Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Excerpt from Erin's Adventures In Dreamsville and holiday recipe, Ireland's Charming Cinnamon Cookies






 Introduction:


Little did Erin O'Malley know that she was about to experience the most life altering year of her existence. The sudden passing of her Aunt Ireland would bring bittersweet emotions along with newfound friends. Their special tea parties and blissful Sundays spent baking would always remain treasured memories in Erin's heart. However, this was not the only treasure which Erin bared, for Erin's aunt left a part of her legacy underneath a blue blanket in the closet. Curiosity of the unknown only heightened the excitement of what Erin was about to reveal about her aunt as well as herself. Either way, nothing or no one could have prepared her for what came next, like her aunt's secret life and Erin’s purpose in it all.



 Excerpt from Chapter One:

Erin recalled peering out of the window, remembering a certain instance with her aunt.  “Come to the kitchen!” Aunt Ireland yelled.  Erin skipped into the kitchen, where her aunt had a beautiful tray of Erin’s favorite cookies, cinnamon sugar.  Erin sat at the kitchen table eating her cookies and sipping an icy, cold glass of milk.  While Erin was gobbling down her goodies, her aunt would be preparing the tray with dainty teacups for tea time.  The sight of the silver tray sent Erin from her chair and immediately to her aunt’s side.  “Is this what I think it is?” Erin asked.  Aunt Ireland had nodded “yes,” picked up the tray, and lead Erin into the Florida room.  The Florida room was one of Erin’s favorite places in the house, because the French doors led to a balcony, which overlooked the enchanting woods.  Erin recalled Aunt Ireland placing the tray on the white, wrought iron table and taking her hand, as they moved towards an old, wooden chest.  Erin always smiled at the cheerful paintings of children playing in colorful autumn leaves.  There was another painting that she was extremely fond of, which consisted of children sledding beside a quaint, snowy cottage.  She particularly loved the way the smoke bellowed from the chimney, while a small family gathered out front, enjoying mugs of something delicious.  Erin liked to imagine it was hot chocolate with lots of mini marshmallows.


Ireland's Charming Cinnamon Cookies:
3 tbsp. white sugar 
1tbsp. ground cinnamon 
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup butter (softened)
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups of all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
Pinch of nutmeg

1. Preheat oven @ 300 degrees F.
2. Combine 3 tsp. white sugar and cinnamon with pinch of nutmeg in a bowl and set aside.
3. Blend dark brown sugar and white sugar in a large bowl with mixture on medium speed. Add butter and blend until grainy. Add eggs and vanilla extract, mixing until light and fluffy. 
4. Whisk flour, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl. Add to sugar mixture, mixing at low speed just long enough to combine. Over mixing will make the cookies tough!
5. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, then roll each ball into cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 300 degrees F for 18-20 minutes. Remove from sheets and let cool on racks. Caution: Eating these cookies may cause you to smile and be surrounded by family and friends!



About The Author, Michelle Tighe
Michelle Tighe, a New Jersey native, graduated from Gloucester City High School and has worked as a Legal Secretary for the past seventeen years. She is happily married and has a son. Michelle has always enjoyed writing poetry and reading. She is excited to pursue her lifelong dream of publishing Erin’s Adventures in Dreamsville, a children’s book.Serendipity Media Group Publishing

For Sale in softcover and e book format.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Hope For Ethiopia

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then look out because these pictures will give you a lot of bang for your buck.

As a writer, I have always been completely mesmerized by other cultures and how other people live on this same planet that I live on in the year 2013. My heart has always led me on the “journey of the unknown”. These discoveries that I have made along the journey have made me the woman I am today—aware, excited, hopeful. At the same time, I have also been disappointed, discouraged, but never without hope. I believe that there are many ways to live, but only one way to love and that is wholeheartedly. No ones’ life is easy—granted, but our lives can be better by taking simple steps every day towards being compassionate. Being compassionate means taking the time to smile, taking the time to listen, and taking the time to pay attention. As Mother Teresa so aptly said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

 


The photo was taken in Ethiopia by a distant cousin (Jakhan Alioto-Nguyen).

copyright Serendipity Media Group, Inc. 2013 all rights reserved. 
 

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Meet Serendipity Authors

Meet author Gina Meyers, Love at First Bite, The Unofficial Twilight Cookbook, Magic of Bewitched, and The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook series.   






Gina Meyers is best known for her popular culture television trivia and cooking expertise books related to the Twilight saga and the iconic television show Bewitched. Gina, a California native, is a graduate of California State University, Fresno, with a Bachelor's Degree in Business, with a concentration in Marketing. She also holds an Emergency Teaching Credential and has taken culinary classes at the renowned Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France.  She is the proud winner of the prestigious Gourmand International Cookbook Award for Best Charity Cookbook, Hope For Haiti. (Awards ceremony, March 2012, Folies Bergère,Paris, France). Fans of hit TV sitcom, “The Office”, might remember Kevin Malone’s character making a reference to “Edward Cullen’s Cornflake Chicken”. “I just finished reading the Julia Child’s cookbook and now I am halfway through the Twilight Cookbook, I just made “Edward Cullen’s Cornflake Chicken.” Yes, there is an Edward Cullen’s Cornflake Chicken in Love At First Bite, The Unofficial Twilight Cookbook. There also is a Twilight Tribute Punch concoction. Stars of The Twilight movie, drank Gina's Twilight Tribute Punch on The Alan Carr Chatty Man Late Night Talk Show in London, England. Kellan Lutz, (also known as Emmett Cullen,) loved the Twilight Tribute Punch so much he even drank Ashley Green's (also known as Alice Cullen) punch!
From an early age, Gina found she had a passion for the culinary arts,experimenting in the kitchen with baking breads, muffins, cookies and cakes. From 1997 to present, Gina teaches a variety of fun and informative cooking  classes for children and adults. Gina is happy to be publisher and creative consultant for Serendipity Media Group, Inc.



