This week's prompt from Sarah Hegger is pretty simple: All I want for Christmas... Welcome to those popping over from Gemma Brocato's blog (I'm sure you loved her post!) and all those coming out of curiosity from Facebook or Twitter. First, let me wish you and yours a fabulous holiday, whether it's Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or the Winter Solstice. All I want for Christmas... All I truly want for Christmas is for everyone to live by the Golden Rule. There would be no human trafficking, no homicide, no genocide, no animal cruelty, no rape, no sexual assault, no bullying, There"s enough strife in the world without adding to another person's troubles. Hop on over to discover what super hot and smoking Xio Axelrod wants for Christmas.
Creole Black Beans 'n' Sausage Recipeadapted from Taste of Home So this isn't exactly my Sunday dinner this week. I tend to cook in the Crock Pot during the week because then I have leftovers and I already know what's for dinner after a long day at work. I made this Thursday and it made enough for a helping and a half for two meals (over rice) for 4 people. Prep time: 25 minutes (a lie, it always take me longer but maybe you're a better sous chef than I am) Cook Time: 6 hours on low Ingredients: 2 lbs. smoked sausage, cut into 1-inch slices (I use polska kielbasa, but that's just what I like) 3 cans black beans, drained and rinsed 1-1/2 cups chopped onions 1-1/2 cups chopped celery 1-1/2 cups chopped green peppers 1 cup water 1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 tsps. dried thyme 1 tsp. chicken bouillon granules 1 tsp. white pepper (didn't have any, used black and it worked fine!) 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper 2 bay leaves Hot cooked rice Directions: 1. In a large skillet, brown sausage and drain. Transfer to 5 qt. slow cooker. Stir in everything but hot cooked rice (that's to use to serve the beans and sausage over). 2. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until vegetables are tender. Discard bay leaves. Serve with rice. Yield: 10 servings Want to stir interest in your latest book? Make a trailer! For those with few skills but plenty of enthusiasm, try AndroVid. It's really simple to use and free if you can deal with ads. There are various ways to jazz up your video: combine short clips, add text, add a soundtrack. Clear and simple controls, it's great for novice users. Got an Apple device? iMovie is super easy to use, though customizing the trailer templates is not. If you like the templates, great. If you like one well enough, you can start in the trailer template and convert the project to a movie to get greater control over fonts and music tracks. Whatever you choose, take a few hours, invest the time and make a trailer! Give your readers (or potential readers) a glimpse of what your epic tale is about. From Carrie Elks this week: We all love a bit of romance at Christmastime! Tell us about your favorite Christmas story—it could be a book, a movie or a true-life romance. What makes it so memorable? I'm sure you've enjoyed Gemma Brocato's story. If you missed her, be sure to go back to sample her fabulous writing. My favorite Christmas story is quite famous: White Christmas. I adore the vintage, old fashioned charm of the film and the patriotic message to always support our troops, active or retired. I've always had a version of this film, first VCR, then DVD. It's just not Christmas without watching it. From the first scenes set at the front lines of World War II, I am swept into the movie, singing along with each and every Irving Berlin song. Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen star and perform intricate dances and perfect harmonies on and off the stage. Here's one I've always wanted to see performed at a Talent Show: Then there's this one. Never can hold back a tear or two. And, of course, the title song, White Christmas. A happy ending for all! Sorry this is so long, but to adequately explain why White Christmas is my favorite I have to share my favorite songs from the movie. There's always a soundtrack to my life, so a musical makes sense.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays. Whatever customs you and yours celebrate, I send blessings to you. Time to return from the forties and visit LaNora Mangano to discover her favorite holiday story. What's for dinner? Tonight it's Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon (based on a recipe from Fix It Quick, Favorite Brand Name Slow Cooker cookbook). I tweak it for my family, who do not enjoy mushrooms. You can add egg noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes if you like. This is a fabulous dish to take to a potluck dinner or make for your family. Enjoy! Ingredients: 3 lbs. boneless beef top sirloin, cut into bite-size pieces 1/2 cup flour 4 slices bacon, diced 2 medium carrots, sliced 8 small new potatoes, unpeeled and quartered 8 to 10 mushrooms, sliced 20 to 24 pearl onions, peeled 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 bay leaf 1 tsp. dried marjoram 1/2 tsp. dried thyme 1/2 tsp. salt Black pepper to taste 2 1/2 cups Burgundy wine or beef broth 1. Coat beef with flour. (I use a zipper storage bag to shake the beef in the flour; much cleaner!) 