Welcome to my part in Drea Becraft’s Holiday Blog Hop!

December 16th -18th

Just in case clicking on the Holiday Blog Hop button doesn’t work. The hop starts here:

http://thebloghopspot.com/event-page/

For my prizes, I’m offering the handmade ornament seen hanging from my snazzy Rose Anderson pen below — a bunch of grapes for the wine lover out there — suitable for tree or anywhere! 😀 And, winner’s choice of an ebook copy of either Dreamscape or Hermes Online. The winner will be randomly chosen from all comments left this weekend.

I got into a conversation with my author friends the other day about putting together a cookbook tied to paragraphs in our books. Wouldn’t that be a fun giveaway? So I came up with passages from the various books I’ve written where food comes into play and came up with these ~

I have an apple crisp recipe that might go with the following paragraph. It might team up well with that goat cheese and apple pannini recipe I have too. 

From Jason Bowen my Dreamscape ghost:
When she opened a paper sack to retrieve a sandwich and apple, the sight made him hungry. No, not hungry exactly. Rather wistful. Food was such an enjoyable thing and one he sorely missed. Occasionally, in the process of eating, she licked her lips, and that simple act made his body stir. Hmm, he mused, how about that?

I make pepper steak over rice that might pair nicely with this next paragraph.

From Vivienne in Hermes Online:
At home I settled down to dinner with a cardboard box of takeout, feeling a little lonely at that moment. Chinese should never be eaten alone. It should have company. It needs people to laugh with when you crack open your cookie and add the phrase “in the bedroom” to every fortune. I well knew the schedules of my friends. Unfortunately tonight I was on my own.

The following are my three Coming Soon novels, two of which I plan to release in 2012.

My soon to be released shape-shifter novel (unedited here) has this one that might compliment that yummy baked bean recipe I have. The hero is ancient and has never before seen a hot dog:

When she unwrapped the package, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Nor could he imagine her eating such a thing.

“Aren’t you going to try your hotdog?”

Unwrapping his, Ash stared at it. He watched her take a bite. There was no doubt she enjoyed it immensely. His eyes followed it as she set the unappetizing food on top of her basket of fries. Seeing the inside of the hotdog, he suddenly burst out laughing. This was no dog cock.

Olivia looked at him, “What’s so funny?”

He shook his head. Still chuckling, he picked up his hot dog and without hesitation took a bite. It was meat of some unidentifiable kind, and it was delicious.

Here’s an unedited piece from my hopeful spring 2012 release that would pair well with a delicious crab cake recipe.

As expected, Alex’s room was as he left it. He’d only been gone a month after all. Bathing and dressing quickly, he combed his damp hair, and headed back downstairs to the kitchen where he found his sister slicing the just-baked bread. “That looks delicious Bea.”

“I suppose I’ll give you a piece if you quit your salivatin’.”

“Nobody bakes bread like you…”

She laughed. “Ha! Anything cooked would look good after a month of nothing but raw crabs and fish. I could bake a shoe and you’d want it.”

He laughed with her. “That’s true enough. But then sis, no one can bake a sole like yourself either.”

Rolling her eyes at his play on words, she flung the end of crust at him. “Your lookin’ like a scarecrow, dinna you eat when you’re out?”

He caught the bit and promptly ate it. “Crabs and fish. That diet gets old quickly. I’ll be stayin’ with cooked meat and vegetables for a while.”

I have a great recipe for fettuccine Alfredo (aka a heart attack on a plate) for this unedited bit from my Magnum Opus (I promise to name the darn thing sometime in 2012)

He leaned on the counter and crossed his ankles. The towel gaped open, exposing more of his sleek muscled legs while the outline of the rest suggested Liam was a well-endowed man.

Feeling her cheeks flame, she turned away, “Dinner will be ready in about 2 minutes. All I have to do is drain the pasta…”

The blush was just too much. Sensing his desire for her was gearing up to make a grand showing, he took a hearty sip. Hastily setting his glass down, he clapped his hands together and spoke to her back, “I’d better get dressed then hadn’t I? If you’d like, go ahead and fill the plates, I’ll only be a minute. By the way, that sauce smells wonderful. Alfredo right?”

Not trusting her eyes not to devour him where he stood, she half turned. “Good nose!”

🙂
So now that I have you hungry, here’s a yummy recipe my husband and kids make every year for the holidays. They call them Cyclops Cookies.

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars. Beat in eggs.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into batter. Refrigerate one hour.

Roll stiffened dough into 1 inch balls and arrange on baking sheets. Bake in a preheated 375º oven for about 10 minutes or until cookies begin to brown. Do not over-bake. While still hot, stick one unwrapped Hershey’s Kiss in the center to make a Cyclops. Cool and enjoy.

😀