Forthcoming anthologies to preorder
This is a rough time for the publishing industry and authors, period. Many bookstores are closed or operating in different ways. New releases are not getting much attention. Readers have other priorities for their time and money. Authors are struggling to focus, promote, and write. The actual publishing process is in a bad way, with warehouses closed because of sickness and paper imports from China greatly curtailed.
I want to highlight four forthcoming anthologies that have preorder links available. If you can’t budget to buy new books, you can always request your local library to carry them. And always, reviews on places like Amazon and Goodreads are a huge help.
First up, on May 26th, Swashbuckling Cats: Nine Lives on the Seven Seas is released by Tyche Books. PIRATE CATS. This is an anthology all about PIRATE CATS. How awesome is that?! A release day party will be held on Facebook. Find out about that here and participate in the event for a chance to win door prizes.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Magic of Cats will be released in print and ebook on July 7th, 2020. (Release was pushed back a month.) I’ve had stories in a lot of Chicken Soup cat books, but this will be my first story about my ‘new’ cats–with this one all about my brilliant ginger trickster, Finn.
Also out on July 7th: The Book of Dragons will be a beautiful, fully-illustrated (by Rovina Cai!) hardcover release from Harper Voyager, edited by Jonathan Strahan. I’ve already read it in galley form, and let me tell you the blunt truth: this is one of the most solid anthologies released in recent years. It includes my first solicited poem, “Make Me a Dragon.” I wrote it while very angry. I am betting a lot of people will relate to the mood.
On October 20th, Titan Books will release the Escape Pod Science Fiction Anthology. The table of contents for this book blows me away. I’m still stupefied that I was invited to take part. My story is very much a signature Beth Cato kind of thing, science fiction with a dose of fantasy plus a cantankerous felizard (that’s part feline, part lizard) that threatens to steal the show.
#SFWAPro
Read MoreBready or Not Original: Cookie Butter and Jelly Bars
Cookie butter and Jelly Bars! These things are soft and chewy, creating a whole casserole dish-worth of luscious goodies.
As often as I’ve advocated for cookie butter on Bready or Not, it seems people are always discovering it for the first time. Lucky you! It’s essentially pulverized cookies in spreadable form.
You can find generic versions or Biscoff brand at places like Walmart, Target, and Sprouts, and Trader Joe’s is famous for their Speculoos jars.
In these bars, cookie butter adds incredible softness and amps up the cookie flavor. That’s right, it has this weird ability to make cookies taste more like cookies.
Use whatever jelly or jam or preserves you want. Try not to spread it to the very edge, as it can be very sticky on the foil, even if it’s well-greased.
Bready or Not Original: Cookie Butter and Jelly Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups creamy cookie butter
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 13 ounce jelly or preserves or jam, about 1 1/2 cups
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13x9 baking pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- In a big bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping bottom of bowl as necessary. Follow up with the eggs, vanilla, and cookie butter, until blended.
- Gradually mix in the flour and baking powder.
- Spread about 2/3 of the batter in the prepared pan. Spread the jelly but not quite to the edges. Dollop the remaining dough all over the top.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the surface is golden and not jiggly, with the middle passing the toothpick test.
- Cool completely at room temperature or in the fridge. Use foil to lift contents onto a cutting board to parcel into bars. Store in a sealed container with waxed paper or parchment paper between the layers, either in the fridge or on the counter.
OM NOM NOM!
New publications to start off May
The publishing industry slogs onward, rejecting works with as much fervor as ever… with the occasional acceptance offered for variety. Plenty of things are still being published, too. Here is my latest:
Podcast:
– “Clouds Gleam Across Her Eyes” (reprint) was read by Tina Connolly at Toasted Cake as part of the Run of Hope
Poetry
– “The Girl Who Survived” in Mirror Dance
– “he scores” co-written with Rhonda Parrish in Star*Line 43.2
– watch me awkwardly read my previously-published “Wayfaring King” in Cuttlefish Poetry Reading, Episode 2 over on YouTube
#SFWAPro
Read MoreBready or Not: Lemony Glazed Shortbread Bars
April’s lemon theme lingers into May with this week’s luscious Lemony Glazed Shortbread Bars.
These things rely fully on lemons, no bottled lemon extract or flavor required. Get a lot of lemons. You need 6, maybe 7 medium or small lemons, or 4 giant lemons. Better to have leftover zest or juice rather than not enough.
This dough is incredibly fun to work with, too. Thanks to the cornstarch with the flour, the result is soft and pliable like Play-Doh.
Most recipes I post that include glaze require the baked good to be completely cool first. Not so here. Make the glaze as soon as the dish is baked and put it on promptly. That means the glaze melts a bit after it’s spread on top, fusing with the bars.
With so much lemon infused into these bars, these things ends up smelling so summer and fresh, and the taste…! If you love lemon, these shortbread bars are totally for you.
Bready or Not: Lemony Glazed Shortbread Bars
Ingredients
Bars
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 cup finely shredded lemon zest from 4 giant lemons or about 6 large lemons
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter 3 sticks, room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Glaze
- 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract use clear extract if available, as regular will tint glaze a bit
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 300-degrees. Line a 13x9 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- In a bowl, sift together flour and cornstarch; set aside.
- In another bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon zest. Using fingers, break apart the zest within the sugar to distribute the threads and release the oils. The result should be more yellow in coloration and quite fragrant.
- In a big bowl, beat together the butter, lemon juice, salt, and vanilla extract until it becomes creamy, scraping bowl as needed. Gradually mix in the sugar and zest. Slowly work the flour/cornstarch mix into the big bowl. The dough should become pliable and cling together, until it can be formed into a ball.