2. Brown bacon in large skillet; when half done, add coated beef and cook until browned. (I use a Dutch oven. It keeps the grease and flour in the pot and off the stovetop.) 3. Layer carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, garlic, herbs and spices in slow cooker. Remove beef and bacon from pan with slotted spoon and place on top of other ingredients in cooker. Cook on low for 8 to 9 hours. (Note: I either spray the inside with non-stick spray or use a slow cooker bag.) Need a way to keep all your notes/ideas/plot bunnies organized and easily accessible? Evernote to the rescue! Whether you are a die hard PC user or Mac maniac, this web-based program is for you! Create a single note, one notebook or a notebook for every plot you're working on, Evernote can make it happen. Want to group related notebooks into categories? Evernote allows you to do that with stacking. Need to find all notes related to grammar? If you've tagged them "grammar", Evernote will find every reference in every notebook in your account. Some cool features: record short audio notes, attach related files, take a picture from within the program (like business cards), share your notes with a link. Like to handwrite your notes? Penultimate is the sister app/program that syncs with Evernote. Try it out! Ho, ho, ho and Happy Holidays! Welcome! If you're hopping over from Brenda Margriet's blog, glad to have you. If you missed her, hop on back for a visit! So, this week, our sister writer Xio Axelrod posed the question, "What's your favorite holiday song?" I will answer that it depends on what my mood is. If I'm feeling stressed out by the materialism of the holiday, you know, all Bah Humbug, then it's this: When I'm a little less cynical and a little more grateful for all I have, it's this: Josh Groban has such a clear and perfect voice, he does Ave Maria justice like few others can.
Now, head on over to delightfully delicious Dani Jace. She's always witty and snarky and funny as hell! Starting a new post. It's simple. Do you prefer this or that and why? It can be anything. Here's today's selection. Who would you prefer to come to your rescue? A hard-bodied warrior with a huge chip on his shoulder and a soft heart or a mild mannered geek who hides his former spec ops service?
1. Thank you to for joining me today. For the readers, would you introduce yourself and tell us what your profession is? I’m Rikki Salerno. Well, really, I’m Marguerite Sims. I run my grandfather’s charitable foundation, which includes traveling with an exhibition of Silas Sims photographs. Our first stop is Granite Pointe. But my passion is photography. I want to be as famous as Silas. I’m making progress on that goal. 2. Tell us about the first time you saw your lover. I was at Sims Spit, trying to capture a similar photo to the one my grandfather had taken over forty years ago. Sam Kerrigan is a high school teacher who brought his photography club to take pictures at the same spot. One of his students knocked me into the marsh. Sam rescued me. By my breasts. It’s a long story, but let’s just say he has some warm hands. 3. What is a total turn-on? How about turn-off? I love Sam’s dimples. They make me a little stupid. Turn-offs? I hate bullies. I had to deal with some recently and I hated it as much as when I was bullied as a teen. It sucks. But what’s worse it when a grown-up aids and abets the teenage bullies. Sam and I both dealt with that. 4. What do you do in your free time? How do you blow off steam? I love to run. I found a great running trail along the harbor in Granite Pointe that has become my go-to route. 5. We all have our dirty little secrets. What’s one of yours? That’s an appropriate question. See, Sam didn’t know for a long time that I’m Marguerite Sims. I didn’t try hard enough to tell him my real name. It didn’t help that Sam really didn’t like Marguerite and didn’t hold back from expressing his opinion. That secret nearly destroyed our relationship. 6. Favorite drink? Diet Coke. 7. Best pickup line you’ve used or heard? Some men are ruled by their penis, some are smarter than that. Want to know which guy I am? 8. Tell us about Gemma, something juicy. Gemma’s an open book. Except she does like to hide that she listens to Christmas music all year long. Exposed To Passion (Five Senses Series Book #3) Gemma Brocato Genre: Contemporary romance Publisher: Kensington Books/Lyrical Press, Inc Date of Publication: October 20, 2014 eISBN-13: 978-1-61650-616-2 eISBN-10: 1-61650-616-4 ASIN: Number of pages: 329 Word Count: approx. 