C.D. Hersh's Blog, page 67
May 25, 2021
Wednesday Special Spotlight a meal by Sloane Taylor
Do something extra special to celebrate any occasion. This brunch will show how much you care. A few fresh flowers on the table are a nice touch.
MENUQuiche
Fresh Fruit salad
Croissants
Raspberry Jam
Butter
Zucchini Bread for Dessert
Mimosas
Quiche
1 frozen deep-dish pie shell
1 tsp. (5g) butter
6 bacon strips, cut into ¼ in. (.64cm) pieces*
¼ cup (30g) onions, chopped
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1¼ cups (230ml) heavy cream
3 pinches white pepper**
¾ cup (85g) swiss cheese, grated
2 tbsp. (25g) butter, cut in small bites
Preheat oven to 375° F (190°C).
Place pie shell on cookie sheet. Use a fork to poke several sets of holes in the bottom and around the sides of the shell. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
Melt butter in a heavy skillet. Add bacon, and ham if you’re including it, and onion when foam subsides. Cook until meat is lightly browned. Remove from skillet with a slotted spoon to paper towels.
Beat or whisk eggs, yolks, cream, and seasonings in a large bowl. Stir in cheese.
Scatter meat, into pie shell. Gently ladle in egg mixture. Sprinkle the top with butter bits.
Bake for 25 minutes or until a sharp knife inserted in the middle of the quiche comes out clean.
The dish may be served hot, warm, or room temperature. It also makes a wonderful appetizer. Leftovers reheat in the microwave beautifully.
*Diced ham, ¼ lb. (125g), is also good in this recipe in place of the bacon or along with. All other ingredients and process remains the same.
**No need to buy white pepper if you don’t have it. Use black pepper only a little more as it is not as strong as white pepper.
Fresh Fruit Salad
1 banana
1 pear
1 tbsp. (15ml) lemon juice
¼ pineapple
1 kiwi
10 seedless red grapes, halved
10 blueberries
10 raspberries, optional
Peel and slice banana into bitesize pieces. Scoop into a medium-sized bowl. Core and dice pear then add to bowl. Sprinkle lemon juice over fruit to stop it from turning brown and mix well.
Remove rind and core from pineapple then dice the fruit. Add ¼ to banana mixture. Store the extra pineapple in a glass bowl or plastic bag. Refrigerate for future use.
Peel kiwi and slice then stir into salad. Gently fold in remaining fruit.
Spoon into a glass bowl, cover with cling wrap, and chill until time to serve. Leftovers are still good the next day.
Zucchini Bread for Dessert
Make this bread a day or two in advance to free up your morning.
2 cups (200g) grated zucchini
2 cups (200g) sugar
3 cups (300g) flour
1 cup nuts, chopped, optional
¼ tsp. (1.25ml) baking powder
2 tsp. (10ml) baking soda
1 tsp. (5ml) salt
1 tbsp. (15ml) cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup (250ml) vegetable oil
1 tbsp. (15ml) vanilla
Preheat oven to 350° F (180°C).
Grease 2 loaf pans with butter. Cut and fit a piece of parchment paper to the bottom of each pan. I do this because my pans are old and food sticks to the bottom. Nothing attractive about serving zucchini bread with a big hunk missing.
Combine all dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. This includes the zucchini. Adding fruit or veggies to a flour blend helps them to not sink to the bottom of the bread while baking.
Beat wet ingredients together in a large bowl.
Slowly stir dry mixture into wet mixture. Be sure to blend well.
Pour batter into pans. Bake 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool on a rack before slicing. This bread freezes great.
Mimosas
1 bottle sparking white wine or champagne, cold
1 carton orange juice, cold
Tall slender glasses
Fill glasses half full with wine. Tip the glass slightly as you pour to retain the fizz. Top off with orange juice. Don’t stir. That will destroy the bubbles.
Sloane Taylor is an Award-Winning romance author with a passion that consumes her day and night. She is an avid cook and posts new recipes on her blog every Wednesday. The recipes are user friendly, meaning easy.
Learn more about Taylor’s cookbooks, Date Night Dinners, Date Night Dinners Sizzling Summer, and Recipes to Create Holidays Extraordinaire on Amazon.
Excerpts from her romance books and free reads can be found on her website, blog, and her Amazon Author Page. Connect with Taylor on Facebook and Twitter.
May 24, 2021
Tell Again Tuesday Do you doubt your writing?
Top Tips for writers to Overcome DoubtBy Lorraine Ambers
Hello fellow creatives!
We’ve all experienced the depths of our doubt, and boy, it’s not fun. So where does it come from and how do we combat it? People can say the cruelest of things, and yet, when we say those things to ourselves, about our own writing, we allow it. We even back it up with reasons to prove it’s rubbish. Let’s be honest, sometimes we are our own harshest critique.
How would you feel if a stranger said your writing was crap? Seriously, how? Hurt? Angry? Crushed? It’s time we learnt to be kind to ourselves.
If only we were taught . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:May 20, 2021
Friday Feature Gardening & Writing
Henbit
The warm days this week enabled us to take a stroll through the yard, another put-our-butts-in-the-writing chair avoidance tactic. We found a slew of winter weeds scattered throughout the landscape. Some tiny-leafed, prostrate thing has taken over a portion of the easement making it the greenest it has been in years. Buckhorn plantain spills out between the path stepping stones. Flat rosettes of chickweed carpet the stone gully in the backyard, and henbit, with its scalloped leaves and purple stems, juts out of the grass—or at least what passes for grass in the lawn.
We’re letting the unidentified weed taking over the easement and the lawn. It’s green, low growing, and doesn’t look like it would need much mowing. But after an afternoon of surfing weed identification web sites (another avoidance tactic), we’ve come to the conclusion that we might have to dig out this patch of weeds and eradicate it every other spot we find. You see, if we’ve identified it correctly, we’re harboring shot weed, also known as hairy bittercress. Oh, it looks innocent enough, but when it sets seeds the slightest touch will send hundreds of seeds shooting out in a three-foot radius across the lawn into flowerbeds and pathways looking spots to hide and root.
Jimson Weed
Fighting weeds in the garden is a full-time task. It starts in early spring with digging out winter weeds like plantain, chickweed, and henbit from the paths and flower beds. By the time we get those eradicated the dandelions rear their yellow heads. After that it’s pigweed and purslane and nutsedge and Canadian thistles and Jimson weed and ground ivy and goose grass. Spring and summer progress marked by an army of weeds marching through the garden. We hoe and pull and mulch and spray, and they just keep coming. The only thing that keeps them under control is persistent daily effort—and maybe a hard, hard freeze.
Like the cycle of weeds in the garden, writers face different challenges along every stage of our careers. As soon as we think we have a handle on our craft and profession something new springs up and surprises us. The beginning writer’s weeds might be learning the basics of the craft or finding that story idea or dealing with writer’s block. For some it’s getting to the end of the book, or figuring out what to do with the sagging middle. For the more skilled, unpublished writers the weeds that need pulling could be social networking, getting an agent, or getting published. Whatever the weeds in your writer yard there’s one universal truth—they will always be there. Our job is to figure the best way to control them.
We’re not beginning writers. We know how to write. That has been reinforced with a number of contest placements. We have a good grasp of the skills and have been published. We know our stories and the characters. We even have books waiting in the wings to be written. But we still have writing weeds to pull—BIG ones.
We haven’t finished our series—yet.
We want to write in several genres, which presents branding problem and sometimes an identity crisis.
While we have some social networking and internet connections there isn’t a large following wanting our books—one of the biggest weeds for a lot of writers.
Currently, we spend more time blogging than writing the books.
Gertrude Jekyll, one of the most important British landscape designers and writers, once said, “There is no spot of ground, however arid, bare or ugly, that cannot be tamed into such a state as may give an impression of beauty and delight. It cannot always be done easily; many things worth doing are not done easily; but there is no place under natural conditions that cannot be graced with an adornment of suitable vegetation.”
Gertrude’s advice applies not only to the garden, and all those weedy patches, but to writing as well. The road to success isn’t easy, but we can accomplish it. We can transform those bare, ugly pages into something overflowing with suitable vegetation (the best words and story we can make). When we finally reach that goal it’s worth the work. So, pull those weeds out of your writing garden and create something beautiful!
We’re going to try this year to get rid of our biggest weed and finish our next book.
What are the writing weeds that are stopping you from creating your masterpiece? Do you have a plan to pull them out?
While you figure out what weeds to attack here’s an excerpt from the first book in our series.
In the wrong hands, the Turning Stone ring is a powerful weapon for evil. So, when homicide detective Alexi Jordan discovers her secret society mentor has been murdered and his magic ring stolen, she is forced to use her shape-shifting powers to catch the killer. By doing so, she risks the two most important things in her life—her badge and the man she loves.
Rhys Temple always knew his fiery cop partner and would-be-girlfriend, Alexi Jordan, had a few secrets. He considers that part of her charm. But when she changes into a man, he doesn’t find that as charming. He’ll keep her secret to keep her safe, but he’s not certain he can keep up a relationship—professional or personal.
Danny Shaw needs cash for the elaborate wedding his fiancée has planned, so he goes on a mugging spree. But when he kills a member of the secret society of Turning Stones, and steals a magic ring that gives him the power to shape shift, Shaw gets more than he bargained for.
EXCERPT
The woman stared at him, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. “Return the ring, or you’ll be sorry.”
With a short laugh he stood. “Big words for someone bleeding to death.” After dropping the ring into his pocket, he gathered the scattered contents of her purse, and started to leave.
“Wait.” The words sounded thick and slurred . . . two octaves deeper . . . with a Scottish lilt.
Shaw frowned and spun back toward her. The pounding in his chest increased. On the ground, where the woman had fallen, lay a man.
He wore the same slinky blue dress she had—the seams ripped, the dress top collapsed over hard chest muscles, instead of smoothed over soft, rounded curves. The hem skimmed across a pair of hairy, thick thighs. Muscled male thighs. Spiked heels hung at an odd angle, toes jutting through the shoe straps. The same shoes she’d been wearing.
The alley tipped. Shaw leaned against the dumpster to steady himself. He shook his head to clear the vision, then slowly moved his gaze over the body.
A pair of steel-blue eyes stared out of a chiseled face edged with a trim salt-and-pepper beard. Shaw whirled around scanning the alley.
Where was the woman? And who the hell was this guy?
Terrified, Shaw fled.
The dying man called out, “You’re cursed. Forever.”
If this peeks your interest then the links for our books are on our book page, under the menu at the top of the page or on our Amazon Author Page
May 18, 2021
Wednesday Special Spotlight Italian food #recipe
I enjoy experimenting with different food combinations and creating new recipes. This delicious dish is perfect for breakfast or even lunch, but then you may want to add a small salad and a glass of crisp white wine. 
Italian Breakfast Soufflé for 2
½ lb. Italian sausage, bulk or links
2 – 3 tbsp. butter, softened
4 lg. eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp. dried mustard
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Chopped onion to taste
2 slices provolone cheese
½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
¾ cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
3 – 1-inch slices Vienna or French bread, cubed*
Preheat oven to 350° F.
If you use links then squeeze the meat from the casing before cooking. Fry sausage in a small pan until no longer pink. Be sure to break up any clumps. Set aside.
Spread butter on the insides and bottoms of two baking dishes approximately 500ml or 17-ounces.
The following ingredients are to be equally divided between the 2 dishes when added. All stirring should be done gently.
Break 2 eggs in each prepared dish. Lightly scramble. Pour in milk. Stir. Sprinkle on mustard and pepper. Stir.
Tear provolone into pieces then add to mixture along with cheddar and mozzarella. Stir.
Fold in bread.
Bake 35 – 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center has no egg clinging to it.
Set the soufflés on dinner plates to serve so as not to scorch your table.
This dish can be assembled a one or two days ahead of time. Cover and refrigerate, but allow the soufflé to sit on your counter 1 hour or so before you bake it.
*I’ve used day old homemade bread and unseasoned cubes from stuffing mix. They both worked great.
May you enjoy all the days of your life filled with good friends, laughter, and seated around a well-laden table!
Sloane
Sloane Taylor is an Award-Winning romance author with a passion that consumes her day and night. She is an avid cook and posts new recipes on her blog every Wednesday. The recipes are user friendly, meaning easy.
Learn more about Taylor’s cookbooks, Date Night Dinners, Date Night Dinners Sizzling Summer, and Recipes to Create Holidays Extraordinaire on Amazon.
Excerpts from her romance books and free reads can be found on her website, blog, and her Amazon Author Page. Connect with Taylor on Facebook and Twitter.
May 17, 2021
Tell Again Tuesday Stories with animals
For The Love Of…Using Animals In Your Story
By Artemis Crow
What is it about a pet in a story? Adorable, heartwarming, mystery solving, funny, they add so much to a story for me. They add so much to my life. I suppose that’s why most of the books in my series have an animal(s).
When thinking about this post, I was reminded that most of my favorite books have pets/animals in them, as a throwaway character used to create funny situations, or my absolute favorite when the animals are used so extensively in the story that they could be classified as secondary characters.
That’s what I did with the next book in my Zodiac Assassins series, Cancer’s Moon. In it, I have a . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:May 13, 2021
Friday Feature Suggested gift for that special woman in your life
My son brings me a gigantic fuchsia plant every year for Mother’s Day. I love it. I confess, it’s for my favorite small bird, the Hummingbird. She shows up right around Mother’s Day every year and it’s a perfect gift for my deck. The female nests close by and some years bring her off spring to the flowers. So darling, so sweet, so tiny, as they cling to the perch, all wobbly and delicate. You watch and wonder how she managed to raise three babes in a demitasse nest. They love to sip from fuchsia blooms of this plant and I skip artificial feeders for that reason. Some years a second plant joins the first. I am honored on Mother’s Day. My son understands me well. No roses, no candy. Feed my birds.
In the greenhouse, I’m creating a Succulent Bowl. These collections of various, and there are many, varieties of succulents live peacefully together in one container. They are perfectly suited to indoor dwelling in a sunny window. These plants require very low maintenance, water once a week, if that; and they tolerate well the dry indoor air. Caution: do not over water! My good friend swears fairies live amongst hers. I place meaningful messages on small decorative rocks. It’s easy to add your own favorite sayings. Another friend creates a fairy garden complete with toadstools and small winged fairies. It’s fascinating to find small lovelies hiding between the different succulents. Enjoy! These bowls are a perfect gift for a busy woman with their easy-care maintenance.
My last suggestion for your special woman is a gift certificate to her favorite plant nursery. Even for a novice gardener, a visit to the plant world is an “upper” for these still dreary Covid days that are still hanging around. The visit is outside in the fresh air and, by the first week in May, many perennials and annuals are already in bloom. Stick to the locals who will give individual attention to their customers that the ‘big boxes’ can’t. Honor your wife/girlfriend/mother on her special day and she will keep this event warm in her heart for a long, long time. I know I do.
Another good gift is my latest Cozy Adventure/ Mystery, Whispers of Danger and Love
The heroine is a landscape architect who speaks gardening. She struggles with a client who demands a cutting garden mid summer, (and a hunky detective who seems bound to destroy her plants.) I enjoyed relaxing in her garden even as I created it from my own imaginings. It was also fun to watch the sparks fly between a couple who knew each other as children but must readjust their thinking as adults.
Emma Lane is a gifted author who writes cozy mysteries as Janis Lane, Regency as Emma Lane, and spice as Sunny Lane.
She lives in Western New York where winter is snowy, spring arrives with rave reviews, summer days are long and velvet, and fall leaves are riotous in color. At long last she enjoys the perfect bow window for her desk where she is treated to a year-round panoramic view of nature. Her computer opens up a fourth fascinating window to the world. Her patient husband is always available to help with a plot twist and encourage Emma to never quit. Her day job is working with flowers at Herbtique and Plant Nursery, the nursery she and her son own.
Look for information about writing and plants on Emma’s new website. Leave a comment or a gardening question and put a smile on Emma’s face.
Stay connected to Emma on Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to check out the things that make Emma smile on Pinterest.
May 11, 2021
Wednesday Special Spotlight Time for Tea and Scones
In our Turning Stone Chronicles paranormal romance series the Keeper of the Stone, an ancient Scottish man named Eli McCraigen, serves an ever-present cup of tea and scones when serious matters need to be discussed. You’ll see him in every book brewing his tea and serving scones or biscuits of some sort. Our character most likely does this because tea is a breakfast ritual at the C.D. Hersh house.
Catherine loves a good cup of Scottish tea and drinks either a robust cup of Scottish or Irish Breakfast tea every morning. Her Scottish and Irish teas of choice are Taylors brand, imported from across the pond. Donald prefers something with a bit more flavoring and brews a cup of Bigelow Carmel Vanilla tea. Most of the time we have high-fiber toast with our morning tea, but today we wanted to share an authentic Scottish recipe–scones (which when pronounced correctly rhymes with gone).
Catherine got the recipe a number of years ago from a lovely Scottish lady named Rhoda, who immigrated to America at the end of WWII after she fell in love with an American G.I.
We hope you’ll enjoy Rhoda’s scones!
Scottish Scones 2 c flour3 t baking powder
2 T sugar
6 T shortening
½ t salt
2 ½ c buttermilk
The Promised One (The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 1) that has Eli serving his tea and scones.
Alexi thumbed her cell phone off and shoved it into her pocket. “Rhys should be here in a couple of minutes. Are you sure we need to do this?”
Eli took the screaming teakettle off the stove and poured boiling water into a ceramic teapot. “Aye. We have tae make sure he’s included. We need him.” He dropped three tea bags into the water and set on the lid. “He may not be a shifter, but he has a gun and, unless I miss my guess, isnae afraid to use it. Besides, going off and doing things on our own, without keeping him informed twill only push him away. Tae get him tae accept who he is we need tae draw him in.”
She lined the three mugs on the counter next to the scones Eli had prepared. “I don’t know. He’s been very resistant.”
“So’s a salmon in a bear’s mouth. All that flopping about after he’s been caught is for naught. But if he’d heeded the shadow on the water he might have stayed in the stream.”
“So your strategy is to keep Rhys in water?”
“‘Tis tae make him see the shadow, lassie. That’ll keep him alive and hopefully coming tae our side.”
Alive was good. So was on their side. She rubbed the frown creases between her eyes. Worry deepened the two lines more every day.
“Dinna be afeart. I have a plan.”
That was good, because she was fresh out of ideas. The doorbell rang. Alexi answered it and ushered Rhys into the kitchen.
Rhys eyed the scones and teapot. “Tea party, for me?” He took a scone and bit into it. “I’m not easily swayed by sweets, old man.”
“Yer actions would say different, laddie. But ‘tis for me. I’m an auld man, set in his ways, and ‘tis tea time in Scotland.”
Now if your scones are ready and tea brewed how about checking out our series.
Links for our books are on our book page or under the menu at the top of the page.
May 10, 2021
Tell Again Tuesday Writing Time Tips
Five Top Tips for Maximising your writing timeBy Kim Nash
I am thrilled to have author Kim Nash on my blog today. Kim is the author of heartwarming and feel-good fiction. I am halfway through her new book, Moonlight Over Muddleford Cove. Kim’s books are good for the soul. They are uplifting romances with relatable characters and generous spoonfuls of humour. So, please, welcome, Kim Nash.
