Rum Runner Punch from GHOST OF A CHANCE

GHOST OF A CHANCE When I was creating the backstories for the vampires and angel in my vampire Christmas novella, WHEN HERALD ANGELS SING, it seemed only natural that someone who chose a pirate’s life in the 1800s might decide to become a rum runner during Prohibition.

It was so much fun exploring that period of time, that when the opportunity presented itself to write a novella, GHOST OF A CHANCE, I decided to do some more research and created a story with a mystery that had occurred along the Jersey Shore during the height of Prohibition.

Those were exciting and dangerous times along the shore then. Bootleggers ran rum from the Caribbean and whiskey from Canada in various forms and a great deal of the liquor that was sent throughout the country made its way through Newark at one time.

Anyway, I thought it would therefore be appropriate this morning to offer up a recipe for a Rum Runner’s punch for you! If you don’t drink alcohol, feel free to leave out the rum or substitute some rum flavoring in the recipe.

Rum Runner’s Punch

2 cups rum (light or dark. Dark is sweeter)
1 bottle sparkling apple cider (about 25 ounces)
2 cups orange juice
2 cups pineapple juice
1 quart fruit punch (feel free to use a sugar free product)
Shot of grenadine for color
Ice

Mix all of the above in a punch bowl or large container. Slice up some oranges, pineapples and maraschino cherries as a garnish. Serve over ice.

You can also substitute a sparkling wine or ginger ale for the sparkling apple cider. Also feel free to go with a spiced or coconut-flavored rum for some variety.

May 7, 2013May 7, 2013

#Healthy Eating: The Cons of Fruits & Veggies & Dealing with Them

fruitsveggies You are probably wondering how there could be any “Cons” in healthy eating, but the reality of it is that trying to eat all the right things comes with a number of hidden negatives.

First, there is the cost of all those fresh fruits and vegetables that will improve your diet and provide the nutrients and fiber that you require for staying healthy.

When it comes to the cost, there are some ways to keep the costs down. First, buy seasonal. Second, buy local. Fruits and vegetables that are both seasonal and local will be much cheaper than those which are being shipped in from overseas. In addition, because they’ve had a shorter trip to the shelves, they will be fresher. That will help them stay fresh longer once you buy them. Plus, you’ll be helping the local economy.

Of course, there is my issue: I buy at the big box store and it’s hard to eat that many berries, pears or lettuce in a week. Or at least it is for me and it’s upsetting to see them go bad and have to be thrown out.

Next, there is the risk of contamination in fruits and vegetables. According to the Wall Street Journal eating leafy vegetables accounts for 23% of food borne illnesses and eating fruits and nuts sicken more people than tainted meat products.

Despite that, there are things you can do to protect yourself. First of all, do a thorough cleaning of yourself and your fruits and vegetables. You can click here for some FDA guidelines.

You can also understand which are the best and worst in terms of contamination.

You can click here to see a list of the dirties fruits and vegetables. Sadly, most of my favorites are on this list.

You can click here to check out a list of the least contaminated fruits and veggies.

One thing that may help with both the costs, spoilage and contamination is actually a quite simple practice: Use one part vinegar (either white or apple) to ten parts water mix in your clean sink. Dump in your assorted fruits and veggies. The vinegar will help wash off any coatings and kill mold spores and other bacteria on the surface of the fruits and veggies.

I hope you’ve found these tips helpful today! Of course, what do you do with all those fruits and veggies? You can click here to check out my Pinterest board of recipes or visit the Cook’s Treat section of the website for more!

April 9, 2013November 26, 2018

Honey Cinnamon Roasted Chick Peas #Recipe #Healthy

Before we get to today’s recipe, please take a moment to visit with me at my Smartgirls SciFi interview and a spotlight at Books a la Mode!

Now for the recipe, kind of. My friends and I were chatting about diets in general and to be honest, it’s more about a lifestyle change and not just a diet. You go off diets and then you have that rebound that I’ve done more times than I care to think about.

So this time I am committing to a change that will be more permanent. I’ve almost eliminated soda from my life. I limit myself to one a day. I’m drinking more water and watching my carbs. I went off a bit this weekend and all I could think about on Monday were bagels, muffins, donuts and all those things that I know do not sit well with me.

