Chilled Strawberry Soup is a special dish I usually serve for Valentine's Day Dinner but it's an equally delicious treat at a summertime brunch or any time you want to try something a little bit different.

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1 cup dry white wine or sparkling cider (if you need to make it kid safe)

1/3 cup sugar

2 cups strawberries cut and pureed in a blender

1 cup orange juice

1/8 tsp. ground cardamom

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

fresh mint sprigs

- Place the wine and the sugar in a saucepan.

ring to a simmer and stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove

from the heat. This is not enough heat to cook off the alcohol.

- Add the pureed strawberries, orange juice, and cardamom to the wine mixture

- Chill completely.

- Before serving beat the whipping cream and swirl with the chilled soup. Garnish with mint sprig and serve.

A story about lost love, second chances, and revenge...
When Jeani crash lands on a backwater world, she knows she's in trouble. The slave trader Hothi is looking for her, and her bosses are going to eat her alive if she screws up another mission.

Discovering she's half a world away from the planet's only space port is a blow - but it doesn't rock her nearly as much as her reunion with a man she barely remembers, from a past she wants to forget. Can she do the right thing, and leave him again?

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www.lianabrooks.com

This is my grandmother’s recipe and I’ve been making it since I was a kid. I can remember standing at the counter next to her and she’d let me cut the biscuits out of the dough using a juice glass. Easy to make and so good hot out of the oven smothered in butter.

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RECIPE: Raisin Tea Buns

4 Cups Flour

8 tsp baking powder

½ Cup Butter

2/3 Cup Sugar

1 tsp Salt

2 eggs (well beaten)

1 Cup Milk

1 Cup Raisins

Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar and salt). Blend in butter. Add eggs and milk. (You may need to get in there with your hands at this point.) Add raisins.

Roll out and cut into circles. Or simply pinch off dough and roll into circles.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. (I sometimes pop the oven on broil for a minute if the tops aren’t browned enough.)

VARIATION:

Make dough without raisins and roll it out into a rectangle shape. Lightly butter it then sprinkle brown sugar and raisins (or you can use brown sugar and cinnamon). Carefully roll dough into log shape. Cut into ½”-1” circles. Place in pan and bake for 10-12 minutes at 400 degrees. Makes great cinnamon rolls.

Seventh in the Tapestries series.

Samantha Calloway is desperately working to keep her farm from financial ruin. It’s the only thing she has left from her deceased family and she’s determined to make it a success at any cost.

Darian and Jace Hunter live in a world where women are in short supply and brothers must share. The magic tapestry has always brought a potential tapestry bride to Javara, but this time it transports the two brothers to a strange land.

When Samantha finds two strangers on her land she doesn’t believe their stories of magic tapestries and other worlds. But when she suddenly finds herself in Javara, she doesn’t know what to believe. And when the tapestry transports them all back to her farm, Sam has a choice. She must decide if she will be true to her family and their legacy or if she will abandon it all for a chance at love.

A Romantica® time travel erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

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Website: http://www.njwalters.com

Blog: http://www.njwalters.blogspot.com

Newsletter Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/awakeningdesires/

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/N.J.WaltersAuthor

Chocolate Thumbprints are my daughter's favorite cookie for us to make. It's messy but fun and we love working on these together.

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KC’s Favorite Cookie

Chocolate Thumbprints

Ingredients:

½ cup of butter

2/3 cup of sugar

1 egg, separated

2 tablespoons of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup self-rising flour

1/3 cup of baking cocoa

1 cup of chopped walnuts

Creamy center:

½ confectioner’s sugar

1 tablespoon of softened butter

2 teaspoons of milk

¼ teaspoon of vanilla

1 bag of chocolate kisses

Mix:

Dough:

Butter, sugar, egg yolk, mild & vanilla until creamy in a mixing bowl. Gradually add flour and cocoa to the mixture. Blend well into a stiff batter. Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Remove from fridge. Roll into balls. Place chopped walnuts on a paper plate.

Creamy Center:

Combine confectioner’s sugar, butter, milk and vanilla and stir until smooth.

Whip the egg white with a fork in a small bowl. Roll the chocolate balls in the egg white. Roll the dipped balls in the walnuts, coating it well. Place on cookie sheet. Press thumb in center. Spoon a little of the creamy mixture into indention. Place Chocolate kiss in center.

Bake:

350 degrees for about 12 minutes or until done.

Book four in the Cursed MacKinnons series.

