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Fiction, Food, and Foolishness
FOOD, FICTION, FOOLISHNESS with Augustine Sam
FOOD
When I scheduled Augustine Sam for my Food, Fiction, and Foolishness feature, I didn’t know he’d submit a spaghetti recipe. This makes two in a row!! However, his is much fancier than the one I posted two weeks ago, so I hope you’ll give it a try and let me know how you liked it. Here’s a link for conversion to US measurements. https://www.gourmetsleuth.com/conversions/grams/gram-conversions
Please check out Augustine’s FREE excerpt and follow him on social media. To learn more about him and his other books, visit his website. I love that he used a photo of himself in the foolishness section of the post. Also, love the funny quote!
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
My recipe is for the traditional Italian dish—Spaghetti alla Carbonara—a dinner favorite. It is quick, simple, and usually a hit with many families. The requirements are spiced bacon (Pancetta in Italian) cut into strips, a golden cream made from yolks, and Pecorino cheese (the Italian sheep’s milk cheese) grated at the moment.
Ingredients:
• Spaghetti – about 400g
• Pancetta – about 200g (bacon)
• Egg yolks – about 4
• Pepper – q.s. – quantum sufficit (whatever’s enough)
• Salt – q.s.
• Oil – q.s.
• Pecorino – about 50g (Italian sheep’s milk cheese)
Preparation:
1) Cook the spaghetti in boiling water with little salt. The pasta should not be too soft or overdone, it should, instead, be cooked to be firm to the bite (“al dente” in Italian).
2) In the meantime, cut the bacon or pork cheek into cubes, letting it dissolve in a pan with little oil.
3) When the bacon or cheek lard fat partially melts, add a little water and cook over moderate heat for about ten minutes.
4) Beat the egg yolks in a salad bowl, as if to make an omelet, add the Pecorino cheese and a pinch of black pepper.
5) Mix the ingredients: Pour the bacon or cheek lard over the spaghetti cooked “al dente”, and add the beaten egg yolks prepared with the cheese, mixing them until they are firm, then serve your Spaghetti alla Carbonara hot.
FICTION
The saga of a compelling backward journey through a broken mind…
Paige Lyman, an accomplished psychiatrist, is on the verge of madness but she doesn’t know it yet. The madness begins when she gets it into her head to write her memoirs. As her brilliant mind assembles bits and pieces of her life for the book, ugly skeletons, long forgotten in the closet, begin to rear their heads.
It had all begun with a simple act of love. And love, for her, was a blond-haired Irish boy named Bill, so when Bill abandoned her for priesthood the world around her collapsed. Now seized by a different passion—vengeance—she seeks her proverbial pound of flesh in the beds of various priests.
But that’s before she meets Stern W. And now, she’s transformed from a psychiatrist to a patient, and saddled with dark memories she must decipher in order to be free…
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07813DN7B
Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAlwP99GX3Y
Free excerpt: https://bit.ly/2CBYpJp
Social Links:
Author website: https://www.augustinesam.com/
Author Blog: https://authorsuite.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/austin_sam001
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/austin.sam001/
Google +: https://plus.google.com/+AugustineSam01
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1831067.Augustine_Sam
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/austinsam001/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austin.sam001/
FOOLISHNESS
Funny Book quote: “Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.” – P.J. O’Rourke
Food, Fiction, and Foolishness with Tina Swayzee McCright
Welcome Tina Swayzee McCright to Food, Fiction, and Foolishness! She is a fellow Kindle Scout Winner. Her Gingerbread cookie recipe looks delicious. I can almost smell them baking!! Be sure and follow her on social media and check out her website…and of course, if you love cozy mysteries—BUY her book!! And always remember to post a review for the books you love. I hope Tina doesn’t mind the cartoon I added at the end of this post. I thought it was funny and tied right in with her excerpt!
FOOD
Gingerbread cookie man in a hot cup of cappuccino
Andi’s Gingerbread Cookies
Featured in Euphoria Lane
Cookie Batter Ingredients:
½ cup butter, softened
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tbsp. sour cream
1 tsp. ground cloves
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp. ground ginger
2/3 cup molasses
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 eggs
½ tsp. baking soda
4 cups flour, divided*
½ tsp. salt
*Set aside ¼ cup of the 4 cups of flour for lightly flouring rolling surface.
