Karyn Good's Blog, page 32

Cover Reveal For My New Romantic Suspense – Off The Grid

It’s official. Off The Grid, my next digital romantic suspense, will be available November 7, 2014. It will be available from Amazon with their Kindle Direct Program in late July or early August.

I am so excited to share this story. I’m so in love with these characters. From the hero and heroine to the villain to the secondary characters. I love the setting and thoroughly enjoyed researching the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, infamous for being Canada’s poorest postal code. I miss Sophie and Caleb. I miss their sparring and their loving. I could have happily taken this couple and developed a series around them, pitting them against all kinds of adversaries. Ah well, I’ll have to settle for the next installment of the story, Christine and Zach. I wonder what kind of trouble will spill over and mess with a socialite and the private investigator who’s tasked with keeping her safe. Away from the slums of Vancouver to the troubles of the rich and richer.

But first – Off The Grid

A committed doctor to Vancouver’s inner city, nothing fazes Sophie Monroe—until a pregnant teenager shows up at her clinic on Christmas Eve requesting sanctuary and claiming the baby’s father is one of the city’s most influential businessmen. Sophie is in over her head and thankful when aid shows up in the form of an attorney who’s a little too confident and a lot too sexy.

Family Law expert Caleb Quinn just wants a date, a chance to prove he isn’t the elitist jerk Sophie assumes. Helping deliver a baby is not what he has in mind. But before long protecting a traumatized teenager and her son become his first priority. Even if saving them pits him against the baby’s father, a childhood friend. A man who will do anything to keep his dark side private.

But justice never comes cheap. Will doing the right thing cost Sophie and Caleb their reputations? Or their lives?

So there you have it! The cover has been revealed. The date has been set. Now I wait.

A Christmas Story – Open Hearts

Merry Christmas! Here’s a sweet story I wrote one year as a Gift of Writing for my writing group, The Saskatchewan Romance Writers. This year I’m sharing it here on my blog. I hope you enjoy it.

Open Hearts

For Abigail Kelley working retail at Christmas equaled worst job ever. Small talk? With strangers? Not her strong suit. Even on a good day and good days were harder to find than Waldo. But a girl had to eat and she’d already proven she was a glutton for punishment. Besides it worked nicely with the whole ‘sucker’ theme she had going on this year. Broke, adrift, and one blinking engine light away from over and done.

She glanced at her watch. Ten minutes until closing time on December 23rd. The supersized big box store across the street was crammed to the rafters with late night shoppers. Not a soul crossed the street to browse at Adornments and Jewels with its swaying antique sign and out-dated window display. No one crossed the threshold where the dusty tiny bell waited to announce eager shoppers, or any shopper, and the scarred counters shined in preparation for inquisitive customers. Indeed, it was quiet as a mouse.

The quiet didn’t bother Abby, in fact, she preferred it. But noise equalled customers and paying customers equalled commissions. A pay check meant no more blinking engine light. No more blinking engine light meant the open road and finding her way back to the place she left her self-respect. She swiped her polishing cloth over the gleaming countertop glass as she leaned in and wondered over all the pretty baubles. Her mom would love the vintage silver locket. Maybe next year…

The tinkling of the bell startled her and she tripped as she turned to face the door. Clumsy as always. She stuck her dust rag out of sight and shoved a bunch of curls out of her eyes and got her first glimpse of the shoppers.

Very odd. There was no other way to put it.

Three men. Two of them in solid black suits with solid black shirts and solid black ties flanked an older, plump sort of gentleman dressed in chocolate brown from head to toe: brown corduroy pants, brown tweed overcoat, and brown wool cap. Except for his cherry red sneakers.

“Can I help you?” She dredged up a smile and pushed aside any silly misgivings. Shyness was not standing in the way of a decent supper.

“Yes. I hope so. I’m looking for a gift for my wife.” The man eyes twinkled from underneath bushy white eyebrows as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Well…wonderful. How long have you been married?” Clueless husbands were nice to help and this one seemed friendly enough despite his stiff companions.

He smoothed a hand over his very impressive moustache and down over his equally impressive snowy white beard. “Since-”

One of the suits pushed forward. “That’s strictly need-to-know, Ma’am.”

The flush of embarrassment heated Abby’s cheeks. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Not to worry.” The older gentleman held up a hand. “Now, Murray, no need to be like that. We talked about this, remember? We have a plan.”

Plan?

Abby stared as the other suit tapped his right ear and whispered into the black leather glove covering his left hand, which set off her inner crap-on-a-stick-I’m-alone-here alarm bells.

Undaunted the man–in-black kept talking. “Yes, I do remember. But I’m in charge of security on this mission and you agreed to follow the rules. That means no personal information. Need I remind you of the Wal-Mart debacle of ’03?”

Mission? Debacle?

She smiled again, in a hurry up and leave kind of way. “I’m just about to close the shop and my boss, who’s happens to be in the back, doesn’t like me to close late.”

The man dressed in brown dismissed the other two men with a wave. “Ignore these two. I’ve been married for…well, forever. And my name is Nick.” With a wink in her direction he held out his hand to her.

The introduction did not sit well with Murray but the huge amount of throat clearing in the background didn’t deter Nick. She stretched out a reluctant hand. Nick’s warmth spread from her fingertips across her palm and up her arm, and for no good reason some of her anxiety evaporated.

“Hi. Um, I’m Abby. It’s nice to meet you, Nick.” He gave her hand a friendly squeeze and let go.

“I assure you the pleasure’s all mine.” He dipped his head and stepped up to the counter. The second suit spoke into his glove again and Abby looked from him to the other guy and back to Nick who appeared oblivious to everything as he peered through the glass counter into the black velvet cases below.

Murray risked another step forward. “Sir, time is of the essence.”

Which could mean all kinds of things, most of them bad, in a CSI or Law and Order kind of way.

“That one right there.” Nick tapped the glass over a beautiful cameo brooch that was paired with tiny cameo earrings.

“A lovely choice.” She wrestled the keys off her belt and opened the case to draw them out.

Murray coughed out a warning and at Nick’s, “What now, Murray?” leaned over and stated, “Sir, you can’t get those.”

Nick frowned. “Why ever not?”

Murray stepped closer and whispered in Nick’s ear.

“1932, you say. Perhaps not then.” He turned back to Abby. “You don’t by any chance have something unique in amongst your cases? Something not too modern.” He leaned over the counter and pretended to whisper, “My wife’s more a 19th century sort of woman. Kind of old fashioned if you know what I mean.”

Abby nodded even though she didn’t have a clue what to do with him or for him. She’d been in the jewellery business for seven days. But due to sheer boredom she’d inspected every item and there was one piece…

“Sir, I must object!”

“Relax, Murray. Besides, I’m sure our lovely, young Abby understands what I looking for perfectly.”

She understood things were going from bizarre to crazy right before her wondering eyes. A large bang overhead had them all looking up. More frantic whispering ensued and more talking into gloves and more trying to usher her commission out the door.

“Santa’s come early, I guess.” Abbey laughed in spite of herself and the whole of the strange little group stopped conferring to stare at her. Abby resisted the urge to back up a step. “Really. Ignore it. It happens all the time.”

Murray gaped at Suit Two who whispered into his glove again. Nick clutched his belly and chortled. “See, nothing to worry about boys. So, my dear Abby, do you have something? Unique, I mean? If it would help I could show you a pic-”

“No. Absolutely no showing of photographs. I forbid it.” Murray all but stamped his foot.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right.” Nick sighed as he turned from Murray and winked at her again and flashed a mischievous grin. “Even though she looks nothing like you’d expect.”

Right.

She blinked her eyes a couple of times and tried to focus. There was a piece if she was brave enough to show it. “Unique. Let’s see. There is this one piece I think you might find interesting. It’s an antique with an airy type of charm and delicate grace to it. A gentle reminder οf a bygone era.”

Nick rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “It sounds perfect, Abby.”

She smiled in relief and inserted her key into a case further down the counter and pulled out a tray of brooches. “This lovely dragonfly with its diamond crusted wings, each set with a ruby, sounds like the perfect thing.” She set a tray on the counter and pointed to the beautiful dragonfly as it sparkled under the soft lights. “Do you think she’d like something like this?”

“She’ll love it.” Nick clapped his hands together in glee and turned to his security detail. “See, didn’t I tell you this was the right place to come.”

“It’s rather expensive. The most expensive piece in the shop as a matter of fact, so I understand if you want to think it over.” Stop talking, she should just stop talking. Now. Before she blew the sale.

“I know the perfect thing when I see it. How much do I owe you?” He pulled out a roll of cash that caused Abby’s eyes to glaze over and started peeling off hundred dollar bills.

“That will be $1,599.00 plus tax. Please. And thank you.” And everything in between. She took his money, found a box and a pretty ribbon to go with it and handed it back to him with a hand that shook the tiniest little bit.

“Thank you again for your assistance. You’ve been so helpful. I’d like to return the favour.”

The men in black stepped forward. “No. No way. Absolutely not. I mean it this time. We can’t go around granting-”

“Out. Both of you. Or I’ll have you both demoted to stable duty faster than you can blink.” He pointed to the door. They shuffled out clearly unhappy with the turn events. “I’m a firm believer in one good turn deserving another. There must be something I can do for you?”

“Me? What could you do for me? You don’t even know me.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised. For instance, I know you’re tidy, you care about people, and your right handed. I bet you love the color yellow and miss your family. But more than that, I suspect you’ve lost your way. It’s in the eyes, you see. There’s just no hiding it.”

“I appreciate the…assessment. But I’m fine. Everything is fine.” She held out her hand in dismissal. “Thank you for shopping at Adornments and Jewels.”

“I see.” Nick dipped his head in what was hopefully surrender. “Well then, thank you for making my shopping experience a memorable one.” Nick clasped her hand and the same warmth as before enveloped her hand and spread up her arm. She nodded once before meeting his eyes. Gosh, he had the strangest eyes. They almost seemed to glow for a second. Couldn’t be. Could it? No, not possible. She pulled her hand back. The walk to the door was short and his people were waiting outside stomping their feet and blowing warm air into their black gloves. The blast of frigid air had her tugging her worn, faded yellow sweater tight around her middle.

“Off we go then, boys.” Nick turned back to Abby. “Do me one thing, Abby. Remember to keep the faith and make your own magic.” He tapped the side of his nose.

She waved before shutting the door, engaging the locks and flipping the OPEN sign to CLOSED. Another bang came from the roof of the building and Abby glanced back at the closed door, saw nothing then up again to the ceiling as dust specks floated down from the light fixtures and shrugged.

She set the alarm, dropped off the night deposit bag and made her way home. Her one room apartment in the middle of the poorest part of the city reeked of loneliness, of hard times and of someone who’d given up. It shamed her. She was made of sterner stuff then this. Her parents saw to it she knew how to take care of herself. She’d been too humiliated to let them know her true circumstances. They hadn’t wanted her to leave with Cole. Turned out they were right. And she didn’t want to hear that either.

Now she was alone and all but destitute after Cole had taken off with everything but her car which had been out of gas. And it was Christmas. She blinked back tears and thought of Nick. The little bit of warmth and kindness he’d shown her crept back in and pushed some of the loneliness away.

Christmas came whether you wanted it to or not and sometimes you just had to make do with what you had even if it was very little. She fixed a bowl of soup, grabbed some crackers and sat down. Besides, there was a beautiful old church one block over. On her way to work tomorrow she’d check out the times for services tomorrow night. No need to be alone, at least for a couple of hours.

Christmas Eve night she showed up for the 7:00 pm service. When she’d called to check on times the receptionist had mentioned the supper they served to the community after service and before she could change her mind Abby had offered to help.

The cathedral glowed with promise, the message of hope pushed out through the doors and windows and into the street.  Inside, Abby was surrounded by music, fellow worshippers, candles and noise. The supper afterwards was a huge hit and enjoyed by many. All shapes and sizes, ages and backgrounds. After everyone else had eaten the servers sat down together and dined on leftovers. Abby kept close to the gracious lady she spent the evening mashing potatoes with and they laughed over a note one of the guests had jotted down on the white paper tablecloth. They spent the next couple of minutes reading over the other thank you’s and stories the minister had encouraged the supper guests to write down. Until she came to one that read: Abigail, Remember, keep the faith and make your own magic. Nick.

Okay, that was beyond weird.

“Do you mind if I sit here?”

She blushed, thought of the note, and shook her head as much to clear it as give her consent.

“Thanks.” He was about her age. Mid-twenties, dressed in jeans and a button-up shirt, the cuffs rolled up. Short cropped black hair, blue eyes, and some very attractive scruff. Earlier, she’d noticed him chopping vegetables. Tall and lean he’d grinned at her over a mountain of carrots.

“You’re welcome.”

He smiled again now.

She pushed the shyness back, smiled and stuck out her hand before she could change her mind. “Hi, I’m Abby.”

He wrapped long warm fingers around hers and held them for an extra couple of seconds. “It’s nice to meet you, Abby. I’m Ryan.”

 I hope you enjoyed reading Open Hearts as much as I enjoyed writing it. Remember to create a little of your own magic this holiday season. 

Need An Easy Supper Recipe?

‘Tis the season! We’re decorating gingerbread houses today. Gingerbread houses are one of my favorite things. I love walking past bakeries and seeing them in windows. Or seeing them in restaurants or displayed at parties. Some of them are so elaborate. We also have gingerbread men and women waiting to be decorated.

And because we’re all so busy, here’s an easy recipe to make things a little simpler.

Apricot Chicken

Whole warehouse package of skinless, boneless chicken thighs
One package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 Cup of French Dressing
1 Cup of Apricot Jam

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place thighs in a casserole dish, mix together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover. Bake for a couple of hours.

I made this the other night and it was delicious! Kind of like sweet and sour chicken. Yummy!

Our Christmas Tree Tradition

The Wild Rose Press is giving away 25 $25 gift certificates this December. That’s a lot of books! All you have to do is enter the Rafflecopter at The Wild Rose Press blog. Each day there are entertaining posts about all things Christmas.

Today is my day and I’m talking about Christmas trees. Come over and join me and enter to win.

I love Christmas trees and I put up two of them each year. One real tree and one artificial tree. I display my ornament collection on the real tree and my kids creative talents on the other tree. All the ornaments they’ve ever made hang there. So many wonderful memories.

You can also win here on my blog. I’m giving away a digital copy of my romantic suspense, Backlash.

So head on over and enter to win! Also comment here for a chance to win Backlash. Do you have a real tree or prefer an artificial one? Or no tree?

Keeping Warm Canada Style!

So, with the windchill, it feels like -45 degrees outside this morning. Yep, you read that correctly.  Does it matter at this point that’s Celsius not Fahrenheit. Nope, didn’t think so. It’s okay though, it’s supposed to warm up to -35 by this afternoon.

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If you didn’t know we have some unique Canadian clothing companies here that know about staying warm. Here’s a little bit of Canada for you on a frigid cold day!

Canada Goose 

Manitobah Mukluks

The Bay’s Olympic Edition Stripped Mittens

If you like Tacos at your house as much as we like Tacos at ours you need this bulk Taco seasoning recipe. So much better than the packaged stuff. An excellent idea for a cold winter’s night.

Bulk Taco Seasoning Mix

Amount: ¾ cups

Ingredients

¼ cup dried onions, minced
¼ cup chili powder
1 tbsp salt (or less depending on your preferences)
4 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp dried garlic, minced
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tsp beef bouillon granules
1 ½ tsp dried oregano

Instructions:

Combine ingredients. Store in airtight container in a cool dry place for up to 1 year.

Add 2 tbsp to 1 lb of cooked and drained beef and 1/3 – ½ cup water and cook until done.

Stay warm. Stay safe. And have a great weekend!

Holiday Movie Favorites

“Tis the time of year to watch Christmas movies. I have my personal romantic favorites like Love Actually,  The Holidays, The Family Man, etc. I also love to watch Casablanca this time of year. Because it’s fun to get all cuddly on the couch and force your husband to watch with you while he pretends not to enjoy it. It’s a couples tradition. Everyone likes holiday movies? Don’t they? I did a short poll at our house the other night when miracles of miracles we all happened to be there at the same time.

Our Favorite Christmas Movies (Youngest to Oldest):

Daughter: Christmas Vacation
Son:  Home Alone
Me:  The Sound of Music
Husband:  Elf

 

I adore Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer in the 1965 version and when my son was little he called it the Captain and the Barness show. So cute. I miss those years. Anyhoo, It so happens that this year–have you heard about this–NBC is putting on The Sound of Music Live! With Carrie Underwood playing the role of Maria.It’s live on December 5th. I’m excited. The more times I get to here the My Favorite Things song the better. But apparently, not everyone is a fan. Carrie Underwood is getting hate tweets for even attempting to play Maria.

Sigh.

How much happier would life be for everyone if we did our best to lift people up rather then tear them down?

On a happier note! My publisher The Wild Rose Press is giving away a $25 gift certificate every day this December. All you have to do is go to their blog, check it out and enter the Rafflecopter. Easy peasy.

What’s your favorite holiday movie?

Hots Drinks and Book Review

It’s December and that can mean chilly nights. In fact, today there is a Winter Storm Warning for my small part of the Canadian prairies. Nothing warms a cold winter day or night more than a book, BUT while your reading you might choose to sip a warm beverage. I’m a fan of several hot drinks.

I love the peppermint tea from David’s Tea. My husband and I drink this in the evening some nights and the scent is so fresh and addicting. I also love hot chocolate, see below. Who can forget about hot apple cider this time of year? I love making a big batch for guests in my crock pot. Chai tea lattes! And it’s always fun to add a snip of Bailey’s, Kahlua, or Peppermint Schnapps to the various mixes.

Now for the book part. My book club the Sanity Seekers read The Paris Wife by Paula McLain for our November selection. I picked it. Since it was my pick I figured I should review it.

I’m always intrigued by books of fiction based on real people, events, and well fact. Hadley Richardson was Ernest Hemingway’s first wife. The story is told in Hadley’s point of view which peaked my interest as much has been made of Hemingway’s women. Their time together was short but huge at the same time. There were parts of this book that fascinated me. I thoroughly enjoyed McLain’s style and her writing. I’ve read other fiction based on fact but none that read as smoothing or believably as this. I loved the setting of Paris in the 1920′s. Loved the parts that talked of writing. But reading about their relationship and how they lived their lives was hard work at times particularly towards the end. And parts of the book dragged along. There was no temptation to stay up late and read all the way through, but the necessity of having to put it aside for a while and think about what you’d read. There is no happy ending for these two although I like to think Hadley found hers with her second husband, I wonder if Hemingway ever truly did. If he came close I’m betting it was with Hadley. But that’s probably the romantic in me.

I would definitely recommend this book.

Now about that hot chocolate. Although I haven’t been much for experimenting in the past, I’m trying to eat less of certain foods and cut others out altogether. Like cow milk and refined sugar. Which creates challenges when craving hot chocolate. It’s actually easy enough to replace the milk with coconut milk or almond mild, but the hot chocolate mix is another story. Until I found the following recipe in our local paper:

Hot Chocolate Recipe

6 to 7 medjool dates
1 tbsp raw cacao powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch cayenne pepper
2 cups hot water

Method: Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Adjust quantities to suit taste. Serves 2 Adapted from Ashley Clark: www.naturallyashley.com

I used hot almond milk instead of hot chocolate. It was wonderously thick and frothy but very sweet. If I were to make it again I think I’d use less dates and more cacao powder. Also, from using the medjool dates in my smoothies as a natural sweetner, I put them in the blender first with a little liquid and puree as I find they don’t blend up well and the end result is chunky.

Which hot drink is your favorite? Read any good books lately?

A Moratorium on Man Boob Book Covers

Romance heroes are a sight to behold. We get it. Don’t get me wrong, I like to look at nice pair of man boobs as much as the next person but could we please, please call a moratorium. The other day on Facebook I saw some promotion for a lovely heartwarming Christmas romance. It pictured a house out in the country, snow everywhere. A real snow globe moment. With a fence and a cowboy lounging against it, no coat, open shirt, man boobs on display. In the winter.

Brings new meaning to freezing your nipples off.

I mean, come one book publishers. Wake up. No one in their right minds would ever–okay football fans but they’re the exception– be outside in winter without a shirt. Not even romance heroes. Because they’re smarter than that. Hopefully. Or else I’m putting that book down and never returning.

There was another cover. This one with a huge storm brewing in the background. Dark, heavy clouds ready to break open any moment and rain down a heap of trouble. Another cowboy. Hat, jeans, nice belt buckle, oh wait – NO SHIRT. Out on the open plain waiting to get struck by lightning.

You can tell they weren’t boy scouts. They aren’t prepared. They didn’t even know enough to wear a shirt. Let alone a coat. They did have the hat part covered so I suppose they should get points for something. Or maybe those points should go to the powers that be deciding on what book covers will sell the most books.

I’ve noticed a couple of times lately, authors on Facebook asking opinions about covers or asking readers to vote on the one they prefer. I like that idea. Let’s do more of that. Then maybe publishers will get a better idea of what readers are looking for in book covers. Sexy people with their clothes on, especially during winter or a storm. Readers can see them undressed, in all their glory, later on. Inside the book, using their imaginations.

I love sexy covers. But I also don’t want a stockpile of naked man chests in my TBR pile. Whether it’s my ereader or the literal pile on my nightstand. I like the book covers with landscapes. I also seem to be drawn to ones that are black and white. or have objects significant to the story.

So I went to my Facebook page in search of a cover without a half-naked someone on the cover. I scrolled down and down, until I gave up.

So how about you? Had enough of man boobs on covers? What to see a different type of cover? Do you have a favorite book cover?

Decorating in Discontent

I hate when that happens and I’m usually pretty good at not going there. But the last couple of days I did just that. It’s time to come back from the dark side. Because it does lead to darkness. You start to question your commitment. Worse your abilities, and it’s all downhill from there. Before you know it you’re wallowing. It’s lowering to admit. I don’t want to be the person who gives into jealousy and it’s poisonous head games. That’s when I knew I had to nip this shit in the bud.

First order of business. Figure out what’s making me crazy. I’m in the midst of a writing challenge. Not NaNo but within my own small writing group. My goal is to write a 1000 words a day. By no means an impossible task. I’m two-thirds of the way through. Writing first drafts always make me in turns euphoric and cranky. Add to that, I’m impatient to get to the revising/rewriting part of the process. I love revising. But writing the last third of a story, tying up all those lovely threads, pushing towards the end, makes me double crazy. And doubtful I’ll find a resolution that doesn’t completely suck. Cue my lurking insecurities.

So what do I do? I go to Goodreads. I visited the other day and was checking out new-to-me authors and looking for something to read. Because that’s what you do when you’re doing your level best to avoid your own writing. Found a couple of books I thought looked promising with 20,000 ratings and 2,000+ reviews each. When I checked further I found neither one of the stories were for me. There I saved you from my rant on selfish, abusive heroes.

That’s when jealousy moved in, signed a lease, and decorated in discontent.

I hate when that happens. It makes me feel small and petty. Not to mention unproductive. And unhappy. That’s when I have to start asking questions. Like what’s really wrong? Because it’s not poor Goodreads fault. And people like the books they like, end of story. They don’t need any more reasons than that to talk about the ones they loved reading. We’re as unique as the stories we prefer.

So, lesson learned? Writing first drafts stress me out. What should I do to avoid more stress? Perhaps this is the month to reread a book. One of my favorites and an old friend. One I know will not only soothe my battered brain but inspire me. And I’ll try to remember I’m not trying to find a cure for cancer and stop taking myself so seriously. Sheesh. I’ll take a walk. Get some fresh air. I’ll choose to be positive and productive.

Three of my favorite writers are Tara Janzen, Suzanne Brockmann, and Nora Roberts. How about you? Do you reread books? Think of them as old friends? What do you do to keep from stressing out?

Let Them Eat Soup

There are lots of things I love about autumn and winter. And one of them is soup. Because I love soup! I love the taste, the aroma, the warmth it provides. There is nothing better on a cold night then a bowl of soup.

This is one of our family’s favorites and fits in with my new love–cauliflower. I roasted some for lunch yesterday and it was delicious. It also incorporates my daughter’s love of sweet potatoes. It makes a lot so there will be leftovers which works for my son so he has something to eat when he decides to show up. My husband? As long as he doesn’t have to cook he’s happy. And he does the clean up. Because that’s the kind of save-the-day hero we really need.

So, if you’re writing away madly or deep in a good book or wrung out from the day’s activities take a break from the trauma of trying to decide what’s for dinner and make some soup. It doesn’t need to simmer for hours like plot twists. It’s not hard to put together unlike difficult chapters. It’ll be the hero of the supper hour. The warm comfort of a heroine. And will result in the happy ending of a full belly.

Curried Cauliflower Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups Chicken or vegetable broth
3 cups Leeks thinly sliced (about 3 large)
1 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Garlic minced (I used more)
1/4 teaspoon Black pepper freshly ground
1 medium head of Cauliflower broken up into small florets
1 ½  cups Rice – any kind (You can also use frozen, leftover rice)
1 medium to large Sweet potato (but not ginormous 2 – 2 1/2 cups) peeled and cubed
1 can of coconut milk
1 tablespoon of Curry powder
1 ½ teaspoon Ground cumin

Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add leeks and garlic. Cook and stir until leeks begin to soften, about 3 minutes.

Stir in cauliflower, sweet potato, curry, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook and stir for 1 more minute. Add broth. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Transfer soup to a blender in batches and puree until smooth. Return pureed soup to pot. Stir in cooked rice and coconut milk. Heat soup for 1 more minute. Serve hot.

Enjoy!