Clover Autrey's Blog, page 5

Authors in Bloom

7th Annual Authors in Bloom Blog HopMonday April 18th — Wednesday April 27th 201810 Days of Giveaways, Gardening Tips, Recipes and More! Plus a GRAND PRIZE you’ll be digging to win!
The grand prize is available for US entrants only. Winners will be announced on the landing page, BloominThyme.
I'm not much of a gardener so count me out on that tip, but I do love a good recipe.

My awesome boss visited Ireland over the summer and brought me back this cute little recipe book. Did I tell you my boss is all kinds of awesomeness?



Inside I found this cute potato pancake recipe I thought I'd share today called Boxty

250 g/9 oz raw potatoes peeled
250 g/9 oz mashed potatoes
250g/9 oz plain flour
good pinch bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
225 ml/8 fl oz buttermilk plus extra if needed
butter, for frying

Grate the potatoes into a colander lined with kitchen paper.
Press another paper on top and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
Mix in mashed potatoes.
Add flour, soda, and salt. Mix in enough buttermilk to make a soft batter.

Melt butter in frying pan. Drop in large spoonfuls of batter and cook each side for about 3 minutes until golden brown.
Serve like a crepe with stuffing of your choice.



Highland Chieftain

As it happens, my Highland Sorcery series came to a conclusion with the final book that came out last month. I am going to miss writing about this time traveling magical family. Okay, an Irish recipe doesn't have much to do with Highlanders, but I didn't have a a recipe book from Scotland yet.

Anyway, look for the complete Highland Sorcery series at these retailers

Amazon  Nook  Kobo  Smashwords  Apple  Play

My personal giveaway for 3 peeps will be a book of your choice in that series. All you have to do is head over to my Facebook page and leave a comment such as "Highland Sorcery Rocks!" or "Clover's books are Blooming Amazing!" (See what I did there?) That will let me know who is entered in my contest, while at the same time getting the Facebook deities to smile upon my page and get it seen by more of my followers. Win-Win. And if you leave a link on your Facebook page, telling people about any of my books, let me know in the comments below and I'll enter you twice.



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Speaking of Weddings

Peyton and Kyle June 16, 2017We welcomed another person into our family as Peyton and Kyle were sealed for all time and eternity in the Provo City Center Temple. 

I am thrilled with my new daughter-in-law. She's sweet and easy-going, has an inner strength and beauty that will serve her well throughout life. The Ginger boy did well.  
I have to tell you a little story. For us Mormons, having your son serve a mission for two years is a big deal. Four years back, Kyle was ready and prepared to go, then one dumb thing kept him from going for a year. It really was a ridiculous circumstance and I kept wondering why this had happened. What's the point? He was ready. He was a great kid and was ready to serve. But instead, he stuck around home and got his first year of college in. Not a bad thing either. And the gut feeling I kept getting when I asked why, was that he was going to meet the girl he was going to marry on his mission. If he went when he was supposed to (my timeline, not God's),  he would have been sent to a different area and missed the time when Peyton was there altogether. 

Fast forward two years at the completion of his mission in South Dakota and he tells me he's met a girl who served in the same place that he'd like to date when she gets home in another month, this momma knew she was the one.  

Sixth Annual Authors in Bloom

Authors in Bloom is one of my favorite blog tours. And this year we have a Facebook Party going on as well.

Gardening is on my mind lately. In fact, I'm about to go in the back yard and work after I post this. You see my ginger son got down on one knee in a proposal of marriage to a sweet gal.
They are doing a tour of sorts of their own. He's working and going to school in Idaho. She's working in Tennessee where he'll be heading to pick her up and then they are off to visit her family in Pennsylvania, then flying out here to Texas before the wedding takes place in Utah.


And my son told me recently, very recently, "Oh Mom, we're having an open house in Texas."

"You're what?" Yes, I have a month to get my yard in shape. Yes, the yard I have pretty much ignored this past year as I've taken on new challenges with work that leaves me zero free time and less energy. Yes, that yard.

And my lawn mower won't start. Off to get new spark plugs.
Fortunately, I also have a 16 year old who is very eager to earn money by tackling the harder jobs so he can go back into his batcave and order more part upgrades for his super computer that he built. I only hope that he uses his genius powers for good.

My gardening tip is pretty simple. Know your property.

Walk around and notice what areas of your yard get the most sun and which are shaded. That will help you know where to best plant which kind of plants. You can also have a simple soil test done at your local garden center to see if your soil is well-balanced in nutrients and pH. Mine is not, so that's another thing on my to-do quickly list. This is the first of my flowers to keep alive until April.


Now for my giveaway. One lucky commenter will get their choice of any of my ebooks. Just let me know which one you'd like and I'll send it to you.

Please  LEAVE A COMMENT at each post in the hop. Only visitors who visit EACH and EVERY stop are eligible for the grand prize ereader and gift card. Eligibility will be verified by hop’s end. Also, please leave your contact email in the comment section otherwise we have no way to contact you if you win. Winners will be posted on both the first (Dianne Venetta) and last (BloominThyme) websites.

And while you are here, sign up for my newsletter where you'll get the second book in my Highland Sorcery series for free. Why the second book? Because the first one is already free at your favorite online bookstores. Just fill your email in at the newsletter box at the right.



Now onto the next site in the tour...













GRAND PRIZE: We are giving away a Kindle Fire or Nook (winner’s choice) along with a 2nd prize of $25 gift card.

Authors in Bloom Blog Hop

Happy Hopping Everyone!I love to participate in these blog hops, because even though I'm a writer, I'm also a reader and get to learn about new books I haven't heard about before. I also get to know some of you readers better too. Win/Win
The giveaway for visiting my blog is two lucky commenters will get their choice of any one of my ebooks.  Just say which one you'd want in the comments.Snippets of each can be found on the Kindle Preview page of this blog.Don't feel like commenting? You can also enter by simply Liking my Facebook Author page at https://www.facebook.com/clover.autrey 
My recipe comes from the cafeteria at Cook Childrens Medical Center in Fort Worth. The Crazy Reid. Have no idea where the name comes from. It was my favorite dish they had on their menu so I started making it at home.

The Crazy Reid

Boil some penne pasta or rice and set aside.

In a fry pan add garlic salt to a few Tablespoons of butter and heat.
Add cubed or sliced chicken pieces and cook. (I like to precook my chicken, but you don't have to).
When it's done, lower the heat and add fresh tomatoes, cut up
And a few handfuls of fresh spinach on top and cover with a lid or another fry pan upside down to let the tomatoes and spinach steam a bit.
Meanwhile heat up either Mariano or Alfredo sauce. (I get mine from a jar, but you can make it from scratch if you prefer. I prefer the Alfredo.)

Pour the chicken/spinach mixture and the sauce over the top of the penne or rice and top it all off with fresh Parmesan cheese.  It's delicious. I have leftovers from when I took this picture last night. My mouth is watering so think I'll go get me some. Bon appetit.




Please remember to leave a comment. Good luck and have fun hopping around this week!