About:Nancy J. Cohen

Website: https://nancyjcohen.com Profile Nancy J. Cohen writes the Bad Hair Day Mysteries featuring South Florida hairstylist Marla Vail. Titles in this series have been named Best Cozy Mystery by Suspense Magazine, won a Readers' Favorite gold medal, placed first in the Chanticleer Book Awards and third in the Arizona Literary Awards. Nancy’s instructional guide, Writing the Cozy Mystery, was nominated for an Agatha Award. A featured speaker at libraries, conferences, and community events, she is listed in Contemporary Authors, Poets & Writers, and Who's Who in U.S. Writers, Editors, & Poets. When not busy writing, she enjoys fine dining, cruising, visiting Disney World, and shopping.

Posts by Nancy J. Cohen :

Noodle Kugel

Ingredients

16 oz. bag wide egg noodles
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 lb. butter, melted
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
20 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
Juice from a fresh lemon
Cinnamon sugar
Cornflake crumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook the noodles in boiling water for 8 minutes, then drain and rinse under cold water. Stir a few noodles into the beaten eggs. Pour eggs into bowl with noodles and mix. Add sugar, melted butter, cinnamon, drained pineapple, and lemon juice. Stir until blended. Pour into a greased 9x13x2 inch baking pan. Sprinkle cornflake crumbs and cinnamon sugar on top. Bake for 50 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Optional: Cut butter to ¼ pound and add one pint sour cream; Add one tsp. vanilla instead of lemon juice; or Add 1⁄2 cup golden raisins.

Rosemary Red Potatoes

Ingredients

3 lb. bag of petite red potatoes
1 Tbsp. fresh chopped garlic
1 large onion, sliced
0.75 oz. package fresh rosemary, stemmed and chopped
Olive Oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Clean half of potatoes and cut into quarters. Store the rest for another use. Put the cut potatoes into a large bowl. Mix in garlic, onions and rosemary. Add enough olive oil to moisten. Spread onto greased 9x13x2 inch baking sheet. Bake on the next up-from-bottom rack for 30 to 45 minutes or until potatoes are browned and fork-tender. Serves 4.

Sweet Potatoes with Red Onions and Rosemary

Ingredients

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled
8 Tbsp. canola oil
3 tsp. minced garlic
2 large red onions, peeled
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut potatoes lengthwise and then into one inch cubes. Mix with 6 Tbsp. oil and minced garlic. Spread on greased, foil-lined baking sheet. Meanwhile, cut onions lengthwise and then crosswise into chunks. Mix with remaining 2 Tbsp. oil and spread on another greased, foil-lined baking sheet.

Put potatoes on center rack and onions on bottom rack. Roast for 30 minutes. Halfway through, turn both batches and sprinkle rosemary on potatoes. When both vegetables are tender, remove from oven and toss together in a bowl. Sprinkle cheese into mixture before serving. Serves 4 to 6.

Wild Rice, Barley and Mushroom Casserole

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
8 oz. wild rice
2 Tbsp. pearl barley
28 oz. beef broth
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
8 oz. sliced mushrooms

Directions

Melt ¼ cup butter in 2 quart microwave casserole on high. Add onion and cook uncovered on high until soft, about 1 minute. Add rice, barley, beef broth, and thyme. Cover tightly and cook on high for 25 minutes. Stir and cook on medium setting for about 40 minutes, or until most liquid is absorbed.

Melt remaining ¼ cup butter in shallow 10 inch microwave dish on high. Add mushrooms. Cook uncovered on high until mushrooms are tender, about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir mushrooms into cooked rice and barley mixture. Serves 6.

A Day at Disney

Orlando in the summer can be brutally hot. Early in the morning one day last weekend, we took a walk around the lake at our condo in Windermere, Florida. We saw the resident gator poking his head out, a variety of ducks and birds, and a spider web outlined in the sunshine. It’s a tranquil setting, and the sky was bright with promise for a sunny day.

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Before noon, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. We had lunch in Tomorrowland opposite the race car ride. We’d gotten smart and parked at Epcot, which is the closest theme park to our condo. The monorail ride from there took us to the Transportation Center, where we changed trains for the Magic Kingdom.

Our first stop after lunch was Carousel of Progress. Seated in comfortable theater seats, we listened to the cheerful refrains of the familiar song while viewing the progress of past eras through dioramas with audio-animatronic figures. It’s a good place to escape the heat. Then we hopped on the People Mover that had more folks in line than usual. This zipped around Tomorrowland, and I got some good shots of various attractions. It made me want to see the recent film “Tomorrowland” again.

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By the time we hit Fantasyland, we were sweaty and hot, so we dipped into Mickey’s PhilharMagic® for a 3-D theater experience highlighting favorite Disney tunes. Other rides had at least a 20 minute wait, so we strolled along for our walking exercise. The Jungle Cruise has reopened, but we’ll visit it another time when it’s less crowded. Pirates of the Caribbean was closed while they “swab the decks” according to a sign. Autumn decorations with pumpkins were evident throughout the park. The crowds and heat got to us, so we left. That’s the advantage of being a local resident. We can go for lunch and a brisk walk and then depart. I made over ten thousand steps by virtue of my Fitbit One and was glad for a rest.

What’s your favorite ride in the Magic Kingdom?

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Lemon Bars

Ingredients

CRUST
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour

FILLING
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

TOPPING
1 Tbsp. Powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, cream butter and sugar, then add flour in small batches until mixture is blended. Press into an ungreased 8-inch square baking dish. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until slightly browned. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, beat the filling ingredients until frothy. Pour over crust.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut into squares to serve. Makes 16 lemon bars.

