Tasty Tuesdays–Summer Soup from Sloane Taylor

Tags

Date Night Dinners by Sloane Taylor, food blog, gazpacho, Recipes, Sloane Taylor, summer soup, Tasty Tuesdays

from Sloane Taylor

When the days are muggy and hot, cool down with this light and refreshing meal. Add a loaf of crusty fresh bread and a bottle of chilled, crisp white wine to make dinner complete.

GAZPACHO – Cold Fresh Vegetable Soup

Image by Яна Тикунова from Pixabay

1 large cucumber, peeled and chopped
5 medium Roma/plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tbsp. garlic, chopped fine or pressed
4 cups French or Italian bread chunks, crust removed
4 cups cold water
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 tsps. salt
4 tbsps. olive oil
2 tbsp. tomato paste

Combine cucumber, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, garlic, and bread in a large bowl. Stir in water, vinegar, and salt. Ladle mixture into a blender or food processor. Be careful not to overload either appliance. Set on high speed until you have a smooth puree. Pour the blend into a clean large bowl and whisk in olive oil and tomato paste.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours minimum. Just before serving stir well to recombine ingredients. Ladle into a chilled tureen or large soup bowls.

May you enjoy all the days of your life filled with good friends, laughter, and seated around a well-laden table!

Sloane

About the Author

Sloane Taylor is an Award-Winning author with a passion that consumes her day and night. She is an avid cook and posts new recipes on her blog every Wednesday. The recipes are user friendly, meaning easy.

Learn more about Taylor’s cookbooks, Date Night Dinners, Romantic Meals to Dine al Fresco, and Recipes to Create Holidays Extraordinaire on Amazon.

Connect with Taylor on Facebook and Twitter.

Tasty Tuesdays–Stick-to-your-Ribs Minestrone Soup from Sharon Ledwith

Tags

Blackflies and Blueberries, MInestone soup, Mysterious Tales from Fairy Faills, Recipes, Sharon Ledwith, Tasty Tuesdays, YA FAntasy

from Sharon Ledwith

Who doesn’t love a hearty bowl of soup, especially on those cold or rainy nights? Makes for a wonderful meal at the cottage when unexpected guests pop in, or in the comfort of your home if it’s just you and your significant other. Easy to prepare, this delightful Italian cuisine takes about an hour to prep and cook. Perfect for a weekend lunch, and plenty of leftovers for the week, serve with half a baguette, sliced and buttered, and ready to dip! Bon Appetit!

Stick-to-your-Ribs Minestrone Soup
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 large carrot, diced
⅓ lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into ½ inch pieces (about 1½ cups)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
¾ tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
1 28-ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 15-ounce can low-sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup elbow pasta
⅓ cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
2 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add celery and carrot, and cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in beans, dried oregano and basil, salt, and pepper; cook 3 more minutes.

Stir in diced and crushed tomatoes and chicken broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in kidney beans and pasta. Cook until pasta and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Ladle into bowls and top with the parmesan and chopped basil.

While you’re waiting for the minestrone soup to digest why not put your feet up and relax on the couch with a good book? May I suggest a visit to Fairy Falls, or if you’re feeling really adventurous, a trip back in time with The Last Timekeepers? Whichever you choose, either series will transport you to another time and place, leaving the busyness of life far behind.

Here’s a glimpse into one of the books from Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls, my teen psychic mystery series.

The only witness left to testify against an unsolved crime in Fairy Falls isn’t a person…

City born and bred, Hart Stewart possesses the gift of psychometry—the psychic ability to discover facts about an event or person by touching inanimate objects associated with them. Since his mother’s death, seventeen-year-old Hart has endured homelessness, and has learned ways to keep his illiteracy under wraps. He eventually learns of a great-aunt living in Fairy Falls, and decides to leave the only life he’s ever known for an uncertain future.

Diana MacGregor lives in Fairy Falls. Her mother was a victim of a senseless murder. Only Diana’s unanswered questions and her grief keeps her going, until Hart finds her mother’s lost ring and becomes a witness to her murder.

Through Hart’s psychic power, Diana gains hope for justice. Their investigation leads them into the corrupt world threatening Fairy Falls. To secure the town’s future, Hart and Diana must join forces to uncover the shocking truth, or they risk losing the true essence of Fairy Falls forever.

