picked a bunch of them off the geraniums, but when I saw them crawling on my gardening glove--what was I going to do with them now? Scream! and fling them into the street. The people in the cars passing by thought I was a nut. 'What is this woman throwing at us?' But I couldn't help myself.

"Help!" I threw my gardening gloves on the ground and went running into the house, yelling for my husband. "You've got to come out and get rid of these snails!"

That was the end of my gardening for the day, and the day after that, and the day after that. I was getting worried I'd never be able to garden again, so I decided to find out how to get rid of snails.

Every website I visited on the Internet had a photo of a snail, but I couldn't even stand to look at it, so I started visiting websites for children. "Meet Mr. Snail!" Yeah, Mr. Snail is supposed to look like a cute little cartoon character, with his smiley face and his little wiggly tentacles, but I knew the truth. Those smiley, little, slithering, things would invade your garden and hunt you down.

Unfortunately the best way to get rid of snails is to pick them off the plants, put them in a sealed bag and well, you know what. But since I'd already attempted that method and failed, I decided to get them drunk. Yes, option number two was to sink a jar into the ground, so the top is flush with the dirt, fill the jar almost to the top with beer and watch those snails conga line right up to the bar, fall in and party to the end.

It's been a couple of weeks since I've seen any snails in my garden, but when I walked by my neighbor's house the other day I noticed they've put a ceramic snail in their front yard. I know it's supposed to be cute, but I still don't like it. I think I'm going to have to get it drunk.

** It's blue, it's paperback, AND it's almost here! The paperback version of my book, MUFFINS AND MAYHEM: RECIPES FOR A HAPPY (if disorderly) LIFE will be released April 5th. You can preorder a copy at your favorite online book seller, right now.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Win an iPod Shuffle, get a story posted online and win free books, from this week's authors:

Deanna Fe/A THREAD OF SKY: A NOVEL

Larry D. Thompson/THE TRIAL

Ginger Garret/WOLVES AMONG US: A NOVEL

Tracy Seeley/MY RUBY SLIPPERS: THE ROAD BACK TO KANSAS

Lorna J. Cook/OUTSIDE WONDERLAND

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE SAGA OF GOSTA BERLING by Selma Lagerlof. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/March11Classics

 

Dear Reader Column 03-30-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily
column at: DearReader.com



Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

Dear Reader,

I don't think of myself as a sexist person, but maybe I need to revisit that assessment, at least when it comes to cats. Papa and Mama Cat are two outdoor strays my husband and I adopted a couple of years ago. Mama Cat used to stay close to home, Papa Cat did his share of wandering and that arrangement never bothered me. But lately I've been noticing a role reversal. Now Papa Cat stays close to home, even wanders into our house for some extra love and attention, and Mama Cat is out all hours of the night--doing who knows what!

What the heck is she up to? That's what I've been wondering and the curiosity has gotten so bad I'm considering hiring a Kitty Private Eye to follow her. I know I could be overreacting; maybe this new mysterious behavior is simply because Mama's found a tasty all-you-can-eat late night fish fry. But then again, maybe she's been stepping out on me? Come to think of it, Mama's been looking too well fed and her coat has been looking pretty tidy for all this gallivanting around. Maybe there's another person who's been giving her treats on the side?

After listening to me pass judgment on Mama Cat, my husband pointed out it isn't like she has babies at home, and Mama can't get in "trouble." (She's fixed so there hasn't even been any need to give her "the talk.")

So what's the big deal? Why is this bothering me anyway? My husband's right. There are no career ties holding Mama back and no young children at home. Maybe I should just be proud of a fellow "sister" who hasn't let herself get caught up in the empty nest syndrome blues.

** It's blue, it's paperback, AND it's almost here! The paperback version of my book, MUFFINS AND MAYHEM: RECIPES FOR A HAPPY (if disorderly) LIFE will be released April 5th. You can preorder a copy at your favorite online book seller, right now.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

KIDSBUZZ: Email an author, sign up for their giveaway, and learn about great books for kids and teens about dogs and love, honesty and character, and the uncertainty of the world from Carter Goodrich, SAY HELLO TO ZORRO!; Margie Palatini, HOGG, HOGG, AND HOG; and Jesse Karp, THOSE THAT WAKE. For a chance to win free books and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE SAGA OF GOSTA BERLING by Selma Lagerlof. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/March11Classics

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

 

Dear Reader Column 03-29-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily
column at: DearReader.com


Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

Dear Reader,

We may be a virtual book club, but frequently readers tell me that it feels like we're sitting at the kitchen table together, drinking a cup of coffee, talking about books and chatting about everyday life.

