Summer Recipe

July 25, 2024 | Filed under Writing Life

Sweet and Savory Chicken Thighs with fresh garden herbs

Four to six boneless, skinless chicken thighs

¾ cup Italian bread crumbs

Marinade ingredients:

4 to 6 TBL spoons of Extra V. Olive Oil EVOO

½ tsp Chili powder

Two cloves thinly sliced fresh garlic cloves

¼ tsp garlic or onion salt to taste

Here’s where I diverge from traditional cooks with exact measuring:

Use fresh herbs in season.

I used one or two sprigs of rosemary leaves, and lemon Thyme picked yesterday and left them to dry overnight.

I stripped the leaves from the stems and put them in a small Ziploc and crushed them up, what is equal to two pinches

One large pinch of fresh chopped parsley

1 TBLS brown sugar syrup

You can use corn syrup but use less.

Juice of one medium lemon

A sprinkle or smidge of nutmeg and cinnamon stick, grated fresh

Add all ingredients except the bread crumbs and mix well.

Use fork to poke holes in chicken for marinating.

Marinate chicken for two hours in refrigerator, making sure marinade is evenly distributed over and under chicken, cover with plastic wrap.

After an hour, slosh marinade around

the chicken and let marinate the final hour in fridge.

Remove chicken from marinade and place in large freezer bag, add 1 cup bread crumbs seal bag and toss until chicken is covered well. Let sit ten minutes.

prep a broiling tray or use mesh tray with nonstick spray

set the convection oven setting at 350 for 30 minutes.

Air fry time may be less, refer to your oven’s settings.

For Regular oven time, which may be longer, refer to your oven’s instructions.

Chicken should be sweetly flavored with a hint of savory and garlic, bread crumbs holding in juice of chicken.

We roasted patty pan summer squash as a side dish. Yummy!

Don’t ask about calories or exacts, my cooking is like my writing, I know the rules well enough so when needed, I can experiment with them.

A burst of Creativity 🌅

July 17, 2024 | Filed under blindness Fiction nonfiction

Media Release

Contact Ann Chiappetta 914.393.6605 anniecms64@gmail.com

Anthology Includes Local Author

July 17. 2024 Monroeville, PA — The creative works of local poet and author, Ann Chiappetta,

will be in the newest literary anthology published by Behind Our Eyes, Inc.

Behind Our Eyes 3: A Literary Sunburst is the third literary anthology

by writers with disabilities, who don’t let their disability define

their life. The topics range from memoirs, fiction, and poetry sharing slices of life, speaking to universal themes and common experiences, involving loss and grief, adversity and fear, love and

passion. You’ll be thinking of these stories long after you’ve put the

book down.

Copies of “Behind Our Eyes 3: A Literary Sunburst” edited by Mary-Jo

Lord are available through Barnes&Noble and Amazon.Com. Contact the author, Ann Chiappetta anniecms64@gmail.com or visit her website: https://www.annchiappetta.com

Visit Behind Our Eyes to find out more about the organization and how to support their enriching literary programs for writers with disabilities.

Text of cover image courtesy of Be My AI: The image is the cover of a book titled “Behind Our Eyes 3: A Literary Sunburst.” The subtitle reads, “The Third Literary Anthology of Stories, Poems and Essays by Writers with Disabilities.” The book is edited by Mary-Jo Lord. The background of the cover is gray, and the text is in yellow. Below the text, there is an image of a bright, fiery sunburst, showing intense solar activity with vivid orange and yellow colors.

Annie Shares News Summer Sweat V3 Issue 7 😎

July 7, 2024 | Filed under blogging nonfiction writing

‘Annie Shares News Volume 3 Issue 7 July 2024

anniesharesnews@groups.io

Subscribe: anniesharesnews+subscribe@groups.io

www.annchiappetta.com

Hot and steamy summer greetings from East of Pittsburgh.

😎 🌻 🌄

My first announcement is all my books in eBook formats are on sale for the month of July from Smashwords/D2D. That’s right – all my titles will be available as part of a promotion on Smashwords for the month of July as part of their Annual Summer/Winter Sale! This is a chance to get one of my books, along with books from many other great authors, at a discount so you can get right to reading.

http://smashwords.com/shelves/promos

The GEMS Press accepted a second poem, How to Fall Asleep for their next anthology, the release is TBA.