AMAZON BUY LINK

About the Author

Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/YA time travel series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, and the teen psychic mystery series, MYSTERIOUS TALES FROM FAIRY FALLS. When not writing, researching, or revising, she enjoys reading, exercising, anything arcane, and an occasional dram of scotch. Sharon lives a serene, yet busy life in a southern tourist region of Ontario, Canada, with her hubby, one spoiled yellow Labrador and a moody calico cat.

Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter, Goodreads, and Smashwords. Look up her Amazon Author page for a list of current books. Be sure to check out THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS TIME TRAVEL SERIES Facebook page.

Tasty Tuesdays–Tantalizing Cod from Sloane Taylor

Tags

cookbooks, fish, food, Recipes, Sloane Taylor, Tasty Tuesdays

from Sloane Taylor

You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the enticing aroma from this easy recipe and the taste is superb. Studs and I have served this menu to skeptical guests and they fell in love with it.

Cook pasta prior to starting fish. Re-warm by running hot water over the just noodles before serving.

Serve with Whole Grain Spaghetti, Tossed Salad, Italian Bread,

and White Wine – Pinot Grigio

TANTALIZING COD
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ med. onion, sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
½ cup dry white wine
5 lg. Roma tomatoes, chopped
½ cup black olives, sliced
2 tbsp. parsley, chopped or 1 tbsp. dried
1 tbsp. capers, drained and chopped
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper
4 cod fillets, about 6 oz. each
½ tbsp. fresh basil, chopped or 1 tsp. dried

Heat a large skillet on medium-high. Add oil. Heat until it shimmers. Add onion, stir until translucent and lightly browned. Stir in garlic, cook 30 seconds. Add wine, cook 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes with the juice, olives, parsley, capers and red pepper. Heat to boiling.

Lay cod fillets over tomato mixture. Lower heat to medium. Cover skillet and cook until cod turns opaque throughout and flakes, about 9 minutes.

Sprinkle basil across the top.

Serve over whole grain spaghetti.

Don’t prepare extra. Leftovers have a stale taste and tend to be tough.

May you enjoy all the days of your life filled with good friends, laughter, and seated around a well-laden table!

Sloane

About the Author:

Sloane Taylor is an Award-Winning author with a second passion in her life. She is an avid cook and posts new recipes on her blog every Wednesday. The recipes are user friendly, meaning easy.

Learn more about Taylor’s cookbooks, Date Night Dinners, Romantic Meals to Dine al Fresco, and Recipes to Create Holidays Extraordinaire on Amazon.

Excerpts from her romance books and free reads can be found on her website, blog, and her Amazon Author Page. Connect with Taylor on Facebook and Twitter.

Warning to readers of sweet romance, Sloane’s romances may contain open door love scenes.

Tasty Tuesdays–Savory Farmhouse Cheese Soup from Linda Lee Greene

Tags

a chance of the moon, crime thriller novel, Farmhouse Cheese soup, Linda Lee Greene, Recipes, Tasty Tuesdays

Linda Lee Greene is in the Tasty Tuesday’s virtual kitchen today sharing a soup recipe that her family loves at the holidays. But if you’re a soup lover, like I am, soup is on the menu all year—especially rich, creamy, cheesy soup. Too hot for soup as we head into summer, you say? Just turn down the AC and pretend it’s winter then.

from Linda Lee Greene

Winter, and especially the high-holiday season that is winter’s centerpiece, brings with it for me an air of nostalgia, a wistfulness for the Thanksgiving Days of old, the days when at the end of a long country lane, the white square farmhouse of my maternal grandparents came into view, and within its walls my large family would soon gather around an immense table groaning with a homegrown Thanksgiving meal. With the elapsing of time, the torch has passed to my aunts and uncles, and then to the members of my generation. The work of keeping the traditions of our family alive and well continues to be handed down.

This past Thanksgiving my immediate family gathered at the home of my daughter, Elizabeth, the person who often as not, has hosted our celebration for several years. I am so grateful for the young people of my family, and for the time and space to hunker into the winter of my life, to gather my provisions, as well as to relax into my unbound hours and make the most of them.

Turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberries, and several other side dishes, sweetened at meal’s end with pumpkin pie and whipped cream, and a wide selection of additional heavenly desserts was our traditional fare. Last year, we broadened our menu with some new dishes. My contribution was a lovely ‘Farmhouse Cheese Soup’ laid at table as an appetizer. The recipe comes from Stacey Pirtle of ‘Southern Discourse,’ where it is described as “…oogey, gooey, goodness…a zesty comfort food even the pickiest eaters will enjoy.”

