I lived in Kenya for several years during the late 90's, and started this story while I lived there. Little scraps of descriptions I saw before me eventually turned into Samburu Hills, a story set in the early days of colonial Kenya. With everything happening there recently its on my mind and I wanted to share some of the country I knew.

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Pigeon Pea Sauce
1 cup pigeon Peas
2 cups water
2 tablespoons Ghee or butter
2 onions
seasoning
1 cup milk
Cook the peas in the water until soft.  Fry the onions in the ghee until golden brown and add the peas.  Cook until all the water is dry.  Mash the peas into a paste.  Season well and add the milk.  Reheat and serve with mashed potatoes or bananas.

Ugali
¾ cup water
½ cup maize meal
½ dessertspoon dried skim milk powder
salt
Boil water. Sieve maize meal, dried skim milk powder, and salt.  Add sieved flour to boiling water.  Cook for a few minutes stirring continuously.  Serve with stewed meat.

Beef stew
Ingredients
1 lb beef (not ground) i.e..: Cut meat
2 carrots
2 green peppers
4 tomatoes
4 onions
Coriander
Curry powder
Black pepper
Seasoning salt, Crisco cooking oil, salt
1. Fry the onions that have been chopped until they turn brown (use Crisco oil)
2. Add tomatoes and chopped green pepper
3. Add carrots, black pepper and coriander
4. Wash the cut meat and sprinkle it with seasoning salt
5. When the carrots have become slightly soft add the cut meat
6. When meat is almost cooking add some curry powder and salt to taste

Pilau rice
Ingredients:
1.5 LB rice (water according to rice)
0.5 LB green peas
2 tbls pilau masala (type of spice)
3 onions
3 tomatoes
Crisco oil
Salt
1. Wash the rice with cold water
2. Boil the peas until it’s cooked
3. Chop onions and then fry them until they turn slightly brown. Then add tomatoes that have been peeled and cut
4. Boil some of the rice water with the pilau masala until it boils. Add some salt to taste
5. Add the rest of the water to the fried onions and tomatoes
6. Then add the green peas when the water starts boiling and the rice.
Let it cook.

Chapati
Ingredients
1 cup of flour (white)
1 tablespoon shortening
1/2 tea sp or less salt
Directions
Melt shortening in a small frying pan DO NOT boil it.
Mix shortening with flour and salt.
Then mix with warm water (add just a little bit of water at a time and mix the dough thoroughly, make sure the dough is not hard) keep for at least one hour. Then separate dough into small rolls similar to oven cupcake buns. Use rolling pin and roll the dough balls each on a large flat surface as you roll the pin spread a little shortening on the dough and then tear the now flat pizza like dough spread from the center by pulling evenly to all edges and cut one side so you are left with a long lean piece of dough in your hands. Roll it into a coil (snakes) from each end in opposite directions (one clock wise and the other end counter clock wise) when they get together, then twist one of the collected coil and put it over the other.
Clean area over the oven top and keep a wide flat heavy/thick frying pan on the cooking range, turn on the cooker at low. Leave the dough for about 10 minutes then roll with rolling pin on flat surface into an evenly spread round (pizza like) thin spread. Turn the heat on to medium using oiling brush, spread a little shortening evenly all around the pan and cook the chapatis. Keep turning (rotating it) to ensure even cooking and turn over and keep pressing after turning and also put shortening on top but not too much and keep on pressing in the frying pen until light brown.

When Celeste Reed steps off the boat in the fledgling colony of Kenya, East Africa she finds out the man that she was to marry doesn't even care to get to know her let alone listen to a word she says.

Life is miserable and then he has the nerve to die leaving her to run an estate without any money. It seems he spent all he had to impress the colony and she was just part of the package.

Africa is unforgiving to the weak, but it can be the people that you least expect that make it.

And then there's Edward.

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www.jennifermuellerbooks.com

FEEL THE HEAT is the first book in my Chicago-set Hot in the Kitchen series about an Italian restaurant-owning family and the sizzling, sexy chefs who love them. One of the hottest scenes in FEEL THE HEAT involves a delicious cold treat: goat cheese salted caramel gelato. I’ll admit that there are quite a few steps to this recipe, but the end result is so worth it…

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Goat Cheese Salted Caramel Gelato

The gelato

1 1/2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup sugar
8 oz. fresh goat cheese (crumbled)
6 large egg yolks

Steps to nirvana

1. Prepare an ice bath and set aside.
2. Place the goat cheese in a bowl with a mesh strainer over it.
3. Mix the sugar and milk over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
4. Whisk the egg yolks lightly until thickened.
5. Add the milk/sugar liquid to the egg yolks slowly, stirring constantly to prevent the egg from scrambling.
6. Return the egg/milk/sugar mixture to the pan and heat, again with constant stirring. When the liquid steams and the custard coats the spoon, it’s ready.
7. Add the hot custard to the goat cheese through the strainer. Stir until the goat cheese is melted and the combination is smooth.
8. Set the bowl over the ice bath and stir until cool. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours.
9. Make the ice cream/gelato in your ice cream maker.