Pumpkin Mousse

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups fat free milk
1 oz. package sugar free instant butterscotch pudding mix
½ cup canned pumpkin
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
½ cup fat free whipped topping
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Directions

Whisk milk and pudding mix in large bowl for two minutes. Set aside. In another bowl, combine the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. Add to the pudding mixture. Gently fold in whipped topping until blended. Spoon into individual dessert cups. Sprinkle nutmeg on top. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serves 4 to 6.

Getting a New Computer

Are you struck with terror at the thought of getting a new computer along with upgrading your operating system? If you’re like me, you’ll put off this transition and expense as long as possible. When you start getting the blue screen of doom, however, it’s no longer avoidable. You have to upgrade or risk losing your files along with functionality.

My computer guru tried to fix the errors popping up. When he said the system was too screwed up to repair, my heart sank. I knew what that meant. Even though he’d given me a new hard drive two years ago when the original failed, this Dell desktop was five years old. Time for a new model.

I hate changing computers as much as I hate getting my teeth drilled. It’s a painful process. Yet over the years, I’ve developed a methodology. I’ll share it with you in case this information is useful to others.

woman computer

Back Up Your Material

You can never have enough backups. Use online backup services, thumb drives, external drives, or whatever other means you have at your disposal. Put one of your backup drives in another location or carry it around in your purse in case your house burns down while you are out. Plan for disaster by keeping multiple copies of your files in different locations. Print out your passwords as well so you have a guide handy when you go to sign into your sites anew.

Back up your data files, your music, your photos, and your videos. Don’t forget to back up your email inbox and contacts, and your browser favorites/bookmarks. Unless you have a mirror image service, you can’t back up your programs. These you’ll have to reinstall one-by-one.

Prepare Your Programs

Make note of which programs you use and write them down on a list. See if you have a disk and a key code, or if they’re downloadable from the Internet. Gather your original disks in one place. Also make sure you have your Internet connection info handy, like your modem and router settings and wireless password. Things will go faster if you don’t have to hunt for this information.

Hire a Geek

If you can’t do it yourself, hire a pro who can copy the data off your machine and transfer it to the new one. Do not disconnect your old computer until he has copied the material he needs.

Write Down the New Specs

Note all the specs of your new machine, including model and serial number, as listed on the box. Write these down on a piece of paper. You’ll need them when registering the new device.

Name Your Computer

Make note of the name of your old computer. You might want to name the new one the same thing for networking purposes if you have a home network.

Disconnect Dropbox

If you use Dropbox, the day of installation, sign into your account online and disconnect your old machine from the program. This is to ensure that Dropbox doesn’t read your suddenly missing files as deleted.

Here’s a tip. Periodically, I’ll “send” my dropbox files to my hard drive for a duplicate backup. Carbonite will then back up these files. That’s probably why I have so many copies of the same folders on my new machine. Better many than none. I’ll clean them up when I have time.

Reinstall Your Programs

Once your new machine is up and running, reinstall your programs. Here are some of the ones I’ve had to reinstall: Microsoft Office, Dropbox, Firefox, Adobe Reader, APC Power Chute, Norton Security Suite, Carbonite, iTunes, Dragon, Windows Live Essentials (I use Photo Gallery for photo management, Movie Maker for my book trailers, and Live Writer to upload my blogs), Skype. You don’t realize how many programs are installed on your computer until suddenly they’re no longer present. Then you have to reconfigure each one. Oh, joy. How easy it was when you could just use your computer without having to think about it. Establish the path for your new backups. Are Outlook, Dropbox, and Carbonite backing up what they should? Where are the data files in Explorer?

Verify Your Data

Make sure everything is there that should be there. If it’s not, copy from your backup drives. Check for duplicates or missing files. Between my computer guru’s transfer of my data and my own, I’ve ended up with three different folders labeled “My Documents.” I have yet to sort these out and remove duplicates. Then my latest video trailer and some of my music files were missing. I found them on my backups, but it’s possible other items might have disappeared that I won’t notice until I need them.

Reset Your Automatic Backups

If you have an online backup service like Carbonite, it freezes the program after you install it and connect to the new machine. This is so you can restore any missing files before Carbonite starts all over again. It erases your old data 30 days from restart.

Fine Tune Your Machine

Configure your screen saver, monitor brightness level, background desktop image, and icons to make the display comfortable. These little things can be unsettling until they’re resolved. Adjust the sounds. Do you want to hear a noise every time you get an email?

So far I like Windows 10. I’ve upgraded from Windows 7, and I don’t find it difficult to locate things. I’m ignoring the tiles and just have icons on my desktop. This upgrade wasn’t such a big deal. And the new machine is faster with much more memory, so that part is good. It’s reconfiguring everything and sorting out the files that confuse me. But I’m up and running, and that’s what counts. The world will settle into place once things function smoothly and I no longer have to think about the mechanics. So give your reliable machine a pat and tell it you’re grateful for its continuing operation.

What tips have you found helpful when changing computers?

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Contest Alert!

Win a Collectible Handcrafted Porcelain Drummer Doll or one of two runner-up prizes – a pair Arizona crafted earrings and a signed paperback of Hanging by a Hair. I bought the doll while in Arizona doing research for Peril by Ponytail. If this link doesn’t take you to the direct page, scroll to bottom. Enter Here

Enter to win a $25 Amazon/BN gift card from Booklover’s Bench.  Check out our other features, including a weekly Let’s Talk discussion with our authors.