Savory Farmhouse Cheese Soup
1 stick (½ cup) butter
⅓ cup onion, diced
⅓ cup carrots, diced
⅓ cup celery, diced
1 tsp. garlic, minced
32 oz. chicken broth (I prefer the low-sodium brands)
½ cup roasted red peppers, diced
1 cup of Chardonnay, optional
6 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
6 cups of half-and-half
2 tsp. paprika
1½ tsp. fresh thyme, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. white pepper
Bacon bits
French bread, small chunks

Melt butter in a large stockpot or automatic cooker over medium-low heat. Add onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook until vegetables are translucent.

Add broth and peppers. Simmer about 5 minutes. Pour in Chardonnay and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Add cheddar cheese, 1 cup at a time, and stir well after each cup until cheese is melted. Blend in half-and-half a little at a time, stirring continuously.

Stir in paprika, thyme, salt, and white pepper. Cook on very low heat for another 5 to 10 minutes, stirring every 2 to 3 minutes.

Sprinkle bacon bits on top of each savory bowl. Sprinkle on bread. Shredded chicken is a nice add-in. Enjoy!

While your soup is simmering how about a peek at my latest crime thriller?

Was it chance or destiny’s hand behind a man and a woman’s curious encounter at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas? The cards fold, their hearts open, and a match strikes, flames that sizzle their hearts and souls. Can they have the moon and the stars, too? Or is she too dangerous? Is he? Can their love withstand betrayal? Can it endure murder?

While the cards at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas fail to distract them from their troubled pasts, on the side, the actress and the gambler play a game of ‘will they won’t they’ romance. Meanwhile, an otherworldly hand also has a big stake in the game. Unexpected secrets unfold brimming with dangerous consequences, and finally, a strange brand of salvation.

Amid the seductions of Las Vegas, Nevada and an idyllic coffee plantation on Hawai’i’s Big Island, a sextet of opposites converge within a shared fate: a glamorous movie-star courting distractions from her troubled past; her shell-shocked bodyguards clutching handholds out of their hardscrabble lives; a dropout Hawaiian nuclear physicist gambling his way back home; a Navajo rancher seeking cleansing for harming Mother Earth; and from its lofty perch, the Hawaiian’s guardian spirit conjured as his pet raven, conducting this symphony of soul odysseys.

The Cast of Characters
Actress, Olivia Montoyo Simms escapes the shadow of her mother’s gruesome murder and the relentless demands of Hollywood and loses herself in the cards at Las Vegas casinos. But like hounds on the scent, the scandal tracks her. And true to her history, it shows up in the person of dashing Hawaiian gambler, Koa Kalua’i. Neither of them are strangers at taking risks and too often losing. Will they win in their chance at the moon this time?

In Hawaiian cosmology, Aumakuas are guardian spirits whom many believe to manifest in physical form. Koa Kalua’i knows the tenet to be true, because Raven has not only been his winged-pet since the earliest days of his childhood on his family’s coffee plantation on Hawaii’s Big Island, but also his Aumakua. They make a remarkable pair, dedicated to righting wrongs.

Born and raised in Las Vegas, and orphaned as little kids, twin brothers Nicholas and Tobias Plato grew up tough but tenderhearted, qualities they put to use as actress, Olivia Montoyo Simms’ bodyguards. Who knew that Nicholas would play such a pivotal role in Olivia’s life: her most trusted friend and guardian, and in the end, her savior?

Navajo rancher and computer geek, Sam Whitehorse uncovers a secret, terrorist stockpile of materiel burrowed in the side of one his people’s sacred mountains in Nevada. It is a threat that he and Las Vegas gambler, Koa Kalua’i must expose and eliminate, but potential government involvement in the matter complicates such an offensive. And why does actress, Olivia Montoyo Simms insert herself into the whole affair?

Amazon Buy Links Paperback – Kindle

About the Author

Multi-award-winning author and artist Linda Lee Greene describes her life as a telescope that when trained on her past reveals how each piece of it, whether good or bad or in-between, was necessary in the unfoldment of her fine art and literary paths.

