Carb-cutter Pizza Crust
I admit it. I am a pizza fanatic. Will I need to hand-in my foodie card with this confession? I've eaten at some of the finest restaurants in the world, tasted the concoctions of the most creative (and outrageous) chefs, and explored the cuisine of diverse cultures....
Bleu Cheese Dressing
Before I entered the professional world of words, photos and print, I worked in restaurants. Although my mother was a very good and creative cook, I'd grown up with many food prejudices. I say prejudices, because my pickiness wasn't only about how a food tasted, it...
Yes, I Cook for My Dogs
As much as I hate to face it, my beloved pups are getting older as I get older. Tank turned 13 in August, Buck is about the same age (he was about 3 years old when we rescued him about 10 years ago) and Kiki, was between 6 and 10 years when we rescue/adopted her...
A Prayer for Grandchildren
Alex Tang, a Facebook friend I've never met, lives in faraway Malaysia, is a writer, a physician, a minister, and a wise man. He posted a prayer for his grandson that touched my heart this morning. I echo his wise words in sharing his prayer and dedicating it to my...
Longing for Summer in California
Summer Sands Remember Summer dropping moment by moment to the base of a finite hourglass. Both of my children home together for the last time. Bittersweet. Summer sands remember joys of days long buried. Little hands dig moats protecting sandcastles and dreams....
September 11, 2001 – 15 Year Remembrance
On to 2016
I didn’t spend New Year’s day writing. I didn’t make a list of resolutions, either. I spent the day with my dear hubster, cooking, eating, playing with dogs, doing errands, napping, listening to football, and generally hanging out without an agenda. I do too little of...
Plants and Flowers
Click an image for a larger, full frame view. All images are copyright © Carolyn Burns Bass and may not be copied, shared or otherwise used in any form without written permission of the photographer...
Photos
I have had the privilege of traveling to some of the most beautiful locations on earth. The pages below contain favorite shots from my travels, as well as images from the wondrous world I call home. [gallery type="rectangular" link="file" size="medium"...
A Musical Enchantment from My Childhood
Earlier this morning I caught the whisper of a song my mother used to play and sing on the piano. She had a voice to rival the divas of her time (and ours), but shared it only in private "concerts" for family and friends. Whenever people came to visit us, or we...
Southwest Cucumber Salad
What do you do when you miss a couple of days at the vegetable garden and your cucumbers look like this? And when your tomatoes have not yet ripened to make gazpacho with those cucumbers? I have that problem right now. Because of the late frosts in our region of North...
Recipe Time: Refrigerator Dill Pickles
I posted this photo on Facebook last week and several of my family and friends asked for the recipe. I couldn't post it right away because my recipe is a conglomeration of family and online sources. My grandmother used to make a variety of these pickles which we often...
Here’s to Mothers, Yours and Mine
If you have a heart, thank your mother. No matter where she is, or who you are, she gave you birth in an age of choice. (Verse and photo: mine.)
The Arrows of Doubt Strike Early
I returned yesterday from my magical residency at Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities where I started a brand new novel. This morning I got up excited to resume the routine of making coffee and sitting down with my laptop and my WIP. I made the mistake of...
Still the Girl With the Encylopedia
After my dad gave up sword swallowing, he became a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman for the American People’s Encyclopedia. We were probably the only family in America that had a complete set of current encyclopedias along with a rack of sabres, cutlasses and...
I Discovered This About Procrastination
Why do writers procrastinate? Why do we avoid the task we say we love? As if looking at a wordless page might blight our vision? In fact, once those words hit the page, our vision begins to take shape. Could it be we fear the vision? Certainly not the vision, but our...
Sara Gruen’s At the Water’s Edge
I'm heading out to Asheville, NC today to see and hear Sara Gruen read from her newest novel, At the Water's Edge at Malaprops Bookstore tomorrow night. This is particularly meaningful to me because I missed her first book tour back in 2007 when she swung through Los...
The Book that Changed My Life
The thickest book on the shelf of Mrs. Varga’s fourth grade class was called The Golden Child, a hardcover that probably stretched all of 150 pages. I eyed that book each week during reading period, but class rules required students to complete a special reading...
Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Somewhere in my bloodline is a smattering of Irish (Mc Millin). Of course, everyone claims some Irish on St. Patrick's Day.