The cover of my new novel, Imperfections (below) is competing for cover of the month for July on allauthor.com .

In other news, I’ve been writing blog posts, interviewing interesting people and writing poetry, essays and reading. I am taking a second generative small group poetry workshop in August with John Sibley Williams, who is a wonderful and talented instructor. His fees are reasonable and I’ve learned more about the craft of writing and the publishers who invite poets to submit their work. I am working harder on the quality of my poetry and hope to publish a full-length collection in 2025 thanks to John and his insightful instruction.

🎆

Independence Day is being celebrated on the fourth of July. Being the wife of a Navy veteran, I want to thank the veterans and active-duty members with a heartfelt virtual hug and Hoo Rah!. Without our Nation’s military we would not be here today.

Speaking of the military, here’s a great book series I picked up from audible.com: Crash Dive: the complete series books 1-6 by Craig DiLouie It was fascinating, suspenseful and based on true stories of submariners who fought in WWII.

Until next time —

Vintage Furniture 🪑

June 29, 2024 | Filed under blogging

One night a few weeks ago, our local news station, KDKA Pittsburgh announced the Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead was selling the old theater seats prior to renovations. The seats, originally crafted in 1898 were being sold on a first come first served basis on a Saturday morning. The price? $50 for two ranging from good to fair condition. Jerry and I thought about it. He suggested putting the pair in the man cave, the garage.

The advertisement was just too cool to ignore — “These seats have been a front-row to decades of incredible performances (by) many artists like Three Dog Night, Kenny G., Toto, Gino Vanelli, Dave Chappelle, American Idol, Nikki Glaser and our very own Jeff Goldblum,” a Facebook post about the sale reads. “They are conversation starters that will leave your friends in awe, and make an incredible addition to your office, home theater, game room or even your back porch!”

Below is the full but brief article

Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall selling vintage theater seats (msn.com)

When he got there, the woman sold him a pair for $25 and threw in an extra back and seat for parts. The seats are beautifully crafted and wider than I thought. Jerry had to fix one a bit and then he mounted the pair on wood slats to protect the wrought iron feet from the concrete floor of the garage. A little retro chic for our new home.

pictured are two attached vintage theater seats. The dark wood and black iron accents are offset by the tan floral seat cushions.

Missing Mouse 🖱️

June 12, 2024 | Filed under assistive technology blindness

Living the life and being a blind assistive technology user means interacting with my pc from a `keyboard. I ditched the mouse when I began navigating a computer with JAWS software. We refer to the various text-to-speech software programs for blind and low vision as screen readers, not to be confused with a live person reading aloud. These programs accomplish much more like assisting me in writing, formatting and interacting with the internet when posting blog content, holding interviews and attending virtual meetings, or checking my Facebook account.

The mouse, and to an extent, a touch screen for a laptop or desktop computer isn’t useful because I can’t see . For example, the mouse for my system is tucked on the little shelf beside my laptop. Unless Jerry needs to assist me with something on my pc, it stays there gathering proverbial dust. One day I was cleaning the real dust and cat hair from the desk and the mouse tipped over and slid down the back of the desk, wedging itself under the floor mat behind the desk. I didn’t notice. The following week I noticed odd things happening on my pc like the windows jumping around and arbitrarily closing. Then our pet dog, May started sleeping under the desk where it’s cooler and I finally realized her napping was somehow responsible for my pc acting weird. I confirmed the mouse wasn’t in the usual place next to my laptop. I slipped off my shoe and located the mouse, easing it out with a toe.

Now I have the mouse back and in a safe place. May can go back to laying on the remote on the bed and changing the channels instead of laying on the missing mouse and messing up my documents.

Our Roots 🥕

June 10, 2024 | Filed under Relationships

The first root veggie Jerry pulled from our Monroeville garden is a carrot. It tasted sweet and fresh. It’s been years since I’ve been able to garden. Jerry is the muscle and eyes. I limp along giving advice. Somehow it is working out for us, as proven by the beginning of our bounty.

I think of the carrot as another root to tether us here, a good omen we will be happy here, enjoying each other and caring about not only what we choose to do but how we do things together.

Learning and growing individually and within our couple-hood didn’t stop once retirement began. I say let the bounty continue!

