Food

STICK ‘EM UP! by Charlene Sands

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The cake pans and cookie sheets that is, right onto the baking rack!! 

It’s a SURRENDER kind of season for me, so with the holidays in mind, I thought I’ll surrender my favorite recipes, if you’ll surrender yours!  And even if you don’t, I’ll still share, because I’m that kind of girl.   

 

In our house we have quite a few favorites.  The one recipe my daughter and I make every Christmas Eve are Cannoli.  It’s taken us several years to perfect the recipe (when the older generation is gone..sometimes so goes the recipes)  but we think we have it nailed down.  We use metal cannoli tubes that we wrap the dough around and deep fry until they bubble up and become golden brown. Then we make fill the cannoli shells with a creamy concoction that brings back luscious memories of my childhood.   They are usually all gone by the time Christmas day rolls around.    

Melt in Your Mouth Butter cookies are also a FAMILY FAVORITE and very easy on the budget.  They literally do just melt in your mouth.  The prep time on these is just twenty minutes, but you must make sure to soften (not melt) the butter ahead of time before you start. 

Melt in Your Mouth Butter Cookies

1 Cup Butter (creamed not melted).

6 Tablespoons Confectioner’s sugar

2 Cups Flour

1 Tsp vanilla

1 Cup finely chopped nuts (optional)

 

Cream butter and sugar, add other ingredient. Knead well, roll into small balls and flatten slightly with fork
(You may need to powder sugar the fork if dough is sticky)

Bake 12-15 minutes in moderate oven 350.  (Cookies will not look cooked on top, check them underneath)
While hot…shake powdered sugar on them. 

Makes 24-30 cookies

We eat them plain, but you can add almonds, walnuts, raisins or chocolate chips. Trust me they are delicious and they truly melt in your mouth!!

 

Another FAMILY FAVORITE that’s quick and easy is the Best Flourless Cake recipe.  People will think you’re a gourmet chef when you put this gorgeous dish on the dessert table.   It’s a cross between the yummiest brownie and richest chocolate cake you’ve ever eaten.  In the words of Rachel Ray…YUMMO!

 

Best Flourless Chocolate Cake  

4      ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)

1     stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

3/4  cup sugar

3     large eggs

1/2  cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus additional for sprinkling

 

Preheat oven to 375°F and butter an 8-inch round baking pan. Line bottom with a round of wax paper and butter paper. 

Chop chocolate into small pieces. In a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate with butter, stirring, until smooth. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat and whisk sugar into chocolate mixture. 

Add eggs and whisk well. Sift 1/2 cup cocoa powder over chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven 25 minutes, or until top has formed a thin crust. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes and invert onto a serving plate. (Or serve it in the dish – I never invert)

Dust cake with additional cocoa powder and serve with sorbet or fresh fruit if desired. (Cake keeps, after being cooled completely, in an airtight container, 1 week.) 

Serves 8 to 10 

**Cake is also called Cracked Cake- not to worry if it looks like a brownie on top.  It’s all good!

 What are your family favorites?   Do you like to bake during the holiday season?  What’s your go-to recipe when the family is clamoring for dessert? 

 

 

 

Sunset Surrender is available now at the Harlequin Store  

In bookstores and online January 2013

Click here to read the entire FIRST CHAPTER!

 

 

 

 

The Candy Store

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Hi!  Winnie Griggs here.  In my current work in progress I’m considering having a few scenes take place in a confectionery.  So I’ve been doing some research into what sort of treats would have been available in such an establishment at that time (1895).  And what mouth watering research it was!

 Here’s just a little of what I learned (it is by no means a comprehensive list):

  • Turkish delight has been around for quite some time – it is thought to have been brought toEuropeby returning crusaders.  It is a gummy, fruit flavored treat that is the forerunner of our modern day gumdrops, jelly beans, jujubes and other such candies
  • Marshmallows as we know them today, were invented around the 1850s
  • Butterscotch – the first known reference to this treat was in 1855
  • Ribbon candy – this treat, most popular at Christmas time, has been around since 1856 and was first created by an American.
  • Chocolate – the first chocolate bar was made in 1847 and milk chocolate came about in 1875
  • Fondants date back to 1877
  • Fudge was also an American contribution to the sweet treat line up and came about in the 1880s
  • Peanut Brittle was first documented in 1890

But the thing I discovered that delighted me the most was when I came upon this entry on the history of pralines:

From the Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, (pg. 255)
“Praline. A Confection made from almonds or pecans and caramel. It is a great favorite of the South, especially in New Orleans, and derives from the French preparation of praline, caramelized almonds or hazelnuts and sugar pounded into a fine, crumblike texture, Both terms come from the name of French diplomat Cesar du Plessis-Praslin, later duc de Choisuel (1598-1675), whose cook suggested that almonds and sugar aided digestion.

What tickled me about this entry is that my maiden name is Duplessis.  Do you suppose that’s my ancestor who had that little footnote in the food history timeline?

So what are some of your favorite sweet treats?  And do you have any favorite memories of a trip to the candy store?

HONKY-TONK HEAVEN by Katie Lane

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Honky-tonk: a cheap, noisy saloon or dancehall. Okay, I’ll go along with the online definition for honky-tonk as a noisy bar or dancehall. But cheap? I don’t think so. As a plot-moving literary venue, a good honky-tonk is worth its weight in gold. It’s a place where characters gather to gossip, hook up, or plan the demise of a certain villain who has evicted them from their mansion. It can be a funny, romantic, or sad setting depending on the occupants—an entire town of crazy matchmakers, a sexually steamed up couple, or a depressed, drunk widow.