Greene moved from farm-girl to city-girl; dance instructor to wife, mother, and homemaker; divorcee to single-working-mom and adult-college-student; and interior designer to multi-award-winning artist and author, essayist, and blogger, it was decades of challenging life experiences and debilitating, chronic illness that gave birth to her dormant flair for art and writing. Greene was three days shy of her fifty-seventh birthday when her creative spirit took a strong hold.

She found her way to her lonely easel soon thereafter. Since then Greene has accepted commissions and displayed her artwork in shows and galleries in and around the USA. She is also a member of artist and writer associations.

Visit Linda at her online art gallery and join her on Facebook. Linda loves to hear from readers so feel free to email her.

Tasty Tuesdays–Heavenly Honey Bun Cake from Sharon Ledwith

Tags

Blackflies and Blueberries, Dessert, food, Honey Bun Cake, Recipes, Sharon Ledwith, Tasty Tuesdays, YA fiction

from Sharon Ledwith

Some recipes take me back to a time when life was simpler—a.k.a. living with my parents, eating their food, and not having to any pay bills or a mortgage. As the name suggests, this cake tastes exactly like the honey bun I used to buy during my high school days. Trust me, just one mouthful of this sugary bliss propels you back to those days where all your happy memories and good times of the past, still exist.

A warning to the wise: it’s quite a sweet cake and not for those who are watching their waistlines, so wait until after you’ve blown your New Year’s Resolutions to try this delish dish. I’ve found this is the perfect cake to serve during holidays, celebrations, or perhaps as an indulgent dessert at your monthly book club.

Heavenly Honey Bun Cake
1 package of yellow cake mix (432 g or 18.25 ounce)
¾ cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 (250 g or 8 ounce) container of sour cream
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C).

In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, oil, eggs, and sour cream. Stir by hand approximately 50 strokes, or until most large lumps are gone. Pour half of the batter into an ungreased 9 x 13-inch glass baking dish. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, sprinkle over the batter.

Spoon the remaining batter into the cake pan. Be sure to cover the brown sugar and cinnamon well. Twirl the cake with a butter knife or icing knife until it looks like a honey bun or whatever design you want to make.

Bake 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Frosting
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
4 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Spread across the cake while fairly hot. Serve warm.

Tastes wonderful if served with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.

While you’re waiting for the cake to bake, take a seat in your favorite comfy chair and crack open one of my books. May I suggest a visit to Fairy Falls, or if you’re feeling really adventurous, a trip back in time with The Last Timekeepers? Whichever you choose, I guarantee either series will take you on a journey far away from thoughts of paying bills or putting in a load of laundry.

Here’s a glimpse into one of the books from Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls, my teen psychic mystery series.

The only witness left to testify against an unsolved crime in Fairy Falls isn’t a person…

City born and bred, Hart Stewart possesses the gift of psychometry—the psychic ability to discover facts about an event or person by touching inanimate objects associated with them. Since his mother’s death, seventeen-year-old Hart has endured homelessness, and has learned ways to keep his illiteracy under wraps. He eventually learns of a great-aunt living in Fairy Falls, and decides to leave the only life he’s ever known for an uncertain future.

Diana MacGregor lives in Fairy Falls. Her mother was a victim of a senseless murder. Only Diana’s unanswered questions and her grief keeps her going, until Hart finds her mother’s lost ring and becomes a witness to her murder.

Through Hart’s psychic power, Diana gains hope for justice. Their investigation leads them into the corrupt world threatening Fairy Falls. To secure the town’s future, Hart and Diana must join forces to uncover the shocking truth, or they risk losing the true essence of Fairy Falls forever.

AMAZON BUY LINK

 

Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/YA time travel series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, and the teen psychic mystery series, MYSTERIOUS TALES FROM FAIRY FALLS. When not writing, researching, or revising, she enjoys reading, exercising, anything arcane, and an occasional dram of scotch. Sharon lives a serene, yet busy life in a southern tourist region of Ontario, Canada, with her hubby, one spoiled yellow Labrador and a moody calico cat.

Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter,  Goodreads, and Smashwords. Look up her Amazon Author page for a list of current books. Be sure to check out THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS TIME TRAVEL SERIES Facebook page.

Tasty Tuesdays–Gluten-free German Pancake from T. H. Hernandez

Tags

geman pancake, Gluten-free recipe, Recipes, T.H. Hernandez, Tasty Tuesdays, YA novel Prom Wrecked

I inherited a community cookbook, Get Smakelijk, from my grandmother when she passed away This blue and white comb-bound book with stained cover and yellowing pages, published in 1964, includes a collection of recipes by members and friends of the Junior Welfare League of Holland, Michigan. I have no idea where she got it, because from what I knew, she was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio.

