Category Archives: Recipes

Soup Month: Mom’s Potato Soup by @JoanReeves #mgtab

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Did you know that January is National Soup Month?

I guess the people who create these “national” months and/or days figured National Cold, Windy, Rainy Dreary Month didn’t sound very appealing.

Yesterday evening I came home—cold, wet, and bedraggled—from a day of fighting the traffic amidst a downpour. By the time, Darling Hubby and I walked into the kitchen, darkness had fallen.

Image by Kranich17 from Pixabay

What’s For Dinner?

He’d been out in the bad weather with me all day, and we had missed lunch because of one thing or another. I didn’t take offense when he tiredly asked, “What’s for dinner?”

I gave him an equally tired answer. “Soup.”

He brightened, and so did I because soup is my go-to meal for dreary winter days. I fixed Potato & Greens Soup, an unusual potato soup because of the fresh greens in it which is Mom’s effort to push veggies at every meal.

Potato & Greens Soup

  • 1 pound russet potatoes
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper
  • 1/2 pound of your favorite sausage with the casing removed
  • an additional 2 cups of chicken broth
  • 1/2 pound of fresh spinach
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream

Peal and dice the potatoes. Place in a pot with the salt, black pepper, and 2 cups of chicken broth. Cook until potatoes are done then mash the potatoes in the broth that remains. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

Slice the sausage thinly. Saute and drain well. In a large cooking pot, pour in the other 2 cups of chicken broth, heat to boiling. Add the fresh spinach or other fresh greens of your choice to the hot broth. Cook until just wilted. Whisk in the mashed potatoes, cooked sausage, and mix well.

Serve with one or all of the following as garnishes: a snip of fresh greens, a grating of black pepper, and/or a bit of shredded cheddar cheese. Serves 6 hungry appetites.

Warm Up Winter With DEAD HEAT, an Exciting Romance

Sabrina Snow knew she was going to get herself killed if she didn’t get help. Someone was after her, and he wasn’t going to stop. She ran to the only man she trusted…the only man who had the skills to save her. Too bad he probably hated her.

But she owed him the truth even though she’d wanted to keep the knowledge from him. What if she were killed? John needed to know where to look. If he’d hated her before, what would he feel once he learned the depth of her deception?

Navy SEAL John Galloway doesn’t trust Sabrina. She lies for a living so how can he? So what’s he supposed to do when she shows up in the last place he ever expected to see her?

DEAD HEAT, available as a Kindle Unlimited Free Read or buy and keep forever.

Remember to enter our January Giveaway, and also check out all of the wonderful box set collections of romances on Authors Billboard Books.

Gingerbread Cake Means Christmas by @JoanReeves #mgtab

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In our home, it’s not officially Christmas until I make Old-Fashioned Gingerbread.

Everyone talks about gingerbread men and gingerbread houses during the holidays, and both of those items are really cute. But, to me, they look better than they taste.

I don’t like crisp, hard-baked gingerbread cookies. Maybe it’s because my mom never made gingerbread people or houses. She made gingerbread cake and served it warm from the oven with a dollop of cream cheese frosting sprinkled with lemon zest on top. From scratch.

Oh, my goodness, the smell of the gingerbread baking made salivary glands go into overdrive. And the taste? Amazing.

Many people think it takes too long to make a cake from scratch so they buy a cake mix. I’m sure the cake mix is probably a good product, and you may want to try it.

However, I’d like to share my recipe for homemade gingerbread with you. It’s darker in appearance than the picture shown on the box. That’s probably because my recipe calls for molasses. That’s what gives it the darker color, rich aroma, and depth of flavor.

Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

  • 1/2 cup sugar, white or brown
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup softened butter
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup molasses
  • 1 cup hot water (hot from the tap, not boiling)
  1. Butter a 9x9x2 inch baking pan and set aside. Turn your oven on and set it for 350 degrees F.
  2. Sift flour into a small bowl along with the ginger, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.
  3. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl, and add the egg. Beat well.
  4. Add the molasses to the butter mixture and beat well.
  5. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the butter mixture a little at a time. Mix well after each addition until all is incorporated.
  6. Carefully stir in the hot water and mix well.
  7. Pour the batter into the baking pan and place in the preheated oven.
  8. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
  9. Serve warm plain or with a dollop of whipped cream or cream cheese frosting.

I made Gingerbread this past weekend so, for me, it’s officially Christmas!

Be sure and enter our Rafflecopter on our Home Page and check out all the wonderful Holiday Romances—books and box sets galore—you’ll find from the very talented authors of The Authors’ Billboard.

