Wontons are a traditional New Year's Eve dinner in my family. This is not a Kids In The Kitchen recipe or for anyone who sets the house on fire when they boil water, but it's an easy recipe that's all about technique.

~~~

1 package of wonton wrappers (they're in the produce section of most grocery stores)
1 medium zucchini
1 leek or medium sized sweet onion
1 head of broccoli
1 package of baby bella mushrooms
2 carrots
snow peas
1 egg
1 tbsp water
cooking oil (I use vegetable oil but you can use whatever you prefer to deep fry with)
soy sauce, hoison sauce, and plum sauce for dipping

1. Dice all the vegetables into small pieces, the smaller the better (not something you usually hear on a romance site, but there ya are).
2. Toss the diced vegetables together to mix and salt lightly.
3. Whisk egg white with water.
4. Set up your work station. You'll want one plate for folding the wontons on, one baking sheet or other tray lined with foil or parchment paper, and either some willing victims to help you fold or a movie to watch.
5. To fold the wontons place the wrapper in front of you, wet the edges of the wrapper with the egg white mixture, and put a scant teaspoonful of veggie mix in the center of the wonton wrapper. Fold the wrapper point to point to make a triangle being sure to leave a small edge. Fold the back edge of the wonton wrapper over the front and press firmly to seal. This is important, you don't want your wonton exploding as you cook.
6. Once all the wontons are folded you can either flash freeze to cook later (they'll keep at least a month in the freezer) or deep fry them in oil.

To Cook:
- Fill a medium sized pot 1/3 full of oil and turn the stove to Medium heat.
- When the oil is hot (a drop of water will bubble and spit when dropped in), place a test wonton in the oil. It should start bubbling and cooking right away. If it sinks to the bottom of the pot, the oil isn't hot enough. Is the wonton cooks too quickly, the oil is too hot.
- Cook the wontons in batches of 3-4, being sure not to crowd the pot. Use tongs to turn the cooking wontons in the oil, letting them brown on both sides.
- Place cooked wontons on a tray lined with paper towels to let the oil drain before serving.
Serve with dipping sauces.
* For a complete meal you can round out the menu with coconut rice and a tropical fruit platter.
** Once you've mastered the art of wonton folding you can play with the stuffing. Try cream cheese and pickled pepper to make easy jalapeno poppers, or chocolate ganache wontons dusted with powdered sugar. Diced apples and caramel sprinkled with cinnamon make a delicious dessert.

If you believe the rumors you know that Doctor Charm, the wickedly sexy super villain, retired in shame seven years ago after his last fight with the super hero Zephyr Girl. The fact that the charming Evan Smith—father of four and husband of the too-beautiful-to-be-real Tabitha—bears a resemblance to the defeated Doctor is pure coincidence. And, please, ignore the minions.

Everything is perfect in the Smith household, until Tabitha announces her return to work as a super hero. Evan was hoping to keep her distracted until after he rigged the presidential election, but—genius that he is—Evan has a backup plan. In his basement lab, Evan has a machine whose sole purpose is keeping Tabitha hungry for him.

But children and labs don’t mix. The machine is broken, and Tabitha storms out, claiming she no longer knows him. World domination takes a back seat to meeting his daughters’ demands to get Mommy back right now. This time his genius isn’t going to be enough—he’s going to need both his evil alter-ego, and the blooming super abilities of his children to save his wife. But even his most charming self might not be enough to save their marriage.

~ ~ ~

www.lianabrooks.com

It's my birthday tomorrow, so what better way to start my celebrations!

I am going to share with you a recipe that I use a lot. The kids love it, I love it and it's so easy, it takes minutes. And it's perfect for this time of the year!

~ ~ ~

Shortbread Biscuits

The recipe is from my favorite cookbook; Mary Berry's complete cookbook--her easy recipes make even a bad cook like me look good!

*recipe has been changed a little from cookbook, to add a little Kerrianne ;-) *

125g (4oz) plain flour

60g (2oz) ground rice

125g (4oz) butter, plus extra for greasing.

60g (2oz) castor sugar, plus extra for sprinkling.

1 Mix the flour with the ground rice in a bowl. Add the butter and rub in with finger tips.stir the sugar. Knead the mixture lightly until it is a smooth dough.

2 lightly butter baking tray. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Break off little balls and form into a rectangle shape. Note that when the dough cooks it will spread a little so give room on the tray for spreading. Prick with a fork.

3 bake in a preheated oven at 160oc (325f) gas mark 3. For 35 minutes, until golden--though in my experience, they need closer to 25minutes...

4 when you take them from the oven, sprinkle the still hot biscuits with sugar and then leave to cool. Or, in my house--eat immediately and moan about burned fingers afterwards!