Meet Author Liz Longo, A Bird And Its Albatross: A Tale of Renewal 

















 Liz Longo is a native New Yorker. Her Italian family arrived on Ellis Island in the start of the 1900’s with two simple dollars and not a word of English either.  The boat broke down on the way but that’s another story.  As a result, Liz very much relates to and appreciates the ever changing population, bringing new smiles, flavors and spices to the city. Inspired by the New York Public Library’s French Book Art/Livres D’Artists, Artist and Poets in Dialogue exhibit in 2006 of artist collaborations between 1874 and 1999, Liz maintains “The merge of these art forms reveals the beautiful depth of humanity’s soul, we can collaborate peace...a masterpiece, if we are supportive of each other’s simple existence.”   


Meet  Patricia Florio, My Two Mothers

Patricia Florio was born in Brooklyn, where most of the story of My Two Mothers takes place. After raising four children, she went back to school to study court reporting, and worked as a court reporter in the federal system in the United  States Bankruptcy Court, but the writing bug always lingered inside.  After a few courses in Creative Nonfiction, Patricia balanced family, work, and school and attended Rutgers University, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies.  She then went on to Wilkes University's Low Residency Creative Writing program and stayed on the Nonfiction track, and graduated with an MA and MFA creating  My Two Mothers as her MA thesis, and wrote her academic MFA capstone on Survivors in Memoir after reading 30 plus memoirs in the genre. Patricia is a Norman Mailer finalist in the 2012 Fellowship Contest where she studied under Dr. J. Michael Lennon, Norman Mailer's biographer.  She has had many short stories published.  Summer issue of 2013 in Newtown Literary, a Queens Literary Journal for Golden Boy.

 Meet Author Eddie Lucas, Living Room Legends: Chats With TV's Famous Faces  



Eddie Lucas is a baby-boomer, writer, educator, and vintage TV historian. Lucas, a 1983 graduate of the University of Central Florida, has completed extensive courses in Radio and Television Broadcasting and Journalism, and has spent thousands of hours reading every article, interview, and book available on the history and background of television—its writers, producers, the iconic studios who produced them, such as Desilu and Screen Gems, even down to most minute details, such as episode titles, special guest stars, and original air dates. Lucas says: “As a classic television fan and historian, I wanted to delve deeper and find out more about some of my favorite TV shows and the stars we baby boomers all grew up watching. I wanted to go beyond what had previously been written in articles and books to find the answers to questions that casual, as well as die-hard fans have always wanted to ask. I wanted to capture in their own words, their first-hand accounts and personal experiences, and preserve for posterity the historical significance of their time on some of the most beloved shows in television history.”

 Meet Author Cheyne Yeager, Martin Brilliant Color 

 Cheyne Yeager is a writer and an illustrator. He grew up and attended art school in Atlanta, Georgia. He has a passion for color and enjoys spending most of his time in the North Carolina Mountains where he finds inspiration to write and paint. 



 Meet author Linda Ferrari, Bundles of Binding Time 




 Linda has worked as an educator for many years at every level. She has taught  English, reading, and math to students in elementary school, high school, college, and adult school. She has been a substitute teacher, classroom teacher, mentor, and coach. Although retired, Linda has returned to education as a coach and curriculum director. She makes her home in the San Joaquin Valley and is happy she lives close to her children and grandchildren. 





Meet author Michelle Tighe, Erin's Adventures in Dreamsville

Michelle Tighe, a New Jersey native, graduated from Gloucester City High School and has worked as a Legal Secretary for the past seventeen years. She is happily married and has a son. Michelle has always enjoyed writing poetry and reading. She is excited to pursue her lifelong dream of publishing Erin’s Adventures in Dreamsville, a children’s book. 

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Erin's Adventures in Dreamsville, by, Michelle Tighe, A sneak peak!

Erin's Adventures in Dreamsville. In case you are wondering what it is about, here's a sneak peek!

Little did Erin O‟Malley know she was about to experience the most life-altering year of her existence! The sudden passing of her Aunt Ireland would bring bittersweet emotions along with newly found friends. Special tea parties and blissful Sundays spent baking would always remain treasured memories in Erin‟s heart. However, this was not the only treasure which Erin bared. Her aunt left a part of her legacy underneath a blue blanket in Erin's closet. Curiosity of the unknown only heightened the excitement of what Erin was about to reveal about her aunt as well as herself. Either way, nothing or no one could have prepared prepared her for what came next, like her aunt's secret life and Erin's purpose in it all.

Erin's Adventures in Dreamsville is a Serendipity Media Inc. publication. Available Fall 2013.
For more information on Serendipity Media Group, Inc.,Serendipity Media Group