Diana Rubino | Linda McLaughlin/Lyndi Lamont

Photo by belchonock from depositphotos.com

Today Tina Gayle shares a #HolidayRecipe and #99cent sale for her contemporary romance, Marketing Exec’s Widow. Welcome, Tina.

I have a friend who wrote an awesome cookbook. I wanted to share one of her recipes and tell you a little about her book Around the World in 80 Meals: The Best of Cruise Ship Cuisine weaves gastronomic delights around an exotic seven-day dream fantasy cruise.
If you love #cruising and #cooking, check out AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 MEALS, seven menus and #recipes from the world’s greatest cruise ships, by Diana Rubino. #cookbooks

On sale at Amazon: http://amzn.to/15P4vF2

Here is one of the recipes I enjoyed.

Spinach and Pear Salad with Rosemary Vinaigrette

Ingredients

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable broth
1½ tablespoons minced shallots
2 teaspoons white miso – ( I left this out)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1½ teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
4 cups baby spinach
4 teaspoons coarsely chopped toasted walnuts
2 pears, unpeeled, cored, thinly sliced
¼ cup crumbled blue cheese

Instructions

Blend vinegars, broth, shallots and miso in a blender until smooth. Mix in the herbs, and season

to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss spinach and walnuts in a large bowl and coat with dressing. Place spinach on salad plates.

Top with sliced pears and cheese.

Blend vinegars, broth, shallots and miso in a blender until smooth. Mix in the herbs, and seasonto taste with salt and pepper.

Toss spinach and walnuts in a large bowl and coat with dressing. Place spinach on salad plates.

Top with sliced pears and cheese.

This was easy and tasty. I like spinach with strawberries so I knew I’d like this too.

Marketing Exec’s Widow
Four women…
One fatal car wreck…
Everyone’s lives changed…

Blurb

Jennifer Larson, having lost her husband, friends and the perfect life she’d had plan, now faces the biggest challenge of her life, moving into an unplanned future. While the rest of the Executive Wife Club is still wallowing in the past, Jen is tempted into the future by a sexy chiropractor, Hagan Chaney.

But does he really love her or is he only after her money?

Purchase Link: Marketing Exec’s Widow is available at Amazon.

Excerpt –

Why in heaven’s name did he ask her on a date?

And why did she care?

She had no plans other than a casual dinner for two.

He glanced up and a pretty-boy grin crossed his lips. The twinkle in his hazel eyes softened the square line of his jaw. “So have you decided what you want?”

Heat simmered low in her belly. Oh, yeah, answering that question the wrong way could get her into a world of trouble.

Tempted by wicked ideas, Jen blinked and stared at the menu. She’d do better if he didn’t know the wild directions of her brainwaves. “I’m not sure I can eat. I haven’t been this nervous since my first date with Craig.”

Ah, shit, I wasn’t supposed to mention him. Fire burned her cheeks and her gaze popped to Hagan’s befuddled expression.

“Craig?” Hagan lowered his menu.

“My…uh…husband. He died several months ago.” Jen’s grip tightened on the plastic folder and her heart raced into overdrive. Great, just what she needed to say to start the evening off on the right note. Mention your dead husband and kill the mood.

“Want to call the evening a bust?” she blurted out, angry at herself for failing so miserably at the dating game.

Hagan leaned forward and folded his hands above his menu. “No. I already knew.”

“What? How?” She clenched her hands together under the table. He said he moved here from Texas, having arrived a few months ago to set up his practice and to be near his dad. How could he have found out? Did someone tell him? But who?

“My dad told me. He read about your husband’s accident in the paper.”

“God, you must think I’m awful.”

“Not even in the ballpark as to what I think about you. Because I know you would never have said yes to a night out with me if you’d been happy in your marriage.”

His words hit her like a fist to the face and her head snapped backward, striking the wooden partition between the booths. Wow, how could he have guessed the truth when so many people who knew her hadn’t?

She closed her eyes and searched for an answer. For so long, she’d kept her emotions bottled inside, not allowing anyone to see the loneliness or heartache her unhappy marriage had caused. What now? Lie, or admit the truth?

The vinyl cushion squeaked, and a hand touched her shoulder, pulling her from her stupor. Hagan slipped in beside her, his thigh bumped hers and his arm slid along the back of the seat. In the space of a few seconds, his large athletic body blocked her escape from the confining booth.

Nerves pulsed in an agitated rhythm. She couldn’t sit still, and opened her mouth to tell him to back off, but the thin lines of concern marring his brow killed the comment.

“Hey, there’s no reason to get upset.” He cupped a hand over her shoulder and drew her close. “I’m happy you said yes.”

Jolted by his sudden nearness, she exhaled, and then fought to draw air back into her lungs. His crisp, masculine scent acted like a seductive lure, and she had to fight the urge to bury her nose in the curve of his neck.