As a busy Head of Publicity for a publisher, a book blogger, an author, a mom and a dog owner, people often ask me how I find time to get things done. My five top tips for maximising your writing time . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:May 6, 2021
Friday Feature gardens for the adventurous
Theme gardens can be fun for adventurous gardeners who want to shake things up.
Photo by Emma Gossett on Unsplash
Colorful annuals. Their raison d’etra, reason for living, is to bloom and make seeds. To keep them full of their bright and beautiful blossoms frequent culling of the old blooms is the secret. Paying attention to color combinations will enhance bedding petunias such as blue and yellow; red, white and blue; primary colors-red, yellow and blue; all pastels.
Perennials are friends forever. The trick here is to plant staggered bloomers. Daffodils and tulips for spring give way to lupine and peonies in April and May. June is for roses (and brides) and July owns lilies. Hibiscus and other members of the family (Rose of Sharon) for late summer, and we all appreciate summer’s wind up with splashes of intensely colored mums and sunflowers. There are many beautiful perennials to be planted in between. Careful attention to foliage varieties is also important for a successful perennial bed: spiky Crocosmia, spreading Dianthus, and pretty round-leafed Baptismia australis which has an herbal gray cast to its foliage.
Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash
Butterfly and humming bird gardens are always fun. Certainly the tiny hummers appreciate blooms where they can dip in and steal a drop of nectar, but I’ve seen them take a tiny taste of flat but colorful yarrow. My son gifts me a huge fuchsia for Mother’s Day which is the very day I usually spot the first humming bird. They love this plant! Hummers prefer trumpet shaped blooms they can dip their long bills to drink the nectar, but I have observed them sipping from a daisy.
Shade gardens are wonderful underneath shaded walkways. Besides the enormous varieties of hosta, spring bulbs can be followed with blue bells and other shade loving perennials. Brunneria is a precious substitute for hosta. Deer treat it with disdain. Begonias have a large variety for annual shade; my favorite is non-stop begonia in their vivid colors. Spring blooming shrubs are glorious such as rhododendrons, azaleas, dogwood and many others that liven up the woods before the trees leaf out.
Cutting gardens are wonderful for those who appreciate fresh cut bouquets for inside. Reserve a bed especially for: gladiola, tall zinnias, phlox, sunflowers, snapdragons, lisianthus, lilies, just a few of the varieties that are splendid cut flowers.
… which leads me to call attention to my latest Cozy Adventure/ Mystery, Whispers of Danger and Love.
The heroine is a landscape architect who speaks gardening. She struggles with a client who demands a cutting garden mid summer, (and a hunky detective who seems bound to destroy her plants.) I enjoyed relaxing in her garden even as I created it from my own imaginings. It was also fun to watch the sparks fly between a couple who knew each other as children but must readjust their thinking as adults.
Emma Lane is a gifted author who writes cozy mysteries as Janis Lane, Regency as Emma Lane, and spice as Sunny Lane.
She lives in Western New York where winter is snowy, spring arrives with rave reviews, summer days are long and velvet, and fall leaves are riotous in color. At long last she enjoys the perfect bow window for her desk where she is treated to a year-round panoramic view of nature. Her computer opens up a fourth fascinating window to the world. Her patient husband is always available to help with a plot twist and encourage Emma to never quit. Her day job is working with flowers at Herbtique and Plant Nursery, the nursery she and her son own.
Look for information about writing and plants on Emma’s new website. Leave a comment or a gardening question and put a smile on Emma’s face.
Stay connected to Emma on Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to check out the things that make Emma smile on Pinterest.
May 4, 2021
Wednesday Special Spotlight #meal #recipe for Cinco de Mayo
Many people believe Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day. Nope, that is actually September 16. May 5 celebrates the Battle of Puebla which was Mexico’s victory over France in 1862. Another interesting fact – Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo more than the people in Mexico.
I met a wonderful lady in the Hispanic aisle when I was shopping for these ingredients. Lydia literally took me by the hand and taught me a great deal in just a few minutes especially about tortillas and refried beans which I’m sharing with you. I am thankful for Lydia and the time she spent with me.
