Q: How would you describe Muffins and Mayhem?
It’s a memoir that makes you laugh and cry and cook. My hope is that as people are reading the recipes and stories in my book, that they’ll be reliving some of their own. People write books for all sorts of reasons, but I had two: I’d been writing a daily column for seven years (at the time) and I wanted to learn how to do something different—to challenge myself. And the other reason was that it had taken me such a very long time to finally learn to like myself and feel comfortable with Suzanne. From “Muffins and Mayhem” Chapter 20: Writing the Recipe for My Life: “I have just enough confidence in myself and just enough doubt to write about my worries and fears, to make fun of myself, and invite people to laugh along with me. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all feel comfortable enough to laugh at ourselves when we screw up? A laughter that stays with us, tucked away inside, instead of feeling shame? Hopefully when people read the words I write they’ll go easier on themselves and find that soft place to fall.”
Q: What gave you the inspiration to write this?
Hundreds of readers email every day after they read my column at DearReader.com and tell me their stories. One of those emails was the inspiration for this book.
Dear Suzanne,
I have been following your Dear Reader column for several years now. I am so grateful you are willing to share with your readers a glimpse of your life, whether it’s happy or sad. Let me introduce myself: I am a 43 –year-old mother of three children ages 8, 10, and 11. I have been diagnosed with late-stage metastasized lung cancer.
Knowing that I won’t have the privilege of walking my three young children through their tough teenage years and adulthood, I want to prepare a scrapbook for each of them to fall back on when they are down and have no one else to turn to. When I was reading your column about the “writing inspiration” folder you keep, it strikes me to the core—that’s exactly what I want to prepare for my kids. Something to inspire them to be the best person they possibly can, and to pick their spirits up on a rainy day when things feel out of control and they need to get themselves grounded again.
It would be greatly appreciated if you can share some pointers with me as to where to find these inspiring books, articles, quotes, etc. Thank you for your time!
Yours sincerely,
Priscilla
In my reply to Priscilla, I told her that some of the most precious things I own are the photo albums and recipe box that my Grandma Hale passed on to me. Whenever I thumb through the albums, or I’m following the recipe on one of Grandma’s recipe cards, I feel like she’s standing right beside me in the kitchen. It such a comfort, and the memories come flooding in. I suggested that Priscilla create recipe boxes for her children, including favorite recipes and stories. Write down on a recipe card the things from her life she’d like to pass along to them—recipes for their lives: how to make an impression on someone (give them an example of something she did)when it’s okay to tell a fib and then tell them one of her little white lies. What’s the best gift anyone ever gave her? What were the things that really scared her in life? How did she feel when they were born, when she was diagnosed with lung cancer and she realized the outcome.
Priscilla did make recipe boxes for her children and unknowingly, she left behind a gift for me, too. I didn’t realize it until I wrote back to Priscilla, but for years I’d been creating my own recipe box, and the stories I discovered in it inspired me to write this book.
Q: How were you able to tie in your love of cooking with writing?
Cooking is involved in every area of my life. I cook for fun, to relieve stress, to enjoy the fun of giving away baked goods and sometimes even casseroles to other people (I have list of folks who are always willing to take food off my hands when I get into a cooking frenzy) my grandchildren love to cook with Grandma and when I can’t seem to write and need inspiration because the blank screen is way too intimidating—I put my laptop on the kitchen counter and in-between mixing and stirring, I write.
Q: What was the most difficult part about writing Muffins and Mayhem?
The concept of how to approach writing a book was foreign to me. I’d been writing a daily column at DearReader.com for seven years, so in the beginning every time I’d sit down, intending to work on material for a book, I’d end up writing a column instead, because that’s what was familiar to me. Many times throughout the writing process, I felt like the “big pretender”. Since I’d been so involved with the publishing industry, (producing the online book clubs) people assumed I knew more about how to approach writing a book than I really did. But as you’ll read in Chapter 4: “Pretending My Way to Success,” at least pretending was something familiar to me.
Once I got my bearings and was into writing the book, then the biggest challenges I faced were emotional. Reliving scenes from my life and finding the courage to be honest with readers and myself—sometimes it felt a little too personal. Which is odd for me to say, considering my daily column is all about my personal life. But it was a cleansing, growing experience and I love the finished book—it feels like me.
Q: What are some of your items to cook/bake?
Some of my favorite recipes are Skunk Beans, (one of the main ingredients is a can opener). This recipe is simple to make, but you’ll get RAVE reviews and it keeps in the refrigerator all week long. If you’ve never tackled making a pie from scratch, because you were afraid of the crust—read Chapter 8 “A Not-So-Perfect Pie Crust” about 96 year-old Amy, and then mix up my Never Fail Pie Crust, slice up some apples, and make an apple pie. Nothing compares to eating a slice of warm apple pie, right out of the oven.
