The first one was to win a scholarship to attend a writing conference this summer. I had to submit the first five pages of my manuscript. I spent several hours editing those few pages, as well as double checking all my research to make sure it was right!
The second one was for a baking contest. You are probably wondering what this has to do with Mudlavia! For this book, I've had to research everything; clothes, trains, cars, medicine, and yes, food! I am fascinated by old Mudlavia menus, and anything I can learn about the kitchen and gardens there. The old menus have inspired me to recreate old recipes from the turn of the century.
Food Network had an ad for a baking contest, and I thought it would be fun to enter one of the recipes I made up. Pictured below are what I am calling Old Fashioned Lemonade Cookies. They were inspired by an old time recipe that was similar to a pecan cookie recipe my grandma and mom used to make at Christmas time. Once I had that recipe down, I turned it into a lemon cookie; partly because I've found several recipes from the turn of the century featuring lemon, and partly because of my dad, who adores anything with lemon in it.
You would never believe the complications with changing a few ingredients around in a recipe. People aren't joking when they say baking is a science- it took two to get the frosting right and five tries to get the dough right!
My book is coming along well. I have about 90,000 words written and I have started editing my first draft. My goal is to have it edited by the end of May before my girls are out of school. I still have a long way to go with the research to help fill in gaps in my story, but am really excited about how it is coming along. More posts to come soon! Thanks for reading!
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