BLURB:
EXCERPT:
AUTHOR BIO:
Growing up, the prevailing opinions about food prior to the first World War was that it was badly prepared, didn't taste very good, and came with a free side of food poisoning much of the time. Some of that was the conceit of people trying to map current tastes in food onto a different culture. Some of it was well-founded, depending on where in North America you lived and how much money you had.
People didn't understand that disposing of waste near water sources, even groundwater such as a well, caused diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery, and other waterborne diseases. The lack of refrigeration made meat a major contributor to the problem. Food preservation techniques could allow harmful bacteria to grow in even canned meat and produce if the cook made a mistake preserving the food.
Most Texans, the ones I write about, ate for fuel rather than taste. Meat was served at almost every meal. Breakfast would be some sort of meat, usually pork, eggs, if the cook had access to them, cornbread, coffee, and milk. Dinner, the noonday meal, was usually the largest, featuring boiled or roasted meats sweetened with molasses or honey, vegetables when available, soup, beans, and more cornbread. Supper often consisted of leftovers from dinner.
Most families ate primarily pork and corn, with beans, fresh or canned vegetables, any fruit found near the settlers, and coffee. Wheat flour was a luxury because it could not be grown here. Corn was served at most meals, including cornbread, tortillas, hominy, and corn dodgers (cornmeal fried in salt pork grease). Boiling the water for coffee killed most water-borne disease-causing organisms, but water used for drinking or cooking could be dangerous. Ranchers were able to eat more beef, but killing their cattle ate up their profits, so it was done sparingly.
The meat settlers ate most:
I am working on a new series, Women Who Helped Shape the West. I am also working on a cookbook about the foods in my books, with recipes that don't have that side of food poisoning.
Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
It really was pink.
Inessa Regan stared at the terse document she’d taken from the cream-colored envelope left on her desk. Sounds of the busy office outside her door faded, and blood rushed to her face until it was as florid as the paper in her hand.
She leaned against the desk, her breath sucked away. The words blurred through tears she couldn’t control. No matter how polite the language or painfully insincere the partners’ mild apology and explanation, the result was the same. After ten years practicing law with the firm of Venda and Spinelli, Inessa was out. Cold.
A pink slip.
That burned her the most, took that punch in the gut and twisted the fist deep. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to find a piece of paper that shade of rose in an office with sophisticated navy-on-cream stationery. Intentional, then.
Bet it was the young blonde bimbo Franco Venda hired. Inessa was sure old Franco’s wife hadn’t approved that girl. Back when Inessa, a nondescript brunette with thick thighs, interviewed, the wife had chosen her as “non-threatening.” That’s me—proud winner of the Least Likely to Appeal to Anyone contest.
She’d started as a summer intern, although no spring chicken. Thirty-two years old, just out of law school, no husband, no children, no agenda other than paying back the obscene amount of money she’d borrowed to finish. She was grateful for the opportunity, worked long, hard hours, and would have stayed in the old brick building till she died.
Apparently, someone had a different idea.
By Caroline Clemmons
The bachelors of Tarnation, Texas threaten to
leave unless marriageable women come to town. Wealthy widow Lydia Harrison and
her friend Sophia Gaston travel to Richmond, Virginia, where Lydia was raised.
Lydia interviews young women who respond to her newspaper notice, but not
everyone is accepted. Seven girls travel to Tarnation and live with Lydia until
they find a husband. Lydia hosts receptions, dances, and dinners so the women
can meet the sixteen bachelors she has invited to participate.
Each story in the Bride Brigade Series stands
alone but is more fun if read in order. They are avaible in e-book and
paperback. The books are enrolled in Kindle Unlimited.Most of the characters
get at least a mention in the other books.
Here is the summary of Book One, JOSEPHINE:
Josephine Nailor has good reasons not to trust
men, especially those who hold an office. She isn’t even certain she wants to
marry, but takes a job assisting the owner of the mercantile, Michael Buchanan.
He, on the other hand, is happy owning the store and being mayor. All he needs
now is a wife.
Here’s an exciting excerpt:
She was exhausted by the
approach of closing time. Gunfire cracked and she heard galloping hooves.
Michael reached under the
counter for a gun. “Get into the backroom until this is over so you won’t get
hit by stray bullets.” He raced out the door and down the boardwalk.
Mrs. Horowitz, wife of
the butcher, stepped away from the windows where she’d been admiring a display.
“Those awful cowboys have no care for the town’s residents. They must be drunk
to act so carelessly.”
“I expect you’re right.
If they were intent on robbing the bank, surely they’d come in quietly to evade
notice. You can step through the curtain behind you, and you’ll be in the
storeroom. There’s a chair you can rest in until those men are stopped.”
Disobeying her employer’s
order, Josephine stood at the side of the window so she was protected by the
wall but could look out. The sheriff, his deputy, Michael, and a handful of
other men with guns drawn tried to apprehend the rowdy cowboys. One of the ruffians
darted toward the store.
Dear Merciful Heaven!
Terror struck her and her knees almost gave way. The man who’d attacked her had
returned with his friends. Was he after her or bent on destroying Tarnation?
Unable to turn away, she
watched the man make his way slowly toward the mercantile. This time she was
prepared. She raced to grab a skillet intent on cracking the man’s skull if he
came into the store.
Mrs. Horowitz peeked
through the curtains. “Miss Nailor, come in here with me. You can’t fight guns
with a pan.”
“The man who attacked me
is headed this way. I’ll dent his head if he comes into the mercantile.”
The other woman inched
closer. “Do you see my Claus? Oh, I hope he’s not trying to outgun those men.”
“Besides Mr. Buchanan,
the sheriff, his deputy, Mr. Kendrick, and Mr. Evans are there. Mr. Pettigrew also appeared. Oh, no, Tom Boyd
is weaving down the road as if nothing is happening.”
“My, my, he’s no doubt so
drunk he doesn’t know anything is going on.”
“Run back into the
storeroom, Mrs. Horowitz. That man is almost here. He’s likely to shoot you if
he sees you when he comes through the door.”
Aleida Horowitz scrambled
toward the curtain. “What about you?”
“He won’t see me until
too late. Hurry!” Josephine flattened herself against the wall behind the door.
No sooner had the woman
slipped through the curtain than the cowboy rushed toward the counter as if he
expected her to be crouched behind the island’s safety. As soon as he was
inside, she swung the heavy iron skillet with all her might.
He dropped but not before
she heard a burst of gunfire outside. She turned and saw Michael slump in the
street’s dust. As her heart dropped to the floor, she screamed, “No!”
This is the series order: JOSEPHINE, ANGELINE,
CASSANDRA, OPHELIA, RACHEL, LORRAINE, and PRUDENCE.