Lynn’s ghost-hunting trip in Scotland takes an unpleasant turn when she’s kidnapped from her camp by a group of men rambling about curses and a brotherhood. In a daring escape, Lynn falls over a cliff and awakens in a cave being guarded by a ghost, who insists she’s the key to freeing a man who has been cast in stone by an evil curse. And what a man he is…

Padon has been imprisoned for over two centuries, frozen in stone. He is awoken when a sexy siren recites the anti-curse, but he is only partially free. Stone by day, man by night. Passion ignites between him and his savior immediately, which makes falling to the curse each morning that much harder. He and Lynn seek a resolution by making the trek to Padon’s family castle. But the kidnappers have other plans and will do whatever they must to make sure this couple never makes it to their destination.

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www.taranina.com

In Who Wants to Marry a Cowboy, eight woman participate in a marital rodeo with the cowboy as the unwilling first prize.  The "rodeo" involves showing off cooking skills, so I had the heroine and her nemesis cook the one impressive recipe in my repertoire:  Chicken Picatta.  (And there are no strong onions in it, regardless of what the nemesis would have you believe.)

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Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 6- to 8-ounce skinless boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons and 2 tablespoons minced shallot
• 1/2 teaspoon and 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 1/2 teaspoons drained capers, divided
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley

What to Do:

• Put the chicken in a large storage bag and pound it down until it's less than half an inch thick.  I don't own a meat mallet, so I use a soup can.
• In a small bowl, toss in the parsley with 1.5 t oil, 1.5 t shallots, .5 t lemon juice, and 1.5 t capers. 

• Spray non-stick spray in a heavy large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the chicken to skillet and sauté until just cooked through and golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to platter and cover with foil to keep warm.

• Reduce heat to medium-high. Add remaining shallots and garlic to same skillet and sauté until tender, about 1 minute.

• Add wine and remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice and simmer 1 minute.

• Whisk in remaining 3 teaspoons capers, butter, and minced parsley. Stir any juices from chicken into sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken and sprinkle chicken with parsley-caper mixture.

SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMEONE NEW . . .

There's nothing florist Ainsley Fairfax won't do to help her sister get the love of her life-even if it means taking her place on a bachelorette weekend at a Wyoming ranch so Cecelia can sail off with the man of her dreams. Ainsley is determined to spend the time keeping her head down and her heart safely tucked away-until an encounter with the ranch's hunky owner gets her heart-and steamy desires-to bloom . . .

Riley Pommer doesn't want to be lassoed into any relationship. But with the family ranch in dire straits, Riley knows his sisters' crazy plan to turn the ranch into the setting for a dating competition-and using him as the bait-is the only thing standing between them and foreclosure. But the rules of the game change the instant Riley lays eyes on the spirited Ainsley. Now, as others try to stampede over their love, can Riley prove to Ainsley that true love is a prize worth fighting for?

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www.abigailsharpe.com

This is one of the first things I taught my kids to make when they were younger. It's so yummy and fast! These are great when you're busy writing and want something quick and easy, or on those mornings when you're on the run.

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3 tbsp. butter
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. water
1 pkg. refrigerator biscuits

Combine butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and water in a microwave-proof dish (I use a glass pie plate). Microwave on high 45 seconds-1 minute until melted together. Place biscuits on top of butter mixture (you can leave whole or cut in half to make smaller servings). Cook 2 minutes on high until done. Biscuits will not brown, but will rise and look dry/set up. If not done, microwave in additional 15 second increments until finished. Let cool 2 minutes before serving.

When Gillian receives an erotic striptease video that was meant for someone else, she winds up making a cellular connection she never dreamed of. Her mystery man, Kent Johnson, inspires her to indulge in phone sex in places she never dared, like the back booth in a bar or even huddled in her cubicle at work.

Kent is unbelievably hot, daring and ready to take on every naughty toy in her nightstand drawer. But he is not just her “safe” sexting partner—he turns out to be the boss at her new job. She might be ready to take on any position he can throw at her, but company fraternization is a strict policy the boss won’t compromise on—not even for her hot charms.
Gillian’s lonely nights are destined to return unless Kent can find a way for them to steam up the boardroom without jeopardizing their careers.

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http://jroseallister.com

If you can’t stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen… and this dish brings the heat!

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Ingredients:

One 16 ounce box elbow macaroni, about 4 cups

About 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper

32 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese blend, Pepper Jack, Gouda cheese (Reserve 1/4 cup)

1 cup of sour cream

Two sticks butter or margarine cut in small pieces (Reserve 1/2 stick)

Two 16 oz cans of condensed milk

1/4 cup of bread crumbs

(Serves 8 to 10)

Preparation:

1) Heat the oven to 350°F.  

2) Butter a 4-quart baking dish.

3) Cook macaroni following package directions.

4) Drain in a colander and rinse with hot water.

5) Put the drained macaroni into the prepared baking dish.

6) Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and add the sour cream and pieces of butter. (Reserve 1/2 stick of butter for top of dish.).

