Tuesday Treats and Titles: Billionaire Country Muffuletta Dip

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Silver James

Today is Fat Tuesday, the last day of Mardi Gras. Tonight, the street sweepers will follow the officers of NOPD and surrounding jurisdictions as they march down Bourbon Street to end the festivities. Whenever I go to New Orleans, there’s a few things I have to eat: beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde, breakfast/lunch/dinner at Deja Vu, and a muffaletta sandwich from Central Grocery and Deli. People line up around the block to get a muffaletta here. Here’s a new take on the old tradition: Muffuletta Dip!

Total time: 30 Mins
Prep: 10 Mins
Cook: 20 Mins

Made with ham, salami and olives, our cheesy baked Muffuletta Dip is a delicious take on the classic New Orleans sandwich.

What You Need

1/2 cup pimento-stuffed green olives, chopped
1/4 cup black olives, chopped
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Lite House Italian Dressing
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, softened
1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
4 slices OSCAR MAYER Smoked Ham, chopped 4 slices OSCAR MAYER Hard Salami, chopped
large thin wheat snack crackers

Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 350ºF.
2 – Combine olives and dressing.
3 – Mix next 4 ingredients; spread onto bottom of 9-inch pie plate.
4 – Bake 15 to 20 min. or until heated through. Top with olive mixture. Serve with crackers.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1: Use Your Microwave
Spread cheese mixture onto bottom of 9-inch microwaveable pie plate. Microwave on HIGH 3 to 5 min. or until heated through. Carefully remove from microwave. (Plate will be hot.) Top with olive mixture.

Tip 2: Serving Suggestion
Serve with thin wheat snack crackers or RITZ Crackers. Or Pita chips–that’s what I like.

To get all the nutritional info, CLICK HERE and head over to Kraft Recipes. I’m also celebrating the paperback release of my newest Harlequin Desire title, BILLIONAIRE COUNTRY. Zoe Parker, the heroine, fell in love with muffuletas when she did a gig in New Orleans and craved the taste when she was pregnant. She found this recipe and chowed down. I can promise that Tucker is a big fan and whenever Deacon and the Sons of Nashville are around, they all beg her to make a quadruple batch for their nomming pleasure. You can click on the cover to go to the Harlequin site to buy the paperback, the ebook, or find the links to other retailers.

Rule Number One:
Never mix business and pleasure.Country music producer Tucker Tate is laser focused. But finding a pregnant runaway bride forces him to slow down. Zoe Parker has a voice like an angel—and nowhere to go. So when he moves her and her baby into his condo, it’s just business…until it’s not. Will broken rules lead to broken hearts? Or is Tucker writing his very own love song?

BILLIONAIRE COUNTRY is part of the Billionaires and Babies mini-series and is book #8 in my Red Dirt Royalty series. If you’ve read or will be reading the book, please give me a virtual hug by leaving a review on Goodreads or the retail site where you bought the book. I promise lots of virtual hugs back! ❤

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Normal

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Silver James

You know that friend that you really like but have to explain to all your other friends why you are friends with that person? Yeah…that would be me. I never really fit in anywhere but seemed to have friends, and even a few best friends. This did not change as I matured. Mainly because I’m a bit of a Peter Pan and I still don’t want to grow up. So anyway, I’m weird. I admit it. I’m good with being weird. Mostly. Being the weird one has helped me create characters to write about. Like now.

See, I have this heroine in the next Nightrider book. Her name is Jennifer. She’s in human resources. She drives a VW Bug. She is part of a girl posse but is always the bridesmaid, thrower of showers, and wingman (wingwoman?). Anyway, you know what I mean. She’s the one the boss asks to stay late or come in on weekends. She’s the one her family relies on because their too busy to be arsed. Her story has languished. I knew about her. I just didn’t know what sort of external and internal conflict there was going to be. Then this little message from the Universe dropped into my inbox.

If you only knew, Silver, how normal you were when you thought you were weird.

How strong you were when you thought you were weak.

And how ready you were when you thought you weren’t.

You’d think again, oh Great One Revered by All in the Unseen –
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

Not normal normal, Silver, awesome normal. And ready ready.

