Saturday, October 29, 2016

Deal with the Deviled Eggs Bonus Recipes


And it's here! The third book in the Yolks on You series, Deal with the Deviled Eggs, is out today. Perfect for a weekend Halloween read, or you could get the print copy for a treat! I am understandably excited about this, and I wanted to give you all a couple recipes not found in the back of the book to celebrate. They're full of pumpkin, of course.

First up...


Nutella and Pumpkin Cheesecake Filled Crescents

Ingredients:

1 8oz can crescents (a can of 8)
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 oz cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
4 teaspoons Nutella

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to temperature on crescent package. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat. Lay out the crescents.

2. In a bowl, mix together pumpkin, cream cheese, and pie spice until combined and smooth.

3. Drop Nutella by 1/2 teaspoonfuls onto crescents and spread.

4. Drop cream cheese mixture on top of crescents.

5. Starting at the large end, roll crescents up, pinching to seal as you go.

6. Bake according to package instructions.

Enjoy!

The next recipe is inspired by the desire for soups in autumn. There's just something about soups, and I wanted one with pumpkin that wasn't full of apples or anything too sweet. (You're great, apples, but I just ate crescents for breakfast.) I present to you...


Chipotle Beer Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

1 boneless skinless chicken breast
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika
1/2 tablespoon chipotle in adobo
1 cup corn
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup beer (I used a dunkel)
1 15oz can pumpkin puree
shredded cheese and sour cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Sprinkle chipotle chili powder on chicken breast and bake for 20 minutes or until done. Shred chicken and set aside.

2. In soup pot, saute garlic and onions in olive oil until onions are translucent.

3. Add paprika and adobo. Add corn.

4. Add broth, beer, and pumpkin. Stir until pumpkin dissolves. Add shredded chicken. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15-20 minutes.

5. Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream. Serves 3-4. Enjoy!

Well I had a lot of fun today experimenting with pumpkin to celebrate. The crescents seem more a Dom type meal, not too complex, but the soup is definitely more Kiko's realm! For more recipes--and to find out whether Kiko and Dom can stop a murderer in time to enjoy Halloween night--go ahead and grab Deal with the Deviled Eggs!

Cheers!
 

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Yolks on You #3 Cover Reveal!

Very excited here to announce that the next Yolks on You mystery will be Halloween themed! Who doesn't like Halloween, right? Fair warning, though--this will be the scariest mystery Kiko and Dom will face yet. There will be multiple murders, a terrible roommate, and a deadly corn maze.

And so, without further description, the cover:

That pumpkin means business. You know what's really scary? You can already preorder Deal with the Deviled Eggs--even in print!--and get yourself a treat just in time for Halloween.

Cheers!

Monday, October 3, 2016

I Found Some Mushrooms

I found some mushrooms! Oh, and it flooded to some extent. We had a very rainy end to summer here, which did result in the rivers swelling. But really I'm excited to show you all pictures of the mushrooms I found in the park. I'm guessing all that rain was also great for the moist, dark places the mushrooms liked.

Behold!

This gorgeous mushroom! I have no idea what it is, but it is majestic and looks fantastical to me and that's all I care about. Maybe someday I'll get into researching everything about mushrooms and then have to write a novel about a mycologist, but today is not that day.


These are pretty cool too, a lot like the first though. The orange makes them seem dangerous. Or confident.

I loved how this one had a little stick. It seemed artistic.

This is what happened when I tried to be artistic. The undersides of mushroom caps are either not photogenic, or I am less adequate at pointing and clicking than I thought. I guess I'll leave the art to the forest.

These did not show up as red as they were. I was shocked at the variety of mushrooms all around. I've never seen so many in one place before.

And of course these. They might be my favorite. All in all, a fun day of nature-seeing. It really makes me realize just how little I know about the world, and how many fascinating things are all around.

Cheers!