Winter's Kiss

Winter's Kiss

*This winters wish is to feel a kiss

a frosty light on cheek and thigh

sliding in the dusting of snow

and lust

kiss, kiss blows a blush of winter

this season couldn't get much better

when our arms are bursting warmth

and lips hot as coals

fire and ice the perfect combination

why can't it be winter all the time

sprinklings of chocolate and frosting

coat the body divine

we worship the winter

and melt in the summer time*

By Nishi

Goodbye To A Fantasy Icon

1967-2011

Fantasy readers and writers have lost an icon. Anne McCaffrey your imagination lives on in your books, and may you be traveling the stars and having grand new adventures.

Turducken!

Sorry all my vegetarian friends out there, but this post is not for you. Have you ever wondered what a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken would taste like? It’s the best darn carnivorous masterpiece you will ever taste in your whole lifetime! Roasty, succulent dark and white meat from the three different fowl make it the richest offering to adorn any thanksgiving feast.

            I’m a huge fan of traveling cooking/eating shows, and when I lived on the west coast I watched one featuring this most exotic of savory beasts called the turducken, but never thought I would get to eat one. Low and behold, not a year later and I find myself in the south. I had long forgotten about the turducken, as life gets busy, and was completely taken by surprise when my partner brought one home for me to serve as the main treat.

            Now let me tell you, it was a bit overwhelming—turduckens are huge, and heavy! Where would I find a pan worthy enough to cook it in? And how the heck do you cut it once it’s cooked? Thankfully it was pre-stuffed or I would have lobbed it at a passing car in frustration. I admit my intimidation. It glared at me, while I glared at it. Gross. But the meat would be sooooo juicy! I made my peace with the turducken as I devoured its meaty goodness.

            You can too by ordering a turducken online. And here is where it came from: Hebert’s Specialty Meats (hebertsmeats.com), it’s a bit spendy but once the meat is in your mouth it’s worth every cent! And I guarantee you will be the envy of every thanksgiving family member for years to come!  Make sure to scroll down to my collards post, because nothing beats a great pairing like a turducken and collard greens!

            To get your turducken just right, slit the skin and rub bacon fat and butter mixed with salt and pepper under the skin on the meat, massage the yummy beast, it deserves it after the feast it will give you! I cooked it breast side down first so all the meat would be simmering in its own juices. Toward the end, I flip it back to breasts up (it takes two people to flip it) and let it get nice and crispy golden.

            Eat, drink, and then pass out from the meat baby brewing in your tummy! Happy Thanksgiving!

Veterans Day

To all the Veterans who have served and lived, and those who are now traveling the stars, I give my thanks for your sacrifice to keep your families safe.

Tasty Collards and Tuaca!

Ahh … It’s finally getting cooler here in Louisiana. Nice weather comes and goes too quickly, I cherish each chilly day I have. It’s a good thing the cold days arrive around the holidays—all that food I get to walk off!  

            Thought I’d start sharing some of those recipes I promised! The first is a southern staple and tasty too:

Collard Greens

You will need a pound of bacon, chopped and fried to where it is just slightly under-crispy, set aside. Save some of the bacon grease (about 2 tablespoons) to add to the collard pot.

(if you are making a turkey, save the rest of your bacon grease for that!)

Clean and de-stem as much collard greens as you can fit into a large pot (the greens shrink down to more than half their size).

Chop half an onion.

In the large pot add your bacon grease, cooked bacon, chopped onion, garlic, salt and pepper, chipotle Tabasco, and about ¼ a tsp of crushed red peppers, and cook for about 10 minutes.

Now add: about ½ cup rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and about ½ a cup of beef broth.

Cook this all until the collard greens are dark green and look like cooked spinach. At that point you can start adding more of any of the ingredients you want until you get the taste you desire.

Sometimes, I add sausage to my collard greens too. Enjoy!

Tuaca Sidecar

In a shaker with ice add the following:

1 ½ ounces of Tuaca (Italian liqueur)

¾ ounces Triple Sec

1 Fresh squeezed orange and half a lemon.

Add sugar or honey to sweeten to your liking.

Mix and strain into a sugar rimmed glass.

November Kisses

Winter is a busy time for me. It is the time I’m most creative, and as such, I tend to work harder on my writing. This year I’m a bit far from home and won’t get to share the holidays with family, but I will be sure to share a few of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes with all my cyber friends/family.

                A few posts to get excited about this month will be from two authors who are working hard at bringing everyone fantastic stories of love, thrills, and the supernatural, but more about that later!

                Another note of interest is one of my publisher’s—Decadent Publishing—is opening a new site for ‘sweet romance’ and YA. If you have a novel you’ve been dying to submit, then get over there and send them your query, they are a fun bunch of good peoples to work with.

                Here’s a little something to enjoy until the next post:

Pumpkin Pie Martini Recipe (One of my favorite November cocktails!):

First make the mixture you will coat the rim of your martini glass with: graham crackers, cinnamon, and brown sugar—put in a food processor and grind it to a fine mix. Use a lemon to ring the glass then dip your glass in the mixture, set aside.

In a shaker with ice add:

1 ½ ounce goldschlager

½ ounce bailey’s irish cream

½ ounce coffee liqueur

½ ounce half and half cream

Shake and strain into martini glass, add a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg and serve—yummy!

And, a nice poem to read to your lover, friend, or family:

The True Gem

In the waters of time we find peace

In the weathering of the sky we find contemplation

In the landscape of the earth we find new roads

In the by-ways of the mind we find new journeys

But, in the complexity of the heart we find the true jewel, love.