So today, pretend that all 375,000 of us are meeting together for an in-person book club meeting. We've discussed this week's books, dunked some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies into coffee or soda (yes, some readers report they dunk cookies into Dr. Pepper!) and now our meeting is winding down to the chit-chat part. Small talk about the things of every day life, that's what I'm looking for today. Send me your chit-chat, interesting "whatevers" you'd share with other book club members if we met in person. I'll share everyone's "conversations" and you can read it at your leisure.

Your "chit-chat" can be about whatever. Today, I'm passing on a time-saving tip a reader recently sent to me.

"Dear Suzanne, I love to sew, quilt, and knit. I save magazines and books with little Post-it notes as bookmarks, where there was a project I wanted to try. But when I decided to make one of the projects I usually spent an hour digging around wasting precious sewing/craft time. Then I got a scanner! I scan these articles and projects, then organize them into categories on my computer making them a lot easier to find."--Judi Stonik

Share chit-chat (comments and tips), with fellow book club readers and when you do, I'll enter your name in a drawing for a copy of my book, Muffins and Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life. (The paperback version is being released April 5th.)

Email your "chit-chat" to: [email protected]

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE SAGA OF GOSTA BERLING by Selma Lagerlof. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/March11Classics

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

 

Dear Reader Column 03-28-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily
column at: DearReader.com


Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

Dear Reader,

Today I'm sharing photos from my recent cooking class with 5-to-8 year old kids. If you missed the original column, I've posted it below. To see the cooking class photos (they'll make you smile), goto: http://tinyurl.com/EGGCLASS

(Reprint of cooking column)

ALL ABOUT EGGS. It was my first time teaching a cooking class at Primrose School and it was marvelous. Students learned how to crack and separate eggs by hand (the kids were messy, but very impressive), scramble eggs (they ate for lunch), then we made deviled eggs, and each child took some home to share with their family.

Nineteen students, ages five to seven, 447 eggs, three teachers from the school assisting me, along with my husband "Mr. Bob." Not only did the students learn new things, this teacher learned something new, too. You'd better mean what you say when you're cooking with kids. My instructions, "When you're done putting the filling in your deviled eggs, if you've broken some of the egg halves, raise your hand and I'll show you how to mend them. We'll put a Band-aid on and fix them right up."

But worried Amy asked, "Mrs. Suzanne, how are we going to eat the deviled eggs if there's a Band-aid on them?"

I loved cooking with the kids, but I think my favorite part of the day was when we read the book GOOD EGG, by Barney Saltzburg. It's a simple story about teaching an egg to do tricks. Open a flap in the book, slide a strip of paper and the egg actually sits, speaks, rolls over, and shakes (Yes, we were all standing up shaking our behinds!) and of course every egg needs encouragement: "GOOD EGG" we were all shouting together after each page. Two times reading the book and it was back to egg class. I'm including a book in each of my upcoming cooking classes. I can't wait for the next class when we make cupcakes from scratch, because the book I've chosen is WHOPPER CAKE, by Karma Wilson and Will Hillenbrand. Grandpa makes Grandma a cake, but Grandpa gets carried away with the ingredients and ends up mixing the cake in the back of his pickup truck. So of course, I'll be mixing my cupcakes in the back of a huge kid's truck, using a plastic shovel.

It's easy to fall in love with kids especially when they ask, "Are you coming back again Mrs. Suzanne? This was fun."

The kids were adorable, yes, they were all GOOD EGGS.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

** It's blue, it's paperback, AND it's almost here! The paperback version of my book, MUFFINS AND MAYHEM: RECIPES FOR A HAPPY (if disorderly) LIFE will be released April 5th. You can preorder a copy at your favorite online book seller, right now.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE SAGA OF GOSTA BERLING by Selma Lagerlof. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/March11Classics

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

 

Dear Reader Column 03-25-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily
column at: DearReader.com


Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

Dear Reader,

My original idea: invite 20 people to a Turkey-Teamwork Garden Party. Sixty bags of mulch are lined up in my yard waiting to be spread on my flower gardens. It's a big job for one person, but if 20 people each spread three bags of mulch...Teamwork gets the job done.

How do you get 20 people to enthusiastically volunteer to help? "Mulch for Turkey." Lay down three bags of mulch, then mosey on up to the dinner table for a turkey with all the Thanksgiving trimmings dinner.

From My Email Bag: Crop Mobs and an R.S.V.P.