- Press dough evenly into the pan. Bake for 40 minutes.
- Immediately make glaze. Stir together everything to form a thick, spreadable glaze; thicken with more sugar, if necessary, or add extra lemon juice or water to loosen it. Spread glaze over bars.
- Cool completely, stashing dish in fridge to speed process if desired.
- Use foil to lift contents onto a cutting board. Slice into bars. Store in a sealed container, with waxed paper between stacked layers, either at room temperature or in the fridge. Keeps for at least 2 days.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Lemon Frangipane with Shortcrust Pastry
To finish off Lemon Month, I present a Lemon Frangipane along with a bonus recipe for Shortcrust Pastry.
What is frangipane? It’s a sweet filling made from almonds. It can be used in cookies, pastries, or–in this case–a shortcrust pie crust.
The nutty flavor of frangipane isn’t upfront in this recipe. This one is really all about lemony freshness, which happens to complement frangipane nicely.
The shortcrust recipe is a good, basic pie crust recipe, one that is doable even for beginning bakers. The dough can be made days or weeks in advance.
I first encountered frangipane on the Great British Bake Off. Since I associated it with fancy bakes, I was a bit intimidated about trying it myself, but this recipe makes it straightforward.
The end result is a lemony fresh frangipane with a crisp, delicious homemade crust. A crust that, thanks to being blind-baked first, should not have a soggy bottom.
Bready or Not Original : Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
Equipment
- food scale
- parchment paper
- pie weights
Ingredients
- 225 grams all-purpose flour
- 4 Tablespoons confectioners' sugar
- 150 grams cold butter cut into small cubes
- 1 large egg beaten
- 2 Tablespoons cold water plus more as needed
Instructions
- Mix flour and confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. Add pieces of butter and rub in with fingertips to break into smaller, flatter morsels. Make a well in the middle and add the beaten egg and one tablespoon of water. Use fingers to work in a bit before adding the second tablespoon.
- Work dough until it begins to lump together! Drizzle in tiny increments of additional water, if needed, to make it cohesive. The dough should be able to come together in a ball, not gluey.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and stash in fridge for at least 20 minutes--or for a few days, or freeze until ready to use.
- When ready to blind-bake crust, preheat oven at 375-degrees (180 C, Gas 5). Lightly grease pie plate.
- Lightly flour work surface. Use rolling pin to roll dough into proper size for your pan, at about 1/2 cm thickness. Gently set dough into dish and press into place. Make sure excessive amounts of dough don't stick out over the edge but do NOT trim exactly to edge yet.
- Cover the pastry surface with parchment paper. Use dried beans or other pie weights to completely fill plate. If using a 9-inch pie plate, bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until crust takes on a light golden color; for a smaller plate, reduce time and monitor color.
- Use parchment to lift out pie weights. Use a knife to trim excess dough from edge to form a nice, neat line. Follow filling recipe from here on and bake again as necessary.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Lemon Frangipane with Shortcrust Pastry
Equipment
- 9-inch shallow pie/quiche plate
Ingredients
- 1 shortcrust pastry crust already partially baked
- 2 Tablespoons lemon curd
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick, room temperature
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 1/3 cup ground almonds sifted
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour or substitute with extra ground almonds
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 4 Tablespoons milk or half & half
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 375-degrees (190C, Gas 5).
- Warm the lemon curd in the microwave for only 5-10 seconds, long enough to make it looser and more spreadable. Brush all over the bottom of the crust.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add almond flour, flour, and lemon zest. Follow up with a tablespoon of lemon juice and the milk. Mix until just cohesive.
- Pour filling into crust. Bake for 25 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test in center. If parts of the filling uplift in crazy ways, worry not--it should even out as it cools.
- Cool pan for an hour at room temperature for an hour to set. Cut into it then, or chill in fridge to enjoy later. Keep stored in fridge with foil covering.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Classic: Churro Waffles
I prepared two classic recipes to repost while I was on vacation this summer. That isn’t happening now. Therefore, I’m sharing them earlier with the hope that my fellow #stressbakers can enjoy them. Eat well and stay safe out there!
Churro Waffles. For real.
This reprinted Holy Taco Church recipe produces waffles that are sweet, fluffy, decadent, and not the slightest bit healthy. CHURRO WAFFLES, people. These are hardcore churro.
This recipe is amazingly easy. As typed up below, it makes three big waffles in your waffle iron. Double or triple to feed a crowd or stash extras to freeze. You won’t need extra pats of butter on top, and you’ll probably need just a minimal amount of maple syrup, dulce de leche, or chocolate sauce. Heck, even dip these in something like Nutella.
Be crazy. Be churro-y. Dip your whole day in cinnamon and sugar.
Bready or Not: Churro Waffles
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 Tablespoon white sugar
- 2 shakes cinnamon
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup milk or almond milk
- 3 Tb unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping:
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 Tb cinnamon
- 1/4 cup melted butter
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, and cinnamon. Melt the 3 tablespoons of butter so they can cool a few minutes. Preheat waffle iron.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the milk, melted butter and vanilla extract. Pour the milk mix into the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Apply non-stick spray to the waffle maker. Use a 1/2 cup to add batter to the iron and close the lid. While the waffle cooks, melt the butter for the topping and in a separate bowl combine the cinnamon and sugar.
- Remove the waffle from the iron. Brush butter all over a side, then sift or spoon the cinnamon and sugar over it. Flip over waffle and repeat. Add more batter to the waffle iron and repeat the process.
- OM NOM NOM!
