Passion, Passion, A Passionate Cook - Jacqueline Hopkins

Thanks Jacqueline for stopping by tell us a little about your recipe.

Mom’s chili was what we ate on our snowmobile rides all over kingdom come of Idaho and it was very tasty and warmed you right up. If she put a lot of Cayenne pepper in it, you couldn’t each too much. If there were other families riding with us and they ate the chili, someone would always ask, “Why doesn’t the chili have beans in it?”

My mother would reply, “Because true chili doesn’t have beans in it and we like it this way.”

So Lyn, my heroine, made the chili for every guiding trip she was on and it always elicited an argument from one of the men about the lack of beans in it, and this trip with Nic was no different in Wilderness Heart.

I hope you enjoy the Wilderness Chili as well as reading about Lyn and Nic’s little conflicts, and the overall book as I did writing it. 

Wilderness Chili

Ingredients

3 pounds stew meat

3 pounds hamburger

1 large white or yellow onion, chopped

2 large cans tomato sauce

1 dozen cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon marjoram

1 teaspoon chili powder

4 teaspoons salt

2-3 teaspoons paprika (approximately, see step 6 below)

2-3 teaspoons cayenne pepper (approximately, see step 6

below, or depending on how hot you like your chili)

3-4 tablespoons cornmeal to thicken (see step 8 below)

Directions

1. Brown stew meat in a large skillet. Place browned meat

into a large cooking pot or a crockpot.

2. Cook hamburger until done; drain (set aside for use in

step 3 below) and place in the large cooking pot with

the browned stew meat.

3. Chop the large onion and sauté in the grease from the

hamburger.

4. Fill the cooking pot or crockpot with water until it

covers the meat.

5. Add the 2 large cans of tomato sauce, the garlic

(chopped), sugar, cumin, marjoram, chili powder, and

salt.

6. Add the paprika and cayenne pepper until the seething

mass looks like the inside of an old red inner tube.

(Until it has a reddish/orange tint to it).

7. Cook on medium if you are using a crockpot for 3-4

hours. If using a large cooking pot, cook on a medium

161

to low heat (to simmer, not boiling) for 4-6 hours. Keep

checking it for water content. If water goes way below

top of meat mixture, add more water.

8. When stew meat is tender, thicken the chili with the

cornmeal about a half hour before serving.

9. Serve with your choice of crackers or buttered

cornbread. Freeze leftovers.

Lyn Taylor loves her job as an Idaho wilderness hunting guide, but her world is complicated. It is a man's job in a man's world where she must constantly prove she is very capable and qualified to guide men on their hunts. On top of her father barely engaging in life since the death of Lyn's mother, Lyn has second thoughts about marrying and having a man in her life.

But that was before she met Nic Randall, a lumber man, who comes from Montana to find timber to be bid on and milled. He is convinced she can't handle the job as their guide because she is a woman and she is, of course, insulted. Nevertheless, neither has much choice and are forced to spend day and night together for the seven day hunt. Lyn is not happy -- just how much is a confident, independent woman suppose to put up with?

You can find Jacque all over the internet (including an old genealogy web site still floating out there in cyberspace and sadly needs updating) below:

Follow Jacque’s blog over here – http://jacquehopkins.blogspot.com

Check out Wilderness Heart on Amazon - http://amzn.to/rFdoOg Price: $2.99

Createspace Page (for paperback) - https://www.createspace.com/3565575

Smashwords Page – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/45556

Kobo link – www.bit.ly/PM9hog

Sony link – www.bit.ly/OZOWNx

Barnes & Noble link – www.bit.ly/Iuqxhe

Diesel link – www.bit.ly/Q20bWL

On Publish My Book link – www.bit.ly/NeJt7c

On XinXii link – www.bit.ly/NVCXh8

Game Page – www.freado.com/users/27790/Jacqueline-Hopkins where you can play games to win a copy of her book.

Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/Author.JacquelineHopkins

Twitter Jacque at @jacquehopkins

Jacque’s Goodreads Page – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4690984.Jacqueline_Hopkins

Amazon Author’s Page – http://amzn.to/wSgCEk

All Romance Ebooks link – https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-wildernessheart-563950-173.html

Thanks Jacque for stopping by,

Anita

Passionate Cook - Rhonda Laurel

Let me tell you a little about my guest today.

