#COOKING WITH CLORIS - AUTHOR KRIS BOCK’S ROCKY ROAD FUDGE BARS AND A BILLIONAIRE COWBOY’S CHRISTMAS

Kris Bock writes novels of romance, mystery, and suspense. Learn more about Kris and her books at her website where you'll find links to her other social media and also sign up for her newsletter to receive a free 10,000-word story set in the world of her Furrever Friends cat cafe, a printable copy of the recipes mentioned in the novels, and an Accidental Detective short story and bonus material. 

Who wouldn't want to be a billionaire? Turns out winning the lottery causes as many problems as it solves.

 

How did you get the idea for this series?

When browsing the top sellers in Kindle romance, I saw lots of billionaires and cowboys, and a few billionaire cowboys. I wondered, how might a cowboy (or rancher anyway) realistically become a billionaire? They’d hardly have enough free time to develop and promote an app that would become the next Tik-Tok and get a billion dollars. 

 

I came up with a family of four brothers and their mother. She plays the lottery, not expecting to win, but simply so she can spend an hour dreaming about being rich. And then she wins. Everything changes, and not necessarily for the better. Friends and family demand a share of the winnings. Strangers come up with scams and sob stories. 

 

People who win huge lotteries are advised to go into hiding, which you can’t really do when you have to take care of animals. This setup allows me to play with questions of dreams, choices, and responsibilities.

 

This is the first book in the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys series. The family tries to stick to some Christmas traditions in order to relieve stress – such as the annual cookie exchange. Here’s one of the sweet treats they make.

 

Rocky Road Fudge Bars

NOTE: Carefully read the entire recipe before starting this one; notice that frosting has to be ready when bars come out of oven. Makes 3 to 4 dozen bars.

 

Bar: 

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 square (1 oz.) unsweetened chocolate 

1 cup sugar 

1 cup flour 

1/2 - 1 cup chopped nuts 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs 

 

Filling:

6 oz. cream cheese, softened (one box, but reserve 2 oz. for frosting)

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 c. butter or margarine, softened

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup chopped nuts

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 

 

Frosting:

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 square (1 oz.) unsweetened chocolate

2 oz. reserved cream cheese

1/4 cup milk

3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

 

Heat oven to 350°. Butter and flour 13 x 9-inch pan.

 

In large saucepan over low heat, melt 1/2 cup butter and 1 square chocolate. Add remaining bar ingredients and mix well. Spread in prepared pan. 

 

In small bowl, combine 6 ounces cream cheese with next five filling ingredients. Beat 1 minute at medium speed until smooth and fluffy; stir in nuts. 

 

Spread filling over bar mixture in pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake for 25 - 35 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

 

While bars are baking, make frosting.

In large saucepan, over low heat, melt 1/4 cup butter, 1 square chocolate, remaining 2 ounces cream cheese, and milk. 

 

Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. 

 

Remove bars from oven and sprinkle with marshmallows. Bake 2 minutes longer.

 

Immediately pour frosting over marshmallows. Use a knife to swirl toppings together. 

 

Cool. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator. 

 

The Billionaire Cowboy’s Christmas

The Accidental Billionaire Cowboys, Book 1

 

He has everything this Christmas, but all he wants is the quiet ranch life he’s losing…

 

When Josh Tomlinson’s Texas ranching family wins a fortune in the lottery, the formerly tight-knit family is suddenly on edge. Seeking advice, Josh reluctantly contacts family friend and now attorney, Carly Garza. His business is serious, yet he can’t believe Carly’s morphed from a long-legged colt of a girl to a sophisticated woman. Besides, he knows the intelligent Carly has no interest in a quiet, rugged cowboy like him.

 

Carly’s crushed on Josh for years, and she plans to ask him out now that she’s back in Last Stand. She’s hoping he’ll finally see her as someone other than his younger brother’s middle school girlfriend. But when Josh needs advice on how to handle his family’s lottery win, his client and billionaire statuses put him firmly out of reach. If only her heart could ignore the sparks that flare between them.

 

They’re already keeping the family’s lottery win a secret from the town. Can they also hide their budding romance during the most magical time of year?

 

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS -- MYSTERY AUTHOR AMY M. READE'S NEWEST MYSTERY AND MAPLE CRÈME BRÛLÉE RECIPE

Amy M. Reade is the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of cozy, historical, and Gothic mysteries. She loves to read, cook, and travel. Learn more about Amy and her books at her website. more about Amy and her books at her website where you can also sign up for her newsletter and gain access to The Secret Room on her website where you’ll find . Everyone who signs up for the newsletter gains access to The Secret Room on Amy’s website, where they’ll find a free cookbook of family favorites and lots of other fun and free stuff. 

I love to eat. 

 

This is quite possibly the reason one of the secondary characters in my Juniper Junction Cozy Holiday Mystery Series is a chef. I didn’t make her the main character because there are so many really good culinary cozies out there, but I couldn’t bring myself to write a cozy series that didn’t include food in some way. 

 

The main character of the series is Lilly Carlsen. Noley, my chef, is Lilly’s best friend and begins the series as honorary aunt to Lilly’s children (you’ll have to read the books if you want to know why she’s no longer the kids’ honorary aunt). It’s because of Noley’s influence in her young life that Lilly’s daughter Laurel is enrolled in a culinary arts program and in my newest release, Fowl Play, is poised to take her studies even further.

 

With so many cooks in the kitchen, it’s no wonder that the characters in my series eat well. And far be it from me to tempt readers with descriptions of meals without providing at least a few recipes in the back of every book. 

 

While I’m writing each book, I make a list of all the foods I mention. When it comes time to write the recipes in the back, I have a process that I go through to choose the best recipes to share.

 

First, they have to be easy to make. Second, the ingredients have to be readily available. And third, they have to be something I’ve tried and liked. 

 

Even after I’ve taken certain recipes out of the running because they don’t meet my requirements, I’m usually still left with a list of good recipes to share, and since I only share three recipes in each Juniper Junction book, I usually end up choosing them by picking out of a hat. 

 

What do I do with the ones I don’t use? Well, that’s a good question. So far, nothing. 

 

And that’s where you come in.

 

What do you think I should do? I could put the occasional recipe in my newsletter, or I could bundle them into a cookbook to give away to readers, or I could print them on notecards that I give away at signing events, or...what? I’d love to hear your ideas. You could let me know in the comments section below, or you could email or DM me on social media through my website. 

 

You knew I couldn’t let this post end without sharing a recipe, didn’t you? Interestingly, this one isn’t mentioned in any of my Juniper Junction books—it’s just one I love and it’s perfect for fall.

 

Maple Crème Brûlée

2 c. heavy cream

1 vanilla bean*

4 large egg yolks

6 T. maple syrup

2 T. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (you can substitute maple extract)

4 tsp. white, brown, or demerara sugar

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

 

Place the heavy cream in a medium saucepan.

 

Set vanilla bean on a flat surface and, using a sharp knife, open the bean by slicing it the long way (lengthwise). Try not to cut all the way through the bean—you only want to cut the top. If you do cut through it’s no big deal, but it’s easier if you don’t.

 

Using your fingers, gently pull apart the sides of the bean as much as you can so it lies open. Using the knife’s edge, run the knife down the length of the bean to scrape out as many of the seeds as possible. This whole process is much easier than it sounds! If you want a demo, click here.

 

Add the seeds to the heavy cream. It works best to put the knife in there and stir it around to get the seeds off. Then add the vanilla bean to the saucepan, too.

 

Bring the heavy cream and the vanilla seeds and pod to a simmer over medium-high heat. This doesn’t take long, so keep an eye on it. Don’t let it boil. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for 15 minutes. Remove and discard vanilla bean pod.

 

In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, maple syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually add the warm heavy cream to the egg mixture, one-half cup at a time, whisking well between each addition. Strain through a sieve into another bowl.

 

Place four 6-ounce ramekins in a roasting pan or 13x9” baking dish. Divide custard evenly among ramekins. CAREFULLY pour boiling water into the pan until it reaches about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the pan tightly with foil and CAREFULLY transfer it to the oven.

 

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until custard is set but still slightly jiggly in the middle. Place ramekins on a baking sheet and allow to come to room temperature, then chill them for 2-8 hours. 

 

When you’re ready to serve, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the white, brown, or demerara sugar over the top of each custard. Using a kitchen blow torch, which is about the coolest thing I have in my kitchen, caramelize the sugar (this only takes about 10 seconds). If you don’t have a kitchen blow torch, putting the custards under the broiler for a couple minutes does the same job (it’s just not nearly as much fun). Allow the sugar to harden for about 5 minutes. Serve and wait for your guests to swoon. 

 

Fowl Play

A Juniper Junction Cozy Holiday Mystery, Book 6

 

Lilly Carlsen hates the idea of anyone spending Thanksgiving alone, so she invites four near-strangers to the feast. But if she’d known two of her guests would later wind up murdered, she would have eaten dinner by herself with all the shades pulled down.

 

And if she had dreamed she would become a suspect after finding the first body, she might have skipped Thanksgiving altogether.

 

When the first murder occurs, it’s Lilly who finds the body, and the suspicions of the officer in charge of the case fall squarely on her shoulders. And just when she thinks things can’t get any worse, there’s another murder, this one much closer to home.

 

Lilly’s got a lot on her plate.

 

There’s plenty of motive to go around this Thanksgiving, and if Lilly can’t clear her name and figure out who’s responsible for the murders, she risks spending the holidays behind bars … or worse.

 

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--MYSTERY AUTHOR JODI RATH BAKES TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CRUNCH CAKE

Today Jodi Rath makes a return visit to Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. Jodi wears many hats. Along with screenwriting and authoring a cozy mystery series, she’s involved in educational writing, works as an adjunct for Ohio teachers, and does marketing and consulting work. Learn more about her and her books at her website. 

Another Year, Another Candle

This year I get a little nearer to living close to half a century. My protagonist, Jolie Tucker, turns twenty-five this year in the latest book in The Cast Iron Skillet Mystery Series titled Cast Iron Stake Through the Heart. She’s got a lot to learn. 

I debated what age to make my protagonist when starting the series two years ago. My gut told me to make her my age so I could immediately relate to all the things she goes through, but then I thought about how many lessons I have learned since my twenties, and I thought it would be fun to play with those lessons in this series.

Jolie’s family life falls on the overprotective, in her face twenty-four/seven, extremely annoying, hovering family. I have seen many readers agree from their reviews and commentary with me on social media. While my family can fall into that hovering category—they are nowhere near as horrific as Jolie’s, but it is fun to have her continually stop to reassess how best to deal with them. Along with her wacky family, she’s always balancing a mystery, her Cast Iron Creations restaurant, and now working as her BFF’s assistant in Bounty-Full Investigative Services. 

I am getting to the climactic point of this series. Readers will find that Jolie will have a lot of growing up to do in the next few books. Life is going to throw her many curveballs at once, and she’ll have to learn to sink or swim. 

Here are a few issues coming up in no particular order, someone goes into labor on Labor Day weekend, two new engagements—one could be called off, more pregnancies in the village, mafia mayhem runs rampant as a string of various mafia gangs finally collide—and the truth about urban sprawl and gentrification is revealed to both the residents of Leavensport and Tri-City.

The questions remain: will the residents turn against one another or come together to oust criminal activity that has been lurking for decades? Will Jolie be able to handle all that is thrown at her to find a balance and get the life she has been working toward? Time will tell.

Betsy’s Love at First Sight Triple Chocolate Crunch Cake

This recipe is taken straight out of Chocolate Caper’s kitchen and is Betsy’s original recipe for Jolie’s birthday cake. 

Chocolate Cake

1-3/4 cup flour

1-3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup cocoa, high quality

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup oil, canola or coconut oil

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup hot water

Chocolate Buttercream

1-1/2 cups butter, softened

1 cup cocoa

5 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup cream, half and half, or milk

Toffee or chocolate covered toffee candy, smashed into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 

In another bowl, beat oil, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla for 1 minute. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until combined. Pour in hot water and mix together. The batter will be liquidy but that's a good thing -- it will create a moist cake.

Spray three 8” cake pans (cast iron baking pans make cake very moist) with non-stick cooking spray. Bake 22-27 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Allow cakes to cool before removing from pans. 

Chocolate Buttercream

In mixing bowl, cream together butter, cocoa, powdered sugar, and cream until light and fluffy. You may want to add more cream or milk depending on consistency. 

Fold in toffee before frosting cakes.

Note: If desired, reserve some toffee to sprinkle on top of cake.

Cast Iron Stake Through the Heart

On again, off again, ON AGAIN–Jolie Tucker and Mick Meiser are giving their relationship another try. Things seem to be working out for them so far, and love is on the menu all over Leavensport! An unexpected pregnancy with a surprising partner, a therapist pairs off with the chief of police, and the mayor of Leavensport falls for Jolie’s Aunt Fern! 

Although Leavensport is serving up affairs of the heart, there are a lot of mysterious activities lurking in the air. The townspeople awake to find freshly dug empty holes throughout the fields that were recently up for sale under suspicious circumstances. Jolie and Ava believe they are taking a break from solving murders when they start teaching an online cooking course–until they witness one of their students take a stake through the heart!

Welcome to Leavensport, OH, where DEATH takes a DELICIOUS turn!

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#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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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR VICTORIA ADAMS & EVERYTHING #CHOCOLATE

Victoria Adams has been penning stories since she was a little girl. Now she’s the published author of contemporary romances and contemporary new adult romances. She’s also the only author I’ve ever know who studies Raqs Sharqi, Egyptian belly dance, (unless some of our other guest authors have been holding out on me!) Learn more about Victoria and her books at her website. 

I’m a chocolate lover. I have books and books of the history of chocolate and how to work with chocolate and recipes dedicated to chocolate. I just love typing the word—chocolate. One of my special desserts that dinner guests ask for is Trinity Parfait—3 ingredients: chocolate,   whipping cream and sugar. You vary the amount of chocolate for the layers which rise up from the bottom: dark chocolate then a lighter chocolate and at the top - chocolate speckled whipped cream. (I think I just put on a pound typing this.)

For someone who might not be as addicted to theobroma cacao—food of the Gods—as I am (although I am shocked that there might be such a person!) here are a few fun facts about my favorite food.

1. Chocolate is in its own food group. Okay…maybe that’s my fact and not based in actual fact. But chocolate is good for you. It’s repudiated to be an antioxidant and does have trace amounts of the mineral copper which is good for our bodies. But this doesn’t mean gobbling down corner store chocolate bars.  A specialty store will offer designer chocolates of various percentages. Start low and build up your taste buds to the 80% range. It is an acquired taste.

2. There are three common species of Cacao trees: Criollo (Central America,) Forastero (West Africa, South America,) and Trinitario (all cacao regions.)

3. Cacao trees can only grow within a tight region 20 degrees north and south of the equator.

4. The top cacao production countries are Ivory Coast, Indonesia, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico.

5. White chocolate is NOT chocolate.  To be chocolate, it should have cocoa solids as well as cocoa butter. However, white chocolate has only cocoa butter, and no cocoa solids.

Where is this leading to? In my latest story, my hero and heroine have dinner at his mansion and he treats her to a fabulous dessert—Madagascar vanilla ice cream drizzled with a hot fudge sauce made with fifteen different kinds of cacao, and the whole thing is presented in a solid gold goblet topped off with edible gold!

Cacao is not a spelling mistake.  Cacao is what the base chocolate comes from. It is from the Olmec language (pre Mayan.) There is some train of thought in the chocolate world that cocoa is actually just a misspelling of the word cacao and since it is easier to pronounce that version stuck. But for a chocolate foodie the proper word is cacao.

Chocolate Trinity Parfait

Ingredients for all 3 layers

6-1/2 cups whipping cream

3 cups sugar

2 T. unsweetened cocoa

1/2 tsp. vanilla

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Collect all the ingredients then divide into what is needed for each layer

Bottom Layer – Cocoa Cream

2 cups cream

1/2 cup sugar

2 T. unsweetened cocoa

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Whip the cream until thick. Add the other 3 ingredients. Whip until incorporated. Pour into bottom of parfait glass and place in fridge. (I use 4 big ones.)

Middle Layer – Chocolate Cream

2-1/2 cups cream

8 oz. semisweet chocolate – melted

2 T. sugar

Melt the chocolate. Cool. Whip the cream. Add the sugar. Whip until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate. Divided inito parafait glasses. Return to fridge.

Top Layer – Speckled Cream

2 cups cream

2 T. sugar

4 oz. chocolate, grated

Whip the cream until thick. Add sugar. Whip until incorporated. Fold in grated chocolate. Fill the parfait glasses then refrigerate until served.

Red Tulip

Darcy O'Calahann, a junior gardener from a small mid-western town, is trying to make her way in the big city.

Shamus McRae is a wealthy bachelor with a mysterious family past.

Are Darcy's eyes playing tricks on her? Is she losing her mind? Or is there really a Red Tulip tying her and Shamus together?

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