Free book on Father's Day Weekend

I often write about glamorous characters who eat very fancy food -- which is why I keep my elaborate cookbooks in my office and not in my kitchen. :-)  As a working writer, I need an easier way to keep my husband fed -- so the cookbook I actually use is one I put together years ago and published, mostly so I'd have extra copies whenever one got splattered up. (Do you have any idea of the mess it makes when a pumpkin pie doesn't make it into the oven? A whole lot more than if it was dropped on the way out!) However, as the years go by I've found other recipes, fine-tuned some of the earlier ones, and moved on to an e-reader instead of hard copy... so I redid the cookbook. It's going to be a free download on Amazon this weekend -- June 16 and 17. http://www.amazon.com/Simply-Good-ebook/dp/B007XIZLVU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1339426867&sr=1-1   '  You don't have to be a member of Amazon Prime to get the free download (though it's only free on Saturday and Sunday). And you don't need a Kindle to read it -- you can access it on your regular computer if you have the Kindle for PC or Kindle for Mac free software.

To give you a bit of a preview, most of the recipes I've shared here in the blog are included in the Simply Good cookbook.


I hope you'll enjoy sharing some of my favorite food! 

Simply Good -- Recipes for the Busy Cook

The characters I write about, in both my contemporary and Regency-period romances, eat a lot of fancy food. (They can eat all they like -- fictional food has no calories.) But I'm generally not a fancy-food person. I keep all of my elaborate cookbooks in my office, where I use them for research.

When I'm in my kitchen, I'm generally creating much simpler fare -- and I reach for a much simpler cookbook. To find its way into my personal cookbook, a recipe has to be fast, easy (or better yet, fast AND easy). Or it has to make a big enough quantity to be worth the time it takes to slice, dice, stir, and simmer -- so I can freeze some and have a really easy meal later on.

My newest cookbook venture, Simply Good, Recipes for the Busy Cook, will be released soon in ebook format for e-readers, tablets and mobile devices. I'm finishing up the details to make it as handy as possible for use in the kitchen or on the run -- like being able to look up a recipe and check the ingredients on a Smart Phone while you're still in the grocery store.

Chicken Veggie Ranch Cups

This makes an easy and delightful appetizer or canape -- excellent when paired with tea or something stronger!

Chicken Veggie Ranch Cups

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ cup red bell pepper

¼ cup chopped carrot

¼ cup chopped olives

¼ cup chopped celery

¼ cup chopped green onion

¼ cup chopped green pepper

¼ cup chopped yellow pepper

1 6- ounce to 8-ounce can white-meat chicken, drained and flaked

Ranch dressing

Shredded Swiss cheese

Sauté veggies till tender. Add chicken and enough dressing to moisten; heat through. Line pastry cups with pie crust or cream cheese pastry. Top each with sprinkle of Swiss cheese. Bake 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 16 to 20 servings.

This recipe, and others posted on the blog, will be included in a forthcoming ebook called SIMPLY GOOD: Recipes for the Busy Cook.

Asparagus Tartlets

1 8-ounce can green or white asparagus

4 ounces cream cheese

1/3 pound carrots, shredded

Combine all ingredients. With a scalloped cookie cutter, cut unbaked pie crust or turnover pastry into rounds; fit into mini-tartlet pans. Fill with asparagus mixture. Bake 18-20 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 24 to 30 tartlets.

Decadant Truffles

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or use ½ tablespoon vanilla and ½ tablespoon almond extract)

Coatings (optional)

finely chopped nuts

flaked coconut

sprinkles

unsweetened cocoa powder

confectioners sugar

colored sugars

finely crushed peppermint candies

In large saucepan over low heat, gently melt chips along with sweetened condensed milk. When smooth, remove from heat and stir in flavorings. Cover and chill 2 to 3 hours or until firm. Shape into 1 inch balls. Roll each ball in one of the listed coatings. Chill finished candies till firm. Refrigerate, stored in an airtight container.

Cucumber Sandwiches

Tea, scones, and cucumber sandwiches makes a wonderful afternoon treat.

Peel a medium sized cucumber and slice very thin. Soak slices for one hour in salt water to make them crisp, then drain and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine mayonnaise (or ranch dressing) and cream cheese in equal proportions until smooth. Cut rounds from white bread with a cookie cutter. Spread each slice with mayonnaise-cream cheese mixture. Top with a thin cucumber slice and sprinkle generously with dried dill weed.

Cucumber slices are also excellent on deli cocktail rye bread. When I'm feeling particularly ambitious, I bake my own bread in miniature pans, so each sandwich is a full slice of bread, two inches or less square. Don't be afraid to try exotic varieties and unusual combinations. Imagination is the key.