Firsts for First Friday !!

"My first kiss was with Ronnie Whilhite on the playground in first grade. Okay, my real first kiss wasn't until I was a Freshman in high school with Matt." ~ Angi Morgan

"I was an old lady of 14 (and going into 8th grade) when I had my first kiss. It was at the rollerskating rink with my crush, Mike." ~ Nancy Robards Thompson

"Playing Spin the Bottle with a bunch of friends. I can't remember my exact age but I know was in my first years of high school. It was with a lovely guy called Gary. I'm sorry to say I didn't really enjoy the kiss. Looking back, I think it was a little too soft and tentative." ~Avril Tremayne

"My first real kiss was in 10th grade at the Sadie Hawkins dance with Duane Geisler, a boy who'd asked me earlier in the year to homecoming and shocked the heck out of this tomboy who hadn't even thought about dating! This was the 70's mind you, so Duane (seriously that WAS his name) looked like Jerry Lewis's nutty professor with buck teeth, black-rimmed glasses and a 'fro, and even though he wasn't "dreamy" and the first kiss was not memorable, he was a nice guy and mine was a relatively innocent introduction to the world of dating--and, of course, more kissing to come!" ~ Lizbeth Selvig

"I don't remember my first kiss, but I remember the first person who taught me how to kiss. Sigh. I really did need help, and they were an excellent teacher." ~ Jacqui Nelson

"The first costume party I had was for my birthday in the house we were building. I can't remember what I wore, but I do remember there weren't any walls yet. LOL  But the first party I have a picture of is where my friends and I all dressed up as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."  ~ Angi Morgan

"I attended my first costume party when I was in second grade. I was so proud of my costume - an ugly green monster mask and a bright green bed sheet draped over my shoulders and pinned in place. I won first place in the costume contest. I was so excited that no one could guess that it was me. I spent the first part of the party not uttering a single word, only shaking my head when people would try to guess my identity. I only removed my mask after the contest." ~ Nancy Robards Thompson

"Oh! I've been to so many costume parties it's hard to get specific. But one that stands out in my head was a party I threw to celebrate the birth of my daughter. It had - unsurprisingly - a 'kids' theme. I dressed as Rapunzel - or at least, Rapunzel's head! Basically, I built a tower around myself out of a sheet that had bricks painted on it which was attached to a cardboard tower top in which a window had been cut, and made a harness to hold it onto my shoulders. I stuck a ton of yellow wool on my head to replicate Rapunzel's tresses and gazed through the cut-out window. Alas, it was a sweltering Sydney summer night and I practically cooked myself in there, despite wearing only a singlet and sarong beneath the bricks!" ~Avril Tremayne

"I don't remember my very first costume party, but I do remember my two favorites! My mom was great at coming up with spur-of-the-moment costumes. When my brother and I were little, she took some old striped upholstery fabric and made us "jailbirds" -- complete with convict numbers that were parts of our address. Many years later when my kids were in high school, we had several years of family costume parties. The best was when my mom, dad, hubby, son, daughter & significant others went as the cast of Gilligan's Island!" ~ Lizbeth Selvig

"Thanksgivings were all spent at relatives homes until after I was 50 years old. The first at my house was when I realized Id never cooked a turkey. I turned to the Food Network and Alton Brown's instructions. Been doing it that way ever since." ~ Angi Morgan

"Confession-- I've never cooked a turkey. My husband is a fabulous cook and that's his department. However, I am rather famous for my cranberry relish, fresh dinner rolls and homemade pies."

~Nancy Robards Thompson

"I have never cooked one so my first time awaits me...~Avril Tremayne

"See turkey disaster listed below!" ~Amanda McIntyre

"My story is that I can cook and I'm not bad at it, but I really don't enjoy it. So, while my kids were young I did the bulk of the meal-making including turkeys when it was my turn in the family rotation to make it. The first was likely shortly after I got married--I was in my early twenties and it turned out fine. However now I'm with Nancy above. My husband has taken over 95% of the cooking in our house and his turkey-roasting skills are A+. He is now the permanent turkey baker for all Thanksgivings!" ~ Lizbeth Selvig

"Whew! Thank you for being here to say you've never cooked a turkey, Nancy, and Avril! I'm the same. In my family, I'm the one who's been in charge of bringing the drinks (and traditionally, it's champagne) for our turkey dinners." ~ Jacqui Nelson

"Oh my gosh!! This is sooo funny and only half mine. But I found this recipe for pulled pork inside a pineapple, wrapped in bacon for the grill. I set it all up for dinner with a couple who I had never cooked for before. I put it all together, got it grilling, and finished the rest of the sides. I went outside to take it off and my husband told me he turned it over. Oh gosh, it had all fallen apart and (separated) had burned to a crisp. Talk about punting!! Come to think of it...that couple hasn't been back for dinner." ~ Angi Morgan

