Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
I'VE GOT A COVER FOR MY HEARTSONG
I got a cover for Golden Days today, due to release from Heartsong Presents in April. I love it.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Weekend Booksigning with CAN Friend
In and around Minneapolis with Judy Baer, Cyndy Salzmann, Jill Nelson, Susan Larson, Susan May Warren, Sharon Hinck (who sent me these pictures) and Me.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Michelle's website
Michelle has also informed me that Petticoat Ranch is her her featured book on her website, the link is above.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Amazon Review of Petticoat Ranch
Michelle Sutton, www.edgyinspirationalauthor.com
Her link is in my list of favorites, too, even BEFORE she wrote this review of Petticoat Ranch.
I am so humbled and thrilled and blessed by this review. Thank you, Michelle.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Booksigning in Sioux City ~ Family Christian Books
I'm signing Petticoat Ranch and another author will be there.
Bob Vander Plaats who wrote Light From Lucas
Family Christian Stores
Lakeport Commons
5001 Sergeant Rd Ste 92
Sioux City, IA
The signing is from 1 - 3, February 3rd
Friday, January 12, 2007
Petticoat Ranch on Dabbling Mum blog
I just read my first posted blog interview about Petticoat Ranch.
I don't know if I made any sense when I answered her questions, but Alyice, the Dabbling Mum made is sound good. :) thanks Alyice
I've got a writer's event!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've got an EVENT!!!!!!!!!!!Just writing about it is making me crazed. I'm signing books, with a bunch of great ladies.
Susan May Warren, Judy Baer, Sharon Hinck, Susie Larson, Jill Nelson and Cyndy Salzmann. Cyndy's the one who brought me in, through CAN www.christianauthorsnetwork.com
I'm excited but so nervous. Petticoat Ranch comes out in just over two weeks.
If you're near Minneapolis, or know someone who is, you could send them over. In the meantime, pray for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, Feb.9th at 7 p.m. = Northwestern 14150 Nicollet Ave S Burnsville
Saturday, Feb.10th at 10:30 a.m. = Northwestern 2100 Snelling Ave. N, Roseville
Saturday, Feb.10th at 2 p.m. = Northwestern 12985 Elm Creek Blvd, Maple Grove
Sunday, Feb 11th at 1-3pm = Barnes & Noble 15 1st St. SW Rochester
Thursday, November 30, 2006
15 Recipes ~ 15 Minutes
I’ve long believed that being a good cook isn’t about culinary art, it’s about picking a good recipe. I am completely capable of making more difficult dishes but I don’t very often, when I’ve got recipes the family likes that are done in the time it takes to brown the hamburger. The fifteen minutes doesn’t include baking time. These meals aren’t all DONE in fifteen minutes. It’s preparation time, which is what counts for me. For example, the French Dip Sandwiches cook in a crock pot all day. The only way I make roasts anymore, too. But my time spent in meal preparation is 15 minutes or less.
One note about the recipes. I've read them through several times and have tried my best to have them be correct. But...disclaimer time...if you see a recipe calling for one CUP of salt, or telling you to bake something at 3500 degrees, use your head. It's a typo!
Main Dishes
French Dip Sandwiches
1 rump roast
1 C. beef consommé (buy it canned in the soup section of the store)
1 can beef broth (canned)
1 C. water
1 pkg. Good Season’s Italian Dressing
Put in crock pot for 8 hours on low.
Slice meat. Serve on hoagie buns. Use liquid for French Dip sauce. Serve sauce in coffee cups or small bowls.
Lasagna
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
Stir into hamburger:
1 container cottage cheese
1 jar Prego spaghetti sauce
Lay uncooked lasagna noodles in bottom of 9 x 13 pan (3 or 4 noodles). Add layer of sauce, and layer of 1 C. mozzarella cheese (I use more)
Repeat for second layer, that’s all I ever make. Three layers usually runs over the pan. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Bake for in 350 oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until cheese on top is browned. Serve with garlic bread and salad.
Use a smaller baking dish, make half-sized lasagna, then freeze extra sauce—with meat and cottage cheese in it, in the cottage cheese container for even quicker lasagna next time.
Garlic bread, slice loaf of French bread the long way so it looks like a huge hotdog bun. Lay halves of bread side by side on a cookie sheet. Butter, sprinkle with garlic powder, sprinkle with mozzarella and/or parmesan cheese (I use both) and bake the last fifteen minutes with the lasagna.