Braided Love 5 Star Book Review

June 7, 2024 | Filed under Fiction novel writing Relationships reviews

Book Review

Braided Love

Genre: Contemporary/YA fiction

Available in print and eBook formats from Amazon/Kindel/D2D and other eBook sellers

By Ann Chiappetta

From the book jacket

Summer on the ranch seems safe and predictable for Brenda. All she has on her mind are trips into town with Nick Haynes and the horsehair rope she’s braiding so she can start training her Morgan colt, Tenacity. Then Cathy arrives from the city with a troubled past and an uncertain future. As Cathy adjusts to life in the country, both girls begin to figure out what family bonds really mean to them in a world that isn’t as simple as it appears.

Jo Elizabeth Pinto is the kind of writer who knows her craft. Her stories and characters grab you and don’t let go. You will be thinking about this story months after reading it.

I am fortunate to have interviewed Jo; her soft-spoken voice and humble attitude are charming qualities but it is her passion about telling a good story and showing readers what it means to be human I find most intriguing.

Jo writes characters who aren’t perfect. Most are broken and scarred yet jo E. Pinto weaves in hope and healing.

Let’s not forget about the conflicts presented in this family story.

Brenda and Cathy’s instant dislike of one another might seem typical girl drama but when one goes deeper into the story, the onion is peeled and the reader is drawn into situations and emotions much deeper than superficial girl stuff. The adults presented in this book are also facing conflict and I found the author’s skills in introducing them into the story masterful. The family’s constellation of surviving pain is balanced by love. Romantic love, filial love. Binding friendships are woven into this wonderful, memorable story of keeping what is important and cherished within a family and among friends.

I would recommend this book to young adults and general readers and anyone interested in family-related subjects involving adoption and foster care and children with disabilities.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Stars

The Way of the Cat 😼

June 1, 2024 | Filed under nonfiction pets and people

The Way of the Cat

How to assemble an end table.

Person one places box on bed.

Person one must push cat off box to open it.

Person one calls person two, the husband, to begin assembling table consisting of a few wood pieces and a few metal upright pieces.

Cat begins chewing plastic bag, person one gathers bags and shoves them inside the shipping box.

Cat begins rubbing, purring and stepping on instructions.

Person two, the husband, tells cat to “Go away,”.

Cat ignores person two and rubs on person one, who is watching person two try to figure out the instructions seemingly written by an alien humanoid species not from this planet.

Cat continues rubbing and being adorable.

Person two, the husband, is becoming frustrated, time for person one to exit the room

Person one entices the cat into office whereupon person one fills kitty crunchies and calls for cat.

Cat appears and begins eating.

Person two, the husband is now fully committed to the table assembly.

Person one is shaking her head, petting the cat who is eating from the dish on the desk, mumbling to herself, saying “I am such a slave,”.

It’s Just a Prick of a Finger, Please sign here 🏡

May 27, 2024 | Filed under nonfiction writing

It’s Just a Prick of a Finger, Please sign here

Ann Chiappetta, M.S.

It was going to happen, not sure when; we waited for paperwork, online access, more of both until we wanted to scream why did our thirty years of labor and dedication and social security credits seem like it did not matter?

We invested in our future, our property, our nest egg. It did not crack. We held it up, a gilded goose egg birthed with sweat equity. It was a proud moment, being assured we would be able to trade it for a more temperate and quieter climate. We filled the dumpsters with the past, packed our bags with hope, stepped to the curb and trusted the vehicle barreling down the street would stop; we flagged it down, climbed aboard. We flashed our senior passes, panting and massaging our aging and preapproved home buyer mortgage application. Portable document formats and printers held us hostage. Sign, initial, drip your blood here, swab your cheek and attest to your identity. OMG, will the world disintegrate after we retire to our residence of final destination?

We made it, the golden egg house proof the dream is still achievable. As long as we have food to grow, personal care products and filtered water, we will fade away together, holding hands, serving up reduced sodium meals. We will add chopped micro herbs into the container garden grown vegetables and locally sourced animal flesh. Wine will do . The twilight years, to us, means the years we will enjoy sitting together on the patio of our dreams and absorb the natural and sometimes discordant symphony of the American Dream.

The picture shows a single-story house with a well-maintained lawn in the foreground. The house has a metal roof with solar panels installed on it. There is a large American flag on a flagpole in the front yard. The house has a combination of brick and siding on the exterior. There is a small patio area with a bench and a potted plant near the entrance. In the background, there are tall trees with green leaves, and the sky is partly cloudy with patches of blue.