Friday Recipe: Vegetable Soup

Healthy! Not exactly a word that's bandied around this time of year, but after eating entirely too much over Thanksgiving, I thought I'd post a light, healthy recipe!

Beaker's Vegetable Barley Soup

Ingredients:

2 quarts vegetable broth 1 cup uncooked barley 2 large carrots, chopped 2 stalks celery, chopped 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice 1 zucchini, chopped 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained 1 onion, chopped

3 bay leaves 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon white sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon dried parsley 1 teaspoon curry powder 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1.

Pour the vegetable broth into a large pot. Add the barley, carrots, celery, tomatoes, zucchini, garbanzo beans, onion, and bay leaves. Season with garlic powder, sugar, salt, pepper, parsley, curry powder, paprika, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 90 minutes. The soup will be very thick. You may adjust by adding more broth or less barley if desired. Remove bay leaves before serving.

Breathless Press Presents...

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1/2 off Cyber Monday only! November 26, 2012

On Monday November 26 from 12:00 am EST  thru 11:59 pm my Hellfire Club Erotique books will be 50% off at All Romance eBooks.

The Escape:

Gabrielle Bertrand believed the men she loved had been beheaded during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. Now promised in marriage to a general of the revolution, she still fears for her life and has resigned herself to the union.

And then fate intervenes and she sees Eric LeClaire and André St. Germaine again. Eric and André have spent the last two years searching for Gabrielle, terrified she’d been killed during one of the revolution’s roundups. Now that they’ve found her again, neither will let her go.

But with National Police after them, and years spent apart, will Gabrielle return to her lovers? Or will all three of them face the wrath of Madame Guillotine?

The Masque:

Olivia Reynard must leave Paris tonight. It's the height of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror and as a nobleman's daughter, she knows it's a matter of time before she's sent to the guillotine. Fleeing to the notorious Hellfire Club, she soon finds a world of sexual pleasure she's never imagined.

Comte Sebastian de Courville has promised to help Olivia get out of Paris, but he didn't expect such instant attraction to the beautiful maiden. He wants to show her every pleasure known, but time is short and their lives are in ever increasing danger. And then there's his lover...

Julien Laruent has survived the treacherous streets of a Paris in turmoil. Now permanently ensconced in the Hellfire Club, he hasn't look back on that time. A dangerous man to have in one's bed, he took one look at Olivia and vowed to keep her safe.

But when old enemies exact vengeance and Madame Guillotine an ever present threat, will the three of them survive long enough to find love?

Aycliff's Vow:

He’s not a man to easily give up and he’ll use that relentless drive to find her.

And Miss Elizabeth Darton knows that. The shadows hide her well and she uses them to stay one step ahead of those who want to see her dead. Uses them to hide even from the only man she’s ever loved. She knows she no longer belongs in his life, but cannot bring herself to sever all connection and disappear forever.

Callum, the Earl of Aycliff, will track down those responsible for the disappearance of his fiancé no matter what it takes, even if it means enlisting the help of the infamous Hellfire Club to find her. The Club offers a variety of decadent pleasures, but his only interest is to acquire any and all information to aid in his quest to find his Elizabeth.

He’s vowed never to give up on finding her, and it’s the one vow he’ll never break.

Devil's Pawn:

Half-Turkish merchant, Malik Trent, has joined the Hellfire Club to foster trading contacts. The fact that the Hellfire Club is London’s most notorious sex club has its own allure. However, when he spots Graham Rawley he doesn’t bargain for the appeal of the other man.

Graham has his own problems, but has fatalistically accepted them. He’s going to enjoy his last days on Earth, and is using the Hellfire Club to do it. But when Trent learns what devil is after Graham, he refuses to let his lover accept his fate.

As they follow the trail of death and deceit surrounding Graham, they learn all the secrets certain members of the Hellfire Club have fought—and killed—to keep hidden. Trent won’t allow Graham to be the next to die, but will he be the target instead?

And as a special special, 20% off Seduction of my Proper Wife: A Victorian Ménage at the Parisian Exposition.

Philip Thornton only wanted to help his frigid wife enjoy their marriage bed.

Lillian agreed, but once freed from her past, hadn't expected such a fierce transformation.

