Susan Grant

Grand Blueberry Cookie “no cream” ice cream

Susan Grant — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 04:08:06 +0000

For most of my life I’ve made soup. No carcass can escape my soup-ambition; buy a cooked roast chicken at the store for an easy dinner and it ends up being simmered for hours for it’s marrowed, hearty, brothy goodness. Since stock to me is the culinary equivalent of a blank canvas, following recipes can really ruin the fun. It’s much more exciting to see what I have leftover or lurking in the freezer, and combine it with what’s fresh at the market. So, when I purchased my first ice cream maker last week, naturally I wondered if I could “make stuff up” like I do with my soups and stews. Sure, being new at ice cream, I made my first batch shackled by a recipe–a mango sorbet. It was delicious but, in the end, creatively un-gratifying. This evening I went rogue, recipe-cally speaking. I decided to create a healthy frozen dessert to go with the suddenly hot weather and the broken air conditioner in the house we’re fixing-upping–and to do it sans step-by-step directions. I glanced at the previous recipes I’d searched to get a general idea of the proportions involved, but once confident I could have a little fun, off I went! I threw several handfuls of fresh-frozen blueberries into about 2 cups of cream substitute made from cashews and almonds that I buy in the health food store. (I long ago made a pledge to keep my cholesterol at a healthy level despite the genes that want to push it sky high but do it without resorting to statins. It’s not easy but I manage to. So I figured if I used the pretend cream I keep on hand instead of whole milk or real cream, I could have ice CREAM without clogging my arteries!) Then about 1/3 cup simple syrup, a splash of lime juice, rose water, and Grand Marnier, finished up with the last of the flax/oatmeal cookies I’ve had frozen in the freezer for too long. I crumbled the cookies, prepared the ice cream maker and let ‘er roll. A half an hour later I had a batch of ice cream tinted the prettiest shade of lavender. Not too sweet, rich, with the texture contrast of the fruit and cookie and the tantalizing hint of rosewater and orange liquor. It tastes better than anything I could have bought in the store–and it’s low fat and high fiber. Delicious! Do any of you just “make stuff up” in the kitchen?

Love Post-Apocalyptic fiction? Yeah, me, too…

Susan Grant — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:27:34 +0000

Good list from Good Reads! Read the suggestions in the comments, too. Some great books in there. Lucifer’s Hammer is a fav of mine, though written before cell phones and pcs, it reads a bit dated when it comes to how slowwwwly news used to get around the world in the “old days”

The Borderlands series now available in Audio!

Susan Grant — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 18:15:46 +0000

From Audible Books at a nice price, too. Moonstruck and The Warlord’s Daughter.

On a clear day you can see forever…over northeastern Russia

Susan Grant — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:54:38 +0000

View from my “office”

Susan Grant — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:19:15 +0000

What does it sound like flying in Asia from a 747 cockpit? Noisy, and a lot of people with funny accents.

Somewhere over northern China

THE LEGEND OF BANZAI MAGUIRE now available in ebook format

Susan Grant — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:26:21 +0000

Good news/bad news: After the final 2176 series book The Scarlet Empress appeared last year in Kindle format, and inexplicably without the prequel The Legend of Banzai Maguire, I received so much mail asking when Banzai would be able to be downloaded as well. Well, friends and fans, now it is. I’ve been getting Google hits from many pirate sites the past few days. I’m not sure how they got hold of an electronic version since one hasn’t been released–to my knowledge–but after some thought I figured why not advise my readers to download from places like ebookee, scum of the earth though they are? After all, is its troubled publisher any different than the pirates, selling my books and not paying me royalties? I can’t and won’t recommend any illegal download or torrent site, but you can find them by Googling: “The Legend of Banzai Maguire” + “download”. Because it’s wrong to download pirated books (the author receives no money on a book they labored to write) I have provided a way to donate to me when you do. A $1.99 for every copy you obtain for free seems fair, doesn’t it? More is always welcome and appreciated. You can find a Donate/Paypal button in the right sidebar at this blog. I apologize that I do not know a way to accept anything else but US Dollars at this time. Thank you so much!

Xīn Nián Kuài Lè!

Susan Grant — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:00:28 +0000

On this cold winter’s morning I was rewarded with to-the-horizon views, a rare sight in this city, as the factories shut down for the Chinese New Year.

A Hike at Watson’s Bay, Sydney

Susan Grant — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 06:00:40 +0000

December, the height of summer in Sydney, and the weather was perfect, sunshine and temperature in the low 70s. I rode the ferry from Circular Quay to Watson’s Bay for an hour’s walk up and down the hilly path at dizzying heights above the Tasman Sea. The views are gobsmacking; nothing in the US that I’ve seen matches it. And yet this is but one of countless places like it here in Australia. Lucky Aussies! I ended up at Doyles for some fresh whole snapper with rocket salad and avocado-mango chutney, washed down with some icy local Riesling. Expensive with the current exchange rate, but worth it, a real treat! I rode the ferry back as the day began to cloud over. I hear it’s been an unusually chilly and damp summer down here, and everyone I spoke to today told me I timed my visit well, they hadn’t had a day this fine in a while. My lucky day!! It was a blissful afternoon.

Watson\’s Bay view

Sydney Harbor

Breakfast in Hong Kong

Susan Grant — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 06:39:31 +0000

Found a little place to eat breakfast this morning by the bus terminus near the Wan Chai Star Ferry dock. No name of the place in any form I could recognize but it looks out at where the busses park. The congee was hot and thick with corn and delicious shredded pork–best I’ve had in a long time. The turnip cakes not so much. Even spiced with chili sauce I was bored with them. Tomorrow will return for just the congee and the coffee (was also very good). All at a cost of only about $2.50!

I’m in AUDIO!!

Susan Grant — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:59:25 +0000

Finally! I’m so excited!

http://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B0060NF448