Tag Archives: Food

Cooking: Autumn Style — Landra Graf

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This should’ve gone up during our month of chills and thrills, but I made a mistake. My fault, you can force feed me pumpkin pie later as punishment (please?). For now, I’d like to introduce my friend, Landra Graf, who has written an awesome erotic romance with highlanders. (You can find more info and buy links at the bottom of this guest post).

I love Fall and it all starts with October and Halloween. From the colors of the trees, the scent, the sights, and the events—including football. All of it gets me going.

But my favorite part is the cooking.

When fall rolls around it’s time to break out the crockpot; start baking every weekend and make some ghoul-iscious treats. Today, not only did I want to share with you my latest book release, but some autumn recipes I deploy without fail.

Hot Dog Mummies

These are so easy to make. Just grab some crescent rolls, hot dogs (your favorite kind), and mustard or ketchup for the eyes.

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

A little more labor intensive than regular Krispie Treats, but worth the beautiful outcome. I don’t include the extra (fruit rollup) leaf. Also on my pinterest is a link to the Christmas Ornament version of this, which is even easier.

Spiced Stew with Sweet Potatoes

I think I mentioned above how I like to pull out the crockpot. This is definitely one of those crockpot recipes I enjoy. This stew was devoured by everyone. My alterations to the recipe included exchanging the ancho chile powder for all spice, the thyme for rosemary, and the paprika for ground ginger. I also added a little cumin and chili powder to the mix. Finally I put half the spices on my meat and browned them in the seasoning to give the meat more full-bodied flavor. The great thing with stew recipes is you can essentially change the spices up however you want, just don’t change the base ingredients or general instructions.

While you’re enjoy a fall dinner or treat please check out my latest release, With This Kilt I Thee Bed.

They’re not your traditional highlanders.

cover1-copy-200x300Rafe Gordon, Laird of Nairn, is searching for release from the nightmare of his wife’s passing. When Elsie, his daughter’s new governess, brings with her the temptation of passion and a less-than-perfect-past, Rafe must decide if love truly can conquer all.

Innes Gordon is looking for a good time. When that good time turns out to be the childhood-friend-turned-kept-woman Catriona, he finds himself torn between claiming her ‘til death do us part’ or simply sharing her with his twin.

Hamish Gordon is seeking a woman all his own. While his family’s home is invaded with nuptial ceremonies, Hamish is sent to patrol his older brother’s hunting grounds in search of a thief. Discovering his prey yields the biggest surprise — and Athdara needs his help as much as he needs hers.

You can grab a copy at: Amazon , Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, or All Romance Ebooks.

About Lori Sizemore

Lover of nail polish, pens, her Kindle, and fresh coffee. She likes romance filled with messy, real characters and lots of snarky banter. Reading was (and still is!) her BFF; when she discovered writing she fell in love. Come for the snark. Stay for the story.

Fall Food Favorites

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October is one of my favorite months of the year. The changing of the leaves is at the top of the list, but another reason I like it so much is that by this time of the year I’ve had all the salad I can stand. And I’m dying for some comfort food. Food that simmers for hours, makes the house smell like home, and fills your stomach and your heart. Okay, and sometimes your arteries, but we do try to update the recipes.

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Summer heat doesn’t really lend itself to heavy food, even though using the oven isn’t the big deal it used to be. At this time of year breakfast muffins and savory dinners compete for time and attention in our house. Beef stew and fresh biscuits, or homemade chicken pot pie. Roast turkey isn’t just for Thanksgiving anymore. I’ve got one in the fridge right now for dinner on Friday. We’ll have it along with some fresh mashed potatoes.

Next week our grandson is coming to visit, so we’ll be making cookies for sure. And a trip to the orchard is in order so we can pick some apples for applesauce and apple pie. I’m guessing we might also snag a pumpkin or two while we’re there. Maybe some acorn squash for roasting. But I digress. Can you tell I’m excited about his visit? Now back to the subject at hand…

I think mashed potatoes are my favorite fall food. We only have them a couple times during the year. I would forgo dessert for serving of a good mashed potato casserole.

Do you have a favorite food you look forward to having in the fall?

About Beth Rhodes

Beth jumps into life with both feet...or head first. Impulsive and spontaneous to a T, she joined Passionate Critters and never looked back. She loves writing and reading, which made this wonderful group of woman a perfect match for her.

Tasty Fare

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Please accept my humble apologies for this late post. Swimming upstream today it seems. But let’s get started anyway.

Food. Nourishment. Sustenance. Call it whatever you want, it’s a big part of American culture. I can’t speak personally for any other countries, but Americans seem to celebrate every occasion with a meal of some kind.

It’s only natural that this would carry over into our writing. Landra Graf’s post about writing and food made me think about my own. There is at least one meal shared between the characters in each of my novels and sometimes more than one.