Page 52 includes a recipe for German pancakes, one of my favorite dishes from The Original Pancake House. I made these more than a few times until I calculated the caloric content when they were reserved for special occasions. On Christmas morning, 2000, the year our first child was born, they became a Hernandez family tradition.

Fast forward to the fall of 2007, when our four-year-old twins were diagnosed with celiac disease, meaning wheat flour was forever banned from our home, along with rye and barley. It was the end of German pancakes as we knew them. Over the years, I experimented with various gluten-free flours, but I could never get the recipe quite right. They turned into mounded, air-filled pancakes that flattened as soon as I took them out of the oven, instead of the bowl-shaped beauties they’re meant to be. Plus, they never tasted quite right.

Those four-year-old scrawny boys, weighing just 25 pounds each, with no muscle mass and large protruding bellies, have thrived on a gluten-free diet and are now approaching six-feet in height. They’ve been determined to figure out this gluten-free German pancake thing that they somehow remember from more than a decade ago. They finally hit the jackpot last year. As neither my husband nor I have celiac, we can taste test against the original, and if I did a blind taste test, I’d be hard-pressed to tell you which one was gluten-free. I’m pleased to share the Hernandez Twins version of the gluten-free German pancake:

RECIPE

Ingredients:

3 eggs

½ stick of butter (not margarine)

½ cup Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-free flour

½ cup nonfat milk

1 teaspoon sugar

Pinch of salt
Powdered sugar and fresh lemons

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. While the oven preheats, put the butter in a 9” oven-safe skillet or 9” glass pie pan and place in the oven to melt.
2. Meanwhile, beat together eggs, flour, milk, sugar and salt.
3. When oven is ready, remove the pan. Butter should be fully melted and brown on the edges. This will make a nice crispy bottom to your pancake.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan and return to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes undisturbed (i.e. don’t open the door to check on it!)
5. Serve with powdered sugar and fresh lemons. My family argues over what goes on first, but take it from me, the only one with ¾ German ancestry in our family, that the lemon goes on first, THEN the powdered sugar.

Each pancake can serve two adults or one growing teen boy.

While the pancake is baking, check out

T. H. hernandez’s YA book

Prom-Wrecked

 

Their prom night ended in a jail cell with forty of their closest friends. But that’s hardly the worst thing that happened to them…

When the principal announces prom is canceled this year, senior Riley Hart is determined to save it. Armed with little more than her own enthusiasm, she ends up working closely with Owen Locklear, who is more than completely off-limits. Because he’s the boyfriend of her ex-BFF, Catherine Reed. Still, Owen knows Riley better than almost anyone, and his charming ideas for turning the prom upside-down and backward win Riley over.

Catherine is willing to join Owen and Riley on the prom committee, but only because her legacy as prom queen is at stake. She’s already suffocating under the weight of her parents’ expectations for after senior year, and compared to that, ensuring prom happens should be easy. At least until everything starts to go wrong.

First they lose their deposit. Then they book a band full of octogenarians. And lose their venue… Twice.

Riley will have an unforgettable teenage experience, damn it, if it’s the last thing she does…

BUY LINK

 

About the Author:

T.H. Hernandez is a published author of young adult novels. THE UNION, a post-climate change dystopian adventure, was a finalist in the 2015 San Diego book awards in the Young Adult Fiction category. SUPERHERO HIGH, an urban scifi teenage romance, set in San Diego. Her first young adult contemporary co-written with Jennifer DiGiovanni, PROM-WRECKED, is published through Entangled Teen.

She thrives on coffee, pumpkin-flavored anything, Doctor Who marathons, Bad Lip Reading videos, and all things young adult, especially the three young adults who share her home. When not visiting the imaginary worlds inside her head, you can find her in usually sunny San Diego with her husband, three teenage spawns, a bearded dragon, a couple of cats, and Artemis, a neurotic rescue mutt.

SOCIAL MEDIA  Twitter: Website: Instagram:

 

 

 

Tasty Tuesdays–Blissful Burgers from Becky Van Vleet

Tags

Becky Van Vleet, Blissful Burgers, entree, food, Recipes, Talitha the Traveling Skirt, Tasty Tuesdays

Today’s Tasty Tuesday recipe is from author Becky Van Vleet, who’s sharing a family favorite—Burgers with a twist!