Salted caramel sauce

2 cups granulated sugar
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (you can also use Fleur de sel)

1. In a heavy-bottomed 2-3 quart saucepan, cook the sugar over medium-high heat. It takes a few minutes but it will start to melt and clump. Whisk it until it is completely melted, about 10 minutes.
2. Add the butter (stand back, it will spatter up a storm!) and whisk until smooth
3. Remove from heat and add the cream
4. Add the salt and stir through thoroughly to dissolve
5. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes in the pot, then pour into a jar and refrigerate
6. Sauce will keep for 2 months in the fridge

Make the sauce ahead of the gelato so it is cool enough to mix with the frozen goodness. You can layer the gelato in a container and swirl the caramel through or you can drizzle over the top. Now you’re ready to seduce with gelato!

Hot in the Kitchen, Book 1

IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE HEAT . . .

Photographer Lili DeLuca spends all her time managing her family's Italian restaurant, instead of following her dream of getting an MFA. When famous British chef Jack Kilroy unexpectedly challenges her father to a cook-off, Lili decides she's tired of playing it safe and vows to seduce the tempting Brit. But once a video of her and Jack kissing goes viral and her luscious butt starts trending on Twitter, Lili fears she's cooked up a recipe for disaster.

. . . GET INTO THE BEDROOM

Jack Kilroy's celebrity has left him feeling used and used up. While Lili's oh-so-sexy moans when she tastes his delicious creations turn him on, he's even more aroused by how unimpressed this beautiful, funny woman is with his fame. He knows they could be amazing together, if she could only see past his bitch fork-wielding fan base. Now, as he's about to start a new prime time TV cooking show, can Jack convince Lili to realize her own ambitions - and turn up the heat in his kitchen?

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http://katemeader.com

I’m excited to be here because I get to talk about two of my favorite subjects: chocolate and Regency books. This recipe comes from a scene in MARRIAGE MINDED LORD (the first book in my Darrington family series). Although, back in Regency times, chocolate truffles were known as “olives” since they kinda/sorta had that type of look. They weren’t officially known as “truffles” until later that century , but folks in Regency times sure did love their chocolate confections.

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Ingredients you’ll need for Raspberry Chocolate Ganache (for truffles):

8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate (the best quality you can afford)

1 cup of heavy cream (as fresh as you can find)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 tablespoon of Chambord (raspberry liqueur)

A few tablespoons of either powdered sugar or cocoa powder

Directions:

Place chocolate in a medium-sized heatproof bowl.

Put cream and spices in a small saucepan and heat until simmering (or until small bubbles form at the edges of the liquid) Do not boil. Pour over chocolate and let stand until chocolate has softened.

Add butter and liqueur and stir until smooth. Butter will give it a glossy finish.

Stick mixture in the fridge until hard then scoop out with a melon baller or small ice cream scoop to make truffles (one inch balls). Roll each truffle in cocoa powder or powdered sugar to finish.

When an outrageous meeting leads to inappropriate desire, will family honor and duty destroy a chance for true love?

Felix Alan Darrington, Earl of Swandon has been summoned to London by his mother. Though he has obligations to Parliament, his meddling parent has reminded him it’s time to do his duty, marry and provide her with grandchildren. But Felix refuses to wed under dictate. He’ll choose the woman and the time, and if he’s lucky he’ll marry for love.

Clarice Delacroix is a lady’s companion. Though she’s an illegitimate daughter of a duke, her mother was a French opera singer which puts Clarice firmly between worlds. Possessed of a quick temper and a penchant for making pastries, she longs for adventure, romance and acceptance, but she refuses to be anyone’s mistress. Her mother’s life is not for her.

As Felix schemes to spend more time with Clarice and find out why the Frenchwoman intrigues him, the titled lady who wishes to be his countess conspires to keep them apart. Felix quickly finds that balancing relationships between family and love is not as easy as first thought, or as black and white. Someone in his circle isn’t telling the truth, and the repercussions could prove deadly to Clarice’s future.

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http://www.sandrasookoo.com

My first experience in tasting a pesto dish was at a lovely little place called the Doylestown Inn in Doylestown PA way back in the 1980’s. I ordered spinach ravioli with pesto sauce and thought it was the best thing I’d ever tasted and in my culinary inexperience at the time.  Years later I’ve mastered the art of Pesto sauce. This can be used over pasta or as a coating for fish, chicken and a general all around marinade. You should experiment with different types of greens.