Q: Do you have any horror stories about cooking gone wrong?
Two little eggs. Who would’ve dreamed what a difference they could
make. I was mixing up Grandma Hale’s Red Velvet Cake recipe for
Easter dinner, but when I poured the batter into the pans, it was
stiff. Granted, I hadn’t made this recipe for a few years, but
something didn’t seem quite right.
Hmm, shortening, sugar, vanilla, eggs–whoops–I forgot to add the
eggs. I knew it was too late. The old adage “better late than never”
does not apply to baking. I was amazed at what two little eggs could
do (or not do) to a recipe.
It reminded me when I was listening to a pastry chef on television going on and on
about how you should only use large-sized eggs in a recipe,
“Remember that you’re adding liquid when you add eggs. A large egg
is about 1/4 cup. Don’t use jumbo, or extra-large…” And she
continued her egg sermon with what I thought was hoity-toity,
trying-to-impress-me advice.
Well, okay, so now I’m impressed. She’s right. But I thought I might as well bake the cake and see what I
ended up with. Two, dry, 9-inch round cakes–one with a bunny-hill ski slope on the
left side, that’s what I ended up with. But I decided to push
forward anyway and frost the darn thing. I used Grandma Hale’s
frosting recipe and followed it to a tee. But after I filled in the
ski slope, I ran out of frosting.
Okay, let’s take inventory. Company’s coming in one hour. There
isn’t any time to mix up another cake. The stores are closed, so I
can’t buy a replacement dessert. Presentation counts a lot in how
food tastes, another quote from the friendly pastry chef. Well, she
was right about the eggs, I hope she comes through with this
advice, too. So I set the layer cake on top of a white paper doily,
added some colored sprinkles and jelly beans, stuck three pinwheels
on the top, and then turned the cake around so the bare
backside–where I ran out of frosting–didn’t show.
Presentation does not make up for lack of taste. We all took a
couple of bites, agreed that it wasn’t my best work, and decided the
rest should go in the garbage. But when I was just about to toss the
cake in the trash, my 85 year-old father-in-law, bless his heart,
insisted that he wanted to take the masterpiece home.
Q: I will admit- I have a lot of the above stories! Being in the kitchen has never been my strongest point. Any tips you could give me?
Be willing to toss your mistakes and expect to make mistakes. The first time I make a new recipe, it rarely turns out as good as the second time around. Cooking isn’t any different than any other hobby or new venture we try. And then sometimes mistakes turn out better than the original recipe. That’s how my “Whoops! Banana Bread” recipe was born. I was in the middle of making a banana bread recipe when the doorbell rang; it was the UPS man. But a few minutes later, after I’d went back to mixing up the recipe, I realized that I was following the recipe above the banana bread—similar but the wrong recipe. So I decided to improvise; added a little of this and a little of that and ended up with a “Whoops!” that tasted better than my usual banana bread recipe.
Suzanne’s Whoops! Banana Bread
1 1/4 cup mashed very ripe bananas (the riper, or browner, the bananas are,
the better the bread will taste)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup shortening
2 eggs
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (overflowing) chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of either a 9x5x3 loaf pan or 4 smaller loaves. Beat all ingredients together, scraping bowl. Beat just until blended. Pour into pan(s).
Bake until wooden toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center. About 50 to 60 minutes baking time for one loaf and about 35 minutes for smaller loaves. Immediately remove from pans after you take out of oven. Cool on a wire rack.
Q: What are some of your favorite genres to read?
I love to read nonfiction. I also got hooked on reading history books, written for teens, when I was homeschooling our son. And I enjoy reading poetry now and then. My two favorite poetry books are: Poems Old and New and girls by Helen Ferris (the copyright is 1957 and my copy doesn’t even have a cover any longer).
Q: Can you explain to readers what your Dear Reader website is and why we should all join?
It was the summer of 1999. My husband and I were working together in his software company. Most of the people who worked for him were stay-at-home moms, working part time from their homes, so they could be with their children. Frequently one of the moms would comment, that when her children were old enough she wanted to go back to college.
So one afternoon, when I heard the frustration in Cathy’s voice about wishing she could go back to school, I asked, “Why wait? Your kids might not be going to school for three or four years, but you could start reading about whatever subject you’re interested in right now.”
Cathy was not amused. “Look Suzanne, I cook, clean, do school activities, take care of my children, and work part time for you. I don’t even have time to shave my legs and you expect me to sit down and read a book!”
Good point. I guess I’d forgotten how little free time my husband and I had when our kids were young. In-between managing our businesses, trying to get kids off to school in the morning and then transport them to music lessons and sports afterwards, it was a real juggling act. So that evening when I was preparing our daily company email, on a whim I started typing in the first few pages of Tuesdays with Morrie, a book I’d just finished reading. The next evening I typed in a little more, continuing to send short installments with each company email.