My kids love to de orate them too. Fun. Easy and quick!

Hired demon hunter and paid debt collector, Snow White lives with her heart encased in ice and her mind set on survival—until she accepts the one job that threatens to turn her world upside down.

Blackmailed by hell gate demons, Snow has no choice but to accept the task of murdering a king. Dragged into a world of violence and death at a young age, Snow has no idea how to deal with king Sam, and his charm.

When Sam’s evil mother died fifteen years before, she left a him with the knowledge that one day, she would return unless Sam breaks the spell.

Living with the knowledge that he has to die on his wedding night in order to break his mothers spell, Sam has never allowed himself to dream of love…Until a little assassin breaks into his castle and steals his heart.

But deals have been made and magic has been cast. Fate has no power over what is in the past…

~ ~ ~

You can find me on twitter; kerrianne_xx

And my blog address is; http://kerriannecoombes.wordpress.com/. Where you can find out about my other books and the rest of the Demon Tales in the series.

I’m not the best cook in the world, though I still like to try… so long as I have a recipe handy. Whenever I find a recipe I can do, and do well, I make it a lot. One such recipe is Ceviche. It requires absolutely no cooking. Instant win in my book.

You can add or leave out pretty much whatever you want.

~ ~ ~

Ceviche Recipe

(adapted from SimplyRecipes.com)

What You Will Need:

- Glass or ceramic casserole dish (do not use plastic)

- Chopping board

- Sharp knife

- Time to cut everything up

Ingredients:

- 1.5 to 2lbs of firm, fresh red snapper (or other firm-fleshed fish), deboned and cut in ½ inch pieces

- Fresh squeezed lemon juice (can substitute concentrate but fresh tastes better)

- Fresh squeezed lime juice (same here)

- ½ Red onion, finely diced

- 1 Cup Tomato, seeded and diced

- 1 Carrot, shredded thick

- 2 teaspoons of salt

- Ground Oregano (to taste)

- Tabasco (to taste, I prefer green Tabasco)

- Cilantro (preferably fresh and chopped fine, to taste)

Sides:

- Sliced Avocado

- Tortilla chips

Directions:

- Combine fish, onion, tomato, carrot, salt, oregano, Tabasco, and cilantro in casserole dish.

- Pour in lemon juice and lime juice until mixture is covered. (Note: the original recipe says ½ a cup of lemon juice and ½ a cup of lime juice, but I found it needed more than that.)

- Cover casserole dish (lid or plastic wrap) and place in fridge for an hour.

- Uncover and stir so the fish on top has a chance to be immersed in lemon/lime juices.

- Re-cover and place back in fridge for a few hours – two or three will give all the flavors a chance to blend.

- It’s finished when all the fish has changed from pinkish (raw color) to white. The acid in the lemon and lime juices cooks the fish without needing heat (win!).

- Drain off excess liquid and serve.

Serve with sliced avocado and tortilla chips.

Feeds 4-8

 

Still water hides deep passion.

Lulu was sent to spy on the competition while pretending to be a guest so she could find out the secret of their success. Her search turns up Hotsuma, a man bound to water so he can use his power to bring good luck to those who imprisoned him.

Working to set him free ignites a passion in Lulu only Hotsuma can quench, but they can’t afford to let sex, no matter how good, distract them. Hotsuma’s captors aren’t about to let Lulu leave with their property and they are willing to use deadly force to stop her. More than luck is needed if Lulu and Hotsuma want their new love to survive.

~ ~ ~

http://zenobiarenquist.com

In my younger years I didn't enjoy most store bought sweets and early on became the dessert queen in our family. This meant that I learned to make things that I didn't actually like the taste of, but the rest of the family did. One of the simplest recipes -- takes more time than effort -- is a huge hit with the family. I take it when I need a quickly made, high impact dessert.

~ ~ ~

One package Oreos

One package of Vanilla Instant Pudding

And milk or water (this depends on the Pudding package instructions which you will be following)

-Open the package of Oreos. Take three rows of cookies and put them into a plastic bag.  (Here's the fun part). Use a rolling pin -- or I've even done it with a hammer -- and crush the cookies to crumbles. It's entirely up to you how fine you want it, but I tend to pound them until they are like the size of feta cheese crumbles.

-Press these into a pie pan. Because of the cream filling this will stick to the edges more than you'd think and you'll have enough to go around though you won't think you will

-Mix the vanilla pudding per the instructions on the package. Pour into the Oreo crust.