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Basil Pesto

This makes about 1 ½ cup

Ingredients

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup pine nuts, almonds, or walnuts work just fine

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese, or Parmesan

Directions

Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper. You can also freeze this mixture, just divide into ice cube trays and cover with plastic wrap then freeze. Once frozen pop the cubes into a zip-loc freezer bag. It will keep for up to six months. When ready to use take out the right amount of cubes roughly 1-2 for 1lb of pasta. You can either unthaw in the microwave or stir into hot pasta.

The summertime in Northern California is known of its hot, dry weather. Beth Chadwick should know since she’s been going through a bit of a dry spell herself. Her marriage is falling apart. She knows exactly how many pairs of black socks her husband owns, and how much starch he likes in his shirts, so when she matches the lipstick stain on his collar to the shade on his secretary’s lips she knows he’s a cheating bastard.

She has her friends to keep her together. Her best friend Madge is hoping to close the circle on her open marriage. Joyce, the devout Catholic, thinks her daughter might be practicing witchcraft, the widow Samantha is caught in the middle of a real triple-decker of the sandwich generation and Kathy may have uncovered a corpse in her front yard.

These women really get Beth’s need for a new life. But, how is she going to get past her stand-by-you-man mother, and her I’ll do anything if you just take me back soon to be ex-husband? Can their problems be solved over a few glasses of wine? And then there’s the matter of the hot photographer camping out in her backyard.

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www.traceysorel.com

This is a slight adaptation of an awesome muffin recipe—simply titled “Bettina's Cakes”—from one of the most awesome cookbooks ever published in English—“A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband With Bettina's Best Recipes”—written by Louise Weaver and Helen LeCron and published in early 1917. It's an interesting take on spice cakes from an even earlier era when chemical leavening wasn't completely understood or trusted, which as given makes eight muffins, but I've successfully doubled and tripled it to make larger batches, and it scales just fine.

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Bettina's Cakes

Recipe:

Measure out 1/3 cup of milk, and add to this one-half tablespoon vinegar. Stir and let sit.

Preheat your oven to 350F / 175C.

Grease your muffin tin.

Melt two tablespoons of butter.

In a mixing bowl, stir together:

1 cup flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon powdered cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

a pinch of salt

Add to this one egg and the sour milk, stir everything together and beat with a wooden spoon for one minute. Pour in the melted butter, and beat for two minutes more.

Fill muffin cups half full—it should half-fill eight normal-sized cups, neatly fitting in a normal twelve-hole muffin tin without using the corners—and bake for about twenty minutes. They're done when they pull away from the sides of the cups.

Rebecca always hurts the ones she loves. Except, okay, she didn't even like Emily and she only broke the other girl's nosetwice, but, still. Eager—nay, desperate—to make amends for these accidental injuries, she reluctantly agreed to drive her victim on a road trip over an extended weekend, shortly before they both graduate from high school. All she wanted was forgiveness, an easing of her troubled conscience. Never could Rebecca have guessed that her tall, quiet classmate was into women—or that she's exactly Emily's type...

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www.mendacities.net

This cake is a great dessert for warm weather. Light, fluffy, and oh-so yummy. I admit, I’m not a fan of cooking. Anything with more than 6 ingredients and I’ll leave the cooking to the chef - my hubby. But I’ve wowed my family and friends with this oh-so easy cake. It’s sweetly delicious!

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Pistachio Cake

Ingredients

Cake:

· 1 box white cake mix

· 1 package (3.5 oz.) instant pistachio pudding mix

· 3 eggs

· 1 cup vegetable oil

· 1 can (12 oz.) lemon-lime soda (such as Sprite or 7Up)

Frosting:

· 1 package (3.5 oz.) instant pistachio pudding mix

· 1 ½ cups milk

· 1 tub frozen whipped topping (8oz.), thawed

· ¼ cup chopped pistachio nuts, for garnish

Directions

Cake:

1. Heat oven to 350°. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottoms of pans with wax paper and spray again.

2. Beat cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, vegetable oil, and soda on high for 2 minutes.

3. Divide batter equally into the pans. Bake for 35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

4. Cool completely before frosting

Frosting:

1. Beat pudding mix and milk until blended, about 2 minutes.

2. Fold in whipped topping

3. Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate and frost the top using about 1 cup of frosting. Place the remaining layer on top and frost the top and sides. Garnish with nuts (optional).

4. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

Pirate captain Thayer Drake lures ships onto reefs for plunder, and business is lucrative. Yet, saving a lass from drowning after her ship wrecks becomes more than he bargained for when the crazy wench dives back into the raging sea for her blasted purse.

Tavern songstress Gilly McCoy, penniless and fleeing from the man who murdered her lover, stowed away on the doomed ship. Now at Drake's mercy, Gilly must earn her passage by performing for the captain. And that is not all: she must also kiss the captain at every ring of the ship's bell. But she discovers kissing the handsome rogue is not entirely a bad bargain...

Drake is intrigued by the beauty, but there is no room in his black heart for a woman. He has demons that he drinks nightly to forget. Meanwhile, Gilly has her own secrets to keep—including why her purse is more valuable to her than her life...

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www.jbrayweber.com

Hi Readers!
When I signed up for Romance Cooks I figured I'd do a recipe from my latest release, like a lot of other contributors. Then I remembered my latest release is a sci fi novel, and the most notable recipe in it is mopane caterpillars, reptile eggs and salad....how about we have some Space Cake instead?

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Space Cake

You will need:
eggs
butter
brown sugar
self-raising flour (if you can't get self-raising, use plain and add a spoonful of baking soda)
cocoa
instant coffee
200g dark chocolate
50g white chocolate
200ml double cream
mini white chocolate stars
8" cake tin
6" cake tin
a sheet of acetate

Take four large eggs. Weigh them. Remember that weight.
Weigh out the same weight of butter, sugar and self-raising flour.

Purists mix everything by hand, but I'm lazy like that :) Put your butter and sugar in a mixer and cream together.
Add a spoonful of flour, and one egg. Blend until completely mixed. Repeat until you've mixed in all your eggs.

Pour into a bowl and carefully fold in the rest of your flour, being carefully not to knock too much air out of your mixture.
(if you're more of a cake mix person, congratulations, you've just made a cake from scratch! Seriously, the rest is just tarting it up)

Mix a heaped teaspoon of instant coffee with hot water until fully dissolved. Add to your cake mix, along with two heaped tablespoons of cocoa. Mix thoroughly.

Grease your cake tins, pour in the mix, and turn your oven to medium. My oven doesn't have any numbers on the dials, thanks to the previous tenants in this flat, but it turns out 99% of food can be cooked at 'low', 'medium' or 'high'. The big tin will take longer to cook than the small tin, so put that on the top shelf.

Cook for about twenty minutes. To check if they're done, you can either use a skewer - insert it in the deepest part of the cake, if it comes out clean the cake is done - or listen to it. A cake that's still cooking will crackle quietly. A cake that's done won't.

While it's cooking, make a sugar syrup by dissolving 150g sugar in 150ml water over a gentle heat. If you want a more 'grown up' cake, add some chocolate or coffee liqueur to the syrup after taking it off the heat.

When the cake is done, remove from the tins and leave on a baking rack to cool. Use a pastry brush to soak the tops of both cakes with the sugar syrup. This makes them super moist!

While the cakes cool, make your chocolate ganache by heating the cream until it starts to bubble. Take it off the heat and add the dark chocolate, broken into a small bits, stirring constantly until you had a delicious thick, smooth ganache.

Moon time! Make a bain marie by balancing a small pyrex bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Add two thirds of your white chocolate and let it melt. Take the bowl off the heat and add the rest of the white chocolate, stirring until fully incorporated. Doing it this way tempers the chocolate, meaning when it cools it should be glossy, melt in the mouth, and when you break it there should be a satisfying snap. Use a palette knife to smear the melted chocolate onto the acetate. Draw a crescent moon shape into it with a knife point while still liquid. Cool in fridge.

I didn't have any acetate, so I tried stretching cling film over a baking tray. It wasn't 100% successful. You can get special acetate with designs printed on in cocoa butter, if you want your moon to be super fancy.

Ice the larger cake all over with ganache. Put the smaller cake on top and ice that too.

Sprinkle with white chocolate stars.

When your moon has solidified, place on the top tier.

Enjoy your chocolate space cake!

When a theft goes wrong and Jared finds himself under arrest, his daring escape results in an extra passenger. Richard Kuiper the Seventh does not appreciate being magnetically handcuffed to a common criminal, even if he does enjoy the chance to indulge his sexual appetites guilt free.

Hiding out with some old friends of Jared’s while they attempt to unlock the handcuffs, a bond grows between the two men that’s more than magnetic, but Jared’s initial mistrust comes back to haunt him. When the cuffs are removed Richard storms off, straight into a trap, and now Jared must decide what he’s willing to risk for a man he’s barely known for a week: his life, certainly, but his heart? He’s never risked that before.

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www.solelyfictional.org