Category Archives: Book

Announcement, Book, Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies

My First Recipe Book Giveaway!

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Let’s try something NEW!

Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies
Wanna guess who’s my hand model?

From time to time I’ve seen other authors online do book giveaways.  These fine folks set up little competitions, and in the end someone wins something from their library of books — YAY!  I became an author four years ago, so I figure it’s about time I give it a try …

What’s at stake?  A copy of my debut recipe book — “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies”!  This book features over 50 proven recipes including cookies, biscotti, coffee, some breakfast items, and other comfort foods.  It also has 3 of my original compositions for Highland bagpipes … somehow I suspect most people get use out of the recipes.

Allow me to clarify a few things up front …

To enter my book giveaway you must e-mail me your answer to the following challenge.  I will put your e-mail address on my book-release notification mailing list.  I dislike mailing lists — and I figure you do to — so I will only e-mail if …

  1. You won — YAY!
  2. To notify you of my book releases (obviously!), &/or …
  3. If there is something I think you really need to know.

Later, if you want to get off my book-release notification list — no problem — just email me and ask!  Oh, and I have to say, please give everyone else a fair chance — only e-mail me with one answer to the challenge, and only message me from one e-mail address.  I will disqualify anyone I find sending in multiple answers … so … don’t do it … or at least don’t get caught … but come on, play fair and let’s keep it fun!

Also, I have no intention of starting a news letter.  I will not be emailing people weekly or daily or monthly or yearly — those drive me bonkers!  I’m busy enough publishing a free recipe of the month as it is.

My Upcoming Books

I am working to release 5 (yes, five) new books with the following release goals …

  1. Thanksgiving / Xmas / New Years cookie recipe book — September 2022
  2. 2020 Recipe Of The Month Keepsake book — October 2022
  3. 2021 Recipe Of The Month Keepsake book — November 2022
  4. Scot / Irish recipe book — February 2023
  5. 2022 Recipe Of The Month Keepsake book — March 2023

Enough with all of that — The Challenge!

The following picture is from my
April 2022 Recipe Of The Month
… and it has an error in it!

Granola Bars ingredients
Expand the picture — look close!

Find the error — or what you think is the error — and e-mail me with your answer.  If you give me the right answer, your name / e-mail address will go into a ‘hat’ (figuratively speaking) with the other correct entries.  At the end of April 2022 one of these entries will be drawn along with a few runners-up.  I will e-mail and notify the winner — I will wait 7 days to hear back from this individual as to where to mail their book and if they want their copy signed (and so-on down the list of names drawn).  I intend to further announce the name and city of the winner on social media after making contact by e-mail.

If this goes well … I just might do more giveaways in the future!

What if I just want to get on your new book notification list, Don?

Great — no problem!  Just e-mail me with a note saying that you would like to be added to my new book notification list — and … Voilà!

What if I don’t win?

Let's Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti!CONGRATULATIONS!  You have the opportunity to grab a copy of my FREE SAMPLE e-book “Let’s Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti!” — available through most major e-book retailers!  Within this fabulous first free e-book edition are 2 recipes from Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies.  You will also see a step-by-step photo section that guides you through a few processes that some folks might find a little more tricky.  Check it out!

Watch here on WhidbeyIslandBaking.com for further updates on my upcoming books along with my Facebook and Twitter online locations.

Baking, Book, Cookies, e-Book, Product, Self-publishing

Thanksgiving & New Years Photo-Help!

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Shutter-bugs, Photographers, Folks with Photo-collections – I need your help!

One of my nutcrackers — not these — will stand guard for Christmas

My latest cookie recipe book is on track to publish Spring 2022.  This book will feature tasty treats for winter holidays – Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.  Although time is getting snug, I think I’ll make it – but I need a few pictures …

The photos of my cookies are in good shape.  I have found that getting other people involved makes my books more fun.  What I lack are pictures for the chapter openings.

What I am looking for are simple photos with a single icon that is immediately recognizable with its holiday.  I have a small collection of nutcrackers, and I will be taking a picture of one to represent Christmas.  I still need photos that represent Thanksgiving and New Years*.
* Update – I may have some New Years fireworks photos to choose from already.

I will of course need colour photos with good composition, lighting, and resolution.  These pictures be used in multiple products – print books, e-books, etc – possibly in some marketing.  The contributors of these photos will be mentioned in the Acknowledgements section of the book and receive a complimentary copy of the book in gratitude.  Also, the copyright section of the book will acknowledge you as the owner of the image.
(Note that the primary product will be a print book with black & white photos in the interior, including these chapter openings.)