Gingerbread Man cookie cutter
Frosting Ingredients:
1 pound of confectioners’ sugar
½ tsp. cream of tartar
3 egg whites
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sour cream, and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in molasses and eggs. Combine 2 cups of flour with the allspice, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Gradually beat the dry flour/spice mixture into the wet mixture. Continue to gradually beat in the remaining 1 ½ cups of flour to form a stiff dough.
Use remaining ¼ cup of flour to lightly flour working surface. Roll out dough with rolling pin until dough is 1/8 inch thick. Cut with gingerbread man cookie cutter.
Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool 5 or more minutes before transferring
cookies to wire racks to finish cooling.
While cooling, make frosting. In a medium bowl, sift together confectioners’ sugar
and cream of tartar. Blend in the three egg whites. Beat with mixer on high speed until mixture is stiff. Add food coloring if desired.
Cookies can be decorated with candy, sprinkles, etc. Either cute or ghastly. Miniature candy canes can be broken and filed down to create stick pins to stab cookies with.
FICTION
A Kindle Scout Winner!
How far will one person go to stop the HOA?
Andi Stevenson knew her life would never be same after purchasing her new condo on Euphoria Lane. On day one, she finds the body of the Homeowners’ Association president. Day two, she discovers the property manager is her former fiancé. Day three, the new president begins his campaign of violation letters to force her to move. Day four, her sister, the owner of a detective agency, needs her help with the investigation of the murder. And day five, a full- scale neighborhood war!
Available on Amazon and in KU!
https://www.tinyurl.com/y8cnculy
Follow Tina:
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tina-swayzee-mccright
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Tina-Swayzee-McCright/e/B00BAKKOAU
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTinaMcCright/
Twitter https://www.twitter.com/TinaMcCright
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/suspensebytina/
Website https://www.BooksbyTina.com
FOOLISHNESS
Margarita Water Aerobics
Excerpt from Euphoria Lane
Following Andi’s lead, he peered through the slits as well. A group of women with their backs to him jumped up and down in the water. Many wore neon pink bathing suits that drew attention to their aging bodies. The purple flowers on their bathing caps swayed to the music and waves of water splashed over the sides onto the cool decking. The music slowed, and the women bobbed.
Valerie stood in the shallow end, facing them. The string bikini she wore barely contained her figure. “Great job, ladies! It’s time to cool down, but keep moving. Right foot, kick. Take a sip.” With great flare, she brought a crystal glass filled with a red concoction to her lips. She swallowed and continued. “Left foot, kick. Take a sip.”
The other women scrambled for the plastic margarita glasses lining the pool’s edge, just out of reach of the splashing water. They held their drinks high while bouncing back to their exercise area in the center.
They chanted together, “Right foot, kick. Take a sip. Left foot, kick. Take a sip.”
Luke’s jaw dropped.
Since when had water aerobics become a drinking game?
Image from https://www.hamptonroadshappyhour.com
This lady looks like she could be friends with the ladies in the water aerobics class!!
FOOD, FICTION, FOOLISHNESS with Christina Lynn Lambert
Christina Lynn Lambert visits my blog today and shares a recipe for Cherry Crumble Cake! Oh. My. Lord. That sounds so yummy. I’m adding it to my “To be Baked” list!! As always, be sure and visit her website and follow her on social media. AND, feel free to leave a comment.
FOOD
I love pies and cakes and basically anything sweet. I’m not the most patient cook, so I tend to favor simple recipes with basic ingredients. My daughter is an amazing cook, so I often ask her to do the cooking. My least favorite chore is her Zen. She brings her joy of baking into all of her recipes, simple or complex. She made this beautiful Cherry Crumble Cake while we hung out in the kitchen listening to Blondie, the Misfits, and Toto.
To make Cherry Crumble Cake you will need:
9 tablespoons of butter, softened
¾ cup of sugar
1teaspoon baking powder
1 cup of flour
1 ounce of milk
1 eight ounce can of cherry pie filling (or apple or blueberry if you prefer)
And then for the crumble part of the cake-
9 tablespoons of butter, softened
¾ cups of sugar
1 ¾ cups of flour
For the glaze part:
¼ cup of heavy whipping cream
Directions for cooking:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of pan. Mix sugar and butter until fluffy. Next add the eggs, milk, flour, and baking powder and mix for a creamy texture. Spread batter into the pan. Top with cherry pie filling. The ingredients for the crumbles get mixed next but only long enough to leave the mixture crumbly. Bake at around 350 or 375 for about 45-50 minutes. Right after the cake comes out of the oven, pour the heavy whipping cream over the cake for the glaze. Refrigerate overnight.