 

Blissful Burgers

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds ground beef

4 slices dry bread soaked in water, then squeezed out

1 beaten egg

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

½ tsp garlic powder

2 T milk

Directions

Add all ingredients to ground beef and stir until completely mixed. Shape into patties. Grilling is preferred, but pan frying works as well. Add your favorite condiments with a healthy bread and you will want to cook these frequently. Delicious!

This recipe originates from my Polish paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Holeva Troyan. When she would visit our home when I was a young girl, I always thought her hamburgers were “spiced” up a bit more than other hamburgers I ate. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I found out that she had her own recipe, and that, yes, indeed, they really were spiced up in her own special way. I chose a family recipe because I am all about creating and preserving family memories, the theme of my website. In fact, my first children’s picture book, Talitha, the Traveling Skirt, was inspired by a true family story. We have had a little red plaid skirt that has been traveling in our family for more than 70 years, spanning three generations. And this family recipe has been “traveling” around as well!

While the burgers grill check out Becky’s delightful picture book.

 

Talitha, the Traveling Skirt

By Becky Van Vleet

Meet Talitha, a little plaid skirt that likes to travel. Through the years, she visits many two-year-old girls in a special family who wear her to get their pictures taken. But Talitha encounters problems when she least expects them. And Tippy the dog certainly participates. Filled with colorful and detailed illustrations, young children, ages 3-8, will delight in this heartwarming story about a little skirt’s adventures, inspired by a true family story.

Buy Links     Amazon  Barnes & Noble:

 

About the author:

Becky Van Vleet is a retired teacher and principal. She and her husband make their home in Colorado Springs, where Becky enjoys oil painting, gardening, and hiking and biking in the great outdoors. Becky is all about creating and preserving family memories as you will see on her website. She relishes spending time with her family and especially reading books to her grandchildren.

 

Social Media

https://www.beckyvanvleet.com/

https://www.facebook.com/memoriesandtraditions/?modal=admin_todo_tour

https://www.instagram.com/becky_van_vleet/

 

 

 

 

Tasty Tuesdays—Frogger cookies from Jo-Ann Roberts

Tags

cookies, food blog, Jo-Ann Roberts, Lessie Bride of New Hope, Recipes, Tasty Tuesdays

I’ve always said if I could write, quilt and bake every day I’d be a very happy person. Now that I’ve been lucky enough to make this dream come true, it is what I do. Luckily, I have combined writing with my love of baking. In each of my books, I feature a recipe which has a special meaning for either the hero or heroine.

In “Lessie – Brides of New Hope, Book 1”, the hero, Eli MacKenzie, a born and bred New Englander, enjoys Lessie’s version of the molasses-spice treat and relates the story of how the cookies came to be named.

Molasses cookies date back to colonial New England. While some called them Lumberjacks or Hermits, this variation with rum in the batter comes from a legend handed down through the years about a man named Joe Brown, a free African-American who lived in Marblehead, Massachusetts. After serving in the Revolutionary War, he opened a tavern in town. His wife, Lucretia (a.k.a Aunt Crease) served spirits and plate-sized cookies flavored with molasses, rum and spices. These cookies were her specialty, and the story states “when the batter hit the pan, it spread out in every direction, giving the appearance of a frog’s body and legs”. Given their frog shape and because the tavern was next to a frog pond, the legend was born.

There are many variations of this cookie. While some recipes incorporate eggs, butter, or light brown sugar, or dip the bottom of a glass in sugar then flatten the rolled dough, this recipe was given to given to me by Katie Sartori, our landlady who rented us our first apartment as newlyweds in Connecticut.

Joe Froggers

Total Time: 40 minutes plus chilling time
Yield: 1 1/2 – 2 dozen, depending on size

Ingredients

½ cup butter-flavored shortening
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup molasses
1/3 cup hot water
2 tablespoons rum*
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves**
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg**
1/3 teaspoon ground allspice**
1 teaspoon baking soda
Sanding sugar*** or regular sugar

Directions

1. Cream shortening and sugar together. Add molasses. Mix well. Sift dry ingredients together. Add to molasses mixture. Put ¼ – ½ cup of sanding sugar or regular sugar in a bowl.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Dip fingers into sugar, pinch of a ball of dough the size of a walnut. Dip the rolled dough into the bowl of sugar. Place on parchment paper lined sheet pan, about 3 inches apart.
3. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on pan 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
*I substitute 1 teaspoon of rum extract
**I substitute 1 ½ tsp of pumpkin pie spice
***I like using sanding sugar as it is a coarser grain of sugar and gives a nice presentation.