Have photos or ideas for these pictures?  Send me an e-mail.

Hope you can help — Happy Holidays to you & yours!

Don

Announcement, Baking, Book, Cooking, e-Book, e-Publishing, Product, Publication, Recipe Of The Month

Recipes Of The Month Become Keepsake Books

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You know that I’ve been posting a FREE Recipe Of The Month on my blog since 01Dec2019 — RIGHT?!?  This has been an absolute ball — thinking up something different to present, seeing people’s responses online, and knowing that folks are inspired to try new things in their kitchen.

But could there be … more?

YEP – these cookies are GREEN! Trust me, I know – I live in a state where 1/2 of everything is green. So far as I have found little of it tastes minty though.

During this time I have been thinking of ways to do more with these recipes.  I could start an e-mail newsletter, a Patreon account, and maybe even produce demonstration videos on YouTube.  While I think those are great ideas, these are not really manageable for me at this time.

Instead I have started turning my Recipe Of The Month content into books.  My aim is to publish the first two — the 2020 and the 2021 Collections — in early 2022.  Folks who want nicely published keepsake copies will be able to get these for their recipe-book shelf and e-reader.  My plan is to keep the prices of these low, and the sales will help to support what I do.

What recipes will be in these books?

These books will feature the twelve recipes from the year — and so far each book has ended up with a few bonus recipes!  In some cases these recipes will include previously unreleased photos and additional content.  Here’s what’s to come in the first two recipe books …

Giant Ginger Snaps
Bonus recipe — Big Soft Ginger Cookies!

The 2020 Collection — Krampus Coal Cookies, Broccoli Beef Stir-Fry, Avgolémono Soup, Irish Soda Bread, Mississippi Mud-Pie, Big Soft Ginger Cookies, Marshmallows, Mocha Brownies, Raspberry Chocolate Cookie Squares, Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake, Wacky Cake, Sautéed Apples, Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Soup, and Ginger Pancakes

The 2021 Collection — Burmese Chicken Soup, Hot Fudge Pudding Cake, Farls, Grasshopper Squares, Jambon, Cake Mix Cookies, Lemon Almond Pudding Cake, Peppermint Patties, Dirty Chai Coffee Cake, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Graham Cracker Pie Crust, my current November recipe for Peanut Butter Pumpkin Soup (pictured below), my December recipe which hasn’t been decided yet, and a bonus dessert recipe … which you’ll have to buy the book to find out what it is …. but I’ll tell you this, it doesn’t exist anywhere else!

Keep an eye on the WIBC blog

My aim is to release these first two Collections in Spring 2022 along with a Christmas cookie recipe book.  Keep an eye to my blog along with Twitter and Facebook for updates!

Have a recipe to submit for me to present as a Recipe Of The Month?  Drop me a line!

Want a recipe book NOW?

Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies
Wanna guess who’s my hand model?

My debut recipe book — “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies” — is now a 3 year old!  If you can’t wait to start buying my Recipe Of The Month annual collection books, fire-up your browser and order a print copy today.  Darn Good Cookies is also available in electronic form from most e-book retailers.  In it you will learn to make over 50 proven recipes including cookies, biscotti, coffee, some breakfast items, and other comfort foods.

Recently, multi-award winning author, Kathleen Stone, wrote “Scoby’s comfort foods are themselves a thing to behold, but this book is so much more. There are wonderful stories and anecdotes as well as beautiful photographs, and all of that combined with the mouthwatering recipes makes this a book I’m excited to have in my collection.  … The book in its entirety embodies what the author is all about — comfort food, family, friends, music and a love for life in general.”

Want to try a few Darn Good Cookies before you buy?

Let's Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti!Grab a copy of my FREE SAMPLE e-book “Let’s Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti!” — available through most major e-book retailers!  In the text you will get 2 recipes from Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies, which will show you my writing and direction style.  You will also see a step-by-step photo section that guides you through a few steps that some folks might find a little more tricky.  Check it out!

Announcement, Author, Baking, Book, Cooking, e-Book, Patriotic Piper Vol 01, Product, Publication, Self-publishing

The Patriotic Piper, Vol. 1 – PUBLISHED!

