It's awkward making stew with author now and then (3,6)
I believe the answer is:
hot potato
'it's awkward' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'stew with author now and then' is the wordplay.
'stew' becomes 'hotpot' (I've seen this before).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'now and then' means one should take alternating letters (letters taken on a regular basis, now and then).
The alternate letters of 'author' are 'ato'.
'hotpot'+'ato'='HOT POTATO'
'making' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hot potato that I've seen before include "often being seen in a jacket" , "Tricky situation - baked spud" , "An awkward subject" , "Troublesome situation concerning thermal spud" , "tricky case" .)