I’m also trying to deal with cholesterol that’s a little too high and that prompted a discussion of honey and cinnamon. Apparently this combination has been touted as a cleanse, but apparently the two can also help lower your cholesterol.

So I’ve been having both in my coffee and oatmeal, but I thought I’d search out a fun way to combine these two! Lucky for you I found an interesting recipe for Honey Cinnamon Roasted Chick Peas!

Thanks to The Pastry Affair for the recipe. I can’t wait to try it out this weekend since I think I’ve got a can of chick peas sitting around. I usually use them to make hummus, but this sounds far tastier!

April 2, 2013July 7, 2017

Spring & #Strawberry #Recipes

Even though it’s still in the twenties today, Spring is definitely here! This morning as I walked through Bryant Park, the ice skating pond was gone and the lawn was back in place. Lovely flowers were in bloom in various spots.

I love the Spring flowers and I also love one other thing about Spring: STRAWBERRIES!

They are so luscious and of course, healthy for you. They have a good deal of sugar, but have a low glycemic load which means they won’t make your blood sugars shoot up and then crash. A cup of strawberries has 150% of your daily requirement of Vitamin C. They also contain manganese and antioxidants.

So, today I’m going to take you to a list of 60 – SIXTY – fabulous strawberry recipes. Just click here to see them!

Also, don’t forget this is Day 2 of the Double Trouble Blog Tour! Come visit with me at the All the Fun Starts After Dark blog today and follow the rules for a chance to win some fun prizes!

March 5, 2013March 5, 2013

Two Ingredient Cookies!

I cannot take credit for this recipe! It comes from The Burlap Bag blog and I discovered it on Pinterest.

Actually, I’ve discovered lots of fun things on Pinterest, especially quite a few low carb, low calorie recipes. You can click here to check out my collection!

So what’s so awesome about these cookies? Well, just two ingredients for a start. Their tasty and you can customize them with your own mix-ins. Last, but not least, fiber from the oatmeal and the bananas! Both good for you.

Here goes with the recipe!

Two Ingredient Cookies

1 cup oats (I eat lots of oatmeal anyway!)
2 bananas

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350.
Step 2: Grease a cookie sheet. It’s very important to grease it because there are lots of sugars in the bananas which will STICK to the pan.
Step 3. Dump the oats in a mixing bowl.
Step 4. Peel the bananas and add them to the oats.
Step 5. Mash the bananas and oats together until the bind. There will be some chunks of bananas, but don’t leave too many big chunks.
Step 6. Using a tablespoon, measure out the banana/oat mix onto the cookie sheet. These cookies will not spread, so an inch between them is fine. You can flatten them a bit with the tablespoon.

Bake at 350 for fifteen minutes.

I found the above mix made about a dozen cookies.

Now for the fun part. Choose something to mix in before you bake! We’ve added some peanut butter. Nutella. Chopped walnuts and craisins. Raisins. Also some butterscotch morsels. Of course, you can also add chocolate chips.

I think a good rule of thumb is about two tablespoons of mix-ins and nothing way too wet, otherwise the banana/oat mixture will not hold together.

Hope you enjoy today’s recipe!

February 26, 2013February 26, 2013

Barley & Leek Risotto #Recipe

In my family, we ate rice almost every night in one way or another. Whether as a side dish, combined with beans, in chicken and rice, or in a comfort food of fried eggs over rice, it was there every day.

In my husband’s Italian family, it was pasta every day. Even their family dog ate it every day.

Which makes adopting a low carb diet quite a challenge. But I will say this: I’ve lost nearly 23 pounds in about two months, so it’s definitely working!

One challenge has been having a side dish that’s got the mouth feel and taste of rice, but is healthier. I’ve mentioned quinoa and you could probably substitute that in this recipe. But why not try another healthy whole grain: Barley?

Barley’s dietary fiber gives your intestinal health a boost and can also help to lower cholesterol. Plus it’s a good source of niacin, a B vitamin and has been known to help people with Type 2 Diabetes with their glucose and insulin responses. For more information on all this, you can click here.