85,000 Cover Artist: Renee Rocco Available in Digital and Print Formats Book Description: They walked through the shadows individually. Will they emerge into the light together? Leading a vagabond life as a curator for a traveling photography exhibit translates to a lot of bad days for Rikki Salerno. But her trouble doubles when a careless high school student shoves her into a marsh. Being rescued by teacher Sam Kerrigan should have made things better, but Rikki’s inability to confess her true identity casts a shadow over their budding affair. When Sam refuses an overly aggressive parent’s marriage proposal, she’s determined to ruin him. Not only does she doctor photos to make it look like Sam’s behaved inappropriately in front of students, she hacks the foundation website to reveal Rikki’s true identity. Faster than the blink of a shutter, Rikki’s focus changes from pursuing her full-color future to the black and white necessity of clearing Sam’s name. Excerpt: “Holy cow! Consider me seduced.” She didn’t recognize her own voice. Desire rasped through it, whispery and thick at the same time. Allowing her finger to slip from the steamy confines of his mouth, he pressed a kiss to her palm, then released his hold. She curled her hand into a fist around the kiss he’d left, hoping to hold onto the heat and lingering sensation. “Oh, Jesus. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you like that. It was too fast, wasn’t it? I mean, we only just met…but I thought, I mean, you seemed to want…and you didn’t say no. Christ, I’m so sorry.” Sam’s tone rattled with a misplaced apology. “I have no excuse. I’m a horndog.” He eased her away from his chest and helped her to sit up, then pushed himself upright and scooted a respectful distance from her. The apology in his tone and the loss of his body heat hit her like a cold slap. His words stung. He regretted kissing her. The tingly pulses zipping from her fingertip to her heart did nothing to tamp down the hurt. She hadn’t wanted him to stop. Normally the queen of snarky retorts, words failed her now. Buy Links Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Exposed-Passion-Senses-Gemma-Brocato-ebook/dp/B00MMMGY18 Barnes&Noble:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/exposed-to-passion-gemma-brocato/1120138660?ean=9781616506162 iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/exposed-to-passion/id908402553?mt=11&uo=4 Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/exposed-to-passion Kensington: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/book.aspx/30951?category=313085 About the Author: Gemma's favorite desk accessories for many years were a circular wooden token, better known as a 'round tuit,' and a slip of paper from a fortune cookie proclaiming her a lover of words; some day she'd write a book. All it took was a transfer to the United Kingdom, the lovely English springtime, and a huge dose of homesickness to write her first novel. Once it was completed and sent off with a kiss, even the rejections addressed to 'Dear Author' were gratifying. After returning to America, she spent a number of years as a copywriter, dedicating her skills to making insurance and the agents who sell them sound sexy. Eventually, her full-time job as a writer interfered with her desire to be a writer full-time and she left the world of financial products behind to pursue a vocation as a romance author. Social Media Links: www.Gemmabrocato.com https://www.facebook.com/gemma.brocato https://twitter.com/GemmaBrocato https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7229886.Gemma_Brocato http://www.wattpad.com/user/GemmaBrocato https://plus.google.com/+GemmaBrocato/posts Also By Gemma Brocato: Cooking Up Love Hearts In Harmony So this week, with the holidays looming, we thought we'd tackle a tasty question: What's my favorite seasonal dish? I wonder what Kim Handysides chose? If you missed her, head back for her delicious dish! Hands down, my favorite seasonal dish is turkey. Now, my grandma roasted a turkey for both Thanksgiving and Christmas each year. Yum! She'd serve it with rice and gravy because that's what her favorite granddaughter loved (yes, me!). Carrot sticks, cream cheese filled celery sticks and olives kept hunger at bay as the wondrous aromas tempted from the kitchen. I don't really remember much else; those were my favorites. Now that I host the family Thanksgiving, I serve two meats: spiral sliced ham and smoked turkey. I am sharing how I prepare the turkey. First I brine the thawed, cleaned turkey overnight. I buy a dry brine made of spices and herbs from World Market. Then I pat it dry and rub extra virgin olive oil under the skin and inside the cavity. While I prepare the turkey in the morning, I start the smoker, adding either soaked Applewood or Cherrywood chunks. Both give a great, lightly fruity smoke. I load the bird into the smoker on a pan with a reservoir for liquid (I use white wine). This year, I'm adding my own home grown rosemary, thyme and sage in the cavity and under the skin. I can't wait. For me, it's not Thanksgiving without a turkey!
Since you're all birded out, head over to Jeana Mann's blog to add to your menu! I myself will be blog hopping, collecting recipes or ideas as I go! Don't forget our Romance Writers Weekly Stocking Stuffer Christmas Event on Dec 2nd!. We're giving away books and sweet swag all day! |
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Shifters & Spice (e-book 99 cents!) AuthorRomance writer. Paranormal and contemporary. Mother of two and wife of perfect husband. Love the environment, travel and reading. Subscribe:Archives
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