FUN, FOOD, AND FAMILY SERIES/GIVEAWAY - LAUREN CLARK - STARDUST SUMMER SALAD

Summer is definitely my favorite time of year, and the season I most look forward to enjoying with my family and friends. July, especially, is a time for gathering—two family reunions, several birthdays, and, of course, Independence Day!

My family does a lot of outdoor celebrating, so we're always making cold salads, baking fresh fruit pies, and grilling vegetables straight from the farms around the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, where my new novel, Stardust Summer, is set.

I have fond memories of picking blueberries, peaches, and apples at local orchards and am fortunate that my boys have the same opportunity today. There's nothing like delicious fruit straight off the vine!

Many years ago, my father gave me The Silver Palate Cookbook, which is a wonderful compilation of New York-style recipes. It's a treasured reference and contains fabulous dishes for just about any occasion.

My favorite recipe of the many I've tried from Silver Palate is Tarragon Chicken Salad. I often make it for get-togethers, and it usually draws rave reviews from anyone who tastes it. It's fairly simple to make, uses only a few ingredients, and keeps well in the refrigerator for several days. Enjoy!

Tarragon Chicken Salad (4-6 portions)

The Silver Palate Cookbook

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup of heavy cream

3/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup of Hellman's Mayonnaise (feel free to use the light version, but do not substitute for another brand)

3 celery ribs, chopped

1/2 cup walnuts or more to taste

2 tbsp dried tarragon

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:  Arrange chicken in a single layer in a cooking pan. Spread evenly with heavy cream and let bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and transfer to a bowl. Whisk sour cream and mayo together in a small bowl and pour over chicken. Add remaining ingredients and toss well.

Refrigerate, covered, for at least 4 hours. Taste and correct seasoning before serving. Serve on a bed of lettuce with grapes or other fresh fruit on the side for a light lunch or dinner.

LAUREN CLARK is the author of Dancing Naked in Dixie, Stay Tuned, and Stardust Summer. She writes contemporary novels sprinkled with sunshine, suspense, and secrets. A former TV news anchor, Lauren adores flavored coffee, local book stores, and anywhere she can stick her toes in the sand. Her big loves are her family, paying it forward, and true-blue friends.

Lauren is a member of the Gulf Coast Writers Association, the Mobile Writers Guild, and a regular contributor to Parents & Kids Magazine's Mississippi Gulf Coast Edition. Check out her website.

Where to Buy Stardust Summer:

Amazon - Kindle

Barnes & Noble - Nook 

Smashwords

In celebration of In Need of Therapy's one-year anniversary and the book's Cuban heroine, enter to win a copy of the cookbook Celebrate Cuban - 100 Great Recipes for Cuban Entertaining by Three Guys From Miami. You can enter up to 6 times using the Rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway will end at midnight on Wednesday, July 31st, and a winner will be announced on Thursday, August 1st. This contest is open to residents of the USA only.

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GUEST POST - WOMEN'S FIC AUTHOR KATHLEEN IRENE PATERKA

Thanks so much for inviting me to be part of Books by Banister, Tracie! Since we’re both avid royal watchers, I thought I’d share a little about my fascination with the British royals, and how that guilty pleasure ties into my new release, ROYAL SECRETS.

I’ve been a royal watcher since I was in my teens. My family and friends always made fun of how excited I’d get merely by the sight of yet another magazine cover with a picture of the royal family. I watched along with everyone else as Prince Charles (“The World’s Most Eligible Bachelor!”) dined and dated his numerous girlfriends. Who would it be? Who would he choose? When he finally settled upon his new Princess, I was right there watching the telly (ooh, how British!) with 750 million other people on July 29, 1981 as 20 year old Lady Diana Spencer walked the aisle of St. Paul’s Cathedral on her father’s arm to where 32 yr. old Charles waited at the altar.

But it wasn’t the idyllic scene we all believed. As Diana later commented to friends, “My wedding day was the worst day of my life… I felt like a lamb being led to the slaughter.” No wonder. Charles and Diana had only been out together on thirteen dates before they married. Diana later confessed that she knew, walking up the aisle on her wedding day, that Charles was in love with another woman: the infamous Camilla. Diana had discovered proof of her future husband’s notorious affair two days before the royal wedding. Her sisters stopped her from calling everything off. “Too late… your face is on the tea towel. You can’t chicken out.” And so, Diana married her prince. As the Archbishop of Canterbury said at their wedding, “Here is the stuff of which fairy tales are made.”

