Friday Recipe: Cherry Almond Cheesecake on a Stick

No, this isn't a quick and dirty dessert but oh, it's delicious and worth the time and mess. And it is messy. They ever tell you that--oh, you'll need this, this, and this, and it'll take this long to make, but the cleanup! Oh, the cleanup will take even longer...yeah. So this is your waring: Cleanup required!

Yes, I know it's sponsored by Ghirardelli but I shall let that go in favor of the dessert itself. Because even big businesses can have good ideas.

Prep Time: 30 Minutes Cook Time: 40 Minutes

Ready In: 4 Hours 10 Minutes Servings: 16

Ingredients:

1/3 cup chopped dried tart red cherries 2 tablespoons Kirsch (cherry-flavor brandy) or apple juice (I used apple juice) 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 3/4 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (I used 1/4 because I'm not a fan of the extract) 2 large eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup coarsely crushed graham cracker pieces 16 round paper lollipop or wooden craft sticks 2 (10 ounce) bags Ghirardelli® 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips 1 cup coarsely chopped toasted almonds , toasted*

Directions:

1.	In a small bowl, combine dried cherries and Kirsch. Let stand while preparing cheesecake filling. Line the bottom and sides of an 8x8x2-inch square baking pan with foil, making the foil as smooth as possible.
2.	Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. For cheesecake filling, in a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, flour, and almond extract; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir in eggs (do not over mix). Stir in the cherries, Kirsch, and graham cracker pieces.
3.	Pour filling into prepared pan. Bake on the middle oven rack for 35 to 40 minutes or until the center appears set when gently shaken.
4.	Cool cheesecake in the pan on a wire rack for 1 hour. Cover and freeze cheesecake for 2 hours or until firm.
5.	Line a large tray or plate with parchment paper or waxed paper; set aside. Remove cheesecake from pan. Peel away foil. Using a sharp knife dipped in warm water, cut the cheesecake into 16 small squares. Insert a stick into the side of each piece of cheesecake. Lay on the prepared tray.
6.	In a large microwave-safe bowl, place the Ghirardelli® 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips. Microwave on medium power (50 percent) for 1 minute. Remove and stir. If chocolate is not melted, return to microwave and repeat heating step, stirring every 30 seconds to avoid scorching. Stir until smooth. Place almonds in a shallow dish.

#BookBlast Elaina John and her new release Rising Flame

About the Author:

Elaina John is an author from Chicago. She began writing after graduating college and discovering she’d rather write books than work in the corporate world.

Along with Rising Flame, the first book of the Jhetan Chronicles, she is also the author of the States Trilogy and a couple short stories.

Website

Elaina will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blurb:

Lily Malloy’s life changes forever the night a dark stranger shows up at her door. She soon finds herself growing increasingly attracted to this mysterious man. When Lily is forced to rely on him to find her sister after she goes missing, Lily discovers a secret that could mean life or death.

When Dex’s planet, Jheta, is destroyed, he and his people travel to Earth for a new home. By chance, he stumbles upon fascinating, beautiful Lily. Haunted by the truth of his identity, Dex knows he can never have her. Yet that doesn’t stop his attraction to her. When a threat jeopardizes the lives of Lily and the Jhetans, Dex must fight to protect them, even if it means his own life.

Excerpt:

Lily had never been punched before. That didn’t stop her from feeling as if she had. Right in the chest by her very own twin. She did everything for that girl and this was how she repaid her.

Shay practically skipped out the door to her meeting, leaving Lily and Dex alone. At present, they were riding in her car to the store, not saying a word. However, his presence was all too noticeable even though she tried to ignore it. It was like standing next to a fire and pretending she couldn’t feel the warmth.

When they’d first gotten into the car Dex had ran his long, nimble fingers over the dashboard and leather seats. He rolled the window up and down and changed the radio station again and again. It was almost as if he’d never been inside of a car before. Perhaps it was her 370Z that enthralled him. Men liked cars. It still fascinated her though she drove it every day. She and Shay received new cars from their parents for their most recent birthday. The perks of having well off parents.

“Do you have any idea where you’d like to shop?”

He turned his head to look at her, those dark eyes boring into the side of her face like laser beams. “No. I thought I would leave it up to you. I know little of appropriate fashions.”

She snorted. “Yeah, because you prefer to wear nothing at all.”

“I apologize for frightening you last night. It was not my intention to do so. I sought shelter from the rain and your home was the first I saw.”

Yeah, like she believed that. She was far from gullible.

 
Where to Buy:

Amazon

Barnes andNoble

Review #DoctorWho Series 7

I never posted my review of Doctor Who's latest season! I was so caught up in the 50th Anniversary Special (and the Who-love that kept me going all that week) that it completely slipped my mind.

Amy & Rory. I have to say, Rory completely grew on me. I still don't like Amy, I don't like the oblivious way she treats Rory who deserves so much better. But then love is blind and I don't begrudge either of them the love and relationship they have. It's the romantic in me.

Continuity issues: So space and time traveling Rory didn't awaken the Dalek in Asylum of the Daleks by touching it (like Rose did in Dalek) but the loud noise of him tripping did?

John Crichton was in a Town Called Mercy! (Ok, the fabulous Ben Browder for those who never watched the awesome show Farscape.) And I loved the theme there, the parallels with the Doctor and that alien doctor. Very apropos.

Clara. Clara, Clara, Clara. I don't know how to feel about her.

I mean I watched all her episodes and I didn't have that instant dislike as I did with there. I did have several very enlightening discussions with fellow Whovians (love that word!) about Clara and her possible connection to Rose/Bad Wolf. There were at least 3 dropped hints (perhaps more I missed) throughout her half of the series that I found interesting especially given her 'purpose' in the Doctor's life.

Amy, but I'm still now sure how I feel about her. She did little to endear her to me but then she wasn't off-putting either. Kind of just...

All very circular.

Still, I'm not sure I like her.

But I am sure I want to know more about the Fields of Trenzalor! Oh yes. Very sure I want to know all about that. It doesn't even matter to me if we learn the so-called 'real' name of the Doctor. Names aren't important except to others. I can tell 3 people I'm Jane and 4 people I'm June, and it's only a means for other people to identify me.

I know how I am and that's all that matters.

The Doctor is the Doctor, it's who he is and how he identifies himself and his 'real' name is only a means for his enemies to use and abuse, and for others to spread descent through his friends.

The finale not only set up the Day of the Doctor (which was awesome in ways I feel foolishly giddy for saying) and the rest of the series with the new Doctor. I'm looking forward to the Christmas Special in a few weeks!

#BlogTour Kyle Taylor's new release Exposition

Kyle Taylor is the author of both Exposition and Billion Dollar Dreamer.  The Kyle Taylor character debuted in Billion Dollar Dreamer as a journalist who was assigned to write a story about high school history teacher cum overnight billionaire John Driskil.  Kyle has begun his next book, tentatively titled Wildflower.  He resides in New York -- and of course he is a work of fiction! Author Web Page

Kyle will be awarding a $25 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and as a special prize, Kyle's previous book, Billion Dollar Dreamer , will be given away free on Amazon the last day of the tour.

 
Hi Kristabel! 

Thank you for hosting Exposition!  I saw you love the Paris Exposition—I hope you enjoy this novel, which set during the construction of the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. Oh, Kyle, I love that! And I admit, it stems from my reading Devil in the White City. Most excellent book. I'll definitely check out your Exposition.

What is your story's heat level? How do you approach the sex scenes?

I think of Exposition as a PG13 film—although there are one or two scenes in the middle of the book which are more explicit.  I like to think of my books as story driven.  If certain scenes require more sensual scenes, I put them in.  For this novel, it felt right to do cinematic sorts of love-making scenes, where I lead you into things, but I want your imagination to fill in the gaps.

How do you maintain activity as a writer when sitting at a desk all day?

Let me tell you!  Doing what we do during the day and then transporting our minds into creating a different world and writing about it when we’re dog-tired is quite a trick!  I have a lot of discipline and tend to set a novel up over the course of a year.  I research in late fall and early winter.  Then, I will put together an outline in February and start the actual writing in spring and summer when I have more time to let my imagination run free.  Sometimes you think to yourself, if only folks knew the zany lives we lead—and that we can focus enough to put a novel together!  It’s crazy!    

What is it that you loved about the main characters in your story?

I like to create flawed heroes who aren’t all good.  Benjamin Wyatt has so much going for him—a handsome, talented, young architect working at the prestigious firm of Burnham and Root, born into a wealthy family.  But he has a certain entitled arrogance—plus, a nasty thorn in his side he just can’t pull out.  I think flawed characters add humanity to the story. They are much more interesting.

What do you feel is your strongest type of writing? Humor? Angst? Confrontation scenes? Action? Sex? Sensuality? Sweet Romance? And why?

I hope I have a good sense of character and dialogue.  I want internal voices to have an honesty to them.  Because I write a great deal for architectural magazines, I think I also bring an ability to describe spaces, which can be very challenging.

Are you social media savvy? If so what do you suggest for others? If not, why not?

At the end of writing a novel, you think the job is complete, but then it is really just beginning.  I love doing blog tours for books.  I have a web page where I post things (www.billiondollardreamer.com), but really, to tweet every inane thought that comes into one’s head—I don’t want to hear my own thoughts sometimes—I don’t want to inflict my thoughts on others every ten seconds.  Kyle Taylor has a Facebook page, and I do things like create book trailers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xvW01V732E).  I’m thinking these days it’s all about how you set up key search words though, so your book pops up on Amazon, etc. 

What are some things from your life or things you have observed that you've infused into your stories?

Roger Ebert was right—books reveal more about the author than they even realize.  Writing a book is like writing a dream—you get to work out all of your inner passions, anxieties, conflicts on the page.  I was wondering the other day, if characters we write aren’t just manifestations of various aspects of our personalities. 

If you had an unlimited budget, where would you like to visit for story-related research?

I’ve been fortunate to travel a great deal. When the characters of Exposition travel to Paris or Saint Petersburg, Russia, I feel comfortable writing about them because I’ve been there. 

I love Rome and even though no book I’ve conceived has needed to go there, I would love to return just to let my creative juices flow. 

Any fun facts about the research for your book?

A lot of the dialogue is from the real characters. In scenes featuring Daniel Burnham or Louis Sullivan, many of their lines were actually uttered by them.  I assembled files of quotes from their letters or other public accounts and threaded the lines into the story.  I love doing that!  I love putting in little historic details. For example, I found there were these sisters who were sensational dress makers in Paris at the time of the story who influenced Coco Chanel (Callot Soeurs).  Pivotal scenes take place inside and outside their shop. New inventions like the electric light bulb, bicycles, and the primitive automobile all make appearances.  Each page has these bits and pieces of authenticity.  I like to include notes at the end of my books so people learn more about the history of the time and see what was fact vs. fiction.   

Finally, tell us a little about your newest release!

I was initially inspired to write Exposition after an interview I had with a former apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright.  In a gentlemanly sort of way, he revealed the hidden world of gay apprentices working for Wright.  That stayed with me for some time.  Then, I was working on another magazine piece about the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, and the two ideas fused in my mind.  The first ‘starchitects’ who worked on the fair were a rather randy bunch of men!  What their underlings’ lives must have been like, I wondered.  

Couple these notions with a personal desire to write a lush, period epic featuring gay characters and it all fell into place in my mind.  

Exposition is a romantic love story, which is set in the midst the unprecedented design and construction of this massive, world’s fair.  There are all sorts of juxtapositions—the opulent, gilded lives of the Wyatt clan versus the seedy brothels of South Dearborn Street where Benjamin Wyatt’s lover, Spencer Bowles lives.   There was something so audacious and scandalous about the time.  It was the perfect setting for an Exposition.

Blurb:

Meet Benjamin Wyatt, a handsome young architect helping create the magnificent 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.  While immersed in work at the famous architectural firm of Burnham and Root, Benjamin’s pugnacious, social climbing father, Walter Wyatt, pushes him to marry the stunningly beautiful debutante, Evelyn Van Buren—thus securing the family’s position in Chicago society.  Yet, when Benjamin meets the cocky young electrical engineer, Spencer Bowles, who is also working on the fair, his world and its ambitions are forever shattered.

Set amidst the opulent splendor of Chicago in the late Victorian Age, Benjamin Wyatt must confront the perils of accepting his own true love and risk destroying everything he worked so hard to achieve.  Meticulously researched and filled with lush images of the Gilded Age, Exposition, tells the epic story of a love that dare not speak its name…

Excerpt:

Benjamin strode forcefully forward, amidst a sea of black carriages, his fit muscles instinctively tensing from the biting cold. He just departed the First Presbyterian Church attending the funeral of his late boss, John Wellborn Root. Ben chose to sit with his young colleagues from Root’s firm, one row behind the clean shaven, thick neck of his other boss, Daniel Burnham. The ground was too frozen to disturb and the day too foul to host a gravesite, burial service and so attendees fled to the warmth of the heavy, woolen blankets and hot water bottles of their carriages.

Benjamin had never seen so many elegant carriages assembled all at once. They packed the block surrounding the church. It looked as if all of Chicago attended the funeral of the great man. He strode through the midst of livery nostrils blasting steam and lit, polished brass, carriage lanterns hopelessly attempting to illuminate the dark day.

“Benjamin!” a voice called out from the flurries. “Benjamin Wyatt!” Benjamin turned to see from where the voice was coming. The door of a coach opened and a hand reached out gesturing for him to come inside. He hopped into the carriage, placing himself on the velvet, burgundy tufted seat. He was surprised when he saw sitting across from him, not his parents, but architect Louis Sullivan and a young man whom he did not recall meeting before.

“Mister Sullivan! I beg your pardon sir, but I thought this was my father’s carriage,” Benjamin said in a surprised tone. The two met on several occasions in the past. There was something about Louis Sullivan’s demeanor which always made him uncomfortable.

Where to Buy:

Whiskey Creek Press

Amazon