"I can't remember my first disaster, but I've had a rather big blunder recently. My daughter and her husband come over every Saturday to cheer on our favorite college football team (Go, Gators!). We love to tailgate (in the dining room) before the game starts. We always cook up a feast. I'm usually in charge of desserts. I saw a recipe for something called Lazy Mary's Lemon Tart . It looked easy and delicious. I make a delicious lemon bar. This was a little different. So, I said why not. The recipe called for using a whole seeded lemon. That was different. It called for Meyer lemon. I couldn't find Meyer lemons at the grocery store, but my tastebuds were set on lemon tart. Knowing I had regular lemons in the refrigerator, I  found a substitute recipe for something called "Rustic Lemon Tart." It, too, called for a whole seeded lemon.  A regular lemon. I'll cut to the chase. NO. Just no. It was disgusting. It tasted like a big mouthful of the white pith of the lemon. It broke my heart, but we fed it to the garbage disposal because it was inedible. Obviously, I didn't learn my lesson. I still want to try the Lazy Mary tart with MEYER lemon."  ~ Nancy Robards Thompson

"Shortly after I met my now-husband, I decided to get cordon bleu in his kitchen (despite never being in any kitchen if I could help it) and cook him dinner. Boy, did I overreach myself! Eschewing something simple like a roast chicken, I went with an exotic flambéed dish. As soon as the flames started leaping, I lost my nerve and almost set the kitchen on fire waving the pan around before dousing my precious meal in water. To top it off, in all the panic I broke one of his ceramic dishes. I've never flambéed again." ~Avril Tremayne

"Cooking disasters...so many from which to choose. I'm pretty sure that one Thanksgiving (possibly the first) I cooked all the wrapped stuff inside the turkey.
Another time, I thought if a little sage is good in dressing then why not a lot? (I don't recommend that way of thinking.)" ~Amanda McIntyre

"Since I don't love to cook, I stick pretty close to my tried and true repertoire of dishes. The biggest disasters with those are burning meat or boiling pots dry because I'm distracted. I do like to bake, however, and there was one special birthday for my adult son where I was determined to make him an awesome, impressive three-layer cake. That thing stuck so badly to the baking pans that it was a horrible mess. I stacked the layers anyhow and the frosting crumbled the cake almost completely on one side. I ended up throwing gobs of frosting on it and leaving it like a dilapidated construction project and telling him  I intended it that way. Fortunately, it tasted great. LOL." ~ Lizbeth Selvig

"This isn't a cooking disaster, but definitely the first memorable food disaster in my childhood brain. I was taking a carton of milk out of the fridge and my little hand lost its grip on the slippery sides and bam! And splat! It fell and spilled all over the floor. I was very careful to use two hands after that."

~ Jacqui Nelson

"I remember getting my first book. Friends had surprised me to take me out to celebrate and the box was on the porch. They took pictures of me seeing it. The feeling was ecstatic and has never gone away. Each book makes me feel like that!" ~ Angi Morgan

"Is it awful to admit that I hated the cover of my first book? It was a fun chick lit story and the cover was dark and eerie looking. It didn't fit the tone of the story--at all. It was disappointing. When my author copies arrived, I was happy, but I'm not gonna lie, the cover made me cringe. However, my first signing (for that same book) was a different story. It was at Walden Books in the Florida Mall in Orlando. The bookseller called me the morning of the signing, all apologies, saying my books didn't arrive. I was so disappointed. I was signing with three author friends, our very own Katherine Garbera was one of them. So, I went to the signing anyway, to support them. When I arrived, to my surprised delight, the bookseller was unboxing my book. It had arrived in the nick of time. At that moment, I thought it was the most beautiful book I'd ever seen. In fact, I cried happy tears."

 ~ Nancy Robards Thompson

"I'm sorry to say I'd already discovered a mistake in my first book by the time my box arrived from the publisher and I couldn't bring myself to open the box. I'm a perfectionist you see, and it drove me crazy! To be honest, I also wasn't a fan of the cover; even though there was nothing especially wrong with it, the dress the heroine was wearing on the cover was not something she would have been caught dead in. As a result, I didn't go near the box for two weeks, and that was when my husband finally arced up and opened it for me."  ~Avril Tremayne

"I'm not sure the "feeling" of holding a book that I've poured hours of my heart & soul into ever changes for me. With each one, I think how utterly amazing it is. I had always aspired to be an artist (preferably a Disney animator) but life took me a different direction and with writing its my true belief that I paint stories with words. Every book, every story is like a beloved painting to me." ~Amanda McIntyre

"My love of books goes back as far as I can remember because my dad was a voracious out-loud reader and we loved stories. I don't remember my first "own" book, but I had absolute favorite library books that I felt were mine because I checked them out over and over. The first ones were Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka books by Maj Lindman. I now own all of them because they were such a big part of my childhood!" ~ Lizbeth Selvig

"Oh, I wanted to be a Disney animator as well, Amanda! But of course, that didn't happen and like you, I now love to paint with words. And now also back to the topic -- the first time I held my first book. That was Adella's Enemy and was extra sweet because that novella was part of the Steam! Romance and Rails series with great friends, Elisabeth Burke and Jennifer Jakes." ~ Jacqui Nelson

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