Rhonda Laurel is a contemporary romance writer whose two great loves are writing and landscape photography.  She uses both as a vehicle to convey the complexity of the human spirit and the beauty of the world around her.  Her writing career has spanned two decades but has recently gained momentum in 2012 with her debut novella Ebb Tide.  Contemporary, multicultural romance is her ‘thing’ in the form of novellas and novels, but the author also writes poetry, inspirational quotes, designs greeting cards and the occasional essay.  For the Love of the Game, Masquerade and Shutter are tentatively scheduled to be released this year.  She has found a home with Etopia Press Publishing and is happily building her backlist. 

Her recipe is

Blissful Banana Pudding Trifle

Ingredients

2 large boxes of vanilla instant pudding mix
4 cups milk
1 box Nilla Wafers
2 containers whipped topping or whipped cream
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon banana liqueur

Directions
1. Combine instant vanilla pudding mix, milk, and banana liqueur into bowl. Mix until pudding is stiff and firm.

2. Take half of the Nilla Wafers and place into a food storage bag. Break up cookies into chunky pieces. Set
aside until ready to assemble trifle.

3. Give whipped topping or cream a stir to make sure it will distribute evenly.

4. Slice bananas into half-inch slices. Make sure there is
enough for three trifle layers.

5. Place a layer of crushed Nilla Wafers at the bottom of the bowl. Next, add a layer of vanilla pudding and
spread evenly. Place banana slices on top of pudding.  Then spread whipped topping over pudding and
bananas. Finally, gently place whole Nilla Wafers into the trifle layer on the side of the bowl, resting them
against the glass with top of the cookie to face out for good presentation.

6. Continue these steps, building each additional layer of your trifle the same way until you reach the top of the
bowl.

7. Finally, add the final layer of whipped topping and sprinkle the Nilla Wafer crumbs on tops. Then carefully
place six Nilla Wafers in the center of the trifle.

Check out her latest release -

Simmering passion at play.

Natalie Griffin is an attorney who is practical, smart and good at her job. Legalese is the least of her worries, for much of her time is spent keeping her employer, playboy extraordinaire Evan Darchon, out of trouble. Natalie has managed organize everything for him--his company, his home, and his women—but if she could teach him to control some of his wilder impulses, her job would be a heck of a lot easier.

But what about her impulses? Her cool, controlled demeanor is the perfect complement to Evan’s wild side, but she craves the carefree way he makes her feel. His attraction is obvious, but can either of them afford to rock the boat of their professional relationship?

You can find her at

Website: www.rhondalaurel.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorrhondalaurel
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rhondalaurel

Buy links.
http://www.amazon.com/Ebb-Tide-ebook/dp/B008HQEIZC/ref=sr_1_3?
ie=UTF8&qid=1341607997&sr=8-3&keywords=rhonda+laurel

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-ebbtide-863381-149.html

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ebb-tide-rhonda-laurel/1111966415?ean=2940014658362

Thanks Rhonda for stopping by, look forward to trying out your recipe.

Anita

Passionate Cook - Sharon Kleve

Sharon Kleve was born and raised in Washington and currently lives on the Olympic Peninsula with her husband.

She loves romance. She loves reading romance, living romance, and especially loves writing about romance. She gets no greater feeling than watching her characters come alive in each other's arms. Most of all, she loves giving her characters the happily ever after they deserve—with a few bumps and bruises along the way.

One of her favorite things to do is picking up a new book and sinking into the story, immersing herself in the emotions between the characters. She hopes to inspire her readers the same way her favorite authors have inspired her.

When not writing, she can usually be found either curled up in her recliner with her cat and a good book, or in the kitchen baking sourdough bread or bagels.

Author of "The Corny Myers Series"

Book One, Flamingo Blues, Published December 2011

Book Two, Be Mine, Published February 2012

Book Three, Klutzy Love, Published August 2012

I'm a Passionate Cook:

Besides writing, cooking is my passion and I spend a lot of time in my kitchen. A few years ago we remodeled it and now I have a large kitchen that inspires me to do even more.

A couple weeks before our sixteenth year wedding anniversary this year instead of going out I created a romantic dinner for two. We drank a couple glasses of chardonnay and looked longing into each other eyes. My husband says that’s cheaper than an upgrade on a diamond ring. Ha ah!

I thought I share the rest of the dinner menu, minus the looking into each other eye’s; you’re on your own with that one.

