After years of hard work, raising two sons as a single parent and putting them through college, Westfield’s Linda Lavid made a complete lifestyle change. Her decision to leave the Buffalo area and relocate on the lake brought her to Chautauqua County.

“These are the happiest years of my life. Magic started happening when I retired. I loved my work as a social worker for thirty years,” she says. “I started writing before I retired. I wanted to write the great American novel and I still haven’t written the great American novel.”

“I’ve written 15 books, fiction, non-fiction, picture and bilingual books. My passion is writing mysteries and I want to write a series. The first book is published called Paloma, which is Spanish for dove.”

After retiring the author became a self-taught naive artist.

“I wanted to try painting and I just love it. I love jewel tones and golds. I use a lot of metallics in my paintings. I like pattern on pattern. With painting, unlike writing, I can have music on and it’s a lot of fun. I’m very busy with both.”

As her interests grew and her hobbies began to fill her living space, she began looking for a home with more square footage. Her search yielded the perfect setting, a house complete with a beautifully refurbished barn, once used for an antique business. She had found a location on busy Route 20 where she could have her studio and a shop in which to display and sell her work.

“It was meant to be! I bought this old Victorian house and it’s going to be a lot of work. My dream is to make it an artist’s retreat,” she says excitedly. “The barn is this wonderful space, refurbished by the previous owner. It was used for an antique store for thirty years and is a beautiful place to sell stuff!”

She painted the barn a shade of purple and named her business Mrs. Plum’s Art Emporium. Along with her original paintings and books, she sells prints of the artwork on postcards, greeting cards and magnets. She also sells pottery cats with storage inside for worry dolls. In the meditation area she sells handmade soy candles, incense and other items that go along with meditation. She has something for everyone with prices ranging from $2 to $250.

She enjoys doing volunteer work and has served on the board of Lake Shore Center for the Arts and also served on the committee of Westfield Farmers’ and Artisans’ Market. She is currently involved with a writers’ group for novelists, a group she organized three years ago.

“I’ve made a lot of friends here. Everybody’s doing things and making things happen.”

Cooking is another of her interests.

“I started cooking when my mom got sick when I was 16 or 17 and I started making food for the family. My college roommates and I watched Julia Childs. We once made a Thanksgiving dinner that took three days to cook. It was eaten in twenty minutes, so I decided to simply.”

She smiles when she tells about another friend that was very involved in cooking and remembers helping him roast a whole pig. They made crepes with a commercial gas-fired crepe maker the friend connected to the gas line in his apartment.

“We once made a large lasagna, too large for the oven. We went down the street and asked to use a restaurant’s oven,” she recalls. “When I got married and had kids, I got away from cooking, but as I got older I started getting back into it.”

“My parents came from Spain and my mother was a great cook and she cooked Spanish (food.) Every Christmas we would have Paella. Paella is an assembly of food.”

For the last 35 years she has followed her mother’s tradition of serving the dish on Christmas. She uses a roasting pan and makes enough Paella for fifteen people. Mussels and shrimp are her choice of seafood for the recipe.

“You can use clams. It depends on your taste. You just have to know how long it (the seafood) cooks Have fun with it.”

She points out that white rice works best in the dish and that her one time use of jasmine rice was not a good blend with the saffron.

“I had always made great turkey soup after Thanksgiving, but my chicken soup fell flat. I decided to try roasted chicken and it made the difference. The Rotisserie Chicken Soup is a very easy soup (to make) and it is delicious.”

“I like to make easy recipes with few ingredients. I started to make Salted Peanut Butter Cookies when I was on a gluten-free diet. I cut the sugar in half.”

“I use chicken thighs when I make Salsa Chicken Stew. I want to cook with the bones. I take the skin off and set it aside. I later cook it like bacon in a little coconut oil and sprinkle with a little salt. It is really good. It is just delicious.”

Ms. Lavid sons, Peter and Miles, reside in Buffalo. She shares her home with two shelter dogs, Sadie and Friday.

The author’s books can also be purchased at Amazon.com.

Mrs. Plum’s Art Emporium is located at 161 West Main Street in Westfield, New York. Her hours of business are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday or by appointment by calling or texting (716) 208-0770.

Simple Salsa

Chicken Stew with

Fried Chicken Skins

6 chicken thighs

1-32 oz jar of salsa

to 1 cup water

Sour cream (optional)

Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Remove chicken skins from thighs and save. In large pot add chicken and salsa. Add additional water to cover chicken. Bring to boil, reduce, and simmer for two hours. Ready when chicken easily separates from bone. Serve with sour cream or grated Parmesan cheese. Serves 3.

Fried Chicken Skins

6 chicken skins from thighs

1 T coconut oil

Heat frying pan to medium, add coconut oil into pan. When the oil is hot, add chicken skins and fry on each side until crispy. Remove from heat onto paper towel. Salt and serve hot. Serves 3.