Holiday Romances by Joan Reeves

Above are a few of my Christmas Romances for your consideration. I invite you to sign up for my Newsletter which has new release information and giveaways too.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year!

Baking up Memories #mgtab #Dessert #Recipes @jacqbiggar

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Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

One of my favorite treats my mom always made was Lemon Poppyseed Loaf. She had a baking table at our local Farmer’s Market where she sold Nanaimo bars, Butter Tart Squares, Rocky Road Squares, Lemon Pies and the most delicious glazed loaves.

Customers would line up to buy her desserts and she rarely had leftovers- our loss!

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https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/lemon-poppy-seed-bread/

Lemon Poppyseed Loaf

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This is sure to be a hit in your home, too!

baking

While you’re enjoying your tasty treat, don’t forget to download our new box set, Sweet and Sassy Baby Love!

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Sometimes, the right decision isn’t the easiest one to make

Trish Sylvester knows her family and when they accept a week long stay at a rustic dude ranch, she is concerned- especially since it’s at her ex’s home.

Aaron is overjoyed at the opening of his family’s guest ranch, until he learns their first guest is his ex-girlfriend, her parents–and a fiancé.

And that isn’t the only surprise.

Great summer reads and eats! #mgtab

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There’s something about summer that calls for celebrating good eats! Case in point, it’s only August 11, but since July 30, three other authors here at The Author’s Billboard have shared food favorites here on the blog:

Rebecca York discusses yummy Werewolves‘ . . . er, appetites 😀 . . . and generously gives us her fabulous Barbecued Beef Brisket recipe.

Donna Fasano, whose wonderful 3-novel bundle, A Family Forever, is on sale for just $1.99 this month, provides a unique dinner idea (perhaps to go with the above brisket? ), Summer Farro Salad.

Patrice Wilton celebrates the launch of her and Traci Hall’s new cozy mystery (such great summer reading!), Mrs. Morris and the Ghost, and provides a perfect snack to go with it, Artichoke Dip with Fontana Cheese. Mmmm!

So I’m in good company, hey?! 😊🍽️🍷

This year I discovered small batch canning. It was really eye opening for me and so exciting! I love storing away a wealth of summer yumminess to enjoy on cold winter nights, but I learned to can, jam, and freeze from my mother who had a huge family and preserving was a big ordeal . . . like two twelve hour days of carrots, two more of bean everything, two for cukes, etc., etc., etc.! When I make jam, even after giving tons away, I have enough for years, LOL. But no more! I’m making, gasp, eight or ten half pints (or smaller!) of a way bigger variety of things. So fun!

Hand-in-hand with my new less and more philosophy, my newest foodie obsession is fermenting things (or . . . fermenting everything, LOL). My first batch ever of blackberry wine (from my own massive jungle of a patch) is bubbling away, and I’ve made so, so many pickles. . . . and I have to say, fermented pickles are sooo crazy easy and so delicious I may be a forever convert! (Though I did a canner of my traditional pickles because, hey, tradition—and also yum.)

If you’re a fellow fermenter, I’d love to hear your favorite recipes. If you haven’t fermented anything, but want to, here’s the very first thing I made: The Savory Lotus’s Easy Fermented Pickles. 🥒🥒🥒And they are sooo easy (and sooooo tasty on/with pretty much everything)!

The other thing I love about food gathering, prep, cooking, and preserving, is how it not only feeds my belly (eventually, anyway), but how it nourishes connections with friends and family (the eating, but also sharing the labor, or, at least, various recipes!) and how it also fuels my imagination. I get a lot of plot and character ideas while I’m working away, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a lot of my characters find gardening and/or cooking cathartic, Noelle, from SPOONS especially.

When you first meet Noelle, she is struggling in pretty much all parts of her life . . . but as she reconnects with aspects of her identity she’d let go of, things like gardening and doing physical work, for example, she starts to feel that sense of connection I was talking about and experiences a new sense of hopefulness and empowerment over the pickle she’s found herself in. (Sorry, could not resist the terrible pun!😁)

If you’re looking for a great summer read (that pairs wonderfully with good summer eating), I’d love to entertain you with SPOONS, and I hope you enjoy your visit to River’s Sigh B & B, immensely.

AMAZON ~ KOBO ~ NOOK ~ iBOOKS ~ GOOGLE

Happy summer book (and food) devouring! Ahhhhhhh . . .

😊 Ev

P.S. Don’t forget to enter this month’s contest here at The Author’s Billboard!