Browsing Category: Highlights

2023 Holiday Mini Market

This past Sunday (December 10, 2023), I set up a booth at a local holiday mini market featuring my two books: the From Dill to Dracula cookbook, and my kid’s picture book, Tully the Tadpole (Who Never Became a Toad). This was my first time participating in a market, and it was such a wonderful experience to share my stories with my community! I offered special Holiday Bundles of both books and have one remaining that I’d like to offer my digital visitors!

{From Dill to Dracula Exclusive Holiday Bundle}
$40 + shipping

The bundle includes…
– Beautifully wrapped signed hardcover copy of my cookbook
-Wooden Soup Spoon
-Spice packet of my Mici {grilled sausage} seasoning
-Spice packet of Vegeta, a traditional all-purpose seasoning

If you are interested in this last remaining holiday bundle, please reach out directly by emailing:

amruggs {at} gmail {dot} com
(replacing the symbols in the appropriate places)

I also have remaining hardcover and softcover stock, and placing your order by December 18th should guarantee it will arrive by Christmas.

I had so much fun and learned so much. This was my first market, but it certainly won’t be my last! Thank you for being with me on this journey. From Dill to Dracula is my love letter to a country I never called home, but has a very special place in my heart.

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Ziua Agriculturii și a Vieții Rurale {Agriculture and Rural Life Day}

Romania, a land of breathtaking beauty, is so much more than its bustling cities. It’s a place where old-school traditions and the rural way of life still hold sway. On the second Sunday in October (today!), Romanians celebrate Ziua Agriculturii și a Vieții Rurale (pronounced zee-wah ahg-ree-kool-toor-ee shuh uh vee-eh-tsee roo-rah-leh), or Agriculture and Rural Life Day, a day the heart and soul of the nation’s countryside is honored.

↓Let the festivities begin!↓

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Traveling Through Romania, Part 1: Bucharest

Note: Here’s another article I meant to post in 2019 but, as you can see, life interrupted and I’m posting it now. Better late than never, right? But please keep this in mind when you see the year referenced. This is pre-COVID, after all…

This year meant a lot to me. 2019. Next month will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of Nicolae Ceaucescu, and his communist regime, in Romania. It may seem like a silly thing to want to celebrate (maybe honor is the more accurate word), but in researching for my Romanian-set novel, written exactly at that moment thirty years ago, I learned about and connected with this pivotal moment in Romania’s history. That’s why I wrangled together my husband and younger sister to join me on a trip—our first!—to visit the land our ancestors came from, and remember how far communism caused the country to fall, but how far they’ve come since then.

This past August, we traveled from Bucharest to Timisoara, and so many magical towns and villages in between. It’s a trip that’s not only affordable (the lei is pretty weak when compared to the US Dollar or Euro), but still remains a hidden gem of Europe. I can’t assure you that won’t be the case for long. In a few parts, I’ll be sharing our specific trip—one I highly recommend, even if you were to copy+paste it into your plans—and all the places we visited.

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Get Poked At Dracula’s Castle!

Hey… it’s not Monday! You’re right. Bonus post! (I’m making up for lost time…)

It’s not what you’re thinking… not exactly. Unless you’re thinking of getting the COVID-19 vaccine at Bran Castle (yup, it’s Bran Castle, not Castle Bran), in which case it’s exactly what you’re thinking. That’s right, the famous (or infamous) Bran Castle is hosting a vaccination drive for those brave enough to venture into Dracula’s domain. Though, technically speaking, Vlad Țepeș didn’t spend as much time as you’d guess in Bran Castle, his fictional counterpart—Dracula—did.

As you go through the website, you will find additional safety rating details as well as preventing it from being turned off; in addition, it helps relieve anxiety, mood disorders, stress, headaches, menstrual periods, irritable bowel syndrome, urinary tract infections, constipation, and depression. When you purchase Ivermectin for Covid over the counter, the FDA recommends that you fill out an online shopping form and submit the online ordering method. When you purchase Ivermectin over the counter, your credit card or banking institution is able to meet the requirements set forth by the Food and Drug Administration and available over-the-counter on prescription only. If you are not familiar with online ordering, you might want to have a friend or relative send you a prescription or ask for a card from their doctor that will allow you to order and buy Buy Ivermectin for Covid without a prescription anywhere in the United States, you need to place the order online, you can view any and all data that can be requested and. If this is the case, even though it would be legal to buy Ivermectin for Covid without a license, an online pharmacy is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and its product labeling was changed. One of the drawbacks of Ivermectin is that it does not come with a prescription, but will allow one to have a second opinion about taking The FDA regulates the use of these chemical compounds for certain conditions and illnesses.
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Bucharest Off The Beaten Path

Image via My Wanderlust

Bucharest holds a special place in my heart, even though I may not remember my time visiting as a child. It’s the capital city of Romania, featuring the second-largest (but heaviest and most expensive) administrative building in the world, and is steeped in culture. That’s one of the reasons it’s the setting for my new novel One Thousand Stars That Bind (currently seeking representation). Sure, I may have taken some creative steampunk liberties with the location, but there are parts of Bucharest that stray from what’s expected of Romania—off the beaten path, if you will. Since I won’t be visiting the city for a while I’m lucky to have found Kami at My Wanderlust‘s blog post showcasing this side to Bucharest, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

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A Behind The Scenes Look at Romania

An Inside Look At Romania | From Dill To Dracula www.FromDillToDracula.com

Image via unsplash.com

This week, I want to share with you an inside look at Romania presented by the one and only Rick Steves. There’s so much beauty and history to this country, sometimes words just don’t cut it. But pictures do. Videos even more so. It may be less than a half hour long, but this is an in-depth look at the country, the culture, and the outside influences that helped shape it into the country I know and love today. And I’m not the only one.

Looking for more? Though it’s not Romania specific, Rick Steves does have an Eastern European Travel Guide you can pick up to assist your next trip to Romania.

Looking for something a bit more specific to the country? You can one of the many travel guides focused on Romania here, here and here.

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{Guest Post} Inside The World’s Most Ridiculously Extravagant Communist Building: The Palace of Parliament – Bucharest, Romania

Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania | From Dill To Dracula www.FromDillToDracula.com

An Nou Fericit!
(Happy New Year!)

Well… we made it. 2016 was pretty rough. For all of us. Here’s to a better 2017!

I was thrilled to stumble upon an article filled with high-quality images of the famed Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania. It’s a point of feature in my new novel One Thousand Stars That Bind, and I’m sure most don’t realize how absolutely beautiful it is, even though it’s a representation of such a dark time in Romanian history. Communism, that is.

Since I don’t imagine I’ll be able to take a trip to Romania any time in the near future, I reached out to Nate at Yomadic.com to see if he’d let me syndicate his blog post right here on From Dill To Dracula. I’m thrilled to bring share an inside look at what’s considered the second-largest administrative building in the world (second only to the Pentagon, mind you). Nate shares more facts about it, so I’ll let him take it from here.

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