Tuesday Treats: Rocky Road Monkey Bread

Posted on October 23, 2018 by Silver James

No need to monkey around with this recipe. 😉 And that’s all I need to say about it.

Prep Time: 15 min.
Total Time: 2 hr. 45 min.
Servings: 12 servings

What You Need
1 can (16.3 oz.) refrigerated biscuits
1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) JELL-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding
1 cup chopped PLANTERS Almonds, divided
1/4 cup butter, melted
1-1/2 cups JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows, divided
2 oz. BAKER’S Bittersweet Chocolate

Make It
Place 2 (30-inch-long) strips of parchment in crisscross pattern in 4-qt. round slow cooker, extending ends of strips over side of slow cooker. Cover bottom of slow cooker with additional sheet of parchment. Place 8-oz. wide-mouth ovenproof glass jar in center of cooker; spray with cooking spray.

Separate biscuits; cut each into quarters. Combine dry pudding mix and 1/2 cup nuts.

Dip half of the biscuit pieces, 1 at a time, in butter, then in pudding mixture, turning to evenly coat each biscuit piece with each ingredient; place around jar in prepared slow cooker. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup marshmallows and 1/4 cup of the remaining nuts. Coat remaining biscuit pieces with remaining butter and remaining pudding mixture as directed; add to slow cooker. Cover with lid.

Cook on HIGH 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Carefully lift insert from slow cooker and rotate 180° before returning to slow cooker. Reduce heat to LOW. Top with remaining marshmallows and nuts; cover with lid. Cook bread additional 30 min. or until done. (Internal temperature of bread should be 200°F). Let bread stand (covered) in slow cooker 15 min. Carefully remove glass jar from cooker. Use parchment handles to transfer bread from slow cooker to wire rack; cool slightly.

Melt bittersweet chocolate as directed on package; drizzle over bread. Serve warm.

Y’all know the drill to get all the nutritional details. Just CLICK HERE. I’ll give you three guesses who shared this recipe and the first two don’t count. Y’all won’t believe it, considering her ability to burn water, but a sorority sister showed her how to make this nibbly treat in college and it’s one of the few things our intrepid FBI agent can make. And yes, she teases Caleb, her FBI partner, that werewolves can’t eat chocolate, and he quickly corrects her with the growled reminder that he is not a dog. You can start Sade’s story with THAT OL’ BLACK MAGIC. Just click on the cover to go to the page with all the buy links because it’s available at most on-line stores. And for those of you who don’t know Sade? She’s Special Agent Sade Marquis–a human FBI agent with an X-Files mentality. It’s her job to deal with all the monsters–under the bed and in it. Just ask Sinjen. 😉 Go click. You know you want to read this book. 😀

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Four Mondays Should be Enough

Posted on October 22, 2018 by Silver James

October has five Mondays. Today is only #4. There’s just so much…wrong there. 😆 And I took yesterday off. I lazed in bed, watched a bit of nothing, listened to a book to the end, started the next in the series, and ignored work–including setting up this post like I normally. Now I feel guilty. So a quick rundown, in case anyone is playing our at-home game…

Sports were slightly better. I’ll watch the World Series. OU got their mojo back and beat TCU. OSU had the weekend off. Purdue is my new fav collegiate team. They beat the other OSU. Unranked Purdue beat #2 the Ohio State.

Writing? No comment. Except National Novel Writing Month starts in just under two weeks. I really need to get my shit together.

Reading: Or lately, listening. I’m on book 4 of Kristen Ashley’s Fantasyland series. I’m a bit up and down on the books. Fantasyland is a parallel universe to Earth, where many of the people “here” have twins there. There has magic and is sort of an 18th/19th century version when it comes to living conditions. Lots of royal political intrigue, horses, fancy clothes, and a mash-up of any given Disney movie and Game of Thrones. Upcoming, new releases in Nalini Singh’s Archangel/Guildhunter series and Ilona Andrew’s Hidden Legacy series. There’s something else on my wish list but I don’t remember off the top of my head at the moment.

TV: About the same. Live PD, though I have Nathan Fillion’s new show, “The Rookie,” DVR’d and need to get it watched. Also, I’m behind on “Mayans MC.” I just haven’t been in the mood.

I actually made it to the OKRWA meeting Saturday. It was fun to reconnect with my local romance writing buddies. I’m teaching next month so I’ll definitely be there. LOL What am I teaching? Setting up and using a series/book bible. I learned by trial-and-error.

That’s it for me. How about y’all? Any news to impart? How did your week go? What’s on tap for this week?

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Friday Sinema: Zurcaroh Wow!

Posted on October 19, 2018 by Silver James

I’m a sucker for Cirque du Soliel and other dance/acrobatic groups. I’m not a big fan of the reality talent shows, though I do tune in to Dancing With the Stars from time to time because I am a sucker for dance. Take about 8 minutes, sit back, and enjoy the heck out of this Brazilian (I think? Because I don’t read Portuguese…) troupe as they amaze you with their talent. Here’s hoping you dance through your weekend.

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Time Management

Posted on October 18, 2018 by Silver James

How many times do each of of us say, “I need more hours in a day?” Or, “Where’s the time gone?” I certainly do, far more often than I should because I’m huge on procrastinating, pushing up against deadlines, and taking on way more than I should, given the actual time restraints. But at the same time, the Universe has a point.

There’s so much time in a day, Silver.

You could have breakfast, lunch, and dinner on 3 different continents.

You could outline the book you’re going to write, start the screenplay adaptation, and watch “Gone With The Wind,” before the sun even sets.

Spend a day at work, and still have 16 hours left over.

Or you could just think 60,000 different thoughts as you tool all over your hometown.

Hey, the record for climbing Mt. Everest is under 9 hours, leaving 15 to nap and go Yeti searching. There’s so much time in a day, PJ. So much.

You’re rich,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

Especially, Silver, when one stops claiming there’s so little of it, huh?

This always puts me in mind of an old song by the Byrds, the lyrics taken from a passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testiment. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” I’m not huge on religion, but I’ll take good advice where I find it. I need to work on my time management, and I need to remember that each thing in its own time. What about you? Do you procrastinate? Keep to a tight schedule? Or just roll with the flow like the Universe does?

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Wednesday Words: Voice Lessons

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Silver James

Wednesday has rolled around with a hint of frost and fallish days. I’ve VOICED my love of all things Fall. As you might have guessed, **VOICE** is the theme for #1lineWed today. I don’t think I’ve posted this snippet from LEATHER AND LACE, the next Penumbra book, here. It was written for a #flashfiction challenge some time back. Before anyone (lookin’ at you Patti) freaks out, yes, Sade and Sinjen are fighting. Yes, it starts with something as simple as Sade freaking out over something because…well, she’s Sade. At least, she has friends, right?
****
The front door slammed hard enough the windows rattled.

“Well, that went well.”

Ariel stared at Caleb like the werewolf had two heads. “Seriously?”

Caleb lifted one shoulder in a shrug the fae couldn’t decide was negligent or arrogant. “You know what Sade is like when she’s pissed.”

“I fucking heard that!” The subject of their conversation stomped into the room. “Why the gawddamned fucking hell are the two of you still standing here? I told you to get the hell out.”

Both men chided her simultaneously. “Language.”

The werewolf caught the scent of her pain while the fae noticed the all but imperceptible wince. Sade glowered, her gaze so withering that had they been plants the two magicks would have shriveled up, died, and blown away like dust in the wind.

“Would you like us to stake him in the heart?” Ari sounded a little too happy to comply.

“Oh fucking to the hell no,” the furious woman yelled. “That doesn’t even come close to what I’ll do that that mother—”

“Sade,” Caleb cut her off, his tone cajoling. “You know you don’t mean that.”

“He slept with her!” The heartbreak in Sade’s voice rocked both magicks back on their heels. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth formed a hard slash across her face. “I am so fucking done with that gawddamned asshole.”

“He’s a vampire.” Ari stated the obvious, as if vampire and asshole were synonyms.

Caleb added in a dry voice, “And now a dead one.”

Sade flung a cushion at Caleb’s head. “Vampires are already dead.”

“Well, sort of. They are undead, not dead, technically speaking.” Caleb barely managed to duck the thick, hardcover book she hurled at him.

Ariel snagged the tome in mid-air. “Hey! That’s a first edition.”

Throwing up her hands, Sade marched to the far end of the room. “I should have seen this coming. He’s a fucking vampire.”

“And a master,” Ari muttered.

“Centuries old. How many gawddamned women has he had? Why the holy fucking hell would he ever settle down with a total bitch like me?”

Werewolf and fae exchanged looks but remained stoically—and wisely—silent.
****
How about y’all? Do you want to voice any concerns? Have want to give your #WIP words a voice? Share!

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Tuesday Treats: Easy Ravioli Lasagna

Posted on October 16, 2018 by Silver James

We set a new record low and a new record low high yesterday. Last night we had frost warnings. It’s time for the ooey-gooey food recipes and I am soooo ready! A lot of times, I’ll toss up a recipe because I want to try it and putting it on the blog is way for me to find it again. You don’t want to see my recipe box. TRUST ME ON THIS!!! Well, with all the early cold, I thought this dish would hit the spot and man, did it! It is Lawyer Guy approved so it’s been added to our rotation of regular recipes.

Prep Time: 25 min.
Total Time: 1 hr. 25 min.
Servings: 12 servings

Bring together two Italian staples with our Easy Ravioli Lasagna. Prep time for this Easy Ravioli Lasagna is just 25 minutes. Buon appetito!

What You Need
1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped (I used julienne carrots already cut, but then chopped them up)
3 cloves garlic, minced (I use the already-minced in a squeeze bottle)
1 jar (24 oz.) OLIVO by CLASSICO Traditional Pasta Sauce
1/2 cup water
2 lb. frozen cheese ravioli, uncooked. Use the large, not mini, frozen ravioli to prepare this delicious recipe. I used the Bertoli fresh ravioli.
1 tub (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese Spread
1/2 cup milk
1-1/2 cups KRAFT Shredded Italian* Five Cheese Blend
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

Make It
Heat oven to 350ºF.

Brown meat with vegetables and garlic in large skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat. Stir in pasta sauce and water; simmer 5 min., stirring occasionally.

Spread half the meat sauce onto bottom of 13×9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; cover with half the ravioli. Whisk cream cheese spread and milk until blended; spread over ravioli. Top with layers of 3/4 cup shredded cheese, and remaining ravioli, meat sauce and cheeses; cover.

Bake 50 min. or until heated through, uncovering for the last 10 min. Let stand 10 min. before cutting to serve.

Note: I used the non-stick variety of foil, but still hit it with cooking spray before using to cover the lasagna. This will help prevent the foil from sticking to the melted cheese on top of the baked lasagna.

I can heartily recommend this recipe. As always, head over to KRAFT RECIPES to get all the extras. This is a dish that any of my characters would chow down on. When I asked who’d made it, Lainey Walker Hilton raised her hand. Y’all will remember Lainey from NIGHT MOVES, book 2 in my Nightriders MC series. She and Hollywood are raising her twin brothers and the men in her life love this dish. She has to double the recipe because a Wolf and two growing teens? Yeah… You can read Lainey’s and Hollywood’s love story by clicking on the cover. If you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you can read for free.

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Monday Chills

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Silver James

So…there was a week. And a weekend. Broke down and turned on the heater and donned my light-weight Harley hoody. It’s not Winter yet because I’m still in flip-flops rather than my fuzzy-slipper boots. I remember the days when my feet used to freeze. I rather miss them. Of course, it saves on the heating bill in the winter.

Not much went on. Little writing. Some audio book listening. Some disappointments on the baseball diamond and the football field. Sleeping late a few mornings. Forgetting a few things. Remembering other things that probably should have been forgotten.

I do think I’ve figured out the problem I was having with the rewrite of The Tornado Twins, which is the working title for Cooper’s book. I have every intention of putting the fix in place starting today. Hopefully, that will get me off high center on the other projects.

Speaking of getting creative, someone special sent me a surprise–a very funny coloring book and colored pencils. It was while coloring in the very adult book that the idea of rearranging things in TTT so thanks to her for that! She knows who she is. 😉

Boy, but my life is so…blah. 😆

And on that note, I’ll let you get back to your lives which have to be far more interesting than mine. It’s all good. This is a new week and I’m ready to get on with it. How about y’all?

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Friday Sinema: Dog Approved

Posted on October 12, 2018 by Silver James

Ya know, I think it’s time for some smiles, a few chuckles, maybe even a laugh out loud. I know I can identify with so many of these plus fuzzypups! Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, sit back with your feet up, and take 6 minutes out of your busy day to relax and enjoy. You’re welcome.

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal…Dragon?

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Silver James

Normally, I use these messages from the Universe to muse a bit, wax a tad philosophical, to apply it to writing in general, or my writing in particular. Writing has been a chore of late, confined mostly to flash fiction challenges and/or writing prompts. Thing is, a particular character keeps popping up. And then this message hit my inbox and since Nikos Constantine happens to transform into a silver dragon, I started laughing.

Sometimes, Silver, instead of running from something scary in your life, it’s easier to learn not to be scared of it.

Let it stay. Pull up a chair. Share some iced tea.

Tallyho,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®
Besides, Silver, you’re bigger… and you have wings.

Y’all should have seen Sade’s face. 😉 So, what “monster” makes you run?

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Wednesday Words: Take the Challenge

Posted on October 10, 2018 by Silver James

Do you know what day it is? Of course you do! It’s Wednesday and that means the #1lineWed CHALLENGE over on Twitter. Will you take the CHALLENGE and share some CHALENGING words from your WIP? I’m in the middle of so many different projects that I reached back to an open WIP–the Russian’s book. This is one of those puzzle-piece scenes that Iffy and I sometimes write. I don’t know what led up to this, but I know what happens after.

At the moment, Russki’s woman’s name is Grace. That’s subject to change. This is the moment she accepts what’s happening…

Grace
This would be a long, uncomfortable ride—one I didn’t want to embark on—but I had no choice. My lungs seized, much like they had in middle school when I contracted pneumonia and had to spend a week in the hospital. Just thinking about breathing hurt. Again, I had no choice. I inhaled and his scent filled the ache in my chest. I had no words to describe it—untamed, ferocious, willful. Pale words in the face of the reality that was the Russian. My brain couldn’t separate his scent into components I could identify. Normal men smelled like pine woods or salty sea or whatever pretend scents were in their cologne.

This man smelled like…life. Full. Rich. Spicy. He smelled of leather and sex and the wind in autumn and it took every ounce of my self-control not to sink to my knees in front of him, bow my head, and pray he would accept my sacrifice.

I was a smart woman. Allegedly. And a strong one. I had my JD and practiced law. I stood up to chauvinists within the system, to brutal soon-to-be-ex husbands, to the criminals I defended when they crossed the line. Such was life as a Legal Aid lawyer. I didn’t get to choose my clients.

I didn’t get to choose him, either. This man overwhelmed. Tall, broad, muscular—the ripples of his abs visible through his tee shirt—and he simply took over everything. He walked into a room and men dropped their eyes, afraid to challenge him. Women swarmed to him, that primeval urge to mate with the strongest male rampant in their hormones.

Locking my knees, I raised my chin. Resistance would be futile in the end, but I had to attempt to stand up for myself, to not be bowled over by the sheer force of this man.

“Sergei—”

His hand cupping my cheek silenced what I was about to say. The tenderness of his touch, in his expression, undid me, and I lost the words again. I gazed into his eyes, caught for a heartbeat. Two. A hundred, before they shuttered, but I saw.

I looked at the others. Tough men. And violent. I saw the scars that they hid from the world. Each and every one. For one brief moment, their souls were laid bare, those scars ten times worse than any normal human being could survive. What monsters lived in the shadows of their world that would put such stains on their psyches? Could I face those horrors and survive?

“Volk vsegda zashchishchayet svoyu kotenka.” Sergei murmured the words in his native Russian. I looked at him helplessly, unable to translate.

“The Wolf always protects his kitten.”

I knew then. I did have a choice. I could accept this man, with all his scars, or I could walk away. But no matter what I did, where I went, he would be there in my shadows. Guarding. Protecting. I took his hand, nodded.

“We ride.”
****
So, will you take a ride and join the challenge? Writers, share your character’s challenge. Readers, what do you think happened right before this scene?

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