Another sniff and her resolve weakened. She snuggled deeper into his embrace, savoring his strength, and allowed her cheek to caress the soft fabric of his sweater. Her breasts, crushed against the hard wall of his chest, grew heavy with need. Butterflies flapped wildly in her stomach. Alarms sounded, warning her to pull away.

Read the 1st chapter of any of my books at www.tinagayle.net.

Thanks for hosting me on your blog and I hope everyone has an awesome holiday season,

Tina

Photo by belchonock from depositphotos.com

Diana Rubino is here today to share her grandmother’s #HolidayRecipe for Strufoli (Italian for honey balls) and to tell us about her historical novel set in Turn of the Century New York. The honey balls look delicious!

Can an Italian sweatshop worker and an Irish cop fall in love on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 1894? The answer is a big YES, and once they’re enjoying wedded bliss in their Greenwich Village brownstone, they spend their first Christmas together feasting on her Strufoli! (Italian for honey balls).

In FROM HERE TO FOURTEENTH STREET it’s 1894 on New York’s Lower East Side. Irish cop Tom McGlory and Italian immigrant Vita Caputo fall in love despite their different upbringings. Vita goes from sweatshop laborer to respected bank clerk to reformer, helping elect a mayor to beat the Tammany machine. While Tom works undercover to help Ted Roosevelt purge police corruption, Vita’s father arranges a marriage between her and a man she despises. As Vita and Tom work together against time and prejudice to clear her brother and father of a murder they didn’t commit, they know their love can survive poverty, hatred, and corruption. Vita is based on my great grandmother, who left third grade to become a self-made businesswoman and politician, wife and mother.

Vita’s hero Tom McGlory isn’t based on any real person, but I did a lot of reading about Metropolitan Policemen and made sure he was the complete opposite! He’s trustworthy and would never take a bribe or graft.

Pre-order FROM HERE TO FOURTEENTH STREET in paperback from The Wild Rose Press.

Or buy an e-book from Amazon Kindle.

Here’s Vita’s Honey Balls recipe:

When my grandparents came from Naples and landed at Ellis Island in the early 1900s they brought many recipes with them, but only in their heads. No one brought cookbooks or written recipes on the boat along with their possessions. A favorite Christmas treat is Struffoli, better known as Honey Balls. One Christmas when I was a kid, I watched my grandmother make them and scribbled down the ingredients as she sifted and mixed and baked and drizzled. Here’s an accurate recipe in English!

Ingredients
Dough:
•2 cups flour, plus extra for dusting
•1 large lemon, zested (about 2 teaspoons)
•1/2 large orange, zested (about 2 teaspoons)
•3 tablespoons sugar
•1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
•1/4 teaspoon baking powder
•1/2 stick (2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, at room temperature
•3 large eggs
•1 tablespoon white wine, such as pinot grigio
•1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
•Canola oil, for frying
•1 cup honey
•1/2 cup sugar
•1 tablespoon lemon juice
•1 1/2 cups hazelnuts, toasted (see Cook’s Note)
•Vegetable oil cooking spray
•Sugar sprinkles, for decoration
•Powdered sugar, for dusting, optional

Directions
For the dough: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together 2 cups of flour, lemon zest, orange zest, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the eggs, wine, and vanilla. Pulse until the mixture forms into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough into 4 equal-sized pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece of dough until 1/4-inch thick. Cut each piece of dough into 1/2-inch wide strips. Cut each strip of pastry into 1/2-inch pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a small ball about the size of a hazelnut. Lightly dredge the dough balls in flour, shaking off any excess. In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour enough oil to fill the pan about a third of the way. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 375 degrees F. (If you don’t have a thermometer a cube of bread will brown in about 3 minutes.). In batches, fry the dough until lightly golden, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. (The rested and quartered dough can also be rolled on a floured work surface into 1/2-inch thick logs and cut into equal-sized 1/2-inch pieces. The dough pieces can then be rolled into small balls and fried as above).

In a large saucepan, combine the honey, sugar, and lemon juice over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the fried dough and hazelnuts and stir until coated in the honey mixture. Allow the mixture to cool in the pan for 2 minutes.

Spray the outside of a small, straight-sided water glass with vegetable oil cooking spray and place in the center of a round platter. Using a large spoon or damp hands, arrange the struffoli and hazelnuts around the glass to form a wreath shape. Drizzle any remaining honey mixture over the struffoli. Allow to set for 2 hours (can be made 1 day in advance). Decorate with sprinkles and dust with powdered sugar, if using. Remove the glass from the center of the platter and serve.

Note: To toast the hazelnuts, arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven until lightly toasted, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool completely before using.

Total Time: 4 hr 12 min
Prep: 1 hr 30 min
Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Linda McLaughlin/Lyndi Lamont

Romance author

Tag Archives: Diana Rubino

Tina Gayle Shares a #HolidayRecipe and #99cent sale on Marketing Exec’s Widow

Strufoli (Italian for Honey Balls) #HolidayRecipe by @DianaLRubino