There are several delicious foods in my latest release, Forever In Blue Jeans, but one of my favorites is what I affectionately term in the book as 'drunk cake'. In the book, I write about bourbon and rum pound cakes and I use the following recipe  every holiday season. I make changes on my own to it, but the original recipe is delicious just as it is (minus the pecans for me). From Southern Living 2004.

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1 1/2 cups butter, softened	1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened	1/4 cup bourbon or  1/4 cup dark rum
3 cups sugar	1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 large eggs	1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, toasted
3 cups all-purpose flour

 

Preparation

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until the yellow yolk disappears.

Sift together flour and salt; add to butter mixture alternately with bourbon, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat batter at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla and pecans. Pour batter into a greased and floured 12-cup tube pan.

Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 30 minutes to 1 hour and 35 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

*Cream Cheese-Coconut-Pecan Pound Cake: Substitute 1 cup chopped toasted pecans and 1/2 cup shredded coconut for 1 1/2 cups chopped toasted pecans. Proceed with recipe as directed.

*If you want to do it in the smaller, individual size Bundt cake pans, the baking time is between 30-45 min. After about 25 min. is when I start checking for doneness.

*You can also add spices (1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg) to the flour mixture and use a dark spiced rum to add a bit more holiday flavor to it.

Butter Bourbon Glaze (adapted from Booze Cakes):

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup bourbon (or rum, if you're making rum cake)

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Slowly stir in sugar and 1/4 cup of water. Bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in bourbon (or rum).

While the cakes are still warm, I spoon the glaze over the top and sides until all the glaze is gone and has been absorbed. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired once cakes are completely cooled.

 

 

One night stands are supposed to be forgettable… But what if the sparks are still flying?

Cort arrives in Blue Ridge with the prospect of a job he can’t resist: the rewiring of a plantation home. Digging into the walls of historical buildings to learn about them from the inside out is a passion he can’t deny. With his mind focused on catching up with his old friends and the challenge of ancient wires, a romantic set up is the last thing he suspects.

And he’s not the only one in the dark…

Blue can’t believe the man pulling to a stop in front of her house is the same man she met in a Savannah riverfront bar five years ago. Heated memories of their one night flood her, but the chill in his eyes remind her of the coward she’d been. This time, she can’t escape him or the things he makes her feel. He’s in her space, surrounded by their friends, and every throbbing cell in her body is involved…

So’s her heart.

Warning:  You need to be on the look out for is a heroine laying siege to a hero with nothing but her sassy mouth holding him against the door…

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Pesto simply means “crushed” (think mortar and pestle), and I’d seen quite a few different approaches to making it, so I wanted to experiment with the ingredients. It was a freestyle kitchen improvisation, so the amounts listed in the recipe are approximate. Feel free to adjust for your taste.

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3 Cups Broccoli Florets	8 Cloves Garlic (unpeeled but separated)
1 Cup Pistachios (I used roasted, unsalted nutmeats)	Asiago Cheese (grated, approximately 1 Cup – depending on taste)
Olive Oil	Salt
Pepper

 

Preheat the oven to 400.

Toss the broccoli in olive oil and salt and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Place the garlic on a 6x6” square of tinfoil and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap the foil around the garlic and twist the top to seal.

Roast the broccoli and garlic for about 20-30 minutes, or until the broccoli is browned and fragrant. Remove and let cool for a bit.

Once cool enough to handle, open the garlic pouch and squeeze out the garlic from the skins.

Place the pistachios, broccoli, and garlic in a blender or food processor. Add olive oil to coat the ingredients and start blending. Scrape down the sides and add more olive oil as necessary.

Add about ½ cup of grated asiago and blend again. Check the flavor and add salt and pepper as needed. Continue adding the cheese and olive oil until you reach the desired consistency. It will not become completely smooth, but how much texture it has it up to you. Check flavor again and adjust with salt if needed.

Your pesto is done and now you can use it in a lot of different dishes. The first night I spread the pesto on salmon. After that, I stirred it into warm pasta and covered the bread with it on open-face steak sandwiches. The flavor developed over the days, but I found a little olive oil was needed to reconstitute the pesto every once and a while. Enjoy!

After a chain of earthquakes ravaged the globe, long-dormant viruses were released into the air, turning many humans into creatures with an appetite for human ashes. Erica and a group of survivors are barricaded in a half-destroyed hotel, and every day brings them closer to being devoured by the seemingly unstoppable ashers. Even though Erica is a fighter, she's tired of just surviving...

When a mysterious stranger rides into town, everything changes. Jake knows how to kill the ashers, and he's the only man brave enough to leave the safety of the hotel in search of a better life. Erica and Jake make a deadly fighting team, with even hotter sparks flying between them. But Jake has survived this long because he rides alone. He doesn't trust easily, especially in this harsh new reality. Can Erica convince Jake that living is more than just surviving to the next day?

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www.nicorosso.com

Living in a region of Alaska where fishing is the mainstay of the local economy, we eat a lot of salmon, rock fish, cod, and the occasional halibut. Finding new and tasty ways to get my kids to eat fish is a challenge. This recipe was a hit with my more finicky child.

