Tag Archives: recipe

Book, Product, Progress, Publication, Update

Things Now, Soon, and 2019

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Happy Sunday Morning!

Yes, I can say that — which probably means the coffee has kicked in ….

Sundry things to chatter about today…

As you’ve heard my first recipe book is out in both paper & e-book form AND that I am not one to take a break — yes, I’m already working on 2 future books! As with any time two or more projects are running concurrently, sometimes one project takes a lead over the other. Of these two books, one is a recipe book and the other is a Highland bagpipe sheet music book. Since publishing “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies” on Amazon I have mostly worked on the future recipe book — and I’m Thrilled about its developments! During the past week I’ve realized that the sheet music book is rather close to being done along with having a higher priority. There is some ‘heavy lifting’ to do on this project and everything is ready for it to happen — SO — I’m pressing forth on this as time allows. This is also good because…

Tomorrow I’m meeting with Tom Trimbath — my friend and self-publishing coach — first time in 2019! Getting to work with Tom is great — he’s a wonderful soul full of mirth and insight. I’m looking to talk with him about this sheet music book (since it’s a rather different project) along with our interests in presenting our books and how-to-self-publish topic at various locations in 2019. I hope he’s ready for tomorrow as I’ve already drawn up a list of things to ask and talk with him about!

Last and Certainly Not Least…

Over the past few days I’ve gotten to chat online with my friend, Donna.  This is the very-same Donna in Scotland who you will read about in the Acknowledgments section of Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies.  As it turns out she’s had my book for a number of days and didn’t know that she was on my Thank You list — she had spent all this time going through my recipes and stories.  When it comes to websites and web-marketing, Donna is as smart as a whip*!  She took a quick look yesterday here at WhidbeyIslandBaking.com and noticed a few improvements that could be made.  Donna went further to say that she could do a review of my site along with giving me a slew of web-marketing tips.  While I have learned a good bit of marketing from being a professional musician, I believe that one can always learn more — and quite frankly, I know rather little when it comes to online-marketing.  SO… I’m excited to be working with Donna over the coming days and weeks to both improve this site and my web-marketing skills — and, as in my book, once again I ought to say Thanks Donna!
(*She’s also one heck of a photographer!)

Baking, Book, Cookies, Experiment, Real Food

Beat Your Black Friday Blues

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~ The Loved & Loathed BLACK FRIDAY ~
What Are You Doing?

this is linked with shameless self-promotionAre you hitting the Black Friday sales?  Hiding out, staying home, and avoiding the chaos?  Or are you busying yourself with something else today?

Aside from drinking coffee and enjoying some leftover Thanksgiving PIE, I’m at home working on a few future-book-projects. For the past week+, while the e-book file of my current recipe book is getting reviewed for me, I’ve kept myself busy making progress on a few future book projects. One of these calls for me to create some NEW COOKIE RECIPES — which couldn’t have me More Pleased! Black Friday

I enjoy the creative process of imagining new baked goods and bringing them to fruition — it puts me in my element.  Get an idea, figure out how maybe to make it, give it a go, possibly fail, try again, and then … finally … FIND IT!  For the book I am chiefly working towards, I want recipes with finished baked goods with serious visual and taste-bud POP.  Cookies that delight the eye, that the hand can’t resist picking up, and makes a mouth smile from a promise fulfilled.  If a cookie could have the electric ambiance of a rock concert, THAT would be THESE COOKIES!  Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies available on AmazonBlack Friday

As you know from my first book — Make Your Darn Good Cookies, published last month on Amazon — I gratefully accept recipe submissions.  If you have a cookie recipe you’d like to submit for possible publication in one of my future books — and in this case a recipe that to you looks and tastes like ROCK’n’ROLL — please run-don’t-walk to e-mail your submission to me.

Can cookies be Rock’n’Roll?
OH YEAH!  I think so…

Do you want to do some experimenting, too?  Download my FOUR FREE COOKIE RECIPES from my recent book, go get in your kitchen, and have some FUN!

Baking, Book, Cookies, Film

Godzilla Monster Cookies?

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As you know from when I produced cookies along with the recipes in my recently-published book “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies” I made two types of Monster Cookies — Bigfoot and Chupacabra Monster Cookies.  They were a HIT!  Godzilla

My Bigfoot Monster Cookies feature peanut butter, oats, choc-chips, and m&… er, a candy-coated chocolate.  My Chupacabras are focused around peanut butter, oats, dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.  I slapped a signature name on these for some savvy marketing and things were good to go.  Bigfoot was a familiar local name while Chupacabra fit with the white chocolate chips for fangs and dried cranberries for red eyes that the creature is sometimes noted as having.  Godzilla

I would like to make a number of different Monster Cookies after different beasties — cryptozoological beasties like The Loch Ness Monster and the Jersey Devil, mythical beasties like Krampus, and then today when I had a BRAINSTORM ….. in this case, I’m thinking …. FILM!  Godzilla

So here’s my question ….. What flavours would you think of for a Godzilla themed Monster Cookie?  What kind of cookie base would it have, what highlight flavours (candies, spices, etc)?

Comment below!

Announcement, Author, Book, Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies, Product, Progress, Publication

My Book PUBLISHED & Shirts Available!

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WHOO — WHAT A WEEKEND!!!

Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies by Donald P. ScobyNearly 3 years of work and a number of speed-bumps along the way, and my debut recipe book is finally PUBLISHED.  I finished the submission to Amazon on Friday and Saturday morning it had GONE LIVE!!!  I was part way through breakfast when I found out the news — then the web and my phone EXPLODED with activity.  Congrats on getting published, questions about my book, someone bought a copy, someone else wants 3 signed copies as Xmas gifts, keeping up with the comments, posting on Facebook and Twitter …. and about 4 or 6 hours later things calmed down and I turned to find the rest of my cold, uneaten breakfast sitting next to me.  Really, coffee shouldn’t be treated that way.

Later that day my new WIBC Logo/URL t-shirt when live on Etsy via Stitch 6 To 6.   Within the next hour the first shirts were ordered! book

Things stayed busy, and come Saturday evening I got some time to make my new Author Profile on Amazon and update my website. book

It took me a while, but I finally figured out where and how to order copies of my book.  I’m getting about 60 on this first go-around.  I have around 20 people to give copies to who contributed to the project and were amazingly supportive along the way — I am grateful to get reminders of how incredible people can be*.  There are also two people seeking around 5 copies each (WOW!) for Christmas gifts — 10 copies already sold!
* One among them is this guy — Tom Trimbath!  He also has an impressive collection of books he’s written available here.

Yeah, things started moving pretty quick — and finally, now … late Sunday evening, I’m getting to make a blog post about the highlights of what’s gone on.  It’s been an amazing ride so far — testing my stick-to-it and gumption, giving me challenges to use my resourcefulness to resolve, and numerous new things and lessons learned — I love this stuff!  And now…? book

Now I go from being a writer to being a published author. book
Now I get to work on converting the manuscript for my book into an e-book — and likely an audio-book too, narrated by yours-truly!
Now I remember that I need to get new business cards made.
Now the pivot of WIBC from being a company that makes food to being a company about good food and people connecting with people is complete. book

And now … now I go to bed and get some sleep!

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Cooking, Experiment, Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies, Tip

Slow Cooker Ham & Rice EXPERIMENT

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Trying something new-to-me today — I’m preparing ham and rice slow cooker style!

Black slow cooker ... it must be EVIL!
Not my actual slow cooker … too bad, then it’d match the rest of my appliances!

While I’ve baked plenty of hams, during the past week I thought about how I wanted to prepare the one in my fridge.  Lately I’ve been busy up-to-my-ears and I wanted something that would be Low Hassle.  Then it occurred to me — I should be able to slow cook a ham (read: DUH!).  I posted the idea on my Facebook profile and of course other folks have done this before.  Doing it, I’m told, is simple — put the ham in the slow cooker, add about a pint of water, and cook it on low for about 8 hours and then it falls off the bone!

(WARNING – SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION in 3… 2… 1…)

WOW — that’s practically identical to my Slow Cooker Pulled Pork featured in my soon-to-be-published ***FIRST RECIPE BOOK***!

I got started about three hours ago.  The ham was big enough I had to cut bits off and fit it between my 2 regular-size cookers.  When it’s done I plan to clean the meat — getting rid of the fat, bone, etc.  The friend who said she prepares ham this way sounded like she shreds it, too.  My original thought was that at this point I would add a glaze for flavour, as I would BBQ sauce to my Pulled Pork, and re-cook it on high for 30-60 minutes — but folks who replied said that wouldn’t be necessary.  So I think I’ll keep it simple for this first time around.

As for the rice, I’m doing my mom’s trick in my small cooker — usual 2-1 ratio of water to rice and let it go all day (note that this cooker only cooks on one temp which I believe is high).  Believe it or not I think this is the first time I’ve all 3 of my slow cookers going at once!

UPDATE – My mom said she does 1-1 water & rice and cooks for 1 hour.  I did 2-1 and cooked for close to 4 hours.  It came out sticky but … well, I got lucky.  Results may vary, experiment, you’ll find out what works for you.

All that and some french-cut green beans … yeah, I think I’m going to have a nice dinner for the next number of nights — not bad for a single guy!  (*Read my follow-up to this experiment here.*)

Lastly, I realized a LOL lately…
Slow Cooker = Easy-Bake Oven for Adults

This is the gender-neutral version of the Easy-Bake Oven that Hasbro designed to satisfy one individual's complaint. Seriously ... we're getting offended about this now?!? How about just learning to cook with a REAL stove and oven....

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