"Suzanne, what you are suggesting, with a 'volunteer' gathering to help outside, is a Crop Mob. I don't know when this started, but it's been happening here in the Midwest for a couple of years. It's an online thing: someone posts a need for physical labor on a farm, promising a meal in return for hours of work. There could be 20-40 people. It's something I'd enjoy doing if the work weren't too strenuous. Sort of like the old 'barn-raising' where neighbors gathered to help, right? But I love your take on the Thanksgiving turkey dinner!"-- K. ONeill

"Hi Suzanne, would love to help. Where and when? I live in Florida--Sarasota, too. We moved here 13 years ago and I can't imagine ever leaving. I'm also hoping my book group will choose your book, Muffins and Mayhem. We have our planning month in April. We only read paperbacks and yours is just out. Perfect."--Warm regards, Cynthia S.

** It's blue, it's paperback, AND it's almost here! The paperback version of my book, MUFFINS AND MAYHEM: RECIPES FOR A HAPPY (if disorderly) LIFE will be released April 5th. You can preorder a copy at your favorite online book seller, right now.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE SAGA OF GOSTA BERLING by Selma Lagerlof. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/March11Classics

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

 

Dear Reader Column 03-24-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily
column at: DearReader.com



Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

Dear Reader,

Wanted: Undiscovered Gems. To view titles that have already been submitted, goto: http://tinyurl.com/4prdunz (Scroll down past the column to the COMMENTS section.)

Is there an undiscovered gem sitting on your shelf, or tucked away in your memory, as a favorite book you discovered at your local library?

One book a week, 52 weeks in a year, I can only offer a limited number of titles at the book club. So I thought it would be fun if I featured a week of "Undiscovered Library Gems" in each of the genres at the book club.

Is there a book that most folks might not know about, but when you read it, it made a difference in your life? I need your help to put together the line-up of books. Please email the title(s) of your Undiscovered Gem, along with the name of the library where you discovered it.

Send your suggested titles to: [email protected]

Try out the HTML link for our daily read. You'll discover a colorful book jacket and other extras you don't get in the text version, including all of the reads for the week. The HTML link for this week's book is at the top of this email. Here's what to look for:

***** THIS WEEK'S BOOK *****

(BOOK TITLE) by (author's name)

Start Reading: (and simply click on the link that's posted.)

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Gratefully,
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com/

AUTHORBUZZ: Win a Starbucks gift card, a luxurious handmade baby hat from Libraknits and signed books from these great authors:

Robert Zitella/THE RETURN OF IXTAB

Kristin Billerbeck/A BILLION REASONS WHY

Diana Orgain/FORMULA FOR MURDER: A MATERNAL INSTINCTS MYSTERY

Lynda Simmons/ISLAND GIRL

James Swan/101 Things I HATE ABOUT YOUR HOUSE

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE SAGA OF GOSTA BERLING by Selma Lagerlof. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/March11Classics

 

 

Dear Reader Column 03-23-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily
column at: DearReader.com



Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

Dear Reader,

Sixty bags of mulch are sitting in my yard waiting for the old "heave-ho." I've trimmed back weeds, put in some new plants (remember, I live in Florida), fertilized, and spread a little something for those nasty snails that insist on burrowing down deep and eating the roots of my flowers, and now I need to mulch. But looking at those 60 bags of mulch lined up, row-after-row, the word that comes to mind is TEAMWORK.

Paul, my four-year-old grandson, explained TEAMWORK the other day when he was trying to carry a box filled with toys. "Grandma, it's too heavy. My teacher told us TEAMWORK." Paul picked up one side, waited for me to grab the other, and together we sang the TEAMWORK song as we carried his box of toys into the living room.

TEAMWORK. It has a nice, easy, relaxed, ring to it. Especially if my team consisted of 20 people. Each person spreading three bags of mulch and my work would be done. But where am I going to get a team of folks willing to help spread 60 bags of mulch around my flower gardens? My grandson's smile would get me to do just about anything, but since I'm past the age where a cute little smile will get the job done, I think I'll cook a turkey instead.

Three or four times a year I cook a Thanksgiving feast when it's not Thanksgiving. Word has gotten around town and I have a waiting list of folks who would love to be invited. Hmm, TEAMWORK...

You're invited: Suzanne's Turkey-Teamwork Garden Party. A spring Thanksgiving feast; complete with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberries, jazzed green beans, cole slaw, deviled eggs, shrimp salad, pumpkin, cherry and apple pies--all homemade.

Time: Four p.m. (it's an early dinner so we have plenty of daylight to "enjoy" my flower gardens.)