While you wait for these cookies to bake, check out the book in which they are featured.

Lessie – Brides of New Hope, Book 1

By Jo Ann Roberts

How can a single unexpected kiss, a forced wedding, and a missing groom lead two strangers to discover how love can heal their wounded hearts?

Having to carve out a life on her own as a midwife, the last person Lessie MacKenzie expected to see on her doorstep was her missing husband…the injured Yankee she was forced to marry, who disappeared the next day, and whose kiss still lingered on her lips.

Eli MacKenzie wanted only one thing after the Civil War…to establish his medical practice in New Hope, Kansas. His dream turned to despair when he discovered someone sold his property. And that someone appeared to be the woman who haunted his every dream the past two years…and now claimed to be his wife!

Brought together by chance and united by their desire to forge a future, will a secret from Lessie’s past threatens to destroy their newfound love?

About the Author:

Born and raised in western Massachusetts, Jo-Ann Roberts was fascinated by America’s Old West and always felt she was destined to travel on a wagon train following the Oregon Trail. With her love of history and reading, she began reading historical romance during high school and college. Victoria Holt, Jude Deveraux, and Roseanne Bittner were among her favorites. Influenced by her father, she fell in love with John Wayne, James Garner, and her all-time favorite, James Stewart and grew up watching Wagon Train, Bonanza and Rawhide.
A firm believer in HEA with a healthy dose of realism, Jo-Ann strives to give her readers a sweet historical romance while imparting carefully researched historical facts, personalities, and experiences relative to the time period. Her romances take her readers back to a simpler time to escape the stress of modern life by living in a small town where families and friends help one another find love and happiness.
When she isn’t creating believable plots and relatable heroes and heroines, Jo-Ann enjoys spending time with her husband, children and grandson. She also enjoys baking, quilting and eating way too much chocolate.
After 38 years in public education in Connecticut and Maryland, she’s now calls North Carolina home. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Heart of Carolina RWA, and the 2018 Winner (Historical Category) of NEORWA’s Cleveland Rocks Romance Contest.

Social Media Links  Website: Facebook: Instagram: jrobertsauthor
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Tasty Tuesdays–Pineapple Million Dollar Cake from Shannon Taylor Vannatter

Tags

Cake, Dessert, food blog, giveaway, Pineapple Million Dollar Cake, Recipes, Shannon Taylor Vannatter, Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesdays

For ten years, I was a hairdresser. One of my long ago patrons gave me this recipe I used in my latest release, Hill Country Redemption. Larae Collins returns to her hometown to sell her childhood ranch since her dad recently died. Though the single mom has kept her daughter, Jayda, a secret for eight years, she soon learns her daughter’s father, Rance Shepherd lives right next door now.

Since Rance dumped her back in high school, Larae assumes he’s still irresponsible and wants to make a clean exit without him learning the truth. But Rance sees Jayda. At first he assumes she isn’t his since she’s small for her age. Until Jayda innocently tells him how old she is.

Both Christians now, Rance and Larae determine to work things out and do what’s best for their daughter. Larae invites him over for dinner to reveal who he is. Rance and Jayda end up putting the yummy (Eagle Brand and pineapples) in the million-dollar cake.

 

Pineapple Million Dollar Cake

 Ingredients

Yellow Cake Mix

Oil & Eggs (according to package directions)

1 can Eagle Brand Evaporated Milk

1 20 oz can Crushed Pineapple

1 8 oz Cool Whip

Shredded Coconut

Chopped Pecans (optional)

 

Directions

Prepare and bake a yellow cake mix according to package directions in a 9 x 13 pan. Let cool ten minutes. Poke holes all over cake with a straw about an inch apart. Pour the Eagle Brand over cake and into holes. Spread evenly with a spoon until the cake soaks up the milk. Pour the crushed pineapple over the cake. Spread evenly with spoon. Let cool completely. Top with cool whip. Sprinkle with coconut and pecans.

Question for Readers: What’s your favorite recipe you got from someone else and who gave it to you?