Coconut Milk Ice Cream with Almonds

2 cans 13.5 oz of unsweetened coconut milk

can 6 oz Blue Diamond Salt and Vinegar Almonds

1 tsp vanilla

cup sugar

Ice cream maker

Place almonds into blender and chop. Remove and set aside. Add coconut milk, sugar, vanilla into blender and mix. Refrigerate mixture for several hours according to ice cream maker recommendations. Place in ice cream maker. As ice cream forms, blend in the chopped almonds. Plate or freeze. Serves 4.

Turkey Burgers

1 lb ground turkey

8 oz feta cheese

package frozen chopped spinach

teaspoon coarse ground pepper

Mix ingredients, pat into burgers and fry until internal temperature is 160 degrees. Serve with your favorite burger fixings. Serves 4.

Thai Pork in Romaine Lettuce Leaves

1 lb pork shoulder steaks

tube Gourmet Garden Thai Seasoning (4 oz) (Available at Wegman’s)

1 T olive oil

Romaine lettuce leaves

Suggested garnishes: sour cream, salsa, avocado

Cut pork into thin inch strips. Place in bowl and mix in Thai Seasoning. Marinate overnight. Stir fry marinated pork in olive oil. Separate and rinse large romaine leaves. Place fried meat inside a romaine lettuce leaf. Serve with choice of garnish. Serves 4.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies (Gluten Free)

1 c peanut butter

c sugar

1 egg

coarse salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix peanut butter, sugar, egg until incorporated. Place spoonfuls of cookie dough onto parchment-lined baking sheet. Criss-cross the top of cookies with fork. Add sprinkling of salt to each cookie. Bake for 10 minutes. Makes about a dozen.

Paella for Four

4 chicken thighs

2 c long grain white rice

2 cloves of garlic

2 pinches of saffron

tsp smoked paprika

3 oz chorizo cut into thumbnail pieces

lb raw peeled large shrimp

1 lb mussels

1 c frozen peas

tsp salt

5 c water

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large pot with cover, brown chicken in olive oil. Set aside. Add garlic and chorizo to drippings and saute. Add water, salt, saffron, smoked paprika and rice. Stir. Bring to a boil. Turn off and return chicken to pot. Cover pot and place in preheated oven. After 45 minutes, check if rice is cooked and water is absorbed. When rice is cooked, add mussels to pot, cover, and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes. When mussels have opened, add raw shrimp and frozen peas by mixing into rice. Return to oven and cook for another 10 minutes. Plate. Serves 4.

Poached Eggs and Rice

1 c long grain white rice

2 c water

Pinch of saffron

1/8 tsp smoked paprika

tsp salt

c chopped chorizo

4 eggs

Hot sauce (optional)

Coarse pepper (optional)

In medium size frying pan with cover, add rice, water, saffron, smoked paprika and salt. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer. When rice is cooked (20 minutes), add four eggs onto the rice. Cover and cook until eggs are poached (5 to 8 minutes). Season with salt, pepper, hot sauce. Serves 2.

Quick Toffee with Nuts for One

2 T butter

2 T sugar

2 oz chopped nuts (salted recommended)

Line a saucer plate with foil. In small nonstick frying pan, add butter, sugar and heat until mixture turns from foamy to dark golden. Immediately remove, stir in nuts and empty mixture onto saucer. Level out while still hot. Can be cooled in refrigerator. Ready to eat when snaps apart easily. Recipe can be double or tripled.

Rotisserie Chicken Soup

1 rotisserie chicken (whole or whatever is leftover)

1 bunch chopped celery

1 lb sliced mushrooms

tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

water

grated Parmesan cheese

Place chicken in stock pot. If using whole chicken remove the string used for trussing. Add chicken, including the drippings. Fill pot with enough water to cover the chicken. Add entire bunch of chopped celery including the leafy tops. Add mushrooms along with thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer for three hours. Remove bones as desired and serve with grated Parmesan cheese. Serves 4 to 6.

Vegetarian Chili

2-15.5 oz cans of drained black beans

2-15.5 oz cans of drained kidney beans

2-15.5 oz cans of drained cannellini beans

2-15.5 oz cans of chopped tomatoes

4 cloves of pressed/chopped garlic

1-16 oz package of frozen pepper and onion medley

cup chili powder

2 bay leaves

1 tsp salt

Olive oil

Sour cream (optional)

Cheddar cheese (optional)

In stock pot, saute garlic in olive oil. Add drained beans, tomatoes, frozen pepper and onion medley, chili powder, bay leaves and salt. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer for three hours. Serve with sour cream or cheddar cheese. Serves 6 to 8.

Zucchini Pasta with Shrimp*

6 medium size zucchini

12 oz raw, shelled shrimp

3 cloves of pressed/chopped garlic

2 T butter

2 T olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Parmesan cheese

Using a spiralizer, cut zucchinis into pasta shape. Set aside. In large frying pan add butter, oil and saute the garlic. Add zucchini and continue cooking. Zucchini will reduce in volume. If pan becomes dry, add more butter or oil. Once the zucchini is limp, add the shrimp. Cook until shrimp is opaque. Plate with parmesan cheese. Serves 2 to 3.

*This dish can only be made with a spiralizer