Foodie Friday (a Day Early to Celebrate St. Pat's)

UPDATE: Mr. Linky is working! Thank you for being patient.

St. Patrick's was yesterday. I'm already missing it. If you know one thing about me, you know how much I love all things Irish. Today, I'm hiding out on a windy farm, working on the second Teeny Templeton book, but I'm wearing a baggy green dress and eating green food. As always, in my mind, I'm in Ireland.

Won't you come with me?

(c) Vaide Seskauskiene @ Fotolia


(c) Michael Lee West

(c) Michael Lee West

(c) Michael Lee West

(c) HD Connelly @ Fotilia

(c) Anna Omelchenko @ Fotolia

(c) Dreambigphotos @ Fotolia

(c) Monkey Business @ Fotolia

(c) Lognetic @ Fotolia

(c) Lilyana Vynogradova @ Fotolia

(c) Springfield Gallery @ Fotolia

(c) Paul Cowan @ Fotolia

(c) Jorg Benge @ Fotolia (above)

(c) Michael Lee West (above)

(c) Zeljko Radojko @ Fotolia

(c) Ruth Black @ Fotolia

(c) Vibe Images @ Fotolia

(c) Fmcginn Fotolia

(c) Bill @ Fotolia

(c) Rojo Images @ Fotolia

(c) Olena Turovtseva @ Fotolia

(c) Maksim Kostenko @ Fotolia
Note: Fotolia's royalty-free stock photographs are not free. A license must be purchased. Photos are used with permission and licensed by Fotolia.com. The Fotolia photos may not be copied or used, even with attribution. To purchase a license or to peruse professional stock photography for your blog, visit Fotolia.com. All amateur photos (by Michael Lee West) are free, no license, just attribution. May be copied by Foodies until the cows come home. Author of Designs by Gollum blog cannot take her own photos right now due to pig-sty status at home. Ahem.

The pub-date for Gone With a Handsomer Man is almost here! There's still time to enter the copper cookware contest.I'm counting the days until the launch party.



Here's a mini-excerpt from Chapter 5 in GWAHM. Without giving away any spoilers, this chapter involves Teeny Templeton, the main character of GWAHM, who needs a place to spend the night. The following scene describes a (fictional) pink house on Rainbow Row in Charleston's historic district:
(c) anweber @ Fotolia

from Gone With a Handsomer Man, Teeny Templeton speaking:

I walked past an oval staircase. Paintings of angry-looking women stared down from the walls, silently warning me not to touch anything. I’d never seen this much finery, not even at Miss Dora’s home, and it scared me.
I stopped in front of a table and dropped the tasseled key chain into a crystal bowl. A piece of glass chipped off and skittered to the floor. I leaned over to examine the bowl. Waterford. I’d been in the house three minutes and I’d already damaged a priceless artifact.
I squatted beside the staircase, fit my inhaler into my lips, and sucked in the bitter Ventolin. I was dying for a cup of tea but when I get tired, I get clumsy. Even if I drank water from the tap, I’d break the faucet. If I stayed longer than a night, I’d want to cook barbecued ribs and fry a batch of coconut shrimp, but a house like this cried out for cheese soufflé and cold watermelon soup.

(c) Maksim Shebeko @ Fotolia
I couldn’t see myself cooking here. I’d inherited the untidy gene—all the Templeton women had it. We cooked from scratch, creating feather-light biscuits. But we also made epic messes.

I wasn’t built for high class living. I let the dishes pile up in the sink; I didn’t always eat at the table. Home was a place where I could eat Oreo Cakesters in bed. Only I couldn’t get home. And I was stuck in a museum.

To learn more about Teeny and to read about the latest Okra Picks--books that have been handpicked by booksellers--visit Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. I am thrilled that they've chosen Gone With a Handsomer Man as a Spring Okra Pick. I want to thank all of my blogger friends for being patient and supportive while I've been writing. You know who you are, and I love you dearly.


I hope everyone has a festive St. Patricks's Day and a food-filled, relaxing weekend. This will help everyone navigate to all of the recipes and the talented, hard-working bloggers behind the recipes. If you are new to Foodie Friday and need more info, here's an in-depth TUTORIAL. If you're participating in this week's recipe exchange, please add your recipe and permalink. NOTE: I'm trying out a new Mr. Linky with thumbnails. Please let me know if you like it or not. After you select a photo, it will say PENDING for a short while, then it will be visible. I want FF to be user-friendly and fun, so if you could just add your vote, I'd be grateful. Thanks!