While you’re waiting for the cake to bake, check out Hill Country Redemption By Shannon Taylor Vannatter. Leave her a comment on the blog to be entered in her giveaway.

Giveaway Details: Ten copies of Hill Country Redemption will be split among commentors on Shannon’s blog tour. Winners will be revealed on Shannon’s Blog on April 13th. 

 

Hill Country Redemption

By Shannon Taylor Vannatter

This cowboy has one more chance to make it right…

He already lost her once…

Now he’s fighting for her—and their daughter.

When Rance Shepherd takes a job stocking cattle for a local rodeo, he’s shocked that his new client is his ex-sweetheart, Larae Collins. Now he’s determined to prove to the single mother that he isn’t the restless cowboy she remembers. But when he discovers her little girl is his, they both must forgive past mistakes for a second shot at a future together.

Get your copy:

Hill Country Redemption – Amazon

Hill Country Redemption – BarnesandNoble

(Available at Walmart from mid-March until mid-June)

 

About the Author:

Award winning author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter writes contemporary Christian cowboy romance and has over a dozen published titles. A romance reader since her teens, she hopes to entertain Christian women and plant seeds in the non-believer’s heart as she demonstrates that love doesn’t conquer all—Jesus does.

She gleans fodder for her fiction in rural Arkansas, where she spent her teenage summers working the concession stand with her rodeo announcing dad, and married a Texan who morphed into a pastor. In her spare time, she loves hanging out with her husband and son, flea marketing, and doing craft projects.

Links: Shannon’s Website, Shannon’s Facebook. Sign up for her Newsletter to get a free e-book and behind the scenes info: Shannon’s Newsletter

 

 

 

 

 

Tasty Tuesdays–Chocolate Pecan Cheesecake Popper from Gina Briganti

Tags

dessert recipe, food, Gina Briganti, Recipes, Tastu Tuesdays

 

Gina is in my virtual kitchen today to share a clean, healthy dessert. Welcome, Gina!

Thanks, Catherine.
Are you expecting twigs covered in carob? I won’t say I haven’t had yummy carob desserts, but I have serious chocolate on my mind.
Do you think you aren’t allowed to have chocolate pecan cheesecake? Not. True. You can have these. They’re also gluten-free.
One way you stay in balance while eating this treat is that they are decadent and you likely will not eat more than two.

Chocolate Pecan Cheesecake Popper
½ cup organic cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp. organic unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp. organic raw pecans, ground, and another tbsp. for sprinkling on top

Mix all but the final tablespoon of pecans together (by hand works fine) in a mixing bowl until the cream cheese and cocoa powder are smooth and creamy.

Put the mixture in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Sprinkle your hands with water, then shape ½ tbsp. of the mixture at a time into balls.

Garnish with the ground pecans you held in reserve.

Keep refrigerated until party time.

Easy, creamy, deep chocolate flavor. That’s what I call holistic!

Here’s a peek into my fantasy romance where dreams and psychic connections become reality. This is the first book in the series. I hope you enjoy it.

Single mom Dana Carapelli wakes up in a parallel world called the Dreaming for the first time the night before she meets a handsome rancher. Soon after she wakes into the Dreaming again and finds that she is on his ranch. He knows all about the Dreaming because he wakes up there every time he falls asleep. When he tests their telepathy link she passes, plunging her into a psychic link with him. He admits that he has been promised a perfect partner for him and his teenage son, but doesn’t know if it’s her. Family and friends caution her to take it slow and that’s without her telling them what she knows will make them sound crazy. Joe is everything her dead husband wasn’t. What if it’s her turn to be happy? What if it’s real?

Start the journey into this fantasy romance today!

Amazon Buy Links

E-book – Paperback

Gina Briganti is an RWA member who writes fantasy and sci-fi romance in north Texas.

She also writes holistic health non-fiction because real life can be magic, too. Her credentials in holistic health include certification as a Reiki Master Practitioner and teacher, certification as a nutrition consultant, and a degree in holistic nutrition.

When she’s not writing, eating delicious healthy food, reading (follow her on Goodreads to see the massive variety she finds appealing) or making videos, she is spending time with family and friends. Her constant companion is a special soul who masquerades as a dog.

Visit her website and blog for book trailers, newsletter sign up, for exclusives and announcements that are shared only in her newsletter.

Stay connected on Facebook, Gina’s Amazon Author Page, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram.