Tonya Renee Callihan's Blog, page 5

Day 3: Traditional St. Patrick's Day Recipe

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Buttered Potatoes



This recipe is delicious, but it takes a little over 8 hours to make!








Picture and Recipe from Food Network:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/corned-beef-and-cabbage-with-herb-buttered-potatoes-recipe/index.html




Ingredients




Corned Beef:


3 pounds corned beef brisket with spice packet


2 carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces


2 medium onions, chopped


1 small head green cabbage, cored, roughly chopped


2 cups apple juice


1 cup water




Potatoes:


1 1/2 pounds baby red potatoes, sliced in 1/2


1/2 stick butter, softened


1 tablespoon chopped garlic


2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves


Salt and freshly ground black pepper






Directions

For Corned Beef:

Put the carrots and onions on the bottom of slow cooker, and put the corned beef on top. Arrange the chopped cabbage around the beef. Add the apple juice and 1 cup of water along with the contents of the spice packet. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours until the beef is tender. Remove the beef and vegetables to a platter and keep warm.

For potatoes:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain and return them to the pot.

Add the butter, garlic, parsley, and salt, and pepper, to taste. Gently combine so that all the potatoes are evenly coated. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve with corn beef and vegetables from the slow cooker.



If you happen to make this recipe feel free to comment if you like it or not! Or if you have any other recipes you make around this time of year please share with us :)

 



 

Day 2: Three Famous Symbols in Irelad

Shamrock

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harp

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Celtic Cross

 

 



 

 

 

 



 









Source: http://www.eupedia.com/ireland/trivia.shtml

Lucky In Love Blog Hop

Today is March 1st, this begins my 17 Days of St. Patricks Day!







Each day I will post a fun fact about Ireland or St. Patrick's Day! All leading up to the March 15-18th Lucky In Love Blog Hop! Check back every day for a fun fact!!



Day 1 Fun Fact: According to legend, St. Patrick used the 3-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish people.



According to http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/sbrandt/trinity.htm

The Trinity tells us that there are three Persons in one Divine Nature. The
names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are names of persons. God can serve
as either a name for the Father or a name for the Divine Nature. Before delving
into the relative meaning of Persons and Natures it will be useful to make it
clear that these terms refer to distinctly different things.



Click the link above to learn more about The Holy Trinity.



The four-leaf clover is an uncommon variation of the common, three-leaved clover. According to tradition, such leaves bring good luck to their finders, especially if found accidentally. According to legend, each leaf represents something: the first is for faith, the second is for hope, the third is for love, and the fourth is for luck.







Please feel free to leave any fun Irish or St. Patrick's Day facts you have!

Peek Inside The Fetish Box with Nicole Camden

Thanks Nicole for stopping by today for this quick interview and sharing your new release with us! Hope to have you back soon! And readers be sure to check out my 'Tonya's Book Reviews' tab at the top of this page for my review of The Fetish Box! Reviews will be live by March 1st! 




TC: What first inspired you to
write?




NC: A story I wrote in 2nd grade
about the Trail of Tears. Our teachers asked us to write a story about
something we learned in history class. Suddenly, an idea popped in my head
about the Trail of Tears. I decided to write a story about a Cherokee girl who
could see into the future, so she knew about the disaster to come and warned
her family. The experience of seeing the characters in my head and writing it
down was amazing. I’ve wanted to be a writer ever since.




TC: Do you have any writing
rituals?




NC: I try to just write every
day, whether I feel inspired or not…but I will admit that a glass of wine is
usually involved…or five.




TC: How do you approach a love
scene?




NC: That’s a tough one. I have to
put myself in the characters place and really image what it is he/she would do
in that situation, where they are, the status in the development of their
relationship…or at least, I should think about those things, but most of the
time, the characters just seem to do what they want…lol.




TC: Goals for 2013




NC: Finish all the manuscripts I
have due…at least close to on time.




TC:  Do you have a certain soundtrack of music for
writing?




NC: When I need to rock, I have a
my favs playlist in itunes that includes a lot of 80s songs. Otherwise, I turn
on classical music.




TC: Is there anything (in
general) you find particularly challenging about writing?




NC: Yes, making the time. I have
a job that pays the bills and a fiancé that actually likes spending time with
me…so sometimes, choosing to go into my office and work on my manuscript is an
enormous effort. Also…I get stuck in the middle of a story and don’t quite have
enough clarity to get to the next point.




TC: What are you working on now?




NC: I’m working on finishing the
second manuscript for FETISH – Lille and Max’s story— and a romantic suspense
series under my real name.




TC: What inspired 'The Fetish
Box'?




NC: I lived in Hollywood, FL many
years ago (that’s when I started writing it actually) and there was an adult
store there called THE FETISH BOX. I thought the name was cool. It made me
think of Pandora’s Box and I thought that if a girl with no experience suddenly
found herself as the owner, she’d be opening herself up to all manner of
experiences, good and bad.




NC: How many books do you have
planned for this series? Just the 2 for now.




TC: What can readers expect from
you in the future?




NC: More erotica, probably still
in serials. I’ll also be writing romantic suspense under my real name.




TC: Anything you would like to
add.




 NC: I’m just so glad that I’ve
gotten my life on a path to be a full time writer someday. It’s what I’ve
always dreamed of doing, and thanks to all those who’ve read my stories and
liked them. Happy reading! 




[image error]





 

An enchanting eBook debut about a world
where your fantasies come true and nothing is quite what it seems. Come
on in to realize your heart’s darkest desire...Virginal
twenty-two-year-old Mary has just inherited a sex shop in Florida from
her mother. After a long drive from California, she arrives at her
deceased mother’s house only to be confronted immediately with two
equally sexy strangers: the strong, silent John and the irreverent,
taunting Max. She’s innocent, almost completely untouched, but feels a
completely uncharacteristic pull to each man. Shocking even herself, she
realizes it’s not an unwelcome desire.



Max is a playboy
who knows how to give women what they want, but John… John might just be
able to give Mary something even she doesn’t know she needs…



Buy your copy of The Fetish Box  on Amazon today for only $.199



Follow Nicole on Twitter @Nicole_Camden



Like Nicole on Facebook

What's New for 2013

Hey Everyone!!



2013 has started out as a great year! I am busy helping promote some of my favorite authors, I don't like to name drop, but Lisa Renee Jones, Tawny Weber and Jess Michaels are just a few :)) Be sure to check back for reviews of there books and they will be stopping by often. I have an awesome interview with Jess coming up soon!!



Upcoming Author Spotlight Days:

Feb 23: Nicole Camden stops by for a quick interview and a quick tease from her new series 'The Fetish Box'

March 7: Jess Michael's stops by to talk about her new Matchmaker Series and her writing process

March 14: Jodie Pierce stops by for her Fangs-A-Lot Blog Hop.

March 21: Jean Viola Ryan joins us with one of her characters for an interview.

March 28: Christine Donovan



The month of March I will also be involved in the Egg-excerpt Exchange! Me and several other authors will exchange excerpts on each others blogs. I will post links to there blogs so you can also check out my excerpts and also more about that particular author!

It kicks off March 2nd with Keta Diablo

March 10: Lisa Carlisle

March 11: Stacy

March 15: Anna Bayes

March 17th: Tina Gayle

March 25th: Linda McLaughlin

March 26th: Lizzie Star



Her is a glance in the blog hops I will be taking part in this year:

March 15-18: Lucky in Love Blog Hop; Your love, your romance and how much you love St. Patrick's Day!

April: A-Z- Blog Challenge: Each day a new topic to match the letter

April: 25-28: Tortured Hero Blog Hop

May 20-23: Rites of Spring Blog Hop

May 20-25: Wet and Wild Blog Hop

May 24-27: Sweaty Nights Blog Hop

June 27-30: Fantasy Blog Hop

July 25-28: Romance your Hero Blog Hop

August 22-25: Hot Scenes



And in between all of this I will be busy writing, promoting my new release 'Claimed' being released this Spring by MuseItUp Publishing! Will reveal cover soon! I love it!! And hopefully be preparing for more releases this year!



Happy Reading and hope to see you back soon!!



Tonya



P.S. check out my Tonya's Book Reviews tab at the top of my blog! I will be posting all of my book reviews there from now on!

A Seal's Seduction by Tawny Weber

A SEAL’s Seduction – Tawny Weber





Available February 2013











Alexia’s heart pounded
so hard against her throat, she was surprised it didn’t jump right out into
Blake’s hand. 





She wanted him.  Like she’d never wanted another man in her
life.  Years, she’d behaved.  She’d carefully considered her actions,
making sure she didn’t hurt others. 
She’d poured herself into her career, into making sure her life was one
she was proud of. 





She had a man who wanted
her in his life.  A nice, sweet man who
she could talk through the night with and never run out of things to say.





But she wanted
more. 





She wanted a man who’d
keep her up all night screaming with pleasure. 
Who’d drive her wild, who’d send her body to sexual places she’d never
even dreamed of.  She wanted
orgasms.  Lots and lots of orgasms. 





Even if it was only for
one night.





And that, she realized,
was the key.  One night of crazy.  One night of delicious, empowered, indulge-her-every-desire
sex, with a man who made her melt.





One night would be
incredible.  





One night would be
enough. 





“This is crazy,” she
murmured against his lips. 





“Yeah,” he agreed, his
tongue sliding over her lower lip before he nipped the tender flesh.  When she gasped, he soothed it with a soft
kiss.  “But crazy feels damned good.”





It did.





She wrapped her arms
around his neck, leaned into the hard, solid wall of his muscled body and gave
a low moan of delight.  He felt really,
really good. 





Blake pulled back then,
giving her an intense look.  As if he
were trying to see past her heart, into her soul.  As if he knew wall her secrets, her every
desire. 





Then he smiled.  A slow, wicked curve of his lips.  As if he’d just figured out how to make every
one of those desires a reality. 





Now that was a scary
proposition.  Scarier still, she was
pretty sure he could. 





She wanted him.  Wanted nothing more than to strip him naked
and run her hands over every inch of his hard body.  To touch, to taste.  To feel. 
Oh, God, she wanted to feel him. 
To give herself tonight to feel, to enjoy.  To live. 






“Did you ever want
something you knew you shouldn’t have,” she asked, her words so soft they
almost disappeared in the sound of the surf. 
She traced her fingertip over his lower lip, then sighed and met his
eyes.  “Something you knew you’d be
better off not even considering, but were so tempted by?”





     “No.”





Figured.  Alexia laughed
helplessly, dropping her forehead to his shoulder and closing her eyes. 





“But I know what it’s
like to want someone that bad,” he
said quietly, his voice so intense she had to raise her head to look at
him. 





He shifted, sliding his
hands in a whisper-soft caress up her cheeks, then tunneling his fingers into
her hair.  Cupping her head just above
her ears, he tilted it back just a little and stared deep into her eyes.





Alexia shivered.  Her heart skipped, then tumbled over itself
trying to catch up. 





His gaze was
hypnotic.  Penetrating.  The moonlight glowed, glancing off his cheekbones
and giving him an otherworldly air.  Like
he was straight out of one of her fantasies, sent by the universe as a reward
for her being such a good girl for so long. 
A chance to be bad again for just a tiny little bit of time, and then
she could go back to being on her best behavior. 





She wanted Blake, and
this feeling between them.  His hands
skimmed through her hair, fingers tangling softly in her curls.  This delicious, overwhelmingly intense
feeling of excitement.  Her body hummed,
her senses went on hyper-alert.  It was
as if each touch of his fingers was amplified, exciting her more than she’d
ever been before.  More than she’d even
imagined.    





“Shouldn’t we talk about
this?” she asked, desperately trying for sane and practical.  “Make sure we know what we’re doing?”





“Babe, I promise you, I
know what I’m doing.”

















Tawny Weber has been writing sassy, sexy romances
since her first Harlequin Blaze hit the shelves in 2007.  A fan of Johnny Depp, cupcakes and color coordination,
she spends a lot of her time shopping for cute shoes, scrapbooking and hanging
out on Facebook. 





Readers can
check out Tawny’s books at her website or join her Red Hot Readers Club for goodies like free reads,
complete first chapter excerpts, recipes, insider story info and much
more.  And for a limited time, she has a
few open spots on her Street Team ! 

Making Time with Kayelle Allen

I'd like to thank Tonya for allowing me to hang out on her
blog today. She heard I had a new book out, and asked if I'd like a spot. Okay
-- I begged her and she finally relented, but that's as close to the truth as
I'm getting without a lie detector. (Can you tell that my books have humor in
them? Thought so.) So I started thinking what I would write about, and I was so
busy that it was hard to come up with something. Then it occurred to me -- I
needed to write what I know. Which is how to handle being super busy.




Now, I didn't write the book on being busy, but I understand
it. My Twitter bio says "I run Marketing for Romance Writers, the Romance
Lives Forever blog, and The Author's Secret. I also sleep, eat, and write. Not
at the same time. Usually." People who know me wonder how I get so much
done. I'm not a human whirlwind. I just have priorities, and make time for
them. Everything else will either take care of itself or wait. I've learned
it's okay to let opportunities go, and let some details fall by the wayside. I
only have one life, and I refuse to live it in a hurry. It will end soon
enough.




Everyone has times when there's too much going on. We snap
our fingers at a microwave and wish it would hurry. We barely have time to
drink instant coffee. We get to the end of the day exhausted, but feel we
haven't done enough. Sound familiar? Here are three simple things I do to slow
myself down. Perhaps they'll help you.




#1 Get enough sleep.

Don't laugh. If you're tired, your reactions are slower.
Lack of sleep can impair your driving as severely as a glass of alchol.
You can make bad decisions. You can make costly mistakes that will take you
more time to correct. How much sleep you need is different for each person. A
few hours more sleep will do you more good than a few hours more work. Thriller
author Robert Ludlum had a line in his Jason Bourne novels that speaks to this.
When everyone was hunting Jason, he found a place to hide, and grabbed some
sleep. Why? As Jason put it, "Sleep is a weapon." It makes you
sharper than the other guy. As an author in a competitive marketplace and
world, you need that advantage.




#2 Eat healthy food.

Loading up on the sugary drinks, high-fat foods, and carbohydrate-laden
foods available at most fast food places can take a toll. Think you're too busy
to eat properly? Try using regular menus, or once-a-month-cooking. Create a
cycle of meals and food that you rotate on a regular basis. This eliminates the
need to make decisions every day about what to serve. One of the most stressful
parts of the day can be deciding what to make for dinner. On days when you've
pre-planned your meals, all you have to do is prepare it and serve it. No
stress involved. You can make healthy fast food
choices. Rather than grabbing a candy bar, try a nutrition bar. It will make a huge
difference in your energy level.




#3 Spend time listening.

Let your friend, co-worker, child, or signifant other finish
what they're saying and don't try to think of an answer before they're even
through. Sit in a park and listen to the sounds of nature. Turn off the music.
Turn off the TV. Put down the phone. Go for a walk without headphones. When was
the last time it was quiet in your world? If you can't remember, it's time to seek out
silence. Another advantage to listening is that you pick up ideas for
stories, and see answers to problems. When you're not the one talking, it is
less stressful. Listen without doing other things. You will enjoy it more.




So, if you want to slow down when you're too busy, instead
of staying up a little longer, go to bed early. Pass up the junk food and have
a piece of fruit and some peanut butter. Rather than multi-tasking, do one
thing at a time. Slow down. You'll live longer and feel better. And in my
experience, it will help you get more done.






Kayelle Allen, author of Fifty Gays of Shade

At Shady Business, the hottest gay BDSM
club in town, no good deed ever goes unpunished.

The book is edited by Kiernan Kelly,
with stories by Kiernan Kelly, Kayelle Allen, KC Burn, Lydian Harker, CR
Guilano, Sascha Illyvich, Wt Prater, Emily Moreton, CC Bridges, Wade Kelly, CB
Conwy, DC Juris, Amelia June, KC Wells, Winnie Jerome, PT Walden, and Sean
Michael.

Buy links

Torquere Press http://is.gd/50gaysofshade

ARe http://is.gd/50gaysofshade_ARe


Author website http://kayelleallen.com/exc-fifty.html


Other books by Kayelle Allen: At the Mercy of Her Pleasure, For Women Only, Wulf: Tales of the Chosen,
Alitus: Tales of the Chosen, Jawk: Tales of the Chosen,
Surrender Love.

Up All Night with Kira Sinclair

I think it’s a safe statement to say that all writers are
also readers.  That’s usually how we came
to our love of story.  I’m sure I’m not
alone when I say that over the years my reading time has dwindled – for some
reason the kids demand to be fed and clothed and my editor likes to receive
work from me on a regular basis. 



 



But just like before I started writing, my reading time is
an escape.  It’s a chance for me to slip
out of my world – both reality and the fantasies I create in my own head – and
into someone else’s universe for a while. 
There’s nothing better than finding a book I can’t put down and I always
hope that I can give readers that same experience when they pick up my books.



 



Discovering a new author that I can fall in love with is the
best part of reading.  I’m currently
judging a writing contest, one of a few that I do throughout the year, and it
never fails to yield a new voice that becomes and auto buy for me.  I often wonder how I could have missed
finding the book in the first place.  How
my friends could have missed it and/or not told me about it.



 



It’s been a long time since I’ve stayed up until dawn
because I couldn’t put a book down, but I did that just the other night.  And while my eyes were gritty for the entire
day, I wasn’t tired.  It was totally
worth it to race to the end of the story (and then take a nap). 



 



So, my question is, have you discovered a new author
recently that you just love?  Have you
ever stayed up all night reading a book? 
Do you remember it even now?  Share
with us! 



 



Kira



 



The Risk-Taker



Subject: Totally buff ranger Gage Harper



Current Status: Walking wounded— both
physically and mentally



Mission: Finally get the girl he could never
have



Obstacle: She may just be the biggest risk he’s ever taken



All returned POW Gage Harper wants to do is forget, even if he has to
let some gym rat beat him to a pulp to do it. He certainly doesn’t want to tell
the tale of his heroism to the tabloids. Especially since he’s no hero…. But
one journalist is determined to get the inside scoop–and she’s the only girl
Gage has never been able to resist.



Hope Rawlings never
took Gage’s romantic advances seriously growing up. After all, she was just his
buddy, and a guy like Gage could have any girl he wanted. But now she needs his
story to get her dream job in the city. And she’s willing to do anything to get
it.



 

The Dark Passion It Becomes; INSIDE OUT TRIOLGY by Lisa Renee Jones

Thanks for having me today to sharing an excerpt from IF I WERE YOU and THE INSIDE

OUT TRILOGY to celebrate the release of the serials connected to the books. These serials are SUPER sexy and have tons of clues to what happens in BEING ME inside. They are also very much inside the BDSM world so when I say sexy, I mean SEXY!




The serials are fun because they are in journal format but tell a sexy story and the series is inspired by a real journal my fiancee and I found in a storage unit when we use to buy and sell units. He pushed me hard for years to write these books. I mean hard! I tell him he gets the nagging award!




I still remember the night he found the journal. He was reading it and kept popping his head up from the couch where he was laying to say things like ‘someone got killed next door!’ and ‘she’s pregnant again!’. It was pretty funny seeing him get so absorbed.




The serials are in Rebecca’s POV who you get to meet in the series through her random journal entires starting in IF I WERE YOU. These serials actually tells her story and begin when she first arrives at the same gallery Sara (The main heroine in the trilogy) from the series later visits and starts working at. You will meet all the characters that you know from the series through Rebecca’s eyes and you will find loads of clues to what happens in the series!




The serials can be read alone but they are perfect for in between IF I WERE YOU and BEING ME. I thought today I’d share a sexy excerpt from IF I WERE YOU.




First about the series...




How It All Started...




One day I was a high school teacher on summer break, leading a relatively uneventful but happy life. Or so I told myself. Later, I’d question that, as I would question pretty much everything I knew about me, my relationships, and my desires. It all began when my neighbor thrust a key to a storage unit at me. She’d bought it to make extra money after watching some storage auction show. Now she was on her way to the airport to elope with a man she barely knew, and she needed me to clear out the unit before the lease expired.