-Take the last row of Oreos, put them in the bag and crush them up. I tend to leave these in bigger chunks.  Pour these on top of the pudding.

-Refrigerate. My aunt, who I got the recipe from, generally refrigerates per the pudding packaging instructions, but I like to hedge my bets and tend to chill it for at least 2 hours.

-EAT

Daniel Rich and Kaitlyn Dow have been friends for fifteen years, and playing an increasingly outlandish game of Truth or Dare for nearly as long. In love with her friend for longer than she’d like to admit, Kaitlyn prefers to hide in the safety of truths she can guide away from embarrassing secrets. While ladies’ man Daniel can’t help but push Kaitlyn’s boundaries with bolder, sexier dares every chance he gets in hopes that he can finally get his friend to notice how he feels.

With her bed-and-breakfast overbooked, the two are forced to spend the night together. Under the twinkle of Christmas lights and the temptation of mistletoe, Daniel is ready to move their relationship to the next level. Kaitlyn suspects he’s still playing a game, and resigns herself to a one-night stand. But she’ll soon learn that Daniel is willing to risk any dare to get Kaitlyn to see the truth—that they belong together.

~ ~ ~

www.sashadevlin.com

http://www.facebook.com/sashadevlin

On Passover last year, my family was in charge of bringing the brisket. Since I notoriously can’t cook (When I moved from our house in New York, my neighbor told me she’d miss seeing me every night, opening the front door to fan the smoke out of the kitchen!) my husband insisted on making a “back up brisket.” I made this one, and he made another one in the oven.

Everyone loved and gave the highest compliment: “Shoshanna, we never in a million years would have guessed you made this brisket all by yourself.” LOL *Hangs head*

~ ~ ~

Easy Crock Pot Brisket:

Ingredients:

A big package of brisket (it’s a fatty cut of beef)

A jar of Garlic Onion Tomato sauce

Directions:

Slather the brisket in tomato sauce and put it in the CrockPot. Pour the entire jar in there on top, too.

Cook for 10 hours on low.

That’s it!

Ellie's been pushed back in time by her vengeful ex-lover. Now a tribe of frighteningly large, muscular, and very sexy cavemen are holding her captive. And they *all* want a turn.

Warning: This 45 page short novella contains dubious consent, forced seduction, the threat of real violence, some m/m action, and a four-cavemen-against-one-modern-woman gangbang--not rape. This is not a romance, it's erotica. Just to be clear...happy reading.

~ ~ ~

Sexily *Evers* After… www.ShoshannaEvers.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShoshannaEvers

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shoshanna.evers

In Fueling Her Fire, Kip makes her grandmother's chili and shares it with her ex-lover, Dillon, on Christmas Eve when they're trapped together, snowed-in at her family's cabin in the woods. I'm sharing Kip's grandmother's recipe here, but with some alterations to make it SUPER fast and convenient for busy ladies with a TBR pile that's out of control.

~ ~ ~

First off, make your own chili seasoning. This part can be skipped, but it's so easy and makes a big batch that can last you through multiple recipes--so why not?

KIP'S GRANDMA'S CHILI SEASONING

4 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons paprika
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons sea salt
4 teaspoons black pepper

Mix all the ingredients and keep in a sealed container for whenever you need it! The general serving size is 1 1/2 tablespoons of this seasoning per pound of meat in the recipe.

EIGHT-MINUTE CHILI or, "Just a quickie", in the culinary sense.

I timed myself and it took me only eight minutes to "make" this dinner, and that included taking the pictures! I tried to limit the ingredients to "nothing too special" so that hopefully, when you have ground beef in your fridge, you're never more than eight minutes from a good, home-cooked meal. Well, technically it's 8 minutes and 3-4 hours... :)

1 pound ground beef (preferably a lower fat type)
1 can diced tomatoes, 28 oz
1 can kidney beans, 15 oz
1 can tomato paste, 6 oz
2 shakes of hot sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons of your homemade chili seasoning or one packet of chili seasoning from the store

 

Open your cans (tomatoes, beans, tomato paste). Dump them into the slow-cooker. If you have time, you can drain the beans, if you don't, then don't worry about it--the chili will be great either way. Add the hot sauce and chili seasoning and stir mixture up well.

Now, here's the trick. I love meat in my chili, but browning ground beef always takes a while and adds significantly to the cleanup, so I wanted to figure out how to cook the ground beef in the slow-cooker. There's no good method to do it, but I may have found a solution. Meatballs are often cooked in a slow-cooker, so I'll just make the meat for my chili in a similar way.

