Category: tuesday tip

NY Times and USA Today bestselling romance author Caridad Pineiro shares tips about crafts, cooking, and more!

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#TuesdayTip – Keep on Learning and Meeting New People

When I think about my grandmother and my hubby’s grandmother, I’m always amazed at how alert they were even at 94 and 103 respectively. I believe that a big part of that was the fact that they never stopped being active. I remember both of them reading or listening to television to keep up on what was happening or watch a favorite show. Even gardening and cooking (except when my grandma nearly burned the house down!) I hope to be like that when I’m 100!

As a writer, I also like to stay active and keep on learning and meeting new people. It’s why I go to conferences like the upcoming Liberty States Fiction Writers Readers and Writers Conference. P.S. I’m also the President there, but even if I wasn’t, I’d highly recommend it to any aspiring writer or to any reader who wants to surround themselves with the people who write the books that they love (or maybe even find a new author to enjoy!).

The program for the conference is up now at http://bit.ly/2o27zeP so please check it out and think about joining us for a weekend of learning, meeting new people and lots of fun!

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Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup Comfort Food #TuesdayTip

My all time fav comfort food on a cold day is a hot grilled cheese sandwich with a bowl of tomato soup. Don’t know what it is about that combo, but it just says home on a snowy day for me. Apropos since we are supposedly getting snow today here in NY/NJ. There are so many variations on grilled cheese, but I normally like to keep simple and today I’m offering up my recipe for it. As for the soup, likewise, keep it simple. I’m so not a fan of all the latest heavy basil tomato soups. Give me rich and creamy and all tomato!

Grilled Cheese a la Caridad

Ingredients

    2 slices country white bread
    3 or 4 slices medium cheddar or slicing cheddar
    Mayonnaise

Directions

    Heat a cast iron pan until it’s grilling hot. If you don’t have cast iron, non-stick is okay, but there’s something about the cast iron that just produces a better caramelization on the bread. Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on the slice of bread. Yes, I thought it was gross also when I first heard it, but after I tried it I discovered that it really worked! Lay that bread mayo side down on the pan. Add the cheese. Spread the second piece of bread with the mayo and lay it mayo side up on the cheese. Press down gently on the sandwich and listen for that searing sound on the hot pan. Cook for about four to five minutes and check to see if the bread is golden brown. If so, flip and cook on the other side until golden brown. Serve with some tasty tomato soup!

    You may be wondering why not sharp cheddar? It’s too dry and crumbly and won’t melt well. Keep in mind that the more moisture in a cheese, the better it melts.

Want to play around with your cheeses? These are some other good melting cheeses:

    Fontina
    Gruyere
    Asiago
    Gouda
    Provolone
    Mozzarella (not the fresh kind)
    Camembert
    Velveeta (yes, I still love Velveeta)
    American Cheese

Want to know more about the science of melting cheese? Check out https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/the-science-of-melting-cheese.html. You can also visit https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/articles/50-grilled-cheese for more grilled cheese recipes.

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#TuesdayTip – Exploring Your Other Creative Sides

Being a writer is not only a solitary life at times, it’s a sedentary life. Plus, putting words on paper doesn’t have an immediate sense of satisfaction at completing something, mainly because it often takes weeks or months for your work-in-progress to be completed. For that reason, I take time to explore my other creative sides which provide that burst of “I got this done!”

Sometimes it’s making SWAG for you guys, like bookmarks or necklaces. Other times it’s about building something, like this tree hall I just finished this weekend! I had been shopping around and most of the tree halls were $300 plus and I have to confess to having a very big frugal streak (my husband calls it cheap, but I prefer frugal).

Since I had wood lying around and also a door that was no longer in use I thought: How hard would it be to turn this into a hall tree?

Well, after three weekends it turned out that it wasn’t so hard. Scrap wood, the door, some pipes and spray paint I had lying around, hooks that were on sale at Hobby Lobby, a door knob, and some gloss white paint and voila! Upcycled hall tree. Total out of pocket cost about $40. Yep, $40 and not $300. I’d say that worked out well and I got to exercise that other creative muscle in my body.

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Caldo Gallego aka Galician White Bean Soup #TuesdayTip

There is nothing more satisfying on a cold winter day than a nice bowl of hearty soup. One of my favorite soups is Caldo Gallego which is a dish from my grandparents’ native Galicia in Spain. Caldo Gallego is a mix of chorizo, ham, beans and greens in a tasty broth. Paired with a nice crusty loaf of bread and some wine and it’s a perfect winter meal. I hope you’ll try out my version which has some additions to the traditional recipe, mostly because I just love carrots! Also, I find turnips too strong in flavor and because of this and to cut carbs, I omit them. They are in the traditional recipe.

Ingredients

    32 oz Chicken Bone Broth
    1 Ham Hock
    1 lb. Ham steak cut into large chunks
    2 chorizo sausages cut into slices
    2 large carrots in large chunks
    1 large onion chopped
    3 medium potatoes in large chunks
    1 lb bag white navy beans (or 2 16 oz cans cannellini beans rinsed)
    4 cups chopped turnip greens/collard greens/Kale
    2 bay leaves

Directions

    Saute the onion in olive oil until soft.
    Add sliced chorizo and chopped ham and cook for another 5 minutes or so.
    Add ham hock, bone broth and bay leaves.
    Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a low boil. Cooking at too high a boil will make the broth even cloudier. FYI you can start this with just water or chicken/vegetable broth. I’ve started using bone broth as it contains more protein.
    Simmer for 45 minutes. If you’re using hard unsoaked navy beans, add them now and cook for another 45 minutes before adding the carrots. If you’re using soaked beans, add them when you add the carrots. Cook for 15 minutes and check the beans. If they are almost soft, add the potatoes. If not, cook for another 15 minutes or so, checking the beans to see if they are soft. Once soft, add the potatoes.
    Remove the ham hock and take the meat off the bone. Add the meat back to the pot. Once the potatoes are almost fork tender, add the canned beans and also the chopped greens. Cook until greens are just soft.
    Serve with warm bread, butter and wine!