Attire: Shorts, T-shirt and tennies. (Preferably ones you've never liked. It's a new dinner party concept. Instead of wearing your best clothes, you wear your worst.) Caps, gardening gloves, and sunscreen will be provided for our pre-dinner party "game" and dessert will be served outdoors, in freshly-mulched flower gardens.

To see a photo gallery of the flowers blooming in my yard, goto: http://tinyurl.com/4vbq3p8

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com/

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE SAGA OF GOSTA BERLING by Selma Lagerlof. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/March11Classics

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

 

Dear Reader Column 03-22-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily
column at: DearReader.com



Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

Dear Reader,

When I mentioned to my husband the other day that I just couldn't seem to shake thinking about bad stuff, he suggested that I try solving some math problems in my head.

Yeah, right, that's what I want to think about--math. I didn't even want to think about math when I was in a math class. Math was never a friendly subject for me. I struggled through Algebra, ended up getting an A, but only because my teacher was a never-ending cheerleader. To this day, when I see too many numbers in one place, instantly my head hurts.

Besides, math takes away from my creative side. 2 + 2 = 4 and 16 x 12 = 192, those are facts. There's no room for any adverbs or descriptive explanations, no room for creativity. 16 x 12 doesn't "frequently" equal 192, or only on rainy days, or whenever I'm wearing blue jeans. Nope, 16 x 12 = 192 each and every time. But my husband explained that's exactly why math is such a great deterrent; math keeps your mind from thinking about personal problems. At least that's what the article he read the other day suggested.

Apparently when I'm thinking about numerical calculations, no matter how elementary, a different part of my brain kicks in and instantly math problems supersede personal problems. So what the heck, I gave it a try. And you know what? It worked.

My husband says it doesn't matter even if he thinks about the same math problem over and over again, the concept still works for him. Then again my husband likes to keep things simple. For instance, he only likes chocolate ice cream--me--I'm a Neapolitan fan: chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Ice cream? Now, there's a thought.

I wonder if multiplying scoops of ice cream in my mind would work just as good as simple numbers. 12 scoops x 18 scoops = 216 scoops of ice cream. But on second thought, if I think about ice cream too often, I'll probably start eating more ice cream, gain weight, get depressed, obsess about my weight problem and then the "thinking about bad stuff" cycle will start all over again.

Back to basics, 2 x 2 is 4 and 3 x 4 is 12...

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com/

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE SAGA OF GOSTA BERLING by Selma Lagerlof. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/March11Classics

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

 

Dear Reader Column 03-21-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily
column at: DearReader.com



Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

Dear Reader,

Is there an undiscovered gem sitting on your shelf, or tucked away in your memory, as a favorite book you discovered at your local library?

One book a week, 52 weeks in a year, I can only offer a limited number of titles at the book club. So I thought it would be fun if I featured a week of "Undiscovered Library Gems" in each of the genres at the book club.

Is there a book that most folks might not know about, but when you read it, it made a difference in your life? I need your help to put together the line-up of books. Please email the title(s) of your Undiscovered Gem, along with the name of the library where you discovered it.

Send your suggested titles to: [email protected]

Thanks for your help and thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Gratefully,
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE SAGA OF GOSTA BERLING by Selma Lagerlof. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/March11Classics

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

 

Dear Reader Column 03-18-11

Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily
column at: DearReader.com


Sample Suzanne's book at:
Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life

Dear Reader,

I realized the other day I used to get up and wonder what surprise was in store for me. I haven't been doing that lately, don't know why, but I need to get back into the habit, because it was fun. It didn't have to be anything big, but wherever I went, whatever I did, I was on the lookout for possibilities. Every day was a grab bag filled with something new and exciting.

It reminded me of when I was a kid and I used to love spending my allowance on a surprise grab bag. It was a small brown paper sack, taped shut and filled with who knows what--that was the surprise. After I paid for the bag, I didn't open it right away. Instead I'd carry it around with me, sometimes for the entire day. Of course I was dying to know what was inside. It was all I could think about. Guessing and pretending, by the end of the day I'd imagined 20 or 30 different possibilities, and each time I mentally opened that bag I was joyfully surprised by another wonderful gift.

The anticipation--it was quite a build-up and when I finally did open the bag, there were trinket toys inside. Not nearly as grandiose as I'd imagined, but that's not what mattered any more. Those trinkets may not have looked like much to anyone else, but thinking about the possibilities of what was in the bag had made my day.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com/

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE SAGA OF GOSTA BERLING by Selma Lagerlof. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/March11Classics

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader