It’s the perfect time to try out some new dishes with the holidays just around the corner! Maybe you want to wow your coworkers at the annual office party, or you want to spice up Christmas dinner.
Whatever it is, we’ve got you covered!
Since it’s National Recipe Greetings for the Holidays week, we’re going to post a new recipe each day!
Have a recipe you just can’t keep to yourself? We’d love to hear from you! All recipes will be sent at the end of the week to our newsletter subscribers! Sign up here so you don’t miss out!
A delicious treat for the end of the week!
Rose’s Chocolate Meringue Pie
Chocolate Filling:
2 cups half-n-half
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 tablespoons Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa
3 egg yolks (beaten) [save the whites for meringue]
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons butter
1 deep dish pie crust, baked according to directions
Instructions:
- Heat 1-1/2 cups of the half-n-half, but don’t let it boil.
- While heating half-n-half to a near simmer, mix together dry ingredients: cocoa, cornstarch and salt in a separate bowl.
- Separate yolks from whites. Set aside whites in large metal or glass bowl to get to room temperature for making the meringue later.
- Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup of half-n-half with the egg yolks. Whisk the mixed dry ingredients into the egg yolk and half-n-half mixture until smooth. Remove half-n-half from heat and gradually whisk into chocolate/yolk mixture.
- Once everything is incorporated, place back on heat on medium-high and continue to whisk (so as not to burn the bottom) until the mixture boils. Remove from heat, add butter and vanilla and whisk. Cover with plastic wrap while cooling and make meringue.
Meringue:
3 egg whites
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions:
- Beat egg whites until frothy. Add cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Beat in powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Add vanilla.
- Pour chocolate mixture into cool pie crust. Spread meringue over chocolate filling, covering crust edge. Use spoon to create peaks.
- Bake at 325° in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until peaks are browned. Cool for one hour, then refrigerate until serving.
Enjoy!
You can find more recipes like this in Homecoming in Mossy Creek, book 8 in The Mossy Creek Hometown Series!
For when the holidays become a little too stressful!
Enjoy!
You can find more recipes like this in Mai Tai One On, book 1 in The Tiki Goddess Series! Be sure to check back tomorrow!
Santa Paws needs treats, too!
Today’s recipe is courtesy of Caro Lamont, former psychologist turned pet therapist, from The Pampered Pets Mysteries Series!
Caro’s PAWS Good Dog Treats
Ingredients:
1/ 2 cup of creamy unsalted peanut butter
1 cup oat flour
1 cup brown rice flour (Caro uses organic)
1 egg
1 tablespoon of honey
1/ 2 cup finely grated carrot (Dogbert loves carrots and so does Abbey)
- Preheat your oven to 350 ° F.
- In a big bowl, combine all the ingredients with just enough water to make it the consistency of cookie dough. Optional: You can also add cooked bacon, a bit of grated cheese, or other ingredients for flavor, but don’t add too much or it will mess with the consistency of the dough, and cause your treats to fall apart.
- Once you’ve got your treat dough all stirred up, put it between pieces of parchment paper and roll it out to about ¼ inch thickness. Then cut the dough with a cookie cutter. You can use whatever shape strikes your fancy. Caro often uses dog bone shapes of different sizes.
- Next, put them on a regular cookie sheet and bake them between fifteen and twenty minutes or until they’re Golden Retriever brown. Let them cool and then put them in an airtight container.
- You can store your PAWS Good Dog treats for about a week (or you can freeze them for later use) but keep an eye on them.
There are no preservatives, so watch out for spoilage.
This makes a couple of dozen treats so there’s plenty to go around.
Please share them with your dog.
Enjoy!
You can find more recipes like this in Desperate Housedogs, book 1 in The Pampered Pets Mystery Series! Be sure to check back tomorrow for another dish!
Our first recipe is courtesy of Bubba Rice, owner and head chef of Bubba Rice Lunch and Catering Diner, from The Mossy Creek Hometown Series.
Roasted Asparagus with Red Pepper & Scallions
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 bundle of fresh asparagus
1 bundle of fresh scallions or green onions
1/2 cup of diced red bell pepper
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
- Trim the asparagus and the scallions and dice the red pepper.
- Place the asparagus spears in a baking dish. Add the scallions on top of the asparagus, then sprinkle the diced red pepper evenly over the top.
- Drizzle the olive oil evenly over the dish. Add salt and pepper and place in a 375 degree oven for 15—20 minutes.
Enjoy!
Inspiration
we have to sit down and do the work. But that doesn’t mean we stop looking for ways to add joy or meaning to our lives and our stories.
family took a number of years ago. For three hot summer days, at the beginning of what was to become a five year drought for California, Anita’s family pitched their well-used six-person tent at the desolate 
Laguna Beach. What if our pampered characters were stuck between the sandstone canyons and parched wilderness campsites? How would they cope? What luxuries would they take with them? Would they still be able to catch a killer under the stars?
An Attitude of Gratitude
Suddenly, there was a scratch at the door and I moved quickly to open it. Lady Vi, Meow’s grandmother, stepped into the room. She was a formidable feline and referred to as the Dogwagger Countess because even the dogs at the neighboring estates were afraid of her. I don’t believe she’d ever actually bitten anyone canine or otherwise, but all it took was a hiss and the very slight unsheathing of her claws and it was clear she meant business.