Chili
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
1 onion (chopped and browned with meat)
1 can tomato juice
1 can chili beans
garlic, chili powder, sugar –seasoned to taste
*Add a can of tomato paste if you like it thicker
*I chop up a whole celery stalk, just slice through the whole stalk from top to bottom, then freeze it in zip lock bags so it’s easy to add to recipes. I pour some celery in with the browning meat and onions to a nice extra texture and color
Three Bean Hamburger Casserole
(we actually call it Moosehead – don’t ask me why)
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
1 can pork & beans
1 can butter beans
1 can kidney beans
I skip the extra beans most of the time and just use pork & beans. Otherwise the recipe is too big. Add:
½ C. brown sugar
½ C. catsup
1 T. mustard
Heat thoroughly, serve. The kids just love this. It’s probably because of the brown sugar.
Everything In The Garden Soup
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
Add:
Water to cover meat
2 or 3 potatoes (peeled and cubed)
3 or 4 carrots (peeled and cubed)
1 onion
Cook until tender. Add:
1 can corn
1 can green beans
1 can whole tomatoes
1 can tomato juice
Bring to boil. Serve.
Cheesy Chicken Soup
2 C. cooked chicken (canned works)
1 can chicken broth
1 tsp cumin
3 Tbl. butter
1 clove garlic (garlic powder works)
1 can creamed corn
1 can green chilis
1 cup cubed Velveeta
2 Cups Half & Half
1 can Rotelle tomatoes
Meat Loaf
1 lb. raw hamburger
1 slice bread
1 glub of milk
1 egg
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
½ C. cubed Velveeta cheese
Mix together. Use your hands. C’mon you can DO IT! We’re in a hurry here! Put in greased casserole dish, and grease the sides and the handles so it’s easy to clean.
Topping.
½ C. catsup
1 lump - ¼ C.? brown sugar
1 T vinegar or mustard or both
Stir topping ingredients together, spread over raw meat loaf.
Bake for one hour.
Enchilada Casserole
1 lb. Hamburger (browned)
Add:
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can green chilies
Layer in 9 x9 baking dish:
Flour tortilla
Meat mixture
1 C. cheddar cheese
Repeat -- two layers.
Bake 20 - 30 minutes until warmed through and cheddar cheese on top is melted.
Porcupines
1 lb. raw hamburger
½ C. uncooked rice
Mix together. Shape meatballs put in casserole dish. Expect them to look nothing like porcupines. Add:
Tomato juice to cover meat. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes in covered casserole dish at 375. It takes every minute of that time or the rice isn’t tender.
Goulash
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
1 small onion
Add:
1 C. cooked macaroni
2 C. tomato juice
1 T. sugar
Salt to taste
Quick Beef Stroganoff
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
1 or 2 C. noodles (cooked)
1 can cream of whatever soup
¼ C. milk
Hamburger Corn Bread Casserole
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
Onions and Green peppers if desired.
Add:
2 T. catsup
1 t. chili powder
1 t. salt
1 can tomato soup
Mix. Pour into casserole dish.
Top with unbaked prepared Jiffy corn bread mix. If you find a better recipe for corn bread let me know. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes. This is easy to underbake, then the cornbread is doughy and that’s gross so be careful
MAC Soup
1 lb. hamburger
1 onion (chopped. About ½ C.)
1 green pepper (chopped)
Brown first three ingredients. Add:
Seasoning packet from 1 pkg. Chili Tomato Hamburger Helper (It may have a different name now???). Mix well. Add:
5 C. water
Macaroni from Hamburger Helper
1 t. chili powder
½ t. garlic salt
¼ t. salt
1 lb. can of whole tomatoes
1 c. Black olives (halved)
1 can corn
Simmer until macaroni is tender, around 10 minutes.
Ham & Potato & Cheese Casserole
Leftover ham cubed (any amount)
Cooked cubed potatoes (any amount)
Cubed Velveeta cheese (any amount)
Milk to thin cheese
Combine all in saucepan. Heat until cheese is melted.
*************************************************
Fast, Delicious Sweets
Connealy Crunch
2 pounds (about a package and a half) Almond Bark (melted)
Melt in microwave 1 ½ minutes. Stir. Melt 1 ½ minutes. That should be enough. You might need slightly longer. Almond bark doesn’t lose its shape when it melts so you have to stir it to see if it’s enough. Add:
3 C. Captain Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal
3 C. miniature marshmallows
3 C. Rice Krispies
3 C. mixed nuts
Spread out on waxed paper. Let cool. Break into bite sized pieces.
Baby Ruth Bars
½ C. white sugar
½ C. brown sugar
1 C. white syrup
Mix together in sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Boil one minute. Add:
1 C. peanut butter
Mix thoroughly. Pour over:
6 C. cornflakes
1 C. peanuts
Press into 9 x 13 pan.
Frosting:
1 C. chocolate chips
1 C. butterscotch chips
Melt in microwave. 1 ½ minutes, then stir. 1 minute then stir. Should be enough.
Spread over cornflake mixture.
One note about the recipes. I've read them through several times and have tried my best to have them be correct. But...disclaimer time...if you see a recipe calling for one CUP of salt, or telling you to bake something at 3500 degrees, use your head. It's a typo!
Main Dishes
French Dip Sandwiches
1 rump roast
1 C. beef consommé (buy it canned in the soup section of the store)
1 can beef broth (canned)
1 C. water
1 pkg. Good Season’s Italian Dressing
Put in crock pot for 8 hours on low.
Slice meat. Serve on hoagie buns. Use liquid for French Dip sauce. Serve sauce in coffee cups or small bowls.
Lasagna
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
Stir into hamburger:
1 container cottage cheese
1 jar Prego spaghetti sauce
Lay uncooked lasagna noodles in bottom of 9 x 13 pan (3 or 4 noodles). Add layer of sauce, and layer of 1 C. mozzarella cheese (I use more)
Repeat for second layer, that’s all I ever make. Three layers usually runs over the pan. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Bake for in 350 oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until cheese on top is browned. Serve with garlic bread and salad.
Use a smaller baking dish, make half-sized lasagna, then freeze extra sauce—with meat and cottage cheese in it, in the cottage cheese container for even quicker lasagna next time.
Garlic bread, slice loaf of French bread the long way so it looks like a huge hotdog bun. Lay halves of bread side by side on a cookie sheet. Butter, sprinkle with garlic powder, sprinkle with mozzarella and/or parmesan cheese (I use both) and bake the last fifteen minutes with the lasagna.
Chili
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
1 onion (chopped and browned with meat)
1 can tomato juice
1 can chili beans
garlic, chili powder, sugar –seasoned to taste
*Add a can of tomato paste if you like it thicker
*I chop up a whole celery stalk, just slice through the whole stalk from top to bottom, then freeze it in zip lock bags so it’s easy to add to recipes. I pour some celery in with the browning meat and onions to a nice extra texture and color
Three Bean Hamburger Casserole
(we actually call it Moosehead – don’t ask me why)
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
1 can pork & beans
1 can butter beans
1 can kidney beans
I skip the extra beans most of the time and just use pork & beans. Otherwise the recipe is too big. Add:
½ C. brown sugar
½ C. catsup
1 T. mustard
Heat thoroughly, serve. The kids just love this. It’s probably because of the brown sugar.
Everything In The Garden Soup
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
Add:
Water to cover meat
2 or 3 potatoes (peeled and cubed)
3 or 4 carrots (peeled and cubed)
1 onion
Cook until tender. Add:
1 can corn
1 can green beans
1 can whole tomatoes
1 can tomato juice
Bring to boil. Serve.
Cheesy Chicken Soup
2 C. cooked chicken (canned works)
1 can chicken broth
1 tsp cumin
3 Tbl. butter
1 clove garlic (garlic powder works)
1 can creamed corn
1 can green chilis
1 cup cubed Velveeta
2 Cups Half & Half
1 can Rotelle tomatoes
Meat Loaf
1 lb. raw hamburger
1 slice bread
1 glub of milk
1 egg
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
½ C. cubed Velveeta cheese
Mix together. Use your hands. C’mon you can DO IT! We’re in a hurry here! Put in greased casserole dish, and grease the sides and the handles so it’s easy to clean.
Topping.
½ C. catsup
1 lump - ¼ C.? brown sugar
1 T vinegar or mustard or both
Stir topping ingredients together, spread over raw meat loaf.
Bake for one hour.
Enchilada Casserole
1 lb. Hamburger (browned)
Add:
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can green chilies
Layer in 9 x9 baking dish:
Flour tortilla
Meat mixture
1 C. cheddar cheese
Repeat -- two layers.
Bake 20 - 30 minutes until warmed through and cheddar cheese on top is melted.
Porcupines
1 lb. raw hamburger
½ C. uncooked rice
Mix together. Shape meatballs put in casserole dish. Expect them to look nothing like porcupines. Add:
Tomato juice to cover meat. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes in covered casserole dish at 375. It takes every minute of that time or the rice isn’t tender.