Hope you enjoyed today’s Tuesday Tip!

Cuban Caldo Gallego – Galician White Bean Soup.
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Christmas Cookie Recipes #TuesdayTip

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas all over so it’s time to think about some holiday baking! My fried Kathy makes the most delicious walnut crescent cookies every Christmas and we look forward to them every year. My other friend Jayne, a regular at our holiday table, also brings tasty cookie treats for our Christmas Eve dessert. So today I’m sharing some links to Christmas cookies you might like to try for the holidays! Just paste and copy the links into your browser!**

Hershey’s Christmas Cookie Pizza: http://bit.ly/2P5rmSS
Betty Crocker Recipes & 24 days of Cookies e-mail: http://bit.ly/2OZNRbX
Good Housekeeping 100 Top Christmas Cookie Recipes: http://bit.ly/2P3g2qn
Country Living 60+ Recipes: http://bit.ly/2P4rZME
Walnut Crescent Cookies: http://bit.ly/2P2WEK8

**Why no active links? Well, Google is punishing sites with broken links and with third party sites changing up content, it’s really hard not to have broken live links. Since I’ve been dinged by Google (and with over 6000 links it’s no wonder), I’ve got a link checker working on cleaning things up, but thought I’d avoid the issue by not having hyperlinks in the posts.

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#TuesdayTip – Be Adventurous

I’m off at the International Women’s Writing Guild conference and having a great time. After I finish teaching my workshop on Commercial Fiction, I try out the other workshops. Some of them are not what I’m used to at Romance writing conferences, but I’m a firm believer in being adventurous and trying new things (except if they involve being more than 10 feet above the ground!)

So I’ve been taking a mix of classes on the craft of writing and those have yielded thoughts on how to start my new book in a stronger way and how to get emotions into the mix with Carlo, the caterer and chef in book #3 from the At the Shore series.

I’ve also explored other creative avenues. I used to paint and I love to build things, so I took advantage to explore collage and mixed media workshops with two other instructors. In one of the workshops we created a prosperity envelope and I seized the opportunity to let it remind me of my happy place! Can you guess where that is from the photo?

I guess today’s tip is Be Adventurous and try something new!

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Pesto Artichoke Pizza- #Tuesday Tip

I’ve had a rollercoaster of weight loss and gain my whole life. The last few years I dropped up to 40 pounds by eliminating carbs, but then put it back on the moment I had any carbs. I love carbs so sticking to that kind of lifestyle was impossible so this time I sought moderation. I’d have carbs, but only occasionally and so far it’s worked. It’s taken longer to lose the weight, but it hasn’t been a hardship and I feel like this is a lifestyle I can maintain.

With that disclaimer, we made pizzas over the weekend and since so many of you asked after seeing them on Facebook, here’s my recipe for a delicious Pesto Artichoke Pizza!

Ingredients

For the Pesto Sauce

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 cup basil leaves
2/3 cup pistachios (shelled)(you can also use the traditional pine nuts or walnuts)
2 cloves of garlic cut in half

For the Pizza

1 lb pizza dough (makes two 8-9″ individual pies or one big pie)(Bridgeford dough works or check your local supermarket. Most carry fresh dough now)
1 1/2 cups chopped artichoke hearts (I used bottled marinated ones and drained off the oil)
2/3 cup chopped roasted red peppers
2/3 cup caramelized onions
3 sliced cloves of garlic (You can cook these with the onions)
8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese sliced
6 slices crisply cooked bacon
Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly oil your pizza pan and spread out the dough to the edge. Create a little lip to form the edge of the crust.

Once the oven is hot, cook the dough for about 10 minutes until it has a slight crust. While the dough is baking, prepare your pesto sauce.

Place oil, garlic, and basil in blender or food processor and blend on low until it basil is chopped. Add nuts and blend again. If the mixture is too tight/thick, add oil little by little until you can easily spread. Don’t overdo oil though since we do want to keep this a little healthy.

Remove dough from oven after ten minutes and begin to top the pie.

Spread out your pesto sauce all around up until the lip of the crust. Spread out the caramelized onions and garlic. Spread the chopped artichokes next. Then add the roasted peppers. Break the bacon into big chunks and layout all over the other ingredients. Layout the mozzarella cheese. Feel free to break the slices apart to create an artisan look to the pizza. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake in oven for approximately 30 minutes or until the crust is a golden brown along the edges and on the bottom.

Let sit for a few minutes and then slice and serve!

Hope you enjoyed this recipe! Of course, you can vary it yourself. Try sausage instead of pizza. Add capers. Use goat cheese instead of mozzarella. Spice it up with some jalapeños or make up your own combo. That’s the fun of making your own pizza at home!
Pesto_artichoke-pizza

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