Unfortunately, we now know it was a fractured fairy tale, one which ended in despair, divorce, and ultimately, Diana’s death on August 31, 1997. The world mourned its princess, and grieved along with Diana’s two young sons, Prince William (15) and Prince Harry (12). Royalty watchers the world over rejoiced on April 29, 2011, as William married his Kate at Westminster Abbey. And as I write this, there is still a ‘royal baby watch’ on the way… and so the royal saga continues. 

Whatever you think about the British royal family, there’s no denying that they do a royal job when it comes to putting on a wedding. I love brides and weddings. My day job as staff writer at a real American castle which hosts numerous weddings (nearly 200 last year) feeds my fix for royalty and romance. When I began daydreaming about a plot for a new book, my love for all things royal and weddings came into play. But it wasn’t until my daughter and her husband settled in Las Vegas a few years ago, that I really started thinking. Royalty. Weddings. Las Vegas, the wedding capital of the world. Voila! The framework for a new story was born.

ROYAL SECRETS is the story of the Royal Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, and of Lily Lavender, whose family is distantly descended from the British royal family. Immersed in the regal world of weddings and romance, Lily grew up believing in brides, grooms and happily-ever-afters. It seemed her destiny and royal birthright to someday assume a position as wedding coordinator in their family-owned wedding chapel business. But when her mother Mimi’s third marriage eventually fails, Lily’s dreams of her own happily-ever-after quickly fade. She’s no longer interested in a life of assisting brides walk down the aisle into a life of disillusionment and possible divorce. Lily turns her back on The Royal Wedding Chapel and leaves Las Vegas to fashion a life of her own. Years later, Lily—now a single mom—discovers her teenage daughter has run off to Las Vegas, lured by Mimi to help run the chapel. Determined to save her daughter from the broken dreams of Sin City and the nonsensical world of which family fairy tales are made, Lily returns to Las Vegas. But nothing prepares Lily for the royal drama which awaits her… or the sins and secrets she stumbles across that threaten to close the chapel and ruin her family forever.

Author Bio:
Kathleen Irene Paterka is the author of numerous women's fiction novels which embrace universal themes of home, family life and love, including ROYAL SECRETS and the James Bay series (FATTY PATTY, HOME FIRES, LOTTO LUCY, and FOR I HAVE SINNED.) Kathleen is the resident staff writer for Castle Farms, a world renowned castle listed on the National Historic Register, and co-author of the non-fiction book FOR THE LOVE OF A CASTLE, published in 2012. Having lived and studied abroad, Kathleen's educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree from Central Michigan University. She and her husband live in the beautiful north country of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

Buy ROYAL SECRETS:

Amazon 

Barnes&Noble      

Smashwords

Connect With Kathleen Irene Paterka:

Website

Facebook   

ScribBLINGDivas Blog

FUN, FOOD, AND FAMILY SERIES/GIVEAWAY - KAREN E. MARTIN - TOMATO SOUP

Well, it's about that time of year. Hot, sweaty summer is upon us, and in the Martin/Cunningham family, that meant one thing: it was 'go-time' for Uncle Raymond's Tomato soup. 'Cuz there's nothing like spending a broiling August weekend wiping your brow over an enormous, steaming pressure cooker in a sweltering garage, right?

 

Cunningham order at Hensler’s Market. 10 boxes of tomatoes, 50 pounds of onions, 1 box of peppers, and a box of green beans to can on the side (just for giggles).

Each year, Ray and the clan would head up the road to Hensler's Market to round up enough supplies to can an entire winter's worth of Ray's famous Tomato Soup - the most delicious soup I've ever had and probably ever will have in my life. Not only is it refreshing and light on its own, it also served as the basis for about a zillion other family recipes, from Mom's Hamburger Skillet Stew to her Stuffed Zucchini Boats. Uncle Ray passed away in 2005, and the soup canning tradition went with him, but every so often I still make a small batch of this simple recipe, both for nostalgia's sake and to once again savor the original taste of summer.  