Soon, I was standing inside a small room that held the intimate details of another woman’s life, feeling uncomfortable, as if I was invading her privacy. Why had she let these items so neatly packed, possessions that she clearly cared about deeply, be lost at an auction? Driven to find out by some unnamed force, I began to dig, to discover this woman’s life, and yes, read her journals—-dark, erotic journals that I had no business reading. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I read on obsessively, living out fantasies through her words that I’d never dare experience on my own, compelled by the three men in her life, none of whom had names. I read onward until the last terrifying dark entry left me certain that something had happened to this woman. I had to find her and be sure she was okay.




Before long, I was taking her job for the summer at the art gallery, living her life, and she was nowhere to be found. I was becoming someone I didn’t know. I was becoming her.




The dark, passion it becomes…




Now, I am working at a prestigious gallery, where I have always dreamed of being, and I’ve been delivered to the doorstep of several men, all of which I envision as one I’ve read about in the journal. But there is one man that will call to me, that will awaken me in ways I never believed possible. That man is the ruggedly sexy artist, Chris Merit, who wants to paint me. He is rich and famous, and dark in ways I shouldn’t find intriguing, but I do. I so do. I don’t understand why his dark side appeals to me, but the attraction between us is rich with velvety promises of satisfaction. Chris is dark, and so are his desires, but I cannot turn away. He is damaged beneath his confident good looks and need for control, and in some way, I feel he needs me. I need him.




All I know for certain is that he knows me like I don’t even know me, and he says I know him. Still, I keep asking myself — do I know him? Did he know her, the journal writer, and where is she? And why doesn’t it seem to matter anymore? There is just him and me, and the burn for more.
















EXCERPT:




Rounding the corner, I enter the hallway, and Chris is suddenly there in the narrow passage with me, pressing me against the wall, his powerful thighs framing mine.




My hand goes instinctively to his t-shirt-clad chest. I am immediately aware of the intimacy of the touch, of my body’s reaction to the man who has betrayed me. “Don’t shove me against another wall and try to intimidate me, Chris.”




“I’m not trying to intimidate you. I was protecting you, Sara.” His hands move to my waist, scorching me, and my reaction to the sizzling touch is instant. I cover his hands with mine, trying to control what he does next, but it doesn’t help. Now, my hands are on his hands and his hands are on my body.




“Call it what you want,” I ground out, “but you had no right to do what you did.”




“He had to know he couldn’t manipulate your dream. Money, and my many resources at your disposal, does that.”




His words knock my anger and my breath away, and confusion consumes me. His actions and his words conflict at every turn. “Why would you help me? You said I don’t belong in this world.”




“Because I won’t watch him gobble you up and destroy you.”




I remember his words, and understand now that he wanted me out of this gallery, not this profession.




“Because he’s a dark, messed up, arrogant asshole who will play with my mind and use me until there is nothing else left of me I recognize.”




“That’s right.”




“And yet you say you’re worse.”




He stiffens and cuts his gaze, seeming to struggle before fixing me in a turbulent stare. “I am, Sara, which is why you should run as far away from me as you can. And I should step back and let you.”




“Then why aren’t you?” I whisper.




His eyes hold mine, and what I see there, the depth of his desire, overwhelms me. He flattens his palm on my belly and I tremble beneath the touch, and he has to feel it too. “Because,” his voice low, seductive, his hand traveling up the center of my body, “I can’t stop thinking about you, and everything I want to do to you, everywhere I want to touch you.”




His hand presses to the swell between my breasts, and my nipples ache with a wish he would touch them. His boldness ignites something sultry and dark inside me, a side of me that defies the good-girl school teacher who is appalled I haven’t stopped this. I want him. I want him here and now, and any way I can have him.




And when his gaze lowers to my mouth and lingers, I know he is thinking about kissing me and I have never wanted to be kissed so badly in my life.




“Do you taste as good as I think you do?” he asks, but he doesn’t wait for my reply.




Suddenly, his fingers have tunneled into my hair and he’s dragging my mouth to his. I am all soft submission, yielding to the moment, to the man. I melt into him, welcome the hardness of his body pressed to mine. And when his tongue presses past my lips, a long, wicked caress, I taste his hunger, his need. There is possessiveness to his kiss, to his hand on my back, molding me closer. I am lost in the ache that has become my need for this man, this stranger I cannot resist. He says he’s protecting me; he says he’s dangerous. I am conflicted, and sure I should be angry with him, but I am completely incapable and unable of processing why.




Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Baking

I love to cook, to me it’s relaxing. I love trying new things and new recipes. Baking is one of my favorites because I love the smell from cookies or pies in the oven. It makes your home smell so inviting. Over the years I have learned several things about baking, some from my grandma and some on my own. Below are my top 10 Baking tips followed by one of my favorite recipes.

Baking Tips

1). Know your oven: when I first started baking I thought when my oven preheated to 350, it was in fact at 350. I also thought that if it’s supposed to take 10-12 minutes to bake, the cookies would be finished by 12 minutes. Your oven could bake faster than mine or slower for that matter. And when you preheat it, it doesn’t mean that it gets that hot, or it may even get warmer than the temperature in you intended.

2). Chill!! I know when we get that pie or those cookies out of the oven we want to rush and get them off the pan and get more in. But let them chill! Set the pan on a wire rack and let the cool off before poking at them. If you try to move them while they are too hot than you risk breaking that cookie in half or the pie crust falling apart. This is true except where cupcakes are involved. I like to get them out of the pan and onto a rack immediately out of the oven.

3). Find a trusty recipe source: I personally use many recipes from http://www.allrecipes.com I can always find something on that website. I also love to just type in what I am looking for on Pinterest or Google and see what I can find as well.

4). Who needs a timer: I hardly ever go by a timer. I may set my stove for ten minutes as a reminder to myself to check on what’s in the oven, but I don’t go by what the box says or the recipe calls for. If it says it takes 15 minutes, I don’t take that to heart. The food is ready when you want it to be. DO you like you cookies chewy or crunchy, maybe crunchy around the outside and chewy in the middle? You know what you like so let the food cook until you want to take it out. And this also goes back to knowing your oven.

5). Comfort Zone: A few years ago I worked with a woman who was always baking. I loved the food she made and she would have brownies that looked like something out of a box, but with a raspberry center. She was always exploring with different ingredients. Sometimes you will make something that will be disgusting and sometimes you will make something your entire family will love.

6). Room Temperature: I honestly find it best when all ingredients are at room temperature. I try to set out everything I am going to need for a recipe before I begin. It’s important if you are using cream cheese or butter that you let it get to room temp and not try melting it some in the microwave or using it straight out of the fridge. It makes a difference in your flour, sugar, icing(if making homemade) You won’t have the fluffiness you need. If you cut your butter or cream cheese into small cubes it should take about 15 minutes to reach room temperature.

7). Measuring Utensils: I suggest investing in measuring spoons instead of trying to measure it out of a tablespoon or teaspoon. Also measuring cups instead of using a coffee cup. Or by not measuring at all. I still have one grandma who never measures, if she tells you a recipe she says a little of this, a pinch of that, a dab of this. And then I have one grandma who measures everything out. I have to measure everything out or I get lost.

8). Too hot, too cold: This goes back to knowing your oven. But here is a tip on how you can judge your true temperature. If your cakes always rise too much in the middle (with a dome) your oven is too hot. If your cakes fail to rise and sink your oven is too cool.

9). When making buttercream beat the butter first before adding the icing sugar – you will get lovely smooth butter cream.

10). Check that all your ingredients such as baking powder and bicarbonate of soda are in date especially if you don’t use them often – this will really affect their ‘raising’ properties.

I really hope these tips help you. Some I have learned on my own and some from doing research online or asking a friend or family member who cooks.

Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Recipe from http://savorysweetlife.com/2010/03/buttercream-frosting/

Classic American Buttercream frosting. This recipe uses powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and milk. This is a great recipe for decorating and piping on cupcakes and cake.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or 1/2 pound), softened (but not melted!) Ideal texture should be like ice cream.3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, SIFTED1/4 teaspoon table salt1 tablespoon vanilla extractup to 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Instructions

Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tablespoons at a time.

What are some of your tips for baking? Anything you’ve learned over the years? Have a favorite recipe or a question? Feel free to leave it in the comment section.

Until next time,

Tonya