FICTION
Title: Wolf’s Challenge (Stranger Creatures Book 1)
Author: Christina Lynn Lambert
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Release Date: November 2, 2018
Genre: paranormal romance
When Sydney left Seattle two years ago, she was scared, traumatized, and done with men for good. Now she has a good job, a hobby that’s fast becoming a second career, and best of all, she’s adopted a little girl named Angel. Life is good, and Sydney’s not about to let charming lawyer Derrick mess that up, no matter how sexy he is, or how sweet he seems.
Things aren’t always as they appear in the town of Great Oaks, Virginia. Derrick isn’t the ladies’ man Sydney thinks he is, but he does have a few secrets, such as his ability to transform into a powerful wolf at will.
Can Derrick convince Sydney to give him a chance, something more than her elusive maybe? More importantly, should he? He’s still trying to forgive himself for being at the wheel during the accident that killed his son. Losing Sydney when she learns the truth might break him, but he’s pretty sure not having her in his life would be just as bad.
A troubled woman running from her guilty conscience has Sydney and Derrick in her crosshairs, and she’ll do whatever it takes to win her game. Will Sydney and Derrick survive long enough to be together?
If you want to find me on social media or check out my website, you can find me at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christinalynnlambert
WordPress: https://christinalynnlambertwordpress.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chris4lamb
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15900423.Christina_Lynn_Lambert
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Christina-Lynn-Lambert/e/B01MCYK0K7
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinalynnlambert
Buy Links for Wolf’s Challenge:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Wolfs-Challenge-Christina-Lynn-Lambert-ebook/dp/B07JCSLVBJ
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wolfs-challenge-christina-lambert/1124676509
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/wolf-s-challenge-1
Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Christina_Lynn_Lambert_Wolf_s_Challenge?id=UOB1DwAAQBAJ
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/wolfs-challenge/id1441052967
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/900526
FOOLISHNESS
I tend to get caught up in my own mind on a daily basis. It’s a regular thing for me to be walking along thinking about a chapter I’m working on or thinking about some hypothetical problem or philosophical dilemma and not paying attention to anything around me. I tried to walk up the “down” side of an escalator once. I’ve done so many stupid, accidental things but I’ve made other mistakes too. I like this meme I found that talks about making the mistakes in your life into birds. I can’t wave my hand or use a paintbrush to turn my mistakes into something else, but I can learn from all of my mistakes and then let them go.
FOOD, FICTION, FOOLISHNESS with Ann Everett
Today, I kick off my new blog feature, Food, Fiction, and Foolishness! Each post will contain a recipe, a book, or something to do with writing, and a bit of humor. I hope you’ll find some new dishes to try, a new author to read, and a bit of fun to start your day. I’d love for you to leave comments!! So, to start things off here’s one of my family’s favorites.
There are a lot of chicken spaghetti recipes out there, but I’ve used this one for years. If you buy a rotisserie chicken, it goes together quickly.
FOOD
Chicken Spaghetti
INGREDIENTS
1-3 to 5-pound chicken boiled, deboned, and cut into pieces OR purchase a rotisserie chicken from your local grocery story and debone and cut it into pieces
1-24 oz. package of spaghetti
1-large green bell pepper, chopped
1- large onion, chopped
1-10.75 oz. can mushroom soup, dilute with one can of water
1-10.75 oz. can beef or chicken vegetable soup, dilute with one can of water (if I boil my chicken, I use the broth to dilute the soup)
1-4 oz. jar of pimentos
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350
Cook spaghetti according to package directions, drain and set aside.
Boil pepper and onion in a small amount of water until tender, then drain.
Mix all ingredients (except cheese) together, place in greased 9 X 13 pan or casserole dish.
Bake in 350-degree oven until hot through and through.
Remove casserole from oven, top with grated cheese, and return to oven until
cheese melts.
This recipe makes a lot, and it freezes well. Many times, I’ll divide the casserole into two pans, and freeze one.
