Claire Hadleigh

It's coming up on mid-summer, and you'd think that would be enough to keep me happy.  Alas, that's not so.  Not only have I hit a writing / revising slump for my new series, but life has sent another curve ball whizzing past my head.  Although my children are adults, you never stop worrying, caring -- and when you throw a hospital and doctors into the mix, the strain and anxiety ratchets up 100-fold.  So where does one escape, if only for a half-hour or so?  Oddly enough, for me it's been cookbooks.  Now you have to understand something about how I was brought up.  My own mother's idea of a gourmet meal was a TV dinner in front of the television.  The only time of the year when she outdid herself was Thanksgiving, but that's because my grandmother was there by her side, guiding her and sometimes taking over, especially for making the gravy.  I've always joked around that my favorite recipe was my American Express card, but within the past year