Welcome to the Entangled Publishing and
Indulgence Books Halloween Hop.
When I'm not known as Meg Lacey, I’m Tess Banyon, you know the lifestyle guru with the new TV show? As far as I’m concerned Halloween is the
best holiday of the year. It’s a time
when Something’s Cooking in my
kitchen.
Don’t worry, I’m
not burning anything, not at the moment anyway, because I’m making my prized Pumpkin
Loaf Recipe. (Check the end of this post for the recipe.) It‘s one of my absolute
favorite Halloween recipes. It’s easy to make, but it tastes as if you’ve spent
forever in the kitchen. I know it’s rich, satisfying and probably off my diet, but
I overcome that fact by telling myself that pumpkin is healthy and good for you.
Naturally, I am ignoring the cream cheese and other delicious ingredients
calories that make it taste like a dream.
Do you know the other
thing I love more about this time of year than my favorite pumpkin
recipe—dressing up, pretending to be someone, or something, I’m not. Part of the fun is donning a costume so the candy
guzzlers at my door get a trick as well as a treat. This year I’m going to dress as a witch, and
I’ve been taking lessons from a real sorceress as well. I don’t care what my mother says about my over-achieving
personality, my witch studies are going well. I did draw the line at adding eye
of newt and Mexican red lizard gizzards to my stew, however. There is another reason I’ve been studying
witchcraft though. I’ve been
experimenting with a love potion that I’m planning to use on Josh Faraday. I hope it works!
If you were planning a love potion what
would you put in it?
PLEASE POST YOUR COMMENTS AND SHARE YOUR
OWN LOVE POTION IDEAS. AT THE END OF THE
MONTH, I WILL BE CHOOSING A WINNER FROM THE COMMENTS AND WILL BE SENDING YOU A
SPECIAL HALLOWEEN GIFT.
Something’s Cooking by Meg Lacey
Tess
Banyon has turned her brilliant recipe and crafting ideas into a multimedia
empire. Landing her own TV show throws her into a panic. If she’s not careful,
the public will discover she isn’t the domestic diva everyone thinks she is.
Investigative
reporter Josh Faraday smells something smoking in Tess’s world. His goal to
expose the real Tess goes into overdrive when she lands a television show deal.
He secures an assignment to shadow her, reporting on her program, but what he’s
really doing is getting dirt for his expose. Things get even stickier when
Tess’s family play matchmaker. There’s no shortage of fire between them, and
after an impulsive night together, Josh discovers a story he never expected–or
bargained for.
As another Halloween treat, here is an excerpt from Something’s
Cooking:
She dashed across the room to the bathroom, flung open the
door, and stepped into what felt like a sauna. The fog in
the room was so thick she could hardly see. Stunned by his effrontery, she stood
frozen for a minute before she said faintly, “What do you think you’re doing?”
At the same time, Josh jerked back the curtain that
encircled the claw-footed antique bathtub. Hands clenched on the divided curtain,
his eyes widened to the size of half-dollars, and his jaw practically dropped
to his chest as he stared at her for a long moment.
“Am I missing something here?”
Tess studied the length of his body, coming to rest on his
most volatile piece of male equipment. “Nope, all there,”
she said, “every inch.”
He laughed. “That’s a relief.”
Her heart was pounding with a staccato fury, and for a
moment she felt like she’d melt. He was gorgeous. “What are
you doing in my bathroom?”
Josh swiped his hands down his body to shed the excess
water, then stepped out of the tub onto the bathmat. He reached for the towel
hanging on a rack. Lazily, he wrapped the terrycloth around his waist, tucking
the end in. He smiled. “You said the door right at the top of the stairs.”
“I said turn right at the top of the stairs.”
“Oh, turn right.” He grinned. “I thought you were being a
bit forward.”
“Were you snooping in my bedroom?” she asked, amazed at
the thought.
He nodded toward the door. “Are you sure that’s your room?
It looks like a stage set. There’s nothing personal to
identify you in there. No mementos, nothing. I found that disappointing, considering
your skills.”
“You admit it? You were looking through my room?”
“Only on the way to the bathroom.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said, punctuating her words by
poking her finger into his chest. “You’re a low-down snoop,
that’s what you are.”
“A snoop? A reporter being called a snoop? Surely not.”
His chuckle was infectious, but Tess wasn’t buying it. She
was red-faced and perspiring, although that could have been from the heat and
moisture in the room, not because she was more embarrassed than she’d ever been
in her entire life, or wanted to rip the towel from his hips.
“Where are your clothes?”
Josh indicated a pile in the corner of the room. “I threw
them over there before I remembered my luggage is in my car,
so I have nothing to change into.”
“You were supposed to come up here and wash your chest
not take a shower.”
He leaned toward her. “I did wash my chest. I also washed my
ears. Want to check?”
Tess could feel the doorknob imprinting on her back. “No, I
don’t want to check.”
“If you have any other concerns regarding my cleanliness
I’ll be happy to oblige.”
“I’ve already seen everything, thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome.”
Pumpkin Loaf Recipe
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup of flour
2/3 cup of pumpkin
pie mix (Can-Libby’s or your choice)
2 Tbs. butter
8 oz. Cream Cheese
1 cup powdered
sugar
¾ tsp. vanilla
Directions:
Mix eggs, sugar,
cinnamon, baking soda, pumpkin, and flour.
Grease cookie sheet. Cover with wax paper. Pour mixture over wax paper. Spread evenly.
Bake 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Let
cool.
Mix butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla.. Spread icing on top of cake. ,Roll
across (should have a long roll, so you roll across the short side of the
rectangle), Wrap in foil and freeze.
Note: As you roll, you
will be peeling off the wax paper , the cake may break a little, but this is
OK, do not consider it ruined if it does, once it is wrapped in foil (do so
tightly) and frozen, the break will heal. Wrap
in foil and freeze.