FICTION
Hmm…this guy looks like he needs carbohydrates. I think he’d enjoy some chicken spaghetti!
FOOLISHNESS
Back in August, some guy stole nearly $100,000 worth of ramen noodles. Talk about a high carbohydrate diet!! The following video has a lot of ramen noodle facts and figures!
GOOD LUCK BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
If you live in Texas, most likely you’ll eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day for good luck. Ever wonder where that superstition/tradition comes from? Well, according to my research, most think it dates back to the Civil War when Union soldiers raided the Confederates food supply and took everything except the peas and salted pork. The Confederates considered themselves lucky to be left with any food at all. Those meager supplies helped them survive the winter. Therefore, the peas became a symbol of luck.
My family has always eaten black-eyes and cornbread to start the New Year. However, I came across some other interesting traditions concerning good luck. Some believe you should cook the peas with a new dime or penny. The person who receives the coin in their portion will double their luck. Others say to eat exactly 365 peas. Any amount over or under will result in that many days of bad luck. Some say to leave one remaining pea on your plate to indicate sharing your luck with someone else. Not sure how they determine who that “someone” is…the person to the right or left? Also, it’s said if you don’t eat the entire amount of peas you put on your plate, you will also suffer bad luck.
There were other superstitions saying if you don’t eat collard greens and cornbread along with the peas, good luck won’t stick. Maybe that’s what I’ve been doing wrong! Not really. Luck comes in all forms. Not just winning the lottery. I’m happy 80% of the time…and healthy. That’s pretty lucky.
Below, find a great recipe for Black-eyed Pea Soup. It’s one of our favorites. I hope you’ll try it. But…if you follow tradition or not, I wish you countless blessings in 2019!
Black-eyed Pea Soup
From Fredericksburg, Texas Peach Tree Tea Room
1-medium onion, chopped
4-slices bacon diced
2-teaspoons garlic, minced
1-green bell pepper, chopped
12 cups water
2-10 ounce cans Rotel tomatoes (I use mild)
1 pound dried black-eyed peas, sorted and rinsed
2-teaspoons salt
6-carrots, peeled and sliced
2 -cups ham, cooked and diced (I buy deli ham and have it thick sliced)
In a large stock pot, saute the onions, bacon & garlic
Add the bell pepper, water, Rotel tomatoes, pepper, peas, salt, and carrots.
Cook until the peas are tender.
Add Ham and cook about 15-20 minutes more until carrots are tender.
May garnish with freshly chopped parsley if desired.
Five on Friday with Michael Scott Clifton
For the final installment of my Five on Friday feature, today, I spotlight Michael Scott Clifton. I absolutely love his covers! Please check his new book out and be sure and follow him on social media!!
What is one of your favorite quotes?
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited whereas imagination embraces the entire world,” Albert Einstein. Most of the greatest accomplishments in history started out as an idea, the fruit of someone’s imagination. The Constitution of the United States (“All Men are Created Equal”), Space Flight, and vaccines such as Polio and Tuberculosis are all examples. Without imagination, you can have no progress.
Ann: LUV the quote!!
If there was one person, real, fiction, or fantasy, you could spend time with, who would it be and why?
It would be a tie between J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, both for the same reasons. I love fantasy and have always been fascinated by the similarities of these two literary giants—Tolkien the Father of the Fantasy genre, and Lewis, who followed The Lord of the Rings with his own classic, The Chronicles of Narnia. Both were also devout Christians. I would love to ask them where they got the inspiration for their stories and characters, and how their faith influenced this process.
Ann: I’m always fascinated by the answers I get to this question! So interesting!!
What is your favorite book and why?
My favorite book is The Stand by Stephen King. It is one of the few books I have read more than once and, in fact, I have read it several times. The Stand is classic tale of Good versus Evil, and in my opinion, is King’s best work. I like “good versus evil” stories, and my own books reflect this.
Ann: I have a cyber friend who studied under Mr. King and said the class was the best he’d ever taken. So, if you ever get a chance to do that, you should.
Name your three favorite TV shows.
Star Trek, The Big Bang Theory, and of course, Andy Griffith. Star Trek is my all-time favorite show, with Kirk, Spock, and “Bones” iconic characters who have few equals in television history. The Big Bang Theory is simply funny and has remained so every season. The Andy Griffith show never gets old, and is one of the few TV shows with the rare quality of being both hilarious and heartwarming at the same time.
