About the Book:
A water witch, Isabelle Novak has always led a chaotic, nomadic existence. But her life spins out of control when her sister—her only friend and emotional anchor—is killed by a demon. Driven by grief and a desire for revenge, she turns her back on the Coven and its sacred rede: Harm ye none... When Isabelle first encounters Thomas Monahan, she's running on pure rage and sorrow, channeling her pain into power—and trying to freeze the life out of a warlock she holds responsible for her sister's death. Together, she and Thomas form an uneasy alliance to hunt and destroy a demon of tremendous power. As head of the Coven, earth witch Thomas must thwart Isabelle's dark impulses, but his very presence stirs deeper desires she never knew she had. My thoughts: While I definitely enjoyed this one, I thought it wasn't as great as the first one. While not as steamy, it still has a great plot and I really enjoyed how it tied in demons from another dimension. This one is more of a murder/action book with a little bit of romance thrown in. It's a great book, but after reading the first one, it was a slight change of pace than what I expected. The characters are well developed and very interesting, just not so hot romance-wise.
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About the book:
Mira Hoskins doesn't know she's a natural-born witch who possesses the rare—and powerful—element of air. And she never expects to find herself tied to a mahogany bed frame, captive of a man who aches to fulfill her every desire and let loose the magick that dwells inside her. Heat emanates from elemental fire witch Jack McAllister. The Coven, a governing authority of witches, has sent him to protect Mira from a band of warlocks who drain witches of power...and life. Long ago, he saw Mira's parents murdered by this same dark magick. He'd like to quell his guilt and offer her everything she deserves. But she's the long-lost cousin of his boss—making seduction off-limits. With Jack's strong guidance, Mira is luring forth her inner magick. But his sense of duty is quickly swelling into insatiable hunger. He was warned about the natural attraction between air and fire. Now he risks being consumed by the woman he shouldn't want—but can't stay away from. My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book! It grabbed me with the first line -"He looked like sin and seemed like salvation" , and just kept me in it's clutches for the whole ride! It had a very gripping plot and did I mention it was HOT?! Very steamy scenes, lots of action, and I loved Jack's bondage fixation! I zipped through this book because it was so darn hard to put down! There were a few times I just wanted them to get on with it and get in the bedroom, but the action definitely kept it very interesting. I definitely loved this book and am anticipating reading the sequel! This is one of my favorite recipes to make! This cake is so moist and delicious, it just melts in your mouth! I've made this several times for people's birthdays, and it's always a huge hit!!
1-1/4 cups flour 1-1/2 tsps baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 cup baking cocoa 2 eggs 1-1/3 cups sugar 2/3 cup vegetable oil 1 cup buttermilk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 to 1/2 cup raspberry preserves or jam For Frosting: 1 cup whipping cream 1/3 cup baking cocoa 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar 1/8 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla extract Sift flour, baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 cup cocoa together. Set aside. Beat eggs until foamy. Beat sugar into eggs gradually until mixture is thicka and ivory colored. Add oil, buttermilk and 1 tsp vanilla to flour mixture and mix well. Fold mixture into egg mixture. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9" cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove and let cool completely. Spread the raspberry preserves on top of one layer as thick as you'd like and carefully place the other layer on top. Be careful- it might want to slide off! For frosting: Combine whipping cream, 1/3 cup cocoa, confectioner's sugar, 1/8 tsp salt and 1 tsp vanilla and beat until stiff. Spread over the top and sides of the cake and chill until ready to serve! This is my mom's banana bread recipe! I grew up on this recipe ,and it is scrumptiously delicious! My six year old son is very picky, and last time I made this, he ate half a loaf all by himself! It's very simple, and just oh so delicious!
Makes 2 loaves 1 1/2 cups Sugar 1/2 cup shortening 2 eggs 1/2 tsp Salt 1 tsp Baking Soda 2 cups Flour 1/4 cup Buttermilk (or mix regular milk and 1 tsp vinegar, let sit for 5 min) 3 mashed bananas 1 tsp Vanilla 1 cup chopped nuts (I like pecans) Cream the sugar and shortening together. Add eggs and salt. Beat until light and fluffy. Stir the baking soda into the milk until it starts frothing. Add flour and milk alternately to shortening mix and beat well. Add mashed bananas, vanilla and nuts and mix well. Bake in 2 greased and floured 9"x 5"x 3" pans at 350 degrees for about one hour or until middle is set. Let cool and flip out of pans. Slice and enjoy!! Keeps very well in a ziplock for a long time, and lasts even longer if you put it in the fridge! Watch out though, it's not going to last long in your house! These were my mom's favorite cookies when I was growing up! We'd make them every Christmas, and they were SOO delicious!
Yields 4 Dozen 1 Tbsp Sugar (seperate) 1 tsp Cinnamon 1 cup Shortening 1-1/2 cups Sugar 2 Eggs 1 tsp Vanilla 2-3/4 cups Flour 1 tsp Baking Soda 1/2 tsp Salt 2 tsp Cream of Tartar Combine 1 Tbsp sugar and the cinnamon. Set aside for later. Cream shortening, add 1-1/2 cups sugar gradually, beating well. Add eggs, beat and then add the vanilla and beat. Sift flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar. Add to creamed mixture and mix well. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 6 minutes. Let cool, and enjoy! Where I live, in the Texas Hill Country, we have just splendid pecans that are absolutely all over the place. This year, to save a little money, we decided to go to the local park and pick our own pecans. That was the easy part! Cracking them all was a different story, it took me about 45 minutes with my six year old son "helping" me the whole time. (He thought we had to adjust the nutcracker after every pecan.) All in all, in the end it was completely worth it! I don't think I've ever had a pecan pie as delicious or homemade as the one I made this Thanksgiving! There was ecstatic moaning and fluttering eyes going all around the table during dessert time! To top it off, I was super proud that I personally had a hand in literally everything from start to finish! This is hands down the best pecan pie recipe I've ever had!
Pie Crust: 1 1/2 cups flour 3 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter 4 Tablespoons cold water Preheat oven to 350. Mix all dry ingredients together first. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in the cold butter until it's crumbly and has pea sized lumps. Add the water and mix well. Turn out onto a floured surface and roll slightly bigger than a pie pan. Carefully transfer to pie pan. Bake until about halfway done for about 10 min or until you finish whipping together pie filling. Pie Filling: 1 cup sugar 1 cup light corn syrup 1 Tablespoon imitation vanilla flavor 1 tsp salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 4 eggs, beaten 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter , melted 2 cups pecans (a little extra never hurt anything either!) Whisk together sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Add beaten eggs and whisk until smooth. Slowly pour butter into sugar mixture and whisk to combine. Stir in pecans and pour filling into the halfway baked pie crust. Bake in the oven for about an hour, or until it's "set". It will be slightly jiggly, but not sloshy. If it's too sloshy, put that puppy back in for another 10-20 minutes. If the crust begins to brown too much, cover the edges with foil and return to oven. Once it's set enough, remove pie and let cool for three to four hours before slicing. I've had a very hard time getting my mexican rice to come out right. It's usually too mushy or sticky, too much tomato sauce, or just not right somehow. For years, I'd envy restaurants their light, fluffy flavorful rice and curse myself for not being able to pull it off myself. My poor husband had to put up with years of funky rice from me. Finally, after many years, I found a recipe that started me on the road to the right rice! The first time, it was...better....but still needed a flavor fix. After tweaking it a dozen times, I finally got the flavor right!!
1/3 cup oil 1 cup rice 1/4 diced onion 1 1/2 c chicken broth (I microwave water with one chicken bullion cube) 6 oz tomato sauce 1 tsp black pepper 1 tsp chili powder 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp cumin (optional) 1 small can of chopped green chiles Heat oil on medium heat in a medium saucepan, add onion and cook until it starts to sweat. Add rice (and green chiles) and cook until starting to turn golden brown. Add chicken broth, tomato sauce and seasonings. Heat to boiling, cover tightly, reduce heat to low and cook for 20 min. I usually stir it ONCE halfway through cooking just to make sure everythings mixed properly. When done, fluff with a fork , serve and enjoy!! Stores great in fridge, and in my opinion, tastes even better after setting overnight! One of my grandma's recipes, it's very simple, straightforward and delicious!
1 cup shortening 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup white sugar 2 cups flour 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 2 eggs, beaten 1 cup flaked coconut 2 cups oatmeal (NOT INSTANT or QUICK OATS!!!) 1 tsp vanilla Cream the shortening and sugar. Add the eggs and mix well. Gradually add the flour, oatmeal, coconut, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Mix well. Add vanilla and mix well also. Drop by teaspoons onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Along with trying to perfect my mexican rice, I've also had a lot of trouble over the years making perfect tortillas from scratch. Usually they'll come out tasting great, but once they cool, they get hard and break. Nothing is more frustrating than being in the middle of a wonderful fajita taco and the tortilla rips in half and your taco basically explodes! Finally, after years of trial and error, I have perfected my tortillas! They stay soft, they heat up easily, storable and delicious!!
3 cups flour 1 Tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/3 vegetable or canola oil 1 cup warm water Combine all the dry stuff and mix well. Add the oil and hot water. Mix well. Roll into balls about the size of golf balls and then flatten with your hand. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 15 minutes. Heat a comal or flat pan up during the last 5 min to be ready to cook on. After 15 minutes, roll each flattened dough ball out on a lightly floured surface until about as thin as a regular tortilla. Place a tortilla on the comal or flat pan, flipping once whenever you start to see a few bubbles appear. Watch the comal carefully, it's very easy to burn them in just a few seconds. you only need to flip the tortillas ONCE! If you flip more, they'll start to get tough. I like to keep my tortillas warm in the middle of a folded towel until ready to serve since it prevents them from getting soggy. To store, I just throw them in a large ziplock, and they'll stay soft for a few days! This was one of my dad's favorite recipes! Very easy to make and always a crowd-pleaser!
1 9" graham cracker crust 14 oz can condensed milk 3 eggs, seperated 1 egg, whole 1/2 cup key lime juice 6 Tbsp sugar grated lime peel for garnish Blend condensed milk and lime juice. Add 2 egg yolks and the whole egg. Blend well and pour into the crust. Beat three egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Gradually add sugar while beating constantly. Cover the filling with the meringue. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes until slightly brown. Chill until ready to serve! Add lime peel as garnish on top! |
About MeI'm a Texas gal with a wonderful husband, an amazing six year old son, and an adorable newborn baby boy! Archives
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