Is it possible to be both excited and depressed when you have a book coming out? It is for me, I guess. You see, Genilee received the proofs of “<Twist of Fate and has begun the final read. That is not only a great relief to both of us, but a great joy. We are in the last phases of publishing our first ‘baby’.
I understand from talking with other authors that our book has progressed fairly rapidly. But when you are the one waiting, the process seems to take forever. It is especially hard for me, however, because once it is written, my eyes are too bad to do any proofreading or editing. This is the part that depresses me—I would dearly like to be doing more work on polishing the book. I have the time, being fully retired, but am not able physically to do the work.
Hence – I am joyful and depressed all at the same time!
So I keep busy writing. I am working steadily on my fifth book, which is quite different because it is not a mystery. It is a book of short stories centered around different holidays. There are a couple of small mysteries in it, some romance and some fairly religious stories. The variety keeps my mind buzzing with ideas. The stories run through my mind every time I close my eyes. I suspect this is something all authors go through.
Last time I mentioned that I wrote a weekly column for a newspaper. I ended each ‘Apron Strings’’ with a recipe. I am not going to do that on a regular basis here, but I did have a request that I will honor this week. This recipe is special to me because it was always requested by my oldest daughter Monya for the Christmas season. It’s not easy because you have to watch it every minute – and stir constantly. I can’t say it was always a joy to prepare – but like with writing, it is worth the extra trouble!
ENGLISH TOFFEE
1 # sugar (2 cups)
1 block coating chocolate (or 1 bag semi chocolatte chips and 1/4 inch shaved paraffin)
1 #butter (or margarine)
½ cup finely chopped walnuts
¼ tspn salt

Best made in a skillet. Put sugar in skillet; then butter already cut into small pieces. Cook over high heat until melted. Heat to medium and continue cooking until a dark amber color. Stir constantly, scraping the edges to prevent burning. Continue cooking until mixture reaches hard crack stage (290 degrees F).
Pour on shallow cooling tray (cookie sheet) While this is cooling, melt chocolate (or chips and paraffin) in double boiler. When melted, pour half over toffee mixture. Coat with half of the nuts. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm. Take out and turn toffee over. Coat with remaining chocolate mixture and nuts. Refrigerate. Break into small pieces and store until ready to serve. –Sharon Swope