MENU
Guacamole & Tortilla Chips
Beef Tacos
Flour Tortillas
Rice with Tomatoes and Onion
Refried Beans
Mexican Beer – Corona, Dos Equis, Modelo, Tecate
Guacamole
This dish can be made hours in advance of your dinner and stored in the fridge.
2 lg. ripe avocados
1 tbsp. (15ml) onion, chopped fine
5 drops Tabasco sauce
1 med. tomato, peeled and chopped
⅛ tsp. (.60ml) cumin
⅛ tsp. (.60ml) garlic powder
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Cut avocados in half. Lift out pits and save. Scoop out avocado from shell and place into a glass bowl. Mash with a fork. Stir in remaining ingredients.
Taste for seasoning and adjust to suit you.
Place guacamole into a serving dish. Bury at least one pit into the dip. This helps keep the avocado from turning black. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Serve with tortilla chips.
Photo by The BlackRabbit on Unsplash
Beef Tacos
1 lb. (500g) 90% lean ground beef
½ med. onion, chopped
1 cup (250ml) canned tomato sauce
2 tsp. (10ml) chili powder
½ tsp. (2.5ml) garlic powder
½ tsp. (2.5ml) dried oregano
½ tsp. (2.5ml) paprika
½ tsp. (2.5ml) ground cumin
½ tsp. (2.5ml) cayenne
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 220° F (100°C).
Brown beef in a large skillet set over medium heat. Be sure to stir and break up clumps. Stir in onion and cook 3 – 4 minutes.
Pour tomato sauce over meat mixture. Sprinkle on spices. Stir well. Cook 5 – 8 minutes longer, stirring often.
Pour into an ovenproof dish. Set in oven until ready to serve.
Flour Tortillas
1 package store bought flour tortillas
When you return home open the package, separate tortillas and lay directly onto your kitchen counter for 10 – 15 minutes. Restack tortillas, wrap lightly in a paper towel. Replace them in their original package, seal, and refrigerate until ready to use.
Heat a flat skillet over medium heat. Lay in a tortilla and warm for a minute or so. Turn. Fold tortilla in half. You now have a perfect taco shell.
Lay shells on a plate and serve.
Rice with Tomatoes and Onion
¼ cup (60ml) olive oil
1 med. onion, sliced thin
2 cups (200g) rice, not instant
2 cups (450ml) chicken stock, not broth
2 cups (450ml) water
14½ oz. (411g) can diced tomatoes
Heat oil in a large saucepan set over moderate heat. Swirl oil to coat pan bottom. Add onion. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes or until onion is transparent but not brown.
Pour in rice. Stir well for 2 – 3 minutes to coat all the grains. Do not let the rice brown or the dish will be bitter.
Stir in stock, water, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Cover pan and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes or until rice absorbs all the liquid.
If need be, keep rice warm in a low oven until you’re ready to serve.
Refried Beans
1 can refried beans*
2 strips bacon
Scoop beans into a microwaveable bowl.
Fry bacon until crisp. You want to render as much fat out as possible. Eat the bacon (no joke) and then stir the rendered fat into the beans.
Depending on how powerful your microwave is, heat for 1 – 2 minutes before serving.
* Buying canned beans is much easier than using dried pinto beans for this dish and probably better tasting. Be sure the can reads Authentic Refried Beans. La Preferida is the brand Lydia recommended. She was right. It was delicious as it has bits of bean in it instead of just being a heavy paste.
May you enjoy all the days of your life filled with good friends, laughter, and seated around a well-laden table!
Sloane
Sloane Taylor is an Award-Winning romance author with a passion that consumes her day and night. She is an avid cook and posts new recipes on her blog every Wednesday. The recipes are user friendly, meaning easy.
Learn more about Taylor’s cookbooks, Date Night Dinners, Date Night Dinners Sizzling Summer, and Recipes to Create Holidays Extraordinaire on Amazon.
Excerpts from her romance books and free reads can be found on her website, blog, and her Amazon Author Page. Connect with Taylor on Facebook and Twitter.