Goulash
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
1 small onion
Add:
1 C. cooked macaroni
2 C. tomato juice
1 T. sugar
Salt to taste
Quick Beef Stroganoff
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
1 or 2 C. noodles (cooked)
1 can cream of whatever soup
¼ C. milk
Hamburger Corn Bread Casserole
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
Onions and Green peppers if desired.
Add:
2 T. catsup
1 t. chili powder
1 t. salt
1 can tomato soup
Mix. Pour into casserole dish.
Top with unbaked prepared Jiffy corn bread mix. If you find a better recipe for corn bread let me know. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes. This is easy to underbake, then the cornbread is doughy and that’s gross so be careful
MAC Soup
1 lb. hamburger
1 onion (chopped. About ½ C.)
1 green pepper (chopped)
Brown first three ingredients. Add:
Seasoning packet from 1 pkg. Chili Tomato Hamburger Helper (It may have a different name now???). Mix well. Add:
5 C. water
Macaroni from Hamburger Helper
1 t. chili powder
½ t. garlic salt
¼ t. salt
1 lb. can of whole tomatoes
1 c. Black olives (halved)
1 can corn
Simmer until macaroni is tender, around 10 minutes.
Ham & Potato & Cheese Casserole
Leftover ham cubed (any amount)
Cooked cubed potatoes (any amount)
Cubed Velveeta cheese (any amount)
Milk to thin cheese
Combine all in saucepan. Heat until cheese is melted.
*************************************************
Fast, Delicious Sweets
Connealy Crunch
2 pounds (about a package and a half) Almond Bark (melted)
Melt in microwave 1 ½ minutes. Stir. Melt 1 ½ minutes. That should be enough. You might need slightly longer. Almond bark doesn’t lose its shape when it melts so you have to stir it to see if it’s enough. Add:
3 C. Captain Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal
3 C. miniature marshmallows
3 C. Rice Krispies
3 C. mixed nuts
Spread out on waxed paper. Let cool. Break into bite sized pieces.
Baby Ruth Bars
½ C. white sugar
½ C. brown sugar
1 C. white syrup
Mix together in sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Boil one minute. Add:
1 C. peanut butter
Mix thoroughly. Pour over:
6 C. cornflakes
1 C. peanuts
Press into 9 x 13 pan.
Frosting:
1 C. chocolate chips
1 C. butterscotch chips
Melt in microwave. 1 ½ minutes, then stir. 1 minute then stir. Should be enough.
Spread over cornflake mixture.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Road To Romance Review
My first on-line book review for Petticoat Ranch has appeared. And they liked it!
Monday, October 23, 2006
Techno-genius strikes again!!!!!
I've spent the last oh....DECADE trying to figure out MySpace. So this
weekend my 17-year-old Katy finally took pity on me and showed me how to
invite people to be my friends and how to....
forgive me....
pimp my page.
Where do children come up with these things????
And why do they have the nerve to say them to their mother?????????
Anyway, I invited a bunch of people today, felt kind of....nervy you might
say, like a bad highschool party that you come to and everyone gives you the
"Who invited you?" look. But Katy pep-talked me into it, so I did it.
Then after all the invites went out, I tried to...p@#$ my page and
Forgive me again....
Ended up with a stripper somehow as my background picture.
So of course, on the very day someone might actually ask to be my friend...
Another aside here....
I've got a comment about THIS language, too. Whenever I hit the wrong button
on the Create Profile page it says things like...
You've got NO FRIENDS
Or
You can't post here because you're not anyones friend.
Very cruel and now I'm like.... you know... clinically depressed because I
have no friends.
Anyway...back to whatever I started out to say
short break while I try and remember......
I got rid of the stripper, although honestly I felt like I should witness to
her first, because she pretty obviously needs the Lord, but of course I'm
not her FRIEND.
And now my Myspace page, which is ... oh, I'm not even going to tell you
whats there, it's so....let's say...minimalist. It says nothing but the
title of my book.
And here's the part where I apologize to Camy.
Somehow when you click on the blog link....Camy Tang's blog comes up. I did
NOT do that. I went and READ Camy's blog but I didn't steal it. Or, of
course I DID steal it, but I didn't MEAN to steal it and maybe I linked to
it somehow but I didn't MEAN to. And I'm afraid to do much to fix it because
I'm afraid the stripper will come back.
For now, http://www.myspace.com/petticoatranch is okay, now that the
stripper's gone. Plus I've got this great blog...Camy's. Honestly Camy's
blog is better than whatever I was going to write. Which I DID write
something but have no idea where it went. And again, stripper issue so I'm
afraid to hunt too hard.