Ann: Although, none you listed are my favorites, I do enjoy all of those!
What were you like in high school?
I was quite introverted in high school, and I had well over one thousand students in my graduating class. Its easy to disappear when you rarely pass the same person twice in the hallways. However, this led me to find myself in books, and I read voraciously. To borrow from Dr. Suess, “Oh, the places you will go”. Later in college, I joined a fraternity, and the rest—as the saying goes—is history!
Ann: Wow! A thousand students!! We didn’t have that many in my entire high school. My graduating class had a whopping total of 32.
Michael Scott Clifton, public educator for over 38 years as a teacher, coach, and administrator, currently lives in Mount Pleasant, Texas with his
wife, Melanie and family cat, Sadie. An avid gardener, he enjoys all kinds of book and movie genres. His books contain aspects of all the genres he enjoys…adventure, magic, fantasy, romance, and relationships. He has been a finalist in a number of of short story contests with Edges of Gray winning 1st Place in the Texas Authors Contest. Clifton’s fantasy novel, The Conquest of the Veil, won a First Chapter Finalist award. Professional credits include articles published in the Texas Study of Secondary Education Magazine. Clifton’s latest book, The Janus Witch, the July Book Cover of the Month, is a featured book on the We Love Indie Books website. Currently, Clifton is completing Book I of The Conquest of the Veil, which will be released in March 2019. He can be reached at [email protected] Follow him at:
http://www.michaelscottclifton.com
http://www.facebook.com/michaelscottclifton
http://www.twitter.com/michaelsclifton
http://www.instagram.com/clifton4688/
http://www.linkedin.com/feed/?trk=
http://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard
A beautiful witch with a violent past, forms an unlikely love affair with a compassionate young doctor…until she fears she may end up killing him.
https://books3read.com/The-Janus-Witch
Tressalayne is a member of a murderous witches’ coven. An attack by witch hunters forces the coven to escape through a hastily constructed portal of magic. Ripped from her medieval world, the portal hurls Tressalayne and the coven’s malevolent leader, Morganna, into East Texas. Critically injured in the passage, Tressalayne awakes in a hospital with no memory of her previous life. A kind young doctor, Lucas Beckett, helps her with her recovery and she falls deeply in love with him.
Their happy life together disintegrates when Tressalayne experiences flashbacks which reveal snippets of her dark past. These nightmares—accompanied by uncontrolled manifestations of magic—cause Tressalayne to fear she may one day hurt Lucas. Torn, she can’t bear the thought of life without Lucas, but at the same time, can’t bear the thought of injuring him.
When corrupt hospital CFO, Mason Crick, learns of Tressalayne’s strange abilities—along with Morganna, who also survived the passage to Texas— he is determined to use the witches’ talent to further his illicit drug empire. He lays an elaborate trap to capture Morganna and force her to do his bidding.
Into this mix comes, Robert Lockstone, the witch hunter whose hatred for Morganna causes him to risk his life and follow her through the portal. Vowing to kill her no matter the cost, Lockstone follows her trail and discovers her whereabouts. This sets up a final epic confrontation which forces a collision course of the past and the present within Tressalayne’s mind and soul. Murderous intent, or love and devotion?
Only one nature can survive and the Janus Witch must decide.
Also by Michael Scott Clifton
Nick Hollister’s luck usually ran only one way-bad. At thirty-two, his life was a disappointment, nothing but a series of dead-end jobs, poor decisions, and broken relationships. One especially bad day, Nick manages to lose his job, his girlfriend, and even gets beaten up. While on a road trip to get away from it all, he discovers a book hidden within the frame of a cheap painting he bought from Hank Harper, the dwarf-sized and eccentric owner of an unusual antique shop.
This mystical book, The Book of Lost Treasures, proves to be able to find the location of anything lost. Nick quickly realizes the book’s potential, and with a group of friends, forms The Treasure Hunt Club. He meets and falls in love with Abby Summers, and together with his friends, they engage in a cross-country trek to recover lost rare and valuable items. In a short period of time, Nick, Abby, and the rest of the Club members are wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. Good times and easy living stretch as far as the eye can see.
And that’s when their troubles begin…
Ann Everett, Best Selling Author
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{I hope you enjoy this sweet, short-story romance!}