CakeMeals are great for getting characters together and moving the plot forward. Plus they are such a part of my life, I guess I make them part of my characters’ lives as well. I love them. And I can tell a lot about a person by how they order in a restaurant. So it’s a natural fit to me that a group of characters gathering for a meal would reveal things about themselves, whether accidentally or on purpose. Everyone has tells.

Truth be told, I’m a food person. Food fascinates me. Cooking does not come easily or naturally to me, but that’s another post. Perhaps that’s why I enjoy a really good meal cooked by someone else.

Traveling around the U.S. fairly frequently, I may not be able to tell you where we slept, or exactly how long it took to get somewhere, but I can tell you a really good restaurant in the area. And some of them have been quite surprising. Here are just a couple locales with memorable food.

Best Tex-Mex – Norman, OK. Best deep dish pizza – Chicago, IL. Best red beans and rice – Covington, GA. Best traditional Mexican, San Francisco, CA. Best chicken and waffles – Houston, TX. Best sushi, EVER, Fairhope, AL.

Why these things stick with me, I have no idea. I’m still looking for the best mac and cheese. So far, no luck.

Do you have a favorite food you love to have when you go out to eat?

About Beth Rhodes

Beth jumps into life with both feet...or head first. Impulsive and spontaneous to a T, she joined Passionate Critters and never looked back. She loves writing and reading, which made this wonderful group of woman a perfect match for her.

Family Traditions and Values – It’s what makes you special.

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It’s November! And Thanksgiving is coming soon and then Black Friday hits, and before you know it, Christmas is here and New Year’s will be around the corner… Pretty scary, right? But to me, they’re just holidays that I’ve grown up with and learned to enjoy and appreciate, but technically, I really don’t celebrate them… (Don’t gasp at me!)

For me, I have to say I was pretty lucky to grow up with Asian parents and then I had my American parents, which consisted of my older sister and older brother. They enjoyed making sure we learned about the American culture and celebrating American holidays since we do live in America. As I got older and went through grade school and middle school, I didn’t really understand why I was so different from the other kids. I wanted to be like everyone else, except I had different responsibilities and higher expectations for being my parent’s kid. IMG_0707

Growing up, I never really thought much of traditions. I just got excited that my parents didn’t have to work on holidays, and we got to eat good! They’d cook noodles and rice or put together a hot pot, which consists of savory broth that you cook your vegetables and meat in and eat each morsel as it’s done. All our holidays and family times centered around food (which probably explains why I need a personal trainer or nutritionist to control my relationship with food).

Sundays were our big family dinner days. My parents loved to cook and had taken their passion in food and made it a career by opening their own restaurant when I was nine. And I’ll admit, I took it for granted. Now that it’s been years since I’ve lived home, I hadn’t realized how much love and appreciation of food is ingrained in my culture and values.

Each year, we would go visit our ancestor’s graves and pay our respects. We’ll spend time together to watch Asian dramas, listen to Asian music and have debates on Asian history.

I thank my parents for giving me everything they have, for teaching me of our ways and what makes me special and different from everyone else. I’m culturally well-rounded and speak a different language, which may be more than what most people were given. What they’ve given me and taught me is great, in that I wish and I hope I’ll have the chance to pass down their traditions and values to the next generation. Traditions should never die as it makes a family more unique and special from others.

What are some of your family traditions and values?

 

About Beth Rhodes

Beth jumps into life with both feet...or head first. Impulsive and spontaneous to a T, she joined Passionate Critters and never looked back. She loves writing and reading, which made this wonderful group of woman a perfect match for her.

A Taste of Autumn

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Pumpkin Latte

I love fall. I like pulling my sweaters and boots out from the back of my closet. I adore the leaves changing colors. And I love curling up with a good book and a warm blanket. Right now, I’m also enjoying all the great autumn foods. Here are a few of my favorites:

  • Acorn Squash – I’m not much of a cook, but this is one thing I love to make. I slice the squash in half, clean out the seeds, stick it in the crockpot and add butter and brown sugar on top. By dinner time, it’s soft and delicious.
  • Chili – Actually, my husband is the one who makes the chili, but there is nothing better than a warm bowl of chili on a cold day – especially if you add a little cheese and sour cream on top.
  • Pumpkin – I pretty much love anything with pumpkin – pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice lattes. It tastes like fall.
  • Thanksgiving dinner – Turkey, cornbread dressing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy. Yum! What could be better?

 What are your favorite fall foods? 

About Beth Rhodes

Beth jumps into life with both feet...or head first. Impulsive and spontaneous to a T, she joined Passionate Critters and never looked back. She loves writing and reading, which made this wonderful group of woman a perfect match for her.

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