Featuring guest authors; crafting tips and projects; recipes from food editor and sleuthing sidekick Cloris McWerther; and decorating, travel, fashion, health, beauty, and finance tips from the rest of the American Woman editors.

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Monday, January 25, 2016

#COOKING WITH CLORIS--IN CELEBRATION OF NATIONAL CHOCOLATE CAKE DAY

Tomorrow is National Chocolate Cake Day. To celebrate, I’m featuring a yummy brownie recipe, compliments of author Susan Lohrer. The recipe first appeared in Bake, Love, Write: 105 Authors Share Dessert Recipes and Advice on Love and Writing. Now some may argue that brownies are not technically cake but a category all its own, but I chose to feature this particular chocolate recipe from the cookbook because Susan is also the author of a Valentine romance, and Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.

Grandma’s Homemade Brownies

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/4 cup cool water
1/2 cup (or more) chopped nuts, raisins, or dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place all ingredients in bowl in order given and beat on low speed until just mixed. Pour batter into prepared 9” x13” pan.

Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in brownies comes out clean.

Note: For a lower-calorie version, you can substitute applesauce for half the cooking oil, but I suggest simply cutting the brownies into tiny portions.

Wooing Cupid
Welcome to Cupid's Hollow, where fantasy and reality collide.

In this first book in the Wooing the Gods holiday romance series a meddling retired deity shoots the wrong kind of arrow from Cupid's bow and turns Valentine Arciere's world on its head...

Valentine doesn't approve of big business, especially when a huge corporation is taking over her beloved hometown. So when a billionaire businessman comes along and tries to get her to sell out her sports shop, she digs in her heels and refuses his offer. But the other shop owners have sold out, and her refusal to compromise her values is preventing a huge business deal and causing financial hardship for everyone in town. She almost gives in...until she learns she's a goddess and her soul is attached to the deed to her property.

Vittorio Fulminare, king of the Roman gods, is used to getting what he wants, and what he wants is the land occupied by Valentine's store. But he's not the only one trying to get her to sell, he's just the only honest one. Now, under the influence of Cupid's magic, he'll do anything to win Valentine's trust and help her keep her soul.

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Bake, Love, Write: 105 Authors Share Dessert Recipes and Advice on Love and Writing
What do most authors have in common, no matter what genre they write? They love desserts. Sweets sustain them through pending deadlines and take the sting out of crushing rejection letters and nasty reviews. They also often celebrate their successes—selling a book, winning a writing award, making a bestseller list, or receiving a fabulous review—with decadent indulgences. And when authors chat with each other, they often talk about their writing and their lives. Recipes. Writing. Relationships. In this cookbook 105 authors not only share their favorite recipes for fabulous cakes, pies, cookies, candy, and more, they also share the best advice they’ve ever received on writing and relationships.

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1 comment:

Angela Adams said...

Every day is chocolate day for me. Thanks for the recipe!