Romantic Treats and Reads

Let's celebrate February!

Today we'll kick off a tasty mix of delicious recipes and the perfect books to accompany your indulgent treat.

Our romantic read of the day:  An Affair With Mr. Kennedy by Jillian Stone. A sensual, intelligent adventure set in 19th century London. 

Chocolate Pizza Heart

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 3/4 cup miniature marshmallows
• 3/4 cup chopped salted peanuts
• 3/4 cup crushed potato chips
• 2 tablespoons flaked coconut
• 7 maraschino cherries, halved
• 1/4 cup milk chocolate M&M's
• 2 tablespoons vanilla or white chips
• 1/2 teaspoon shortening

Directions

• Using a pencil, draw a 10-in. heart on a waxed paper. Place paper, pencil mark down, on a baking sheet; set aside.
• In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate and butterscotch chips; stir until smooth. Stir in the marshmallows, peanuts and potato chips. Immediately spread on prepared pan into heart shape. Sprinkle with coconut; top with cherries and M&M's.
• In a microwave, melt vanilla chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle over top. Refrigerate until firm, about 1-1/2 hours. Remove waxed paper. Let stand for 10 minutes at room temperature before cutting. Yield: 1-3/4 pounds 
• Do you have any favorite new releases? Any favored winter treats?

Holiday Fun

Hope everyone is having a bustling, blessed holiday season!  Here are my favorite Cranberry-White Chocolate cookies:

 

 

Recipe from

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white chocolate morsels
• 1 (6-ounce) package sweetened dried cranberries

Preparation

1. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; set aside.
2. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition.
3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture gradually, beating at low speed until blended. Stir in white chocolate morsels and cranberries.
4. Drop cookie dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets.
5. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

My holiday wish for each of you is the time to enjoy these while reading a wonderful book!

Happy Thanksgiving

A blessed Thanksgiving day to each of my friends and loved ones. I am grateful for each one of you!

May peace, contentment, and a table full of friends, family, and delicious food grace your day.

The Night Before the Ball...

And I'm giddy with excitement!  Come join me at the Dashing Duchesses romance blog Monday the 14th to discuss the romance, fascination, and celebration of history! If any of my visitors are unfamiliar with historical romance, let me assure you it runs a full gamut, from prairie school marms to the ballrooms of Regency England to eighteenth century Japan to the Ottoman empire!  There are a wide variety of sensuality levels as well, from erotic to inspirational.

The Duchesses adore all historical romance, so come dressed as your favorite heroine.

Stomp those cowboy boots!         Twirl those flapper beads!





Our doorways arch nicely, so don those exquisite Georgian gowns. We have plenty of room, and the party won't be the same without you!

What's your favorite historical time period or location?

NANO Day Six: Possibilities

 Our thoughts and imagination are the only real limits to our possibilities.
Orison Swett Marden

 One of the great things about Nano (I think) is exploring the possibilities of your story line.  And the very best thing (I'm certain) about exploring those possibilities is the time limit-because you have no time. You should be writing, baby!

You don't get to agonize over the implications of your secondary character's decision in regard to what will happen to the heroine sixteen chapters from now.  You don't get to contemplate the psychology that's driving your hero to act like a madman.

You just write it! Two chapters later, you might not recognize your original story. Hurray! Maybe it's a better story! Maybe your tangent will inspire a completely different book!

Best of all, you don't have to (or get to) worry about it until December 1st.

You just get to savor the possibilities.

Word count: 7489  (I didn't add in the last couple of days individually, like I should. Oh well. :)

NANO Day Two: Motivation!

Day two count: 1346   Total: 2303

 So, in between spitting out a few paragraphs and wondering where my secondary characters are guiding my heroine, I love to procrastinate by reading author advice. Love it! Romance writers love to offer writing guidance, support, mentoring, encouragement. They are one generous bunch!

 Julie Leto, NYT and USA bestselling author, has a rockin' website, which nicely complements her rockin' books. Under the heading "Articles and More", she has a reprint of her 2003 RWA National Conference workshop:  Ditching "The Book of Your Heart" for "The Book of My Voice".

Wow and wow. This article gave me so much to think about, in the best possible way. Most importantly, after I read it I was fired up and ready to attack the Nano again!

Motivation is a good thing. :)

NANO For You?

Well, I'm in.

To be specific, I'm 953 words in, as of midnight, November 1. Around nine o'clock last night,  it hit me--approaching re-writes as if this was a completely new book (which it will be) and the friendly peer pressure of National Novel Writing Month ( the best peer pressure around!) means I can expect a great deal accomplished by the end of turkey day.

Anyway, that's the plan. And who doesn't need a great excuse to ignore cooking dinner or cleaning the house?

Are you NaNoing this month?