Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Summer Chillin' Blog Hop



With the 4th of July right around the corner, this is the perfect time to exchange recipes to have a few at our fingertips as we begin the celebrations. I want to thank Yvette Davis for inviting me to participate. At the end of the post, you can find links to all the other participating blogs for some great ideas! Cheers.

Too Loose Juice

I saw this recipe years ago in a food magazine. I tried it and, rest assured, it lives up to its name.

The juice for 12 lemons
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 (750 ML) Sparkling wine or champagne
1/4 cup gin
Ice
6 lemon slices
6 Maraschino cherries

Mix fresh-squeezed lemon juice, powdered sugar, and gin until blended. Add in sparkling wine/champagne. Pour over ice and garnish glass with lemon slice and cherry. Serves 6.


SoCo Slush

1 quart of Southern Comfort
1 frozen lemonade
1 frozen limeade
6 cans of Sprite
4 cups of water

In a large container, pour Southern Comfort, Sprite, lemonade and limeade. I always measured 2 cans of water in the lemonade and limeade containers. Mix well, then place in the freezer. Stir every 60-90 minutes until the drink gets a slush-y consistency. Serve.

If I'm not drinking in the comfort of my home, I always make sure to have a designated driver. These drinks sneak up on you and I've discovered it is always better to be safe than sorry.

New Orleans Style Red Beans and Rice


1 lb. Camelia Kidney Beans
1 onion
1 bell pepper
1/4 cup shallots
1 teaspoon garlic
2 tablespoons celery
1 tablespoon parsley
1 stick butter
1 lb. smoked sausage
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup evaporated milk



Clean and wash dry beans, then place in a deep pot with 9-10 cups of water. Place on heat and bring to a boil. Add finely chopped seasoning--onion, bell pepper, shallots, garlic, celery, and parsley.  Stir well and pour in evaporated milk. Lower fire to a low medium and cover. Check intermittently and stir. After two hours, remove cover, raise heat, and add 1 stick of butter. For the next 20 minutes, keep a watch on pot because fire is higher so the water can boil off quickly and beans can burn. Add in smoked sausage, cook 10 minutes more, then serve over steamed, white rice. Salt and pepper to taste.

New Orleans Style Barbeque Shrimp

4 lbs of unpeeled jumbo shrimp
1 lb butter
1/2 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 large onion, finely chopped
Salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

Saute onions in the olive oil until transparent, add sticks of butter and melt, blending in with the olive oil and onions. Add in shrimp and cook until shrimp turn pink. Mix in garlic right before removing shrimp from the fire. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle in Italian seasoning along with the salt and pepper. For added spice, use cayenne pepper. Slice French bread to dip into the sauce.


For more great recipes, check out the other sites!

Monday, June 24, 2013

Returning Pride by Jill Sanders

I'd like to welcome Jill Sanders to On the Precipice today. Jill's new book, Returning Pride (book 3 in the Pride Series) will be out July 1st.

Iian Jordan runs a successful restaurant that has been in his family for generations. He has a large beautiful house that overlooks the shoreline and his hometown. Why then, does he feel like something is missing? And he isn’t talking about his hearing, which he’d lost in a tragic accident over ten years ago. No, what he is missing is the person who’d just driven back into town. Someone he’s always loved from afar. Now, was when he needed to step up and grab what he wanted, before she gets away again. In the past two years, Allison Adams has made a name for herself in the art world. All she wants now is some peace and quiet from all hassles and pressures of her demanding career. Some time to get back to her roots and focus on painting. But, when she arrives home, she finds her mother trapped in an illness that consumes her every waking moment. Just when she thinks she knows the path she wants to follow, everything is taken away from her in one night and now she is being stalked by a mad-man. But, with the help of the good people in her hometown, and an old flame, she finds returning home was the best thing that could have happened to her.



