Award-winning romance author and editor Kathryn
Lively is an avid Whovian and Rush (the band) fan who loves chocolate and
British crisps and is still searching for a good US dealer of Japanese Kit Kat
bars. Learn more about her and her books at her website.
In my contemporary romance, Finish
What You Started, actress-turned-showrunner Gabby reconnects with her
ex-husband Dash. Dash’s acting career hovers around the D-list, and he hopes to
get back to star status. Along the way, there’s food to enjoy but I don’t dwell
too much on the eats as I have in other works. Dash and Gabby have takeout from
his favorite Italian place, there are scenes at the craft table during a shoot,
and a tense confrontation at a popular Jewish deli. Food isn’t much of a star
in this story, but rest assured people will eat well in the follow-up book.
I tend to showcase Italian food in many of my works by virtue of heritage.
My mother is a second-generation American in her family, with grandparents from
Sicily. Sundays were reserved for sit-down dinners of pasta and meatballs, or
ziti with fried zucchini. Special occasions called for lasagna and sausage and
peppers. Over time, I’ve managed to cooks all these dishes with good results.
One of my favorite meals, gnocchi, my mother never tried for some reason. I’m
not sure why—having made a lasagna, the work involved doesn’t seem excessive.
My characters enjoy a variety of bites in my first book, Totally Bound. Do they have gnocchi?
You’ll have to read to find out. I know I plan on it in the future. What’s
more, I’ve devised a “cheater” recipe in case you don’t have the time to boil
and mash potatoes beforehand. If you have leftover mashed potatoes from the
grocery deli, or if you buy the premade stuff, it can work.
I take about a cup of cold mashed potatoes (they have to be cold, you’ll
see why) and mix in one egg with enough flour to create a dough-dumpling
consistency. If the potatoes are warm, wait, otherwise you’ll end up creating
cooked egg in potatoes. Yuck.
As for measuring flour, I start with a quarter cup and keep adding until
I get the dough. You don’t want potatoes coming off on your fingers as you
knead.
Once the dough ready, separate it and roll long ropes to about the width
of a fingertip. Cut one inch pieces and press the tines of a fork down on each
to create that ridged appearance. Or don’t – it doesn’t affect the flavor.
Boil a pot of water, and add the gnocchi. The dumplings will be ready
when they float to the surface, and you just skim them out of the water into a
bowl. Add your favorite sauce, brown some ground sausage or add ham or meatballs,
and grate some cheese. Time to eat!
Just thinking about gnocchi has me ready to make some dough for dinner.
Don’t be surprised if my characters eat it in every book I write from now on.
;)
Finish What You Started
In this business, it gets hot under the
spotlight…
Once a teen idol, Gabby Randall now
spends her time behind the camera. With her show Danse Macabre scripted and greenlit
for a popular streaming site, she has everything she wants…except her star.
Deadlines are looming and she’s desperate to cast the role of a modern-day,
motorcycle-riding Grim Reaper. She never thought she’d end up hiring her former
co-star, TV’s most beloved g'eek…and her ex-husband.
Until the day he dies, people will
remember Dash Gregory as Freddie ‘Grody’ Grodin, the token geek friend of the
cool kids at Wondermancer
High. After years of casting agents overlooking him for plum roles, Dash
wants to show Hollywood he’s more than a one-note player. He’s ready to break
the vicious typecasting cycle, and he’s set his sights on the lead role in a
sexy new series too hot for network TV.
When the director yells “Cut!” the star
wants to keep up the action behind the scenes. Are Dash and Gabby willing to
make ratings history again?
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