Today I’m giving you a recipe I’ve adapted after watching Mary Ann Esposito and her Ciao Italia show. Did you know that Mary Ann has been on the air for 23 years, making her show the longest running cooking series in America?

Thanks, Mary Ann! I love your recipes and advice on great Italian food.

But for now, here is my version of a barley and leek risotto.

Barley and Leek Risotto

1 cup barley (be sure to rinse it first; you can also soak it for an hour to reduce cooking time)
2 cups vegetable and/or chicken broth (keep this heated)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup diced mushrooms
1 cup sliced leeks (Be sure to thoroughly rinse. Leeks can have lots of dirt between the leaves)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/8 cup fresh parsley minced

Put 1 tablespoon olive oil in a stockpot and heat on high. Add the mushrooms and brown them. Then add the leeks and sweat them down for about a minute. Add another tablespoon of the olive oil and once it’s hot, add the barley and toast it a bit. Coating the grains in oil will help keep them from clumping.

Add the hot broth, a cup at a time. Stir until the broth is almost absorbed, then add the second cup of broth and cook down at a low simmer. Keep stirring and checking to see if the barley is al dente.

Once the barley is al dente, add the tablespoon of butter and cook it a bit more. Finally, stir in the parmesan cheese and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste here. I say hold up on the salt since the broth and/or parmesan have enough, but that’s up to you.

Serve as soon as you can. You don’t want to let it clump as it sits.

Also have additional parmesan on the table to add to the top of the barley! Voila. A simple and tasty risotto dish.

If you don’t have leeks, you can substitute shallots, scallions and/or regular onions. It’s just that leeks have a milder, almost asparagus taste. They’re actually known as the “poor man’s asparagus.”

Also, keep those heavier, bigger leek greens. Next time you’re making a soup, clean them, tie them together with butcher’s twine and toss them in. They impart wonderful flavor to any broth!

Hope you enjoyed today’s recipe!

February 5, 2013

Chicken in Sour Cream – The Way to a Girl’s Heart

THE PRINCE'S GAMBLE Romantic Suspense First of all, many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to leave a review of THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE. It really means a lot to me that you did that and I thank you. Reviews really help authors to get the word out about their books. Here is one I just got from Fresh Fiction! Thanks, Annette.

Those of you who have read THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE know that there are a number of Russian foods mentioned in the story. In one scene, Prince Alexander decides to show Kathleen just how wrong she has him by making her a Russian-style meal. Prince Alexander serves up chicken with sour cream and butter with a side of a pilaf chock full of an eclectic mix of ingredients as he tries to work his way into Kathleen’s heart.

This morning I’m sharing with you the recipe for Prince Alexander’s Chicken in Sour Cream. This is a really easy recipe that can be adapted in a number of ways. For example, if you’re not a mushroom fan, just leave them out. You can also add some paprika (about 2 tablespoons of sweet paprika) to the sour cream to make Chicken Paprikash. It’s that simple.

Hope you enjoy today’s recipe from THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE.

Chicken in Sour Cream

Ingredients

2 skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
1/2 cup onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup sour cream
1 cup sliced mushrooms
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat the butter and oil in a saute pan. Pat dry your sliced chicken breasts and brown them in the butter/oil. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until just getting brown. Mushrooms have a lot of water so you always want to cook them by themselves and you want to steam away all that water before adding the other ingredients, otherwise you’ll just be steaming the food.

Add the onions to the mushrooms and cook until the onions are soft and beginning to get golden.

Turn down the heat, add the sour cream to the pan and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes. You can use low-fat sour cream to cut down on the calories. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to get up all those brown bits. Those are the sugars from the food that have caramelized on the pan and have all the tasty goodness! The acid from the sour cream will also help to deglaze the pan. If you wish, you could also put a touch of white wine to deglaze the brown bits and add a little more flavor to the sauce. A small amount of chicken broth will likewise work.

Once the sour cream is warm, add the chicken breast back to the pan and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes. I asked you to thinly slice the breasts to make sure they would cook thoroughly. If you’re using a thicker breast, check for doneness before serving.

You can serve the above dish with white rice, pilaf (next week’s recipe), buttered noodles or even an un-Russian item like spaetzle.