Lip Smacking Pork Roulade is a main dish in the Passionate Cooks cook book. Below are the two side dishes I served with it. You can't have a romantic dinner without something delicious to drink. My fresh Blackberry margaritas fit the bill.

Find her recipe for lip-smacking pork in the 

Passionate cooks

http://www.allromanceebooks.com//product-passionatecooks-944744-174.html

New Red Potatoes with Parsley

• 1 (1-pound) new red potatoes
• 2 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 bunch fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Wash and cut the new potatoes into quarters and dry.
3. Put the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and new potatoes in a bowl and toss.
4. Add salt and pepper and toss again.
5. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread the potatoes in a single layer.
6. Chop the bunch of parsley and set aside
7. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until tender.
8. Put alongside the Pork on a pretty platter and top with the parsley.

Sautéed Garlic Broccoli

Ingredients

·         1 (1-pound) fresh, washed and dried broccoli

·         4 tablespoon olive oil

·         2 tablespoon of butter

·         4 large finely chopped cloves of garlic

·         1 lime

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the olive oil and butter in a large non-stick pan
2. Add the garlic and slowly soften it, but don’t burn it.
3. Add the broccoli and sauté until tender.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Cut the lime into quarters.
6. Put alongside the Pork on a pretty platter and top with lime juice.

Mouth Watering Blackberry Margarita

Ingredients

·         12 oz. Agave Tequila

·         6 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice

·         3 oz Agave nectar

·         3 oz water

·         ¼ cup blackberries, frozen will work if they're not in season.

·         A pinch of rock salt

Directions

1. Shake vigorously and pour over crushed ice.
2. Add a few blackberries for more color
3. Makes about 6 servings, depending on the size of the glass

Klutzy Love Blurb:

Corny is a hot chick with a great job that she loves. All that changed in the blink of an eye when her boss had an accident involving an oversized rubber band. She’s still a hot chick, but her boss is dead.

Steve Spears is a seasoned narcotics cop who ends up wanting to strangle Corny on a regular basis. After finding out Corny’s dream of opening a pet detective business, he decides he doesn’t want a girlfriend who routinely puts herself in danger. That’s his job!

Corny misses Steve, but she’s getting on with her life. She decides to get a month’s worth of dating out of the way in a single night, by combining her three favorite things—men, food, and alcohol.

Steve’s big gun and cop’s intuition saves Corny’s life, but not from another trip to the emergency room. He makes Corny promise never to get hurt again—she agreed, but has her fingers crossed behind her back.

Contact me at:

http://www.sharonkleve.com/

http://authorsharonkleve.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/sharonrkleve

https://twitter.com/#!/SharonKleve

https://pinterest.com/srkleve/

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=tab_pro

https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/106597108511066054614/106597108511066054614/posts#106597108511066054614/posts

Links to Purchase:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Sharon-Kleve/e/B006JAH14S/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Klutzy-Love-ebook/dp/B0091HGE6W/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_t_1

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Sharon-kleve?keyword=Sharon+kleve&store=allproducts&iehack=%E2%98%A0

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=sharon+kleve

Thanks for stopping by and sharing your recipes, Sharon

Anita
www.anitaphilmar.com

Passionate Cook - Marilyn Baron

Passionate about Pasta and Pecan Pie? The Love Affair Continues… 

By Marilyn Baron

Anita, I’m so happy to be a guest on your blog today to celebrate the recent release of Passionate Cooks, Free Recipes from Today’s Hottest Romance Authors. As a fellow Passionate Cook, I’ve enjoyed reading the recipes—ranging from spicy to sweet—from my more than 150 sister romance authors. I hope everyone will try my signature dish—Pasta Passionata Alla Carbonara. It’s a recipe I learned in Italy, where I spent six months studying in Florence, during my junior year of college. That’s where I first developed a taste for pasta and to this day, the love affair continues. This is a great company dish. Everyone loves it and it tastes just as good when you reheat and serve it the second day. There are many variations of spaghetti alla carbonara. Some versions include peas, some use cream. I always try that dish whenever I go to an Italian restaurant to see if it’s better than mine. Most of the times, it’s not.