So Techno-genius strikes again and CAMY?????
If you want your blog back, you're going to have to go wading in the swamp
of my mind.
Take a GPS tracker so when you call for help.....and you will.......the
search and rescue people can find you.
weekend my 17-year-old Katy finally took pity on me and showed me how to
invite people to be my friends and how to....
forgive me....
pimp my page.
Where do children come up with these things????
And why do they have the nerve to say them to their mother?????????
Anyway, I invited a bunch of people today, felt kind of....nervy you might
say, like a bad highschool party that you come to and everyone gives you the
"Who invited you?" look. But Katy pep-talked me into it, so I did it.
Then after all the invites went out, I tried to...p@#$ my page and
Forgive me again....
Ended up with a stripper somehow as my background picture.
So of course, on the very day someone might actually ask to be my friend...
Another aside here....
I've got a comment about THIS language, too. Whenever I hit the wrong button
on the Create Profile page it says things like...
You've got NO FRIENDS
Or
You can't post here because you're not anyones friend.
Very cruel and now I'm like.... you know... clinically depressed because I
have no friends.
Anyway...back to whatever I started out to say
short break while I try and remember......
I got rid of the stripper, although honestly I felt like I should witness to
her first, because she pretty obviously needs the Lord, but of course I'm
not her FRIEND.
And now my Myspace page, which is ... oh, I'm not even going to tell you
whats there, it's so....let's say...minimalist. It says nothing but the
title of my book.
And here's the part where I apologize to Camy.
Somehow when you click on the blog link....Camy Tang's blog comes up. I did
NOT do that. I went and READ Camy's blog but I didn't steal it. Or, of
course I DID steal it, but I didn't MEAN to steal it and maybe I linked to
it somehow but I didn't MEAN to. And I'm afraid to do much to fix it because
I'm afraid the stripper will come back.
For now, http://www.myspace.com/petticoatranch is okay, now that the
stripper's gone. Plus I've got this great blog...Camy's. Honestly Camy's
blog is better than whatever I was going to write. Which I DID write
something but have no idea where it went. And again, stripper issue so I'm
afraid to hunt too hard.
So Techno-genius strikes again and CAMY?????
If you want your blog back, you're going to have to go wading in the swamp
of my mind.
Take a GPS tracker so when you call for help.....and you will.......the
search and rescue people can find you.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Wording of the Press Release
Glass Road Public Relations, LLC www.GlassRoadPR.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 11, 2006
Contact: Jessica Dotta
jessica@glassroadpr.com
IT'S THE COWBOY VERSUS THE COWGIRLS
Mary Connealy Releases Suspenseful Romantic Comedy
(NASHVILLE, TN) Sophie Edwards knows a thing or two about survival. During the Civil War, she ran her Texas ranch single-handedly and managed to raise four daughters. And when her husband was murdered and the ranch stolen from her, she kept her family hidden and alive.
Clay McCellen grew up in the West and has seen few women and even fewer girls. When the search for his long lost brother leads him instead to his brother's widow, Clay takes it upon himself to marry Sophie, restore the family ranch, and provide for his fatherless nieces. What he doesn't realize is that Texas cowgirls don't require much looking after. While Clay tries to adjust to a houseful of teary-eyed females who giggle too much, a gang of desperados learns that Clay's new wife—the sole witness to her first husband's murder—is still in Texas. As Clay tries to convince his new
family to depend on him, the womenfolk get to work booby-trapping the property to catch the bad guys.
“If Katie Elder had daughters, they would surely inhabit Petticoat Ranch!” Kathleen Y’Barbo Author of Brothers of the Outlaw Trail and Louisiana Brides
About the Author: Mary Connealy is an author, journalist and a
teacher. She releases three books with Barbour this year, is a columnist
for the Lyons Mirror-Sun, and an occasional book reviewer for the Sioux City Journal.
She lives on a farm in Nebraska with her husband, Ivan. They have four daughters, Joslyn, Wendy, Shelly and Katy.
###
Petticoat Ranch
Mary Connealy
ISBN: 978-1-59789-647-4
$9.97, tradepaper
Barbour Publishing
February 2007
Glass Road Public Relations
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Press Release from Glass Road Public Relations
My book is now among the montage of covers on the Glass Road Public Relations website. The title of this post is a link to that page. I've also been informed that the ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) is on it's way to me. I'm going to get to hold it in my hand!!!
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