Aria was paid to educate and entice, but what she found was more than she ever dreamed possible.

The Parisian Exposition of 1889...the world is changing and the three of them are caught in its whirl. Philip and Lillian went to Paris to save their marriage and to help Lillian overcome her fears. Aria danced and seduced Lillian, but before Lillian left, Aria found herself seduced, in turn, by the beautiful Englishwoman.

When Philip and Lillian break all the rules and escort Aria around Paris for a week, will it be the beginning of their future? Or will this seductive interlude be nothing more than a dream?

Cyber Monday

The Monday after Thanksgiving and Black Friday, Cyber Monday is all about the online deals. (And a new movement to improve working conditions) So this year, on Monday, November 26 all day from 12:00-11:59 my Hellfire Club Erotique series will be 50% off at All Romance eBooks!

The Escape: But with National Police after them, and years spent apart, will Gabrielle return to her lovers?
The Masque: But when old enemies exact vengeance and Madame Guillotine an ever present threat, will the three of them survive long enough to find love?
Aycliff's Vow: He’s vowed never to give up on finding her, and it’s the one vow he’ll never break.
Devil's Pawn: Trent won’t allow Graham to be the next to die, but will he be the target instead?

Seduction of my Proper Wife: A Victorian Menage at the Parisian Exposition is 20% off! When Philip and Lillian break all the rules and escort Aria around Paris for a week, will it be the beginning of their future? Or will this seductive interlude be nothing more than a dream?

Support Small Business Saturday

Saturday, November 24, 2012 is Small Business Saturday® – a day to celebrate and support small businesses and all they do for their communities.

Shop local! Shop small businesses! Why am I such a big advocate of this? Because the money small businesses earn is spent locally, thereby helping YOUR community, not the corporate headquarters in wherever for a company that pays a fraction of the taxes you do.

Read this on Why Buy Locally Owned? for some great reasons to keep your money local!

Top Ten reasons to Think Local - Buy Local - Be Local

1. Buy Local -- Support yourself
   
2. Support community groups
3. Keep our community unique
4. Reduce environmental impact
5. Create more good jobs
6. Get better service
7. Invest in community
8. Put your taxes to good use
9. Buy what you want, not what someone wants you to buy
10. Encourage local prosperity

 From Karen Mills, SBA Administrator Shop Small on Saturday, November 24th 2012

In between the Black Friday sales and the Cyber Monday deals is Small Business Saturday (November 24^th) – a day set aside to support the small businesses that play a vital role in creating jobs and economic opportunities all across the country.
Small businesses are the back bone of our communities. And when we shop small, we not only get great products and services, but we support our neighbors and strengthen our local economies.
Over the last two decades, small and new businesses have been responsible for creating two out of every three net new jobs in the U.S., and today over half of all working Americans own or work for a small business.
Last year, Small Business Saturday gave a boost to many of these Main Street businesses, with more than 100 million Americans shopping at independently-owned small businesses. And this year we can do even better!
So what can you do to participate?

• If you are a business owner, you can receive free Small Business Saturday promotional materials at www.shopsmall.com. You can also make sure you’re prepared for the holiday season by checking out SBA’s advice at www.sba.gov/saturday.
  
• If you are a customer, learn which businesses in your community are participating in Small Business Saturday at www.shopsmall.com.  The website provides information on businesses currently registered and how you can rally your community to support the initiative.

By shopping small, we can help America’s small businesses do what they do best: grow their businesses, create good jobs, and ensure that our communities are vibrant.
I encourage you to join small business owners and the more than one hundred million people who were part of Small Business Saturday last year.
Shop small this holiday season. I know I will.

About the Author

Karen Gordon Mills is the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The SBA helps both Main Street and high-growth small businesses get access to capital, counseling, federal contracts, disaster assistance and more.

Thanksgiving

In my household, Thanksgiving equals food, overindulgence, alcohol, and football (in the background) with Christmas music (in the foreground). So today I thought I'd share some Thanksgiving trivia from the About.com site...if you go there the questions are always in a different order.

Who was the first U.S. President to declare a national day of Thanksgiving?

a) George Washington
b) Abraham Lincoln*
c) Franklin D. Roosevelt
d) Rutherford B. Hayes

Friendly natives from which tribe were invited to the Pilgrims' Thanksgiving celebration?

a) Wampanoag*
b) Iroquois
c) Patauxet
d) Algonquin


In 1941, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution making Thanksgiving Day the fourth Thursday in November rather than the last. What was the purpose of the change?
a) To avoid potential snowstorms in the north.
b) To avoid heavy rains in the south
c) To extend the Christmas shopping season*
d) All of the above.

What did the Pilgrims call their new colony?
a) Plymouth Colony*
b) Jamestown
c) Roanoke
d) Cape Cod

After their first disasterous winter in the colony, the Pilgrims were assisted by a Patauxet Indian who taught them how and where to catch fish and how to fertilize their crops. What was his name?
a) Powhaten.
b) Squanto*
c) Massawippi
d) Pocahontas

What year did the Pilgrims celebrate the first Thanksgiving?
a) 1620
b) 1621*
c) 1622
d) 1630

When do Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving?

a) Same as in the U.S.

b) Second Monday of November

c) Second Monday of October *
d) Fourth Thursday of October

What was the name of the ship the Pilgrims took to reach America?
a) The Speedwell
b) The Bounty
c) The Godspeed
d) The Mayflower *

How many days did the first Thanksgiving last?
a) 2
b) 3 *
c) 5
d) 5

Who was the governor of the Plymouth Colony at the time of the first Thanksgiving celebration? 
a) Miles Standish
b) John Alden
c) Edward Southworth
d) William Bradford *

Historic people with disabilities

I hadn't planned a post for today but read this on BBC and thought I'd share. You can read the entire article here, it's pretty interesting but here are a few highlights:

• Henricus Dandolo or Enrico Dandolo--Doge of the Republic of Venice from 1192, Dandolo led the Fourth Crusade - an expedition intended to conquer Muslim Egypt - to Constantinople. His armies smashed the heart of the Christian Byzantine Empire. He achieved all this when he was in his 90s. And he had been blind for more than two decades.

• King John of Bohemia died on horseback in the thick of the Battle of Crecy against the English, having been blind for over a decade.

• Lord Horatio Nelson--He lost the sight in his right eye during the siege of Calvi, in Corsica, in 1794 and his right arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife three years later.

Recipe: Thanksgiving Desserts

Yes, I know it's not Friday, but Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and for such a holiday (or any holiday really) you need a dessert. Now there are tons of things you can have for a Thanksgiving dessert, but alas, we're going traditional here.

Mrs. Sigg's Fresh Pumpkin Pie

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour

Ready In: 14 Hours 40 Minutes Servings: 8

Ingredients:

1 sugar pumpkin 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie 2 eggs 1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

Directions:

1.	Cut pumpkin in half and remove seeds. Place cut side down on a cookie sheet lined with lightly oiled aluminum foil. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the flesh is tender when poked with a fork. Cool until just warm. Scrape the pumpkin flesh from the peel. Either mash, or puree in small batches in a blender. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C.)
2.	In a large bowl, slightly beat eggs. Add brown sugar, flour, salt, 2 cups of the pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and evaporated milk. Stir well after each addition.
3.	Pour mixture into the unbaked pastry shell. Place a strip of aluminum foil around the edge of the crust to prevent over browning.
4.	Bake 10 minutes at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C), then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake an additional 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove the strip of foil about 20 minutes before the pie is done so that the edge of the crust will be a light golden brown. Cool pie, and refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

 

Writing and Christmas shopping

I know what you're thinking, Christmas shopping? But it is that time of the year and if you've watched even a second of TV you probably saw a Christmas commercial. It's overbearing, I agree. Which is why I've been shopping all year, finding things I know the family & friends will like and storing it away until the time when I can give their gifts. I find it saves money and sanity.

Which is just as well, as I have a lot of writing to do. I really want to finish both menage stories by year's end, but find time rapidly slipping away. Amazing how that happens.

How are you coping with the holidays? Shopping, cooking, baking, surviving?

Friday Recipe: Thanksgiving Turkey

There are those who don't like turkey, and for them there are a wide variety of other foods many families make on Thanksgiving. However, for the traditionalists, here's a delicious recipe on making a juicy and tasty turkey.

Rosemary Roasted Turkey

Prep Time: 25 Minutes Cook Time: 4 Hours

Ready In: 4 Hours 45 Minutes Servings: 16

Ingredients:

3/4 cup olive oil 3 tablespoons minced garlic 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning 1 teaspoon ground black pepper salt to taste 1 (12 pound) whole turkey

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2.	In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, basil, Italian seasoning, black pepper and salt. Set aside.
3.	Wash the turkey inside and out; pat dry. Remove any large fat deposits. Loosen the skin from the breast. This is done by slowly working your fingers between the breast and the skin. Work it loose to the end of the drumstick, being careful not to tear the skin.
4.	Using your hand, spread a generous amount of the rosemary mixture under the breast skin and down the thigh and leg. Rub the remainder of the rosemary mixture over the outside of the breast. Use toothpicks to seal skin over any exposed breast meat.
5.	Place the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan. Add about 1/4 inch of water to the bottom of the pan. Roast in the preheated oven 3 to 4 hours, or until the internal temperature of the bird reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C).

#Excerpt: Seduction of my Proper Wife: A Victorian Menage

A short little teaser from my m/f/f historical. Enjoy! This is between the women, Lillian and Aria, so a little f/f loving.

Her hands moved to her breasts, pinching her own nipples as she looked down at Aria. The other woman’s hands rested on her legs, slipped over her hips. One finger found her nub and Lillian cried out.

Moving, she leaned over Aria, pressed closer, removed Aria’s hand from between their bodies. Lillian didn’t know what drew her to do that, didn’t know why she wanted Aria to remain beneath her, to open to her, to accept the pleasure she, Lillian, offered, but she did.

She wanted to control Aria.

It was a quick move, one that brought their nubs hard against each other and had Aria arching upwards, head thrown back, mouth open as she moved harder. Covering Aria’s body, Lillian moved her hips. Compared to the way Aria moved, this felt jerky and awkward, but Aria didn’t seem to notice or mind.

Her nails scraped down Lillian’s sides, her eyes opened and looked into hers, begging. Pleading. A lightning strike of power washed through Lillian and she moved her hips faster. Wanted to see more of that in Aria’s eyes. Wanted to feel the other woman when she orgasmed.

Where to buy:
All Romance
Amazon
Amazon UK
Barnes and Noble

Wednesday Victorian: Nellie Bly and World Travel

November 14, 1889: Nellie Bly was the world famous female journalist who defied convention and did what everyone said she couldn't. Meaning, write meaningful, insightful journalistic reports in a 'man's world'. She exposed corruption, poor working and living conditions, and horrible abuse of the mentally ill. All first hand.


Pft to those naysayers. She certainly showed them, the first female investigative journalist. (Some consider her the pioneer, period.)

And she circumnavigated the world in 72 days. Every read Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days? Or seen one of the three takes on his famous work? Verne published his book in 1873...in 1889 Nellie Bly proved it possible in a shorter amount of time.

The Victorian age was one of innovation, travel, social commentary, and expansion. And women had a very large role in all that. And as Ms. Bly proved, records could be broken and by a woman no less.

This is one of many reasons I enjoy writing in the Victorian era. The change. The world was changing at a rate that it never had before, and everyone was excited.

Fiona McGier and Russian vampires

Prophecy of the Undead by Fiona McGier

Keisha is a neurobiology researcher determined to discover the secret to intelligence to save humanity from itself.  What she learns leads her to realize a bigger threat comes from beyond the stars.  Yuri is a Russian vampire whose long-dead feelings respond to the scientist whose brain he admires but whose curves he can't resist.  Will his love reach the places in her heart that she has ignored for so long?  And can they defeat the prophecy of the undead to find happiness sharing eternity? 

Buy at Eternal Press
Note: paperback will become available in a couple of weeks.

Excerpt:

Keisha wakes up to find herself tied up in the trunk of a car, and futilely tries to escape while the men had to walk to a gas station when they ran out of gas.  They've returned:

     The trunk opened and Keisha closed her eyes, hoping that if she appeared to be still unconscious, they would leave her alone.
She felt the tip of a gun against her cheek as it stroked her face.
     “Aw, she’s still out cold. That’s no fun.”
     “Just feel her up then let’s get out of here. I’m getting a weird feeling that we’re being watched...”
     “By who? There’s no one else out in this God-forsaken...what the fuck?”
     Keisha heard a swooshing sound and opened her eyes to see a blur of movement. There was a snarling growl, combined with the yells of real fear, coming from her two tormentors.
     “Kill the bitch!.”
     She felt the gun stuck into her ribs and held her breath, waiting for death. The gun fired. The bullet tore its way through her skin and chest muscles, burned through her lung, and severed arteries as it lodged in her heart. She found it difficult to let out the breath or to breathe in any more air.
     There was the awful sound of breaking bones...then silence.
Someone leaned over into the trunk and lifted her gently out as if she was as light as a child. She felt herself being laid on the ground and fought to breathe as her blood pulsed out of her through the chest wound, soaking her clothes and making them stick to her. Her rescuer tore through the knots that she was unable to budge. She tried to thank him with her last gasps of air.

     “Tha...thanks.” She choked on her own blood and her head swam.
     “Keisha, look at me,” he commanded in a voice that sounded vaguely familiar, but very distant, as if she was moving far away from him.
     She tried to focus her gaze but merely saw the outlines of a man’s torso, with a face barely visible, topped with white hair that shone in the dim moonlight.
     “I had hoped to spare you this but I have no other choice now. I can’t lose you...I won’t. You must choose right now, before it’s too late. Do you want to live?”
     In her mind she giggled but all that came out of her mouth was a gargling sound.
     “Um, yeah...don’t think...option anymore...”
     “Yes, it is. But if I do this thing, you will be changed. You will be alive, yet not alive. Are you sure you want me to do this?”
     Her head nodded up and down as darkness descended, her vision clouded by the blood that was everywhere now. She drifted off and idly wondered if she was going anywhere or if she was just going to lose consciousness and that would be the end of thought.
     Suddenly her mind was invaded by a tall, blond man with an intense look in his eyes that shone with a black fire in their depths.
     What are you doing here? I’m busy dying...who are you?
     “You are dying but not in the way you expect. What I’m doing is ensuring that you will wake up again tomorrow night. What images would you like me to entertain you with as your body dies?”
     She tried to shrug but was unable to move any part of her body.
She felt herself being held by strong arms, with the tiny hairs on her neck standing at full attention while the lips on her neck created a drowsy drugged feeling in her mind.
     “How about something erotic?”
     Like?
     She was suddenly on a downy-soft bed, naked, with a man’s head between her thighs. His tongue was driving her mad with desire as he alternated between licking her from front to back, and nibbling on her clit gently. When his fingers pulled the hood back and his teeth grazed her clit, she screamed with pleasure as the orgasm crashed through her with the force of a tsunami. She rose up off of the bed with the tightening of her muscles. Then the man loomed before her, spread her thighs uncomfortably wide and his hips surged forward. The pleasure she had just felt multiplied as his massive organ pushed its way into her, stretchingher almost beyond comfort. He filled her, then withdrew only to
slam into her again and again. It was almost more than she could bear. She screamed as he came, the force of his orgasm making her spasm with an intensity to match his own.
     He growled like a wild animal as he pulsated inside of her.
Her muscles clenched around him. Her orgasms were like a roller coaster of pleasure, pushing her up a hill then crashing her down on the other side.
     The last thing she remembered was his voice telling her, "Drink. Drink deeply. Take as much as you can hold. I have emptied you; now, fill yourself with me."
     I’m already filled with you. Her thoughts were her own but inexplicably she felt his chest move as he chuckled. Everything went black and she drifted off into nothingness.

About Fiona:

Fiona has always had stories in her head, with characters telling her about their lives. Often she wakes up with entire story arcs that she has to feverishly write down before starting her day.  Now that her four children are erudite young adults, she hides from everyone for hours, bringing the stories to life. She hopes that you enjoy your short trip into her mind as you meet some of the heroines and heroes who live there, and now on these pages also. If you want to read more, she has a series of six contemporary romance books about the members of a large Hispanic family, The Reyes Family Romances.  She also wrote two books about female spies who work for a top-secret international agency, as well as two stand-alone contemporary romances.  Visit her at: www.fionamcgier.com, where the first page is her blog.

http://www.manicreaders.com/FionaEMcGier/
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003J8QJGE