7) Gently mix in your cheese. (Reserve 1/4 cup of cheese for the top of dish.) Level out your mac & cheese in the dish. 

8) Slowly pour milk over the mac & cheese. Top with the remaining cheese, then bread crumbs, then dot with the butter/margarine pieces on top.  Bake for about 60 to 90 minutes.

Over three generations, the Gibbons women of Chesterton, Virginia, have built their reputation as a family of shameless—but refined—gold diggers. They even have a strict set of rules by which they operate. But the rebellious, youngest Gibbons sister is about to break them all…

Lauren Gibbons is committing the ultimate family betrayal: abandoning the tradition of seducing men for money. Nothing is worth the abuse she’s endured from her sugar daddy. Now a sous chef, Lauren is hoping to break from the past for good. And when she meets hot former NFL player Crisanto Weaver, she even lets herself imagine a future. But the small-town rumor mill—and her own sisters—aren’t ready for a new Lauren. Between her conniving relatives, her vengeful ex, a mountain of debt, and a whole lot of haters, can she escape her old life, and create something new?

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www.shellyellisbooks.com

I'm a pretty busy lady (as I'm sure most of you are!), so I lurve my crock pot. Here's one of my fav recipes to make, and it's suuuuper easy, with only 4 ingredients. We call it Dump Chicken, but since that's not very sexy, feel free to give it your own foxy title. ;-)

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RECIPE: 1 packet of taco seasoning

1 to 1 1/2 pounds of cubed, thawed chicken breasts (or thighs, if you prefer)

1 jar of salsa

1 jar of apricot jam

Mix all together in a crock pot and cook on low for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve over rice. Voila--instant deliciousness!

TEN DAYS is a New Adult romance, based on the sci-fi short story “The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forster.

Nineteen-year-old Cally isn’t like the others. In her society, the Machine caters to every whim, ensuring people don’t have to leave their pods. But Cally and her best friend Marshal find themselves drawn to how things used to be, when people lived on the surface of the earth and relied upon manpower, not technology. When physical contact wasn’t uncivilized, and love was normal, acceptable, embraced. Cally tries to swallow down her increasing dissatisfaction with the “rules,” as well as her rapidly developing feelings for Marshal, a task getting harder each day.

Then, things start going downhill, fast. Food is spoiled. Air grows musty. The population panics about the dysfunction–is it sabotage? Anarchy? But Cally and Marshal discover the truth: The Machine, the answer to all their problems for longer than anyone can remember, is breaking down. Now, these two have to risk it all to save themselves and the people they care about…before their entire world destroys itself.

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oliviamayfield.com

This isn’t the fanciest thing I make, but it’s definitely the most popular. Once you’ve eaten homemade mac’n’cheese, you’ll never go back to the boxed variety. In addition to being comfort food and an easy side dish, it makes a great base for hearty casseroles.

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Ingredients (makes 4 side servings):

1 ½ cups grated old cheddar cheese (or other kind)

2 cups cooked pasta noodles, any shape

1 cup skim milk

1 ½ tbsp flour

Easy Cooking Directions:

Boil pasta as directed on package (times vary according to noodle type and your desired level of tenderness), drain and set aside.

In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, whisk flour into milk. Continue whisking intermittently until milk bubbles and begins to thicken (about 4 to 5 minutes). Resist the urge to walk away—constant whisking eliminates lumpiness.

Reduce heat to minimum and add grated cheese, stirring until smooth.

Stir cooked pasta noodles into the cheese sauce.

Serve and enjoy!

Options:

Add in extras for a change of pace or to turn this side dish into a hearty main course. Here are some of my favorites…

Taco-seasoned Ground Beef (To be really fancy, dump it all in a casserole dish, top with crushed tortilla crackers and another sprinkling of grated cheese and broil to make the top warm & crispy.)

Peas and Cubed Ham

Salsa and Diced Chicken Breast

Cassie has fantasized about the ginger-haired personal trainer for months. Brian is friendly, but never more—until he appears on her doorstep and shows her how much her flirting has affected him. The more she’s with him, the more Cassie wants the fairytale, not just hot sex with the six-two hunk. She can give Brian full access to her body, but after her ex’s reaction to her explicit photography business, sharing her secrets, and her heart, isn’t an option.

Brian knows better than to break the rules. Don’t date gym members. Keep his inner beast on a leash during sex. Cassie tested his resolve on number one her first day in the gym. Shattered the second rule when he touched her. The petite pixie shares his preferences in the bedroom. She makes him laugh and love—but past mistakes haunt him, emotionally and tangibly. Cassie’s worth the price he’ll pay for breaking the rules. Now he must convince her to give him her heart.

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www.karladoyle.com