Returning Pride excerpt:


It took Allison several seconds to realize where she was. She hadn’t intended on going this far up the beach. Looking around, she realized she was past the bluff. How could she have gone this far and not known it?
Blinking, she looked at Iian and said, “Wow, I guess I walked farther than I intended.” She tried for casual.
He signed as he spoke, mostly out of habit. “Doing some deep thinking?” He took her hand in his and started pulling them up the path to his house.
His hand was warm and she could feel his heart beat in her palm. Turning her head so he could read her lips, she said,“Yes, well…”
Hang on,” he interrupted, “let’s get out of the rain.” He saw her surprise when the heavens chose that moment to open up and drench both of them. Smiling, he continued to pull her up the hill.
Quickly walking beside him, she kept her hand in his as he guided them through the rocky path lined with tall grass. The rain was cold and she realized the breeze was blowing the wind right through her light windbreaker.
All of a sudden she was very glad he’d come along when he did. She hadn’t been focused on the weather and the thought of being stuck on the beach in a storm gave her the chills. She’d grown up here and knew better than to go marching down the beach and not pay attention to the skies.
When they reached the back door of his house, he pulled her into the kitchen and reluctantly let go of her hand to help pull off her wet jacket. Then he pulled his own coat off and hung them on the hook on the laundry room wall.
She was rubbing her hands up and down her arms, trying to get warm, when he turned back around.
Come on, let’s go into the living room. I’ll get a fire going.” Walking into the next room he looked back as she followed him slowly.
She watched him walking into the the next room. This was the first time she’d been in the large brick house. She’d seen it from the beach ever since she could remember. It always looked like a large castle shining on the hills above the beach. From her old bedroom window, she could just make out the brown roof poking up through the trees. Following him out of the large kitchen, she watched his back and enjoyed the view. He had always been very tall, but it wasn’t until high school that his shoulders had become so broad. He had played basketball all throughout junior high and high school, and she’d played on the girls team herself. Admitting it only once to her sister, the only reason she had tried out for the team was because she knew Iian had already made the boys team.
When she walked into the large living room, she noticed that he hadn’t bothered to turn on the lights. She saw him bent over the fireplace, his shirt and jeans were wet from the rain. Looking down at herself, she realized she too was drenched. Her white shirt clung to her skin. Quickly, while his back was turned, she tried to pull it loose and crossed her arms over her front.
Walking further into the dim room, she looked around. Even shadowed in darkness, she could tell it was decorated in warm colors and felt very comfortable. Iian finished lighting the fire and turned back to her.
Come over here, you must be cold.” He still signed along as he spoke. She found it interesting to watch his hands. Could she really be turned on by just watching his hands?

An Interview with Jill Sanders:


Tell us about Iian Jordan and Allison Adams: Iian is devilishly handsome. He lost his hearing at the age of 18 during a boat accident that claimed his father's life. He has had a thing for Allison since he was young and has always been a little shy around her. Allison is an artist, that had hid her art away until two years ago after being discovered. She moved away to California where she became an overnight success. Missing the slower pace of home,, she returns home to find her mother battling Alzheimer's. She too has had a secret thing for Iian, but has always believed he never felt anything for her other than a sisterly affection. Until now.
How did you come up with the idea for the Pride Series? I initially started writing The Pride Series while sitting in my Skateboard/Snowboard shop in Colorado. I continued to write the stories for a few years, when I had time. Then we moved to rural Texas and I decided to do something with them. Now, thanks to the slower life we can have down here, I'm enjoying writing full time.
How has writing changed you? I'd like to think I'm a less crazy for getting these people and stories out of my head. But, there are a lot more still in there. I do get to enjoy working from home and spend most of my time writing my next books and series.



Jill Sanders survived 80's pop music, and life as an identical twin in a chaotic family of nine.  A feat by any standard!  She was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, relocating to Colorado for college and a successful IT career at IBM in Boulder.
Narrowly escaping before all creativity was squashed, she jumped at the chance to trade the mundane world of computers for the sexy, exciting world of her own imagination.  She now lives in charming rural Texas writing wonderful novels such as the Pride series.
Her debut novel, Finding Pride, was shortlisted in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards 2013, and has received glowing industry and reader reviews from around the world.  Her latest release is Discovering Pride. Yet another novel, Returning Pride, is slated for July 2013.
To learn more about Jill, visit her website www.jillmsanders.com, where she blogs daily, or follow her on Twitter: @jillmsanders.

To enter in a chance to win an ebook of Finding Pride or Discovering Pride, follow the link http://bit.ly/13AGThi and leave a comment below to be automatically entered in the drawing.

To get your copy of Returning Pride:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/11wAMrI
iTunes: http://bit.ly/15rp02C
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/16buqkO
Nook: http://bit.ly/17gq8wT


Watch Returning Pride trailer:  http://bit.ly/14BlF4d


http://bit.ly/13AGThi