I’d like to say it was a light bulb moment but Iffy hasn’t paid the electric bill in awhile. Still, I now have a real handle on Jen. She’s a people pleaser. And she’s the odd woman out. And she thinks she’s totally weird. Except she isn’t. And Wizard is going to convince her of that. Because those of us who are weird get our happy ever afters too.

And yeah, I know I’m not the only weird one out here. I have weird friends and I adore each of you! Psst. You know who you are.

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Wednesday Words: Pick Sick

Posted on February 27, 2019 by Silver James

Another week, another Wednesday. Since I was under the weather last week when picking the #1lineWed theme for Twitter, you can guess which direction I went. I was, by far, too clever. 😆 As I’ve been sharing snippets from various books in my Moonstruck world, based on the Wolf of the Week, I discovered that neither Hawk Greenwood nor Dana Peterson got sick in RESCUE MOON. The closest I could come is Hawk’s excuse for “personal leave” while he was working black ops.
****
But here he was in the middle of the Mexican desert running a solo op.

General Donovan, and then Duke Thornton, who’d been apprised of the mission but not of Hawk’s unique capabilities, promised the cavalry would be there if he needed them. Hawk had five minutes with Ghost Bryson before climbing into the unmarked Blackhawk chopper. Ghost didn’t say much but his eyes spoke volumes. Yeah, those guys would have his six even if they had to walk through hell to get there.

There wasn’t much he could do until sundown so he settled in to watch and wait. This was mostly high desert country with mountains and valleys. The official story was that his aging grandfather had taken ill and the family requested he take emergency family leave to head home to Oklahoma. If anyone in the Pentagon checked, Hawk would have to come up with a sick grandfather. His real grandfather was pushing 100, still ran a mile a day—in wolf form granted—and was the terror of the tribal senior citizens center.

Hawk was a full-blood Choctaw Indian. While he’d parachuted in wearing desert ACUs, he’d changed into worn jeans and a chambray shirt. He spoke enough Spanish he could pass for a local if he had to. He didn’t plan on having to. Throughout the day, he watched the changing guards and the over-all lax security around the hacienda. He’d expected adobe walls at the very least. Nope. This was a high-end luxury villa with swimming pool, tennis court, and a freaking nine-hole golf course. From the looks of things, the cartel was building another nine holes to create a regulation course.

There were girls in and around the pool but none of them matched the photo he’d studied during the flight. These women drank, snorted lines of coke, and sunbathed topless. Hawk started to worry. Had they already killed her? Or shipped her off for the sex trade?

His claws burst through his fingertips at that thought. Holy fuck! His wolf did not like that one iota. Hell, neither did he. Women were to be respected. And protected. He grinned at that. His grandmother would chase him all the way to the state line just for voicing that sentiment, and there’d be hell to pay if she caught him. He missed his family. Maybe he’d go by the home place outside of Tishomingo on his way back to Fort Bragg.

Shadows flicked across his vision and he looked up. A kettle of six vultures soared on air thermals. If they thought he’d be easy pickings, they were in for a rude awakening. Movement around the pool pulled his attention back to the hacienda. Two men, one carrying a covered tray, were headed to the pool cabana. The man with the automatic rifle slung over his back stopped and unlocked the door. Now that was interesting. Hawk grabbed his binoculars.
****
How are y’all feeling? I’m slowly getting better. Cough is most gone but my energy levels are still pretty sucky. Writers, are your characters healthy? If not, share some sick words with us! Also, if you haven’t read RESCUE MOON, which is me getting to take my Wolves into Susan Stoker’s Special Forces: Operation Alpha world for some fun and games, CLICK HERE for the buy link. It’s also free to read on Kindle Unlimited.

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Tuesday Treats: Buffalo Chicken Dip

Posted on February 26, 2019 by Silver James

Baseball. Basketball. Soccer. Whatever your sport of choice, this dip is perfect to whip together from some yummy munching while cheering on your favorite team.

Total time: 30 Mins
Prep time: 10 Mins
Cook: 20 Mins
Combine cream cheese, blue cheese, ranch dressing and hot sauce give this hearty baked Buffalo chicken dip a familiar flair. Try it today!

What You Need

2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup KRAFT Classic Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup KRAFT Natural Blue Cheese Crumbles
1 Tbsp. chopped green onions

Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 350ºF.
2 – Combine all ingredients except onions in medium bowl. Spoon into shallow baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
3 – Bake 20 min. or until heated through; stir.
4 – Sprinkle with onions.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1: Substitute Buffalo wing sauce for the hot pepper sauce.

Tip 2: Variation – Prepare using your favorite combination of KRAFT Ranch or Blue Cheese Dressing, and KRAFT Shredded Cheese.

Tip 3: Serving Suggestion Serve with your favorite crackers and/or cut-up fresh vegetables.

CLICK HERE to get all the pertinent information on this Kraft recipe. Dana Peterson, rescued from a drug cartel in Mexico by her hunky SpecOps Wolf, Hawk Greenwood, brought her Northeastern tastes for Buffalo wings to Southeast Oklahoma. She makes this dip all the time for Hawk, his buddies, and his grandfather. If you’d like to read Hawk and Dana’s story, which is part of the Special Forces: Operation Alpha series (as well as tied to my Moonstruck worlds), you can read it for free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Just click on the cover to go grab your copy. It’s also available in print. Are you like Dana? Do you enjoy your dips spicy?

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Monday’s Like That

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Silver James

How can this be the last week of February? I mean, I know this is a short month but duuuude! It just ain’t right that this month is gone. Dang it. Time is flying too freaking fast. I need to slow it down so I can catch up. Today’s update is a quicky because life is short and mine’s been totally boring.

First…BASEBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I ❤ the St. Louis Cardinals. But I'll watch anyone play baseball. And Spring Training games are starting and they…are…TELEVISED! Can i get an amen? Okay, yes, extreme but BASEBALLLLL!!!!!

Okay. Writing. Still not talking about that. Just…no. Next week, maybe.

Reading. OMGWTFBBQ! Kristen Ashley's Honey Club series is some seriously hot shitstuff. I’m not sure what that says about this old lady who is now considering opening up a YouTube channel called Granny Panty’s Bedtime Stories wherein I read sexy passages for fun and titilation. Yeah…no. But this books? Wowser. And the characters? So damaged and so redeemed and so perfect. *happy sigh* I may have to take time off for a couple days once I finish just to recuperate.

TV. BASEBALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh. I said that already. This week “The Masked Singer” comes to an end. It’s been awesome covered in crazysauce. I’ve even guessed a couple of the unmasked singers before the masks came off. Down to three now and we’ll see. Also, “Live PD.” I need to keep a pen and pad handy so I can write down the best lines because I never remember them later and I’m too interested in watching to get up and find something to write on. It’s even the same when I’m catching them on DVR.

I still have the last vestiges of the crud. Not hacking a lung up but I wheeze when I lay down and the sound bugs me. I’m still coughing but not hard or often. Still getting a few hot flashes followed by chills. Aches are mostly gone. The big thing in energy level. I’m good for about 20 minutes and then…zip. I got nada. I’m ready for it to go away.

We enjoyed having Big Foot for a sleepover Saturday night. He came after dinner, played Hot Wheels with his Big Daddy, then he got his Wookie pjs on, crawled up in the bed in “his” toy room (the guest room but yeah, pretty much his toy room 😆 ) and was asleep in 15 minutes. His mother isn’t speaking to me. 😉 Part of it was a full day of activities including a birthday party. We got up this morning and met for breakfast at a favorite place for the hostage handover. I think the kids enjoyed their free night.

And that’s it for me. What’s good…or bad…going on in your worlds?

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Friday Sinema: Good Vibrations

Posted on February 22, 2019 by Silver James

I never know what I’m going to tumble across when I tiptoe through the tulips that make up the internet. I tripped over this YouTube video containing vintage footage and soundtrack of one of my favorite Beach Boy songs from back in the day. On this last Friday before my next birthday, I’m getting all nostalgic. Take a walk through history with me and enjoy! (And yeah, it all looks familar–from the cars to the clothes.) Have a great weekend!

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Connections

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Silver James

As most of you know, I’m really big on series–reading them and writing them. The best series, to me, include lots of connections. This is obvious in my Moonstruck world. I have three series set there, plus stand-alone books that might or might not be set in another author’s world with connections to that writer’s characters. I also include connections to characters in my other series. And as the Universe points out, when all those connecting lines and inciting incidents, all those interconnected plot points and relationships all come together, yeah. It’s pretty fantastic. And romantic. 😉

Have you stopped to consider that it’s life’s “disconnects,” “almosts,” and “not quites,” Silver, that make life’s “connections,” “gotchas,” and “eurekas” so fantastically romantic?

Good, because they were your idea.

Wild thing,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®
Silver, you make my heart sing.

The interesting thing is? All those connections work in real life too. All the ins and outs, the coincidental meetings, the friends of friends. They’re like the notes and words to a familiar song that we all know the words to. On that note, 10 points to the reader who gets the Universe’s connection to classic rock. 😉

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Wednesday Words: Clothes/Clothing

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Silver James

Another Wednesday, another #1lineWed with a wide-open theme. I mean, everyone wears clothes, right? And clothing is often part of a narrative. Unless the characters are nekkid.

Anyway, keeping up with my weekly theme of introducing a Wolf, we click over to the next book in the Nightriders MC series, NIGHT FALL, which is Digger and Shy’s story. Digger was hurt and the Russian forced him to change into his wolf. Who then went crazypants and claimed Shy. Sadly, Digger was pretty much out of things so…GUILT! *bwahaha* Anyway, here’s a little snippet after all that happened. Digger will show up on FB the rest of this week so head on over to check him out.
****
“I want to see her.” My voice was still raspy and I wasn’t sure I could stand without help but I had to see her. My wolf had to see her. I was so totally fucked but I was too tired to fight the mating any more. I’d been pretty much out of my mind with pain when my wolf took over and charged into that room. I wasn’t sure what he’d done but evidently he’d claimed Shy. How, I didn’t know. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way.

The Russian’s hand fell away and then he and Hardy hauled me to my feet. It took a long fucking time to walk from the infirmary in the clubhouse, across the courtyard to the Barracks. Thank fuck my room was on the first floor. Domino was there, butt plastered to the dresser that held my big screen. I still growled. He held up both hands before pointing one finger to the bed.

Shy lay in the middle of my king-sized mattress, wearing what better be one of my T-shirts. Her hair was wet and that got a snarl. Then I caught the smell of wet leather and cloth. The clothes she’d been wearing and her boots were in my bathroom, soaked. Still, Hardy had to strip her down to put her in my tee.

“Medic,” Hardy reminded me.

And yeah, he was. He’d treated more than one mate, not that any mated Wolf was down with that shit but whatever. He always treated our women with respect. “Thanks.”

He flashed me a quick grin at how gruff I sounded. He helped me over to the bed and I sank down on the edge. Shy was on her side, one hand tucked under her pallid cheek. Hardy hadn’t removed the band holding her hair in that ponytail. Her other arm curved around her stomach, pale skin mottled with lines and bruises against the stark contrast of my black tee. Fuck. I’d done that to her.

Hardy squeezed my shoulder. “Sit here with her. Domino will go grab you something to eat. Then I want you to change back to wolf.”

I was afraid to touch her. I could smell a trace of the sedative Hardy had dosed her with but I didn’t want to wake her. Domino shuffled out then returned a few minutes later with a couple of half-pounder burgers. I scarfed them down, drank a liter of water, stripped out of the gym shorts I wore, and shifted. Someone had dragged in a huge dog bed. My wolf ignored it, climbing very carefully onto the bed and after turning around three times, we settled at Shy’s back, chin resting on her hip.
****
If you haven’t read the book and are interested, click on the book cover over there on the right. You can still read it free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription but I’m probably going to take them wide sooner than later. (Like in two days…but if you download it before it comes of KDP Unlimited, you can still read free.) Writers, do you have any dressed-up words to share? Readers, do you think I should take the Nightrider books wide? That means iBooks, Kobo, B&N, etc.

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Tuesday Treats: Bacon Buffalo Chicken Bites

Posted on February 19, 2019 by Silver James

Today’s treat is perfect for parties, snacks, and any occasion when you want spicy-good easy-to-eat yummies.

Total time: 1 Hr 3 Mins
Prep time: 35 Mins
Cook time: 28 Mins
Please the whole crowd with Bacon-Wrapped Buffalo Chicken Bites! Nothing better on game day than these awesome Bacon-Wrapped Buffalo Chicken Bites.

What You Need
1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 48 pieces
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cut into 48 pieces
1 pkg. (16 oz.) OSCAR MAYER Bacon, cut into thirds
1/2 cup Buffalo wing sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 400ºF.
2 – Top each chicken piece with cream cheese piece; wrap with 1 bacon piece. Secure with wooden toothpicks; place on foil-covered rimmed baking sheet.
3 – Bake 15 to 18 min. or until chicken is done. (Bacon will not be crisp.)
4 – Mix wings sauce and sugar until blended; brush onto bacon-wrapped bundles. Bake 8 to 10 min. or until bacon is crisp, and sauce is hot and bubbly.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1: Substitute HEINZ Tomato Ketchup for the wings sauce.

Leigh’s Tips: Set out a bunch of dipping sauces – bleu cheese dressing, bourbon BBQ sauce, regular BBQ sauce, and more wing sauce. The Nightrider’s prefer Franks Wing Sauce.

CLICK HERE for all the details over at Kraft Recipes. These yummies are courtesy of Leigh Daniels, the heroine of NIGHT FIRE and Smoke Jenner’s mate. She goes through pounds of chicken and bacon whenever there’s a party at the Nightrider compound. If you haven’t read the story of the arsonist and the arson investigator, click on the book cover and check out NIGHT FIRE. Free to read on Kindle Unlimited, at least for a little while longer.

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Presidential Monday

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Silver James

So…another Monday holiday. Presidents’ Day, here in the States. Sales, no mail, no banking, no courts. No school. Whooppee.

Okay, that sounds a little something. Not down, not pessimistic. Just…factual. Because many of the writers I know don’t do Monday holidays. Or most holidays when it comes down to it. If we aren’t actually writing, we’re editing. Or marketing. Or thinking about that next scene/book/character. That’s what I’m doing today. It’s like we work retail, only we don’t have to put up with crowds. We get the demanding and irate customers but they aren’t close enough to get in our faces. And we can wear our jammies to work. And don’t have to park at the far ends of the parking lot to get to our office. So there’s that. See? I’m smiling already. 😉

Anyway, there was a weekend. I had my local RWA chapter meeting. We did a little brainstorming. We did some free writing based on scenarios we drew out of a red heart-shaped box because, Valentine’s Day. We had chocolates. And laughter. A good day. And I got a little over 600 words on a story that will probably become a Romance Adventure or Moonstruck Wolf book. My set-up? A man is on a second date with a woman with whom he has no spark and no interest in pursuing any further relationship. Then he meets her sister, and there’s instant chemistry, sparks fly, and he knows that she is The One. Tailor made for a Wolf, right? Yeah, eventually, that one will get written. I never waste words.

I’ve also been doing a re-listen of Kristen Ashley’s two series, Dream Man and Chaos, leading up to the final book, FREE. Which I finished last night. OMGWTFBBQ crazysauce. Totally gets 5 stars for REASONS! (Psst. Some readers HATED this book for…reasons. Me? I’m definitely not one of them. I totally get the way KA writes and I ❤ her all the more for it!) Now I'm staring at my Audible library, along with my Kindle library to see what's next. I'm leaning toward NAKED IN DEATH (because I can't EVER read the newest JD Robb In Death/Eve Dallas book without starting back in the beginning, then probably listen to a couple of Top 5 favorites before settling into two or three of newest books to refresh my memory of "recent events' in Eve and Roarke world. Then I'll settle in with CONNECTIONS IN DEATH.

Once again, I'm not doing much TV watching. I'm just not really in the mood, beyond "Live PD" and "Murder Squad: Atlanta," which is a spin-off of "First 48." I'm totally hooked on LPD but I'm going to have to keep a notebook handy so I can scribble down the best lines of the week to share because…the dumb criminals are dumb and the guys in the studio (Dan, Sticks, and Tom) get all punny and they crack me up.

We're about a week and a half from the first Spring Training games. I'm soooo ready for baseball season. We've caught a couple of college games–baseball AND softball. Yay!

Nd that's pretty much my world at the moment. Weather's running hot and cold–literally. We have a chance of freezing rain tomorrow. I'll have to get my errands run today. I have all-wheel/snow drive on my Highlander. That does not mean that driving on ice is a breeze. Nope. Especially not with all the idiots out and about. On that note, I have things to do, places to be, coffee to drink, and words to write. How was your weekend?

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