Grab your pound container of ground beef and a small cookie scoop (you can use an ice cream scoop, but if you do, be sure to use a longer cooking time for bigger meatballs). Scoop meatballs right out of the meat package, layering over the chili mixture like a top layer. These don't need to be perfect, but don't attempt to mix them up into the other ingredients, because at this point they'll just squish around. Don't crush the balls, ladies!

 

 

Put the lid on the slow-cooker and cook for 3-4 hours on high. You can stir the meatballs down into the mixture after it's cooked for an hour, then replace the lid to keep cooking for the remaining time.

When complete, break up the meat balls that stick together and spoon the chili into serving bowls. Top with your favorite condiments. As you eat the chili, break up the meatballs into pieces. The meat isn't meant to be eaten as meatballs, but rather ground beef (if you had browned it at the beginning of the recipe instead....).

Finally, go treat yourself to a sexy lumberjack who knows how to please his woman--Fueling Her Fire!

Kip, a former small-town geek, is now all grown up and living in Chicago as a successful lawyer. She may have moved on from that small town, but she’s never really gotten over Dylan, the handsome and popular football player who took her virginity and then broke her heart and humiliated her eight years ago.

Kip makes a last-minute decision to return to Dalton Run, her small West Virginia hometown, and spend Christmas alone in her grandmother’s mountain cabin, packing only wine, comfort food and her hot-pink vibrator. Her plan is to hole-up in the woods, reassess her love life and rediscover her sensuality...alone.

But a last-minute firewood delivery brings her face-to-face again with Dylan, whom she’d cut out of her life eight years earlier, and they end up snowed in together on Christmas Eve. Neither can deny the passion that still smolders between them, but can they overcome the past and let the flames ignite?

~ ~ ~

www.pipertrace.com

Frog Eyed Salad (Frog's Eye or Frog Eyes Salad depending on region I guess) is a taste of summer that's especially good in the middle of the Holiday season. I always tell the kids that Acini de Pepe is Italian for "Eyes of Frog". To have a little bit of fun with this post though, I'm going to rename Frog's Eye Salad. Let's call it Oral Climax, and here's what you'll need for your own experience:

1/2 package of Acini de Pepe macaroni

One container (6 oz) vanilla yogurt

One can (5 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1/2 bag of miniature marshmallows

Two large cans of chunked pineapple

One large can of mandarin oranges

One large can of fruit salad (heavy cherries for color)

Optional – Flaked coconut to taste

Turn up the heat. Get the water nice and hot. Slowly, gently, coax it to a rolling boil. Just as it's about to blow, introduce a steady string of the tiny beads. Allow the moisture so soak into the balls until they're tender and heavy with flavor. This takes about ten minutes. Slowly cool down and gather your energy for round two.

Inside one soft but firm cylinder is an abundance of creamy vanilla goodness. Some prefer to go after the prize with zeal, and others gently warm the sides of the container with their hands so the contents slide out in more of a sigh. Add the sticky milk—as it dribbles steadily into the container—and mix well. With care, allow the contents of the marshmallow bag to tumble into a large bowl to soak into the creamy treat. Using a spoon (or your fingers, if you don't mind getting sticky with the milky mixture) massage the cream onto the sweet marshmallows. Feel free to lick your fingers one at a time, sucking all that white creaminess with a moan.

The sweet and tangy flavors are sealed inside the hard round tubes. It's up to you if you'd like to release them manually or with an electric device. Either way, take care not to allow teeth to damage the tender rim. When the delicious flavors inside are drained, you'll feel a sense of relief.

Mark all those juicy flavors with the creamy milky deliciousness, and you've come to the climax. By now you're most likely ready to relax overnight as your Ambrosia matures in the refrigerator.

And for a much abbreviated and more PG version: Soooo Easy Frog Eyed Salad

Cook the Acini de Pepe (8-10 min) Drain and cool.

Mix the yogurt, sweetened condensed milk and marshmallows in a large bowl. Add the drained fruit, then add the Acini de Pepe. It's ready to eat immediately, but it tastes better after overnight refrigeration when the marshmallows soak up the moisture and expand.

Carter Hope would do just about anything for his best friend. When Mario gets the bright idea to buy a POS house together to flip, Carter swears he’s out of his mind.

Unfortunately, Mario Gutierrez is hard to resist. After one weird conversation at a bar, and one meaningful look across their empty beer bottles, Carter isn’t sure he’s not the one flipping for his friend.

They’re both tops, so to make this work, one will have to give in and roll over. Carter will have to come to terms with his past before he can look to a future with his best friend.

~ ~ ~

Website http://oliviabrynn.com

Twitter http://twitter.com/oliviabrynn

Facebook http://facebook.com/oliviabrynnauthor