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Tonight for dinner I made Mustard Short Ribs, served with a side of bulgur and quinoa, and butter-glazed carrots. The ribs got charred pretty good in the Dutch oven, but the meat was out-of-this-world succulent and tender. Check out my 19-second TikTok demo. What yummy dish have you cooked lately? […]

Mustard Short Ribs

January 25, 2022 in cooking / Uncategorized by Jewel Allen

We are three days to the end of the month, and how is your story looking like? Did you start out with a vision? Or just a kernel of a story idea? My daughter, Sabrina, who is getting married in December got some silk flowers from her grandma’s stash today […]

NaNoWriMo Day 27: Make your vision happen

November 27, 2021 in NaNoWriMo / Uncategorized by Jewel Allen

Our family has a yearly tradition for several years now though not last year due to the pandemic. We all participate in a Turkey Trot wihich is not only great exercise and bonding activity, but benefits the food bank (we donate canned goods for our entry). The past few years, […]

NaNoWriMo Day 25: Compete at your own pace

November 25, 2021 in NaNoWriMo / Uncategorized by Jewel Allen

With His to Comfort revised and sent to the proofreader, I decided to do a case study of how this book went down as my very first dictated novel. With dictation, I recorded about 9 hours spread out over a week, coming out with 60K words for my first draft. […]

Dictating on Otter: An Author Review

June 13, 2021 in author life / dictation / Uncategorized by Jewel Allen

I always thought I would be able to smell the sea. But standing there on Paia Beach our last day on Maui, I couldn’t. Nor could I smell that constant fish scent that has marked my trips to other beaches in the world. Maybe because of the constant wind. This […]

Maui Day 7: Halakeala Summit & Paia

February 26, 2021 in Hawaii / Uncategorized by Jewel Allen

The hubby and I are plotting ways to stay on in Hawaii. Okay, not seriously, but the thought had crossed my mind. Being in a perennially warmish place feels so good. I woke at dawn to the alarm clock so I could catch the sunrise. And with a fully formed […]

Maui Day 6: ‘lao Valley & Ka’anapali Beach

February 25, 2021 in Hawaii / travel / Uncategorized by Jewel Allen

Wednesday felt like the perfect Hawaii day. (Which was good because, due to wind, skydiving had been postponed yet again, this time to Friday.) Not that the other days hadn’t been great. But they hadn’t been all that warm on the jungle-y Hana side. Kihei, however, was full-on tropical. No […]

Maui Day 5: Snorkeling & Beach Day

February 25, 2021 in Hawaii / trave; / travel / Uncategorized tagged Hawaii / travel by Jewel Allen

The birds woke me a little after six. Dozens–no, hundreds–of them outside our condo, making their mating / breakfast / who knows call. I had slipped in bed late last night, exhausted from all our hiking. I thought vaguely that I should set my alarm for sunrise, only to drop […]

Maui Day 4: Lahaina & Whale Watching

February 23, 2021 in Hawaii / travel / Uncategorized by Jewel Allen

My husband is not a morning person. On vacations, he does not like getting up earlier than he needs to. But he gamely does when I cajole him. Since our skydiving had been postponed due to wind, we decided to catch our first sunrise in Hana, driving a mile or […]

Maui Day 3: Hāmoa Beach, Haleakala National Park & Kihei

February 22, 2021 in Hawaii / travel / Uncategorized by Jewel Allen