When planning my small town of Bramble, Texas, I knew that there had to be a honky-tonk. I even traveled to Odessa, Texas, to do a little research. Not only did I find the perfect small town saloon with pool tables and a sawdust dance floor, I found a friendly owner who didn’t mind sharing a story or two—some even too naughty for a romance writer. (If you ever run into me, ask me about the lost false teeth story:o)

After hanging out most the night at the country bar, I couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel and dive right into Going Cowboy Crazy. And where did I start my Deep in the Heart of Texas series? At a honky-tonk, of course.

Bootlegger’s is a one-story stucco hole in the wall with a big dance floor, plenty of pool tables, and a bar the length of a football field. My honky-tonk has become the venue for homecoming queen imposters, jealous heroes, pissed off daddies, and a little naughty bathroom sex. It even offers sanctuary to Joseph, a Wiseman, an angel, and a pig in Small Town Christmas–O Little Town of Bramble. (An eBook anthology that includes stories from my friends, Jill Shalvis and Hope Ramsay)

 As a writer, I love to return to Bootlegger’s to see what my crazy townsfolk are up to. There’s nothing I enjoy more than bellying up to the bar between Mayor Sutter and Sheriff Winslow, ordering a shot of Jose Cuervo, and listening to one of Kenny Gene’s stories. Some folks might view a honky-tonk as cheap. This author just views it as heaven.

 Have you ever been to a honky-tonk? Did you love it or hate it? Do you think that true love can start in a bar?

Comment for a chance to win a novel from my Deep in the Heart of Texas series—Going Cowboy Crazy, Make Mine a Bad Boy, and Catch Me a Cowboy. And be sure to keep an eye out for my upcoming releases: Hunk for the Holidays due out September 25 and Trouble in Texas due out December 18.

I would love to hear from y’all: www.katielanebooks.com facebook.com/katielaneauthor Twitter-ktlane3

It’s County Fair Time! by Charlene Sands

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 Did you know that the longest continually running county fair began in Watertown in New York’s Jefferson County and has been ongoing for 193 years! Watertown is also known as the birthplace of the Five and Dime and the safety pin of all things. What was once a way to bring the community together with livestock and horse races, for farmers to share ideas and see who had grown the best fruit, who baked the best pies, the county fairs of modern day has all those things along with so much more.

Our local county fair runs for the entire month of September and brings in hundreds of thousands of people from all over the state.  The LA County Fair has a list of attractions such as Carnival Rides, Midway Games, Zipline, Kiddie Zone, Wild West show, Rawhide Dude Ranch and Farm Animals. As an parent, spending the day at the fair meant lots and lots of walking, trying to find shade, since it was usually the hottest part of the summer, consuming snow cones to keep cool and trying to keep track of my very excited children. It was crowds and heat and junk food eating.  It was a farm animal petting zoo and horse races and cowboys strutting their stuff. 

As a child, I was most excited about the midway games. I especially loved ski ball games. And shooting waterguns at a target to fill a balloon, with my seated opponents ready to outshoot me.  I remember riding on a carousel and eating yummy funnel cakes.   I remember walking grounds and seeing beautiful garden exhibits, listening to country music all day long and at night watching concerts under the stars. I’ve seen Travis Tritt and Sonny and Cher perform live! I have missed out on some really big name artists though. Toby Keith and Martina McBride recently performed in fairs close by. I’ll have to catch them next time. Ugh, they are two of my favorites and I’m sorry I missed seeing them!   But I’ll always have great memories of spending the day with my family, eating hot dogs on a stick, the party-like atmosphere and festivities.

Tell me about your county fair experiences. Did you ever go?  If not, what do you think you’d enjoy the most of the activities listed?  One commenter will win a Two-in-One book from my Desire backlist.

Stop by my website at www.charlenesands.com  or if you’d like a free magnet or pen send a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope to:

Charlene Sands

PO Box 4883

West Hills, CA  91308

 October and August releases. 

 Both are Available now on Amazon.

 

 

 

“Fair” Eatin’!

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When I was writing my latest book, I ended up thinking about food a lot. This isn’t a new thing. Food usually plays a big part in my books, because, well, I like to cook and I like to eat.  🙂
My heroine is a baker – specifically a cupcake baker, and she’s “roped” into making special cupcakes for a charity fundraiser at the Cadence Creek Rodeo.  It did get me thinking about rodeo and fair food and what makes it so good. When I was growing up we had “The Exhibition” and it was an agricultural fair as well as stage shows and a midway. Harness racing instead of rodeo, but similar in that food vendors were everywhere. I was never one for candy apples or cotton candy, but I always loved one particular vendor who sold burgers and fries. The line ups were huge but worth it. Sometimes I’ll smell meat and hot grease somewhere and  immediately think “that smells like Exhibition”. Whether or not the food is fantastic or not, there’s no denying that it’s tied into memory!

When I was in Calgary I hit the Stampede Grounds a few times and the offerings are slightly different but perhaps even more tasty. My two favourites were Beef on a Bun – succulent shaved roast beef piled on a crusty bun – and the ever popular mini-doughnuts that came fresh out of the grease and seemed to melt on your tongue. The last time I was in Calgary, I bought a bag of them at Calaway Park, an amusement park on the west side of town. Delicious.

Those things are all at the Cadence Creek Rodeo, too – but in THE LAST REAL COWBOY I added something else: a chili cook-off. In my latest (still waiting on a title), it’s rodeo season again and the chili contest is a fundraiser for the Butterfly House women’s shelter. My heroine is making cupcakes to go along with that event, and I figured they needed to be something with a little kick. Chocolate Chili cupcakes were the answer, with Cream Cheese Chili Buttercream. Yee haw!

Do you have a favourite “fair” food?

Petticoats & Pistols