Four days later, No Time to Shave My Legs Woman called. “I’m embarrassed to admit it, Suzanne, but I’ve been sneaking over to my computer late at night to see if company email showed up yet, because I’m hooked on the book.”
So if sending part of a book, to a busy stay-at-home mom, could inspire her to add reading to her “to-do” list, what would happen if I sent daily book club emails to millions of people? And that’s how my online book clubs at DearReader.com were born. (By the way, before I continue, I need to tell you that taking copyrighted material out of a book is illegal, which my loving husband pointed out to me at the time. I assured him it was for a small group of women and that’s how creative ideas are born. But that still doesn’t make it legal. Not to worry, I have permission for all of the books I use at my online book clubs today.)
I knew how to build a website and I could envision what the book clubs would look like, but how was I going to get permission to use material from published books? Silly, naïve me, I thought if I called a publisher they would call me back. When they didn’t, I tried sending a fax and then an overnight letter. Finally it was my persistent dialing that reached a Random House executive. She decided to take a chance on my online book club idea. But a week later, when we were supposed to finalize things, my contact was gone—literally. The recording on her phone said she didn’t work at Random House any longer, “Press one if you need further assistance.”
So I had no choice but to begin again. Eventually I connected with someone else at Random House and I started getting permissions. I figured I could name-drop and easily get other publishers on board, too.
When that didn’t work, I baked chocolate chip cookies and sent them overnight with a one-page letter. I realize a business letter and chocolate chip cookies might seem like strange bedfellows. But I loved to bake, and I needed to stand out, and who doesn’t love a homemade chocolate chip cookie—like the kind Grandma used to make?
What a difference when I’d call a publisher the day after my package arrived, “Oh, you’re the cookie woman! I’m sorry we didn’t get back to you yet.”
Today, eleven years later, over 375,000 people read at my Dear Reader online book clubs every day. I’m still baking cookies for publishers—because it’s fun—and I bake for readers, too. Every month there’s a Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway at the book clubs. Stop by, if you’re name is drawn I’ll bake and overnight two-dozen homemade cookies to your front door.
Sound a little crazy? Yes, but a little crazy means we have a lot of fun. When you sign up at one of my free online book clubs, in addition to test-driving great books (every Monday through Friday you receive an email with a 5-minute read) I write a daily column, and I give away other “crazy” items: bubble machines, heating pads for kitties that live in cold climates, vintage aprons, garage sale goodies, measuring cups, journals, and I’ve even shopped for socks for book club readers.
I invite you to join the fun at www.DearReader.com and if you like my style, you’ll love my new book, Muffins and Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life. Read a sample at www.MuffinsandMayhem.com get a signed book plate, and discover my “goodies” for book clubs that meet in person.
Q: What would be your best advice for aspiring writers?
The secret to writing is to write. I know, it sounds like a simple clique, but it’s true. Write (and read) every day and you’ll become a better writer. Obviously there needs to be a spark of ingrained talent, but even if you were the most gifted and talented writer—talent without courage and confidence in your abilities will leave you feeling empty. And empty will show up on the page, and empty is a miserable life. I used to be a reluctant writer—okay, so I’m being kind to myself. I was a mess. Didn’t believe in myself (you’ll read about it in Muffins and Mayhem) even though other people did and would tell me they loved my work. I write a daily column at DearReader.com and the turning point in my career was when I finally decided to believe and accept the wonderful gift I’d been given—that I am a writer. What a glorious “high” when the writing is flowing.
Q: Where would be your dream vacation?
My dream vacation would be a repeat of the first time my husband and I rented a cabin in the Smoky Mountains. The brochure called it a cabin, but really it was a huge, luxurious home high up on the hill. Looking down into the valley below; circular bales of hay in neat and tidy rows, and he wild flowers—it was picture perfect. The house had three levels; the backside was completely covered with windows and sliding glass doors. No need for curtains so high up, and no neighbors. A spacious game room on the bottom floor, billiards, ping pong, flat screen TV with all of the extras, and a foosball table. The main floor: cathedral ceilings, a fireplace, high tech electronics; TV, stereo, wireless internet, a view to “die-for” through the sliding glass doors that led out to a surround-the-house deck. A full kitchen, three bathrooms, Jacuzzi tub bathroom looking out over the mountains, three bedrooms and even the wildlife was a dream come true. Every morning wild turkeys would come and sit on the split-wood fence near the kitchen entrance. When my husband and I first walked into the house, we looked at each other and in unison said, “Call the travel agent and book this place for the entire week!” We lived in dream land for the week, but we’ve never returned for another visit. How could anything possibly live up to the memories we have of that vacation?
June 2, 2010