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2 lb. fillet of salmon	1 cup panko bread crumbs
8 oz peach yogurt	1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup toasted macadamia nuts, crushed, divided	Salt and pepper

Rinse and de-bone fillet. Pat dry. Place on foil-lined baking sheet. Salt and pepper the fillet to taste. Mix yogurt with ½ cup of the nuts. Spread over fillet. Toss panko with the rest of the nuts, garlic powder, and more salt and pepper. Cover yogurt layer with panko-nut mix.

Bake for 15-20 min at 350F, depending on thickness. Check doneness of fish. Return to oven for another 5 more minutes, if necessary. Careful not to over-cook.

**Note: This recipe is very versatile. Just about any fish, any yogurt flavor, any sort of nuts, will work. Desperate one night, we high-graded peanuts, cashews, and almonds from a bag of trail mix and used those in lieu of macadamia nuts, so whatever you have can work.

 

Liv Braxton's Felon Rule #1: Don't get emotionally involved.
Smash-and-grab thieving doesn't lend itself to getting chummy with the victims, and Liv hasn't met anyone on the mining colony of Nevarro worth knowing, anyway. So it's easy to follow her Rules.

Until her ex, Tonio, shows up with an invitation to join him on the job of a lifetime.

Until Zia Talbot, the woman she's supposed to deceive, turns Liv's expectations upside down in a way no woman ever has.
Until corporate secrets turn deadly.

But to make things work with Zia, Liv has to do more than break her Rules, and the stakes are higher than just a broken heart…

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Visit Cathy at http://www.cathypegau.com on her blog http://cathypegau.blogspot.com or on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/CathyPegau

One of my favorite things to do with every new book is make up a recipe card that either includes a recipe mentioned in the book or a recipe that goes well with the theme of the book. In this case, one of my characters in the story fixed his "famous" chili for the heroine. When I started tweeting about this chili with a twist I got a lot of people asking for the recipe, so I took the time to write down the basic recipe I've had forever and the new twists I added to make the new low fat version a bit more exciting.

1 onion, chopped	1 lb. ground turkey
2 cloves of garlic, minced	2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. cumin	1 Tbsp. dark cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning	1 bottle or can of dark beer
pinch of cinnamon	1 Tbsp. Chipotle pepper
1/4 c. chili powder (adjust down for a less spicier chili)	1 can diced tomatoes
2 Bay leaves	1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 lb. 93% lean ground beef	1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

 

Instructions: Brown the beef and turkey with onion and garlic. While cooking add tomato paste and continue cooking until meat is no longer pink. Add cumin, Italian seasoning, cinnamon, chili powder, and bay leaves and cook for a few more minutes. Then add the chocolate, beer, chipotle and tomatoes. Simmer for 45 minutes. Add beans and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the beans are hot and then serve with your favorite garnishes. (I recommend chopped green onions and fat free sour cream)

Resistance may be possible, but who are they kidding?

While on a search and rescue mission in the middle of a snowstorm, Seth and his twin Trent catch the scent of an unfamiliar shifter. Drawn to locate the source they hike deep into the woods to an abandoned cabin where they find an enticing little jaguar in the throes of heat.

Tired of being smothered by her five brothers and the pressure to mate, Daisy wanted nothing more than a week alone in the middle of freaking no where. The last thing she needed was a run in with two sexy as sin–and totally off limits–cougar shifters. Unfortunately, she’s not the kind of woman to leave them out in the cold.

Faced with the misery of unmet sexual desire or hot, no strings attached sex with two men… What’s a girl to do?

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I’m so pleased to be launching this site with a recipe I found on Cooking Light that I’d morphed into something very un-light. It goes great with wheat crackers or tortilla chips.

Ingredients:

2 tbls olive oil for sautéing	2 large onions, chopped or thinly sliced
1/2 tsp dried thyme	1/2 cup sour cream
2/3 cup grated Italian cheese blend	1/3 cup cream cheese at room temperature
1/3 cup mayonnaise	1/2 tsp hot sauce of your preference
1/4 tsp salt

 

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, swirling to coat pan. Add onion and salt to pan; caramelize on a very, very low heat setting for approx 45 min – 1 hour, or until the color is a rich brown (not burned), stirring occasionally.

2. Add thyme and cook another 5 min. Remove onion mixture from heat. Add sour cream and the remaining ingredients, stirring until blended and cheese melts.

3. Pour into oven proof dish and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Serve warm.

 

 

Keeping Pace by Dee Carney

One spark could burn her world down.

Six years after her husband’s death, Regina Pace is still just going through the motions, her only pleasure a nightly glass (or three) of wine to dull the ache. Tonight is no exception—until a sensual outdoor encounter with her neighbor’s son, freshly home from college. He’s older, wiser, more devastatingly handsome than she remembered. He’s also fifteen years her junior.

Despite her misgivings, it isn’t long before her nightly ritual includes a long, deep drink of Josh Smith. Ogling leads to touching, then the sparks flare into an erotic encounter that feels wickedly right—and deliciously forbidden.

Yet the intense heat can’t burn away the doubt pestering the back of her mind. That the gap between their ages is too large, even for the most determined leap of faith…

Warning: Features a boy-next-door who won’t take no for an answer, more than one sexual fantasy (including some outdoor self-loving!), and a burning romance that proves age is just a number.

www.deecarney.com