Dang, that’s a lot of tomatoes! Each summer the cars got kicked out of the garage so that Uncle Ray, Aunt Bea, Aunt Betty, and Granny could begin production on that year’s supply of Tomato Soup.

Original Recipe (bulk recipe, for canning): 
1 peck tomatoes (figure it out)
2 or 3 big onions
2 or 3 big green peppers
¼ C salt*
5 T cornstarch
10 T sugar*
1 stick butter

Cook chopped vegetables (big chunks are fine) in a pressure cooker until soft and gloppy. Press the cooked veggies through a large colander to make tomato juice. (Discard/compost the leftover pulp, or use it for some other purpose if you’d like.) Put juice on the stove and bring to a boil.

Stir together salt, corn starch, and sugar. Add mixture to tomato juice, along with stick of butter. Stir well and cook at a boil until flavors have melded – voila, it’s done! Call Aunt Bea if you get stuck. ;) Sorry, I don’t have any notes on the canning part of the process, but if you know how to can, I believe the process was pretty standard. 

NOTES: Ray liked a lot of salt and sugar in his soup; you may want to cut down on those and add “to taste” as you try out this recipe. / 1 peck = 8 quarts; 4 pecks = 1 bushel; 1 bushel of tomatoes is roughly 53 pounds, so a peck is about 13 pounds.

Ray manning the canner.

Ray with some of the finished jars of canned soup.

Small-Batch Recipe (for one nice batch of soup) 
5 pounds of tomatoes
1 big onion
1 big green pepper
1 ¹/₂ T cornstarch
1 T butter (or more, to taste)
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste

Cook chopped vegetables (big chunks are fine) in a pot until soft and gloppy. Press the cooked veggies through a colander to make tomato juice. (Discard/compost the leftover pulp, or use it for some other purpose if you’d like.) Put juice on the stove and bring to a boil. 

Add salt, corn starch, and sugar to tomato juice, along with butter. Stir well and cook at a boil until flavors have combined. Enjoy! 

 

The Soup Crew, sitting on the tailgate of Ray’s wagon full of tomatoes. Bea, Granny, and Betty.

Karen E. Martin, M.Ed. is a full-time freelance writer/editor. She has been in the publishing business since 2004, working on books and publications for major and independent publishers, universities, businesses, and private individuals. Prior to entering the field of publishing, Ms. Martin worked for the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Peace Corps. in Morocco, Jordan, Mauritania, and Romania as an English teacher and teacher-trainer.

Ms. Martin’s chick-lit novel, Modogamous, is due out in September 2013, and can be pre-ordered on Indiegogo. You can read an excerpt of the book here! A part of each pledge goes toward helping the Capital Area Humane Society in Columbus, Ohio. About Modogamous:

Boy meets Girl. Boy and Girl screw it up.

Girl meets New Boy. Boy meets New Girl.

New Girl meets New Boy.

... and then things start to get complicated.

Relationships, bah! Wouldn't it just be easier to get a dog?

Ms. Martin can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Enter to win a copy of the cookbook Celebrate Cuban - 100 Great Recipes for Cuban Entertaining by Three Guys From Miami. You can enter up to 6 times using the Rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway will end at midnight on Wednesday, July 31st, and a winner will be announced on Thursday, August 1st. This contest is open to residents of the USA only.

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FUN, FOOD, AND FAMILY SERIES/GIVEAWAY - FRANCINE LASALA'S CLASSIC CASSOULET

The heroine of In Need of Therapy is Cuban-American, so there are a lot of scenes in the novel that involve her eating, cooking, and sharing Cuban dishes. This cuisine reflects Pilar's cultural heritage and is a big part of who she is as a person, so in keeping with the whole food/family theme, I will be posting recipes, stories, and photos from  readers, authors, and bloggers on Books by Banister throughout the month of July. And I'll be giving away a copy of Celebrate Cuban - 100 Great Recipes for Cuban Entertaining by Three Guys From Miami. Details on how to enter the giveaway are highlighted below.

