Tag Archives: Ireland

The Patriotic Piper, Vol. 1 – PUBLISHED!

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

Celtic-Themed Cookie Experiment

Donald Duck playing Highland bagpipesAs you know I am working on two new books right now.  One of these is a bagpipe sheet music book — which has taken priority since I am aiming to release around June/July 2019.  Following that I have a new cookie recipe book, and with some luck it might get published this fall. Between the two, the recipe book includes a number of cookies I have dreamed up … some of these recipes do not yet exist. experiment

TIME FOR AN EXPERIMENT!

Fresh Scottish shortbread

One of these recipes — and I’m not giving out much details until it’s perfected — is at least to say  caffeinated shortbread with a cool name. I’m excited about this idea!

During a recent phone call with a close friend I shared the details and this fellow replied “Those sound so good I’d take two batches NOW!” My schedule is a bit of a juggling act right now however I want to bake the first experimental batch this week if I can.

Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies COVERThere’s a handy thing about my shortbread recipe (which you can find in my book/e-book now available on Amazon.com) … The recipe calls for a pound of butter, 4 cups of flour, and 1 cup of sugar, which means  I am able to make this as small as a quarter batch.  That’s great for this experiment because I can try one idea, tweak it, and then try again without blowing through whole batches at a time.

Oh yeah … lookin’ forward to this 😀

 Baking Experiments!
~ Don

Celtic knot