Christmas Pie and a #Giveaway

It's my blog time again at Embracing Romance. In my new novella, The Right to Remain Single, which will be out in October in the anthology, Christmas Kisses (cover pic on the left), the heroine's family serve Christmas Pie (à la Little Jack Horner) to all the villagers on Christmas Eve. It sounded so yummy that I just had to make some for myself. Here's a pic:

But don't let my bad photography and messy pastry discourage you. A link to the recipe (which has a much prettier picture) is at Embracing Romance. 

http://wp.me/p5fbTi-3NS

And there's a giveaway, too.

Barbara

Bake, Love, Write and Loch Ness

Just a heads up -- I'm blogging today at the Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers about Bake, Love, Write. It's a new dessert cookbook containing recipes from 105 authors, one of whom is me!

Hop on over if you're interested. At only 99 cents for the e-book version, it's a great deal.

http://pinkfuzzyslipperwriters.blogspot.com/2014/10/read-if-you-love-dessert.html


And now, just because, here's a photo from my recent trip to Scotland. This is Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness. :)

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

This is really just an ingredient list and a few instructions.

Sweet potatoes
Onions (regular or spring), chopped
Mushrooms, chopped
Spinach, chopped
Sharp cheese, grated
Sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil or butter

Cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise, wrap in foil, and bake until done.  Scoop the flesh out into a bowl, being careful not to tear the skins, which are quite fragile. Put the skins in a baking pan. I didn't grease the pan, but it wouldn't hurt to do so.

Look at the amount of sweet potato and take a guess at how much onion and mushroom to use. For three medium sweet potatoes, I used maybe half an onion and several mushrooms. Saute the onions and mushrooms in oil or butter.

As for the spinach, it wilts down to almost nothing, so use lots of it. Add to the onions and mushrooms and saute until the spinach is wilted.

Turn off the heat and mix in a dollop or so of sour cream and some grated cheese. I add quite a bit of cheese, but this is a matter of taste (well, so is everything else in this recipe). Sharp cheddar is good, but other sharp cheeses work well, too. Add the mixture to the sweet potato flesh. Season to taste, bearing in mind that the cheese has some salt in it. 

Fill the skins with the mixture and sprinkle some grated cheese on top. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. I usually cover them for the first 15 or 20 minutes...it depends on how moist you want them. I tried this recipe once with regular potatoes. They aren't as moist as sweet potatoes, so I think more fat and sour cream would be needed and maybe even a little milk or water...

Sorry, no picture... Maybe next time. 

Snapper soup

It's hard to get people in my house to eat leftover fish, so I made a soup. The same two people who might have eaten the fish ate the soup, but I have to say it was pretty good for a thrown-together meal.

Ingredients: Baked red snapper (bones removed), butter, (actually, it was ghee), chopped onions, chopped celery, chopped carrots, chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt, black paper, ancho chili pepper (ground), 2 bay leaves... I think that's it. I sauteed the onions and celery in the butter, added the carrots and snapper and stirred them around a bit, added water and the seasonings, and cooked until done. Good with bread and butter and more lemon or lime juice.