My first guest for the FF&F series is the always-delightful and entertaining Francine LaSala, who's sharing a Classic Cassoulet recipe inspired by her husband's family. My mouth is watering just looking at the photo of this yummy dish!

 

CLASSIC CASSOULET

I’m not French, but I’ve always wanted to be. When I was a kid, I told people that the name “Francine” meant “from France.” Most people also knew my mother, though, so they knew without me telling them that I was really just “from Francine”--also my mother’s name.

Well, even if I couldn’t convince people I was French, I still wanted to be. But I really had no idea that the man who was going to become my husband would be French. His last name is Italian. I had always wanted to be Italian too, so I decided I’d go out with him and give it a shot. It wasn’t until we were dating several weeks that he picked up the phone at his apartment, and it was his mother. Out of nowhere, he started to speak flawless (to my ear, at least), fluent French. Christopher was French! It’s not the only reason I married him, and technically it doesn’t make me French. But hey, my kids are.

The recipe I’m sharing is made in my husband’s family, but my mother-in-law likes to keep her recipes secret. Oh, the French! But this version (adapted from Saveur, first published in Issue #117) is also pretty darn yummy. It’s sort of fancy (fussy/French/whatever), so you have to make it on a day you’re going to be in the house a lot. (Or find a slow-cooker version. Now why didn’t I think of that!)

Enjoy! Or, as “we” Frenchies like to say, bon appetit!

Ingredients

1 pound great northern beans

2/3 cup olive oil

16 cloves garlic, minced

2 onions, roughly chopped

2 carrots, roughly chopped

2 large ham hocks

1 pound pork shoulder, cubed

1⁄2 pound pancetta, cubed

4 sprigs oregano

4 sprigs thyme

3 bay leaves

1 cup whole peeled canned tomatoes

1 cup white wine

2 cups chicken broth

4 confit duck legs

1 pound chicken sausages

2 cups bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add half the garlic, onions, and carrots and cook until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add ham hocks and beans and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 1/2 hour.

2. Transfer ham hocks to a plate. Once cool, pull off meat, chop meat, and add to bean mixture.

3. Heat 2 more tablespoons of the olive oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pork and brown for 8 minutes. Add pancetta and cook for 5 minutes. Add remaining garlic, onions, and carrots and cook another 10 minutes.

4. Tie together the oregano and thyme sprigs with the bay leaves and add to pan. Add tomatoes with liquid and cook until liquid thickens, about 8–10 minutes. Add the wine and reduce the liquid by half. Add broth and bring to a boil.

5. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, uncovered for about 1 hour.

6. About a half-hour in, sear duck legs in 2 tablespoon of the olive oil, then transfer to a plate. Brown sausages in the drippings, about 8 minutes.

7. Cool and then cut sausages into 1⁄2" slices. Pull duck meat off bones. Discard fat and bones. Discard herbs. Stir duck and sausages into pork stew.

8. Heat oven to 300 degrees. Combine beans and stew in an earthenware casserole. Cover with bread crumbs; drizzle with remaining olive oil.

9. Bake, uncovered, for 3 hours.

10. Raise oven temperature to 500 degrees. Broil until crust is golden, about 5 minutes. 

FRANCINE LASALA has written nonfiction on every topic imaginable, from circus freaks to sex, and edited bestselling authors of all genres. She is now actively taking on clients for manuscript evaluations, editing services, copywriting (covers, blurbs, taglines, queries, and more), website and blog creation, and developing kickass social media campaigns.

The author of novels Rita Hayworth’s Shoes and The Girl, The Gold Tooth & Everything, and the creator of The “Joy Jar” Project, she lives with her husband and two daughters in New York.

Find Francine Online:

Facebook

Twitter

Blog

Creative Services Website

Author Website

The “Joy Jar” Project

Buy The Girl, the Gold Tooth & Everything

Buy Rita Hayworth's Shoes

Enter to win a copy of the cookbook Celebrate Cuban - 100 Great Recipes for Cuban Entertaining by Three Guys From Miami. You can enter up to 6 times using the Rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway will end at midnight on Wednesday, July 31st, and a winner will be announced on Thursday, August 1st. This contest is open to residents of the USA only.

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