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Last Sunday my latest book — The Patriotic Piper, Vol. I — LAUNCHED!!!  This newly published book is definitely different than many others you’ve seen — of that I am certain…

Here’s the short list of what’s in the first The Patriotic Piper …

  • 20 traditional Scottish American military and patriotic bagpipe compositions, arranged into 8 performance numbers
  • 15 delicious Scottish and Irish recipes
  • Numerous history and trivia writings accompanying the tunes and recipes

(Click here for a Longer Description)

Patriotic Piper Vol01 Cover
A first arrival! (Front Cover)

The Patriotic Piper is a fundraiser for the Scottish American Military Society Post #1889.  Not only am I a member, I also serve as an officer leading our small but stout Pipe & Drum corps.  This is the official music collection of the Post.  The monies raised by this book will assist Post 1889 with their projects.  S.A.M.S. is a national organization and is a Congressionally Chartered Veterans Service Organization, which is dedicated to the preservation of the contributions of the Scots to the American Military and Society.

Patriotic Piper Vol01 Cover-Back
Back Cover

Since its publishing Amazon has rated both the book and e-book as being a “#1 New Release in Military Marches“.  These two versions of the book have held this position for several days during this past week.

Among the early people to comment, several said that they liked my concept of accompanying the music notation with the history of the tunes.  Some even said that this was a deciding factor in their book purchase.  Numerous people have said that they are excited about my inclusion of traditional Scottish and Irish recipes as the second half of the book.  Certainly, there’s something for everyone in The Patriotic Piper, Vol. 01.

The Patriotic Piper is Available Now on Amazon
Print Edition — Published 22Nov2020
E-Book — Published 05Nov2020

Announcement, Baking, Book, Cookies, Experiment, Public Appearance, Tip

Quarantine Baking

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HEY GANG!

My April 2020 Recipe Of The Month is uploaded to my website — grab my March recipe while you still can!

As it happens, with just standard baking ingredients most of us keep stocked at home — where many of us are at right now — the upcoming April recipe is well timed.  It’s simple, fun, and takes no special kitchen implements to make — coco powder, powdered sugar, and a hand mixer is about as fancy as this gets! Quarantine

WITH FOLKS BEING COUPED UP IN
QUARANTINE-VILLE…

fortune cookies
Imagine making your own custom fortunes…

I am considering posting a recipe for some big, soft Ginger Snaps I recently made. Dang if those things didn’t disappear within 24 hours…  This could give everyone another activity and something tasty to take the edge off. Watch this website, Twitter @WIBakingCo, and my Facebook page for announcement of this recipe-post. Quarantine

With some luck I will be trying a modified version of this recipe later today — as a Ginger Snap Biscotti. I’ve also been looking to experimenting with making (flavoured?) fortune cookies lately ….

But things have been busy here in
The Apocalypse…

arnold schwarzeneggerBaking has taken a bit of a back-seat lately. Everyone in the house here is dealing with some medial stuff — no, it’s not the virus or a toomah. I’m the most healthy and able person so I’m carrying a bit more of the work around here. Add to that… the pump on our well is threatening to go out any day, the well-guy has a Corona-reduced staff, so we’re working to establish temporary water supplies. ALL GOOD FUN when already juggling the adjustments that come with quarantine life (YAY!) — but we’re keeping our chins up and plowing forward. To that end…

WHILE YOU ARE DEALING WITH
WHATEVER IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW…

TP for your bunghole!I encourage you to do everything you can to take care of yourself, your family, your friends, and your neighbors.  Strive even to be extra-kind to everyone you meet when/if you are out & about — yes, even when you’re fighting over toilet paper. I know it’s tricky, but please do your best. This can be as simple as picking up the phone to call folks — just ask how they are. I’ve been doing this and it’s amazing the relief you can bring to someone when you present something so simple and so human. Quarantine

BagpiperDon playing smallpipes on a Washington State FerrySince Friday I have taken to playing mini-concerts with my Scottish Smallpipes on Facebook and YouTube. A number of authors have been reading their books and musicians playing music online, livestreaming to give a little comfort and respite. So far I’ve played three times since March 20th and I plan to keep going. Smallpipes are more somber than what you’re used to seeing in parades. I’ve been playing tunes from an album I have planned and the traditional sheet music book I’m close to publishing, including Scot/Irish recipes. I play and talk about my books. I hope you’ll join me, please look for BagpiperDon on Facebook and Twitter, for announcements of when I’m going to play. Quarantine

Keep your chins up, be good to your self and do good for others, and we’ll all get through this together!

Best, Don

Make Your Own Darn Good CookiesPS — For a limited time my debut recipe book “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies” IS ON SALE on Amazon!  I have priced the paperback version of my book roughly 25% off WORLDWIDE.  You’re home, make something nice for yourself and your loved ones.

Also, ask for “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies” by name at your favourite bookshop.