My love of Italy shines through in my book, THE EDGER, which I coauthored with my sister, Sharon Goldman, an award-winning artist in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The EDGER is a humorous Women’s Fiction about landscape artist Alexandra Newborn’s shocking reunion with her college art professor, Nick Anselmo—once a celebrated Italian artist, now a homeless lawn man—which sows the seeds for murder, mystery and romance. RT Book Reviews gave The Edger 4 ½ stars in the September 2012 issue, writing, “Baron and Goldman offer a bit of everything in this superb novel. There’s humor, infidelity, murder, mayhem, and a neatly drawn conclusion.”
If you want to read an excerpt from THE EDGER, and more reviews, visit:  http://www.amazon.com/The-Edger-ebook/dp/B006Y3P12Y.

After you’ve read THE EDGER, and if you would like a signature card signed by my sister and me, go to my blog bio site http://www.petitfoursandhottamales.com/marilyn-baron/ to find out about how to get your KEEPER KASE™ CARDS FOR E-FANS! The KeeperKase Cards feature the cover of the book, which was inspired by one of my sister’s original paintings “Backyard Lagoon,” which is also featured in the book and on the home page of her Web site http://sgoldmanart.com/index.htm.

There were other recipes I wanted to submit to Passionate Cooks, so here’s one for your readers that was not included in the cookbook. It’s called Passionate Pecan Pie. I got this recipe from the Floridian, a restaurant in St. Augustine, Florida.   

Passionate Pecan Pie from The Floridian in St. Augustine, Florida

Ingredients:
Mix together:
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 cup melted butter

Add 2 cups chopped pecans, fold in

Take a regular pie crust (frozen deep dish)
Pour the following on top of pie crust:
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut

Pour the ingredients you first mixed together
on top of the coconut

Directions:

1. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.

2. Garnish with a dollop of fresh whipped cream

This pie is to die for. And if paranormal is more to your taste, why not enjoy a slice of pie with a serving of my new paranormal e-short story DEAD MIX. In DEAD MIX, the devil goes down to Georgia—Roswell, Georgia, and more specifically, The Lion’s Den music store. Enter at your own risk. Devlin Burns, the shop’s proprietor, specializes in mixing music to die for...on CDs that are guaranteed to knock you dead by the final note. As the citizens of Roswell go missing, one man, Daniel Craig, ventures into town on the hunt for lost souls, a search that will change his life, forever. I hope you’ll give Dead Mix a spin. 

http://www.twbpress.com/deadmix.html.

To get your free copy of Passionate Cooks, Free recipes from today’s hottest romance authors, visit  https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-passionatecooks-944744-174.html. 

thanks for stopping by can't wait to try your recipe.

Passionate Cook - Vallory Vance

HUB’S HOT SALSA

·         3 medium sized fresh tomatoes , stems removed, coarsely chopped

·         1/2 red onion, finely diced

·         3 jalapeño chili peppers (stems, ribs, seeds removed), finely diced (reserve seeds)

·         Juice of one lime

·         1/2 cup chopped cilantro

·         Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.       Chop 3 medium sized fresh tomatoes.

2.       Prepare the jalapeño chili peppers (Set aside the seeds from the peppers. If you like your salsa really hot, add a few seeds for heat.)

3.       Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl.

4.       Chill for an hour.

5.       Serve with chips, quesadillas or Second Chance Tortillas.

Music for Her Soul Summary

Lena Spencer is a practical woman whose world is carefully ordered by schedules and timelines and she doesn’t like surprises. So when she receives a call from a beautiful model detailing an affair with her boyfriend, her world is thrown into chaos. With the help of her boisterous sister and niece, Lena manages to pick up the pieces and resume her role as a single working mom with the added bonus of a few slinky dresses to show off the figure she’d always hidden.  Feeling sexy and confident, she is almost prepared for Ethan’s return from a European tour. Almost.

Musician, Ethan Holden, realized too late that he’d miscalculated the level of Lena’s fury. A ten month tour through Europe and a crazed fan had proven too much for the both of them. Returning to his hometown, he is determined to win her back despite her resistance. But can he give up the music he loves if that’s the only thing she wants?

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Music-For-Her-Soul-ebook/dp/B008YGYQN4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1345221926&sr=8-3&keywords=vallory+vance

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/music-for-her-soul-interracial-erotic-romance-vallory-vance/1112520851?ean=2940014908542

All Romance: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-musicforhersoul-917152-149.html

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/215467

Online Connections:

Vallory V ~ A Romance Author Blog: www.valloryv.wordpress.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ValloryVance

Thanks for stopping by Vallory. 

Anita