Do Blondes or Brunettes Have More Fun?

I remember reading years ago that women did not like blonde men on romance novel covers. That always surprised me because Fabio was one of the most successful romance cover models of all time. According to Body and Soul News, Fabio appeared on 462 romance novel covers. Now there’s a new romance novel cover king in town since brown-haired Jason Baca has appeared on over 500! What about you? Do you like blondes or brown-haired men on romance novel covers? What about redheads? I’d love to know!

Choose your romance novel cover model

Man Candy Monday

Beards, beards, beards, everywhere a beard!

Facial hair seems to be all the rage lately. But do women really like beards on men? A poll taken by The Guardian in 2018 found that nearly 50% of women would not sleep with a man with a beard! WHAT?! My hubby has had various tonsorial changes over the years (yes, that’s the word of the day, LOL!) but I like him with facial hair whether a full beard or a goatee. What about you? No beard? Stubble? Nicely trimmed hair? Are you a ZZ Top hair kind of girl? Or – and I’m really going here – the monkey tail beard? Yes, that’s a thing!

So which one do you like? 1, 2, 3, or 4? Do you like seeing men with beards on romance novel covers? Share and let’s start off the weekend with some fun!
choose your fav beard

Celebrating My Daughter’s Quinces

Since one of the storylines in South Beach Love is about two rival teens and their upcoming quinceañera parties, I decided to share a picture with you from my daughter’s quinces! It was such a fun time celebrating such a big moment in her life with all our family and friends. It was also important to keep that tradition alive and sharing it with others was a very special moment.
Caridad quinces celebration

If you want to read more about quinces, you can visit https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/cultural-traditions/10-fun-quinceanera-traditions.htm.

A Feel Good Romance Gets a Feel Good Review

I am so grateful to be able to follow my passion and love when you follow along with me! It’s especially rewarding when you take the time to leave a review and share your thoughts about what you liked about the book. So a big thanks to Carla the Reader for her review of South Beach Love. Thank you so much, Carla!

If you want to help a fav author, please take the time to leave them a review! Reviews really do help authors.
South Beach Love Caridad Pineiro Review

Tasty and Healthy Bistec Empanizado (Breaded Steak)

There are lots of tasty foods mentioned in South Beach Love, but not one of my favorites (I don’t think! LOL!)

Bistec Empanizado – aka Breaded Steak – is a staple dish in Cuban households, but it’s normally fried so we really didn’t eat it all that often since we were trying to be healthier.

But my daughter recently got an air-fryer and made some croquettes for us that made us believers since they were so crisp and tasty! Since our Cuisinart toaster oven has an air-fry mode, we decided to check it out and boy are we glad we did. It is totally possible to get a crisp coating on the steak or chicken or pork chops.

So today I’m sharing an easy recipe for a healthier and tasty breaded steak!

Ingredients

1 pound sirloin
2 eggs
1 tablespoon hot sauce (I use Cholula)
1 1/2 cups Italian-style bread crumbs
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
Cooking oil spray
Olive oil cooking spray
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Thinly slice the sirloin steak. You can also use a cheaper cut like London broil. To slice the meat thinly, you might want to partially freeze the steak so it’s easier to handle. You should be able to get 3 or 4 slices from the steak.

Once you slice the meat, lay one piece at a time on a cutting board and place some plastic wrap over it. Then pound it with a meat tenderizer, making the slice of steak even thinner. It’s okay if the meat tears a little as you do this, but don’t pound it into burger meat.

Prepare the egg wash by beating the eggs, adding a few tablespoons of water, and the hot sauce. Beat together.

Prepare the bread crumbs. Place the panko into a gallon freezer bag and use a rolling pin to crush them a little as the crumbs are often too big. Add the Italian-style bread crumbs and mix. If you want, you can also add some grated parmesan cheese at this step, but that’s not traditional.

Place the steaks into the wash one by one and then into the bag with the bread crumbs. Coat the steaks and move to another plate. Repeat for all four steaks.

I usually do a second coating by running the steaks through the egg wash and bread crumbs again. Set them aside.

Preheat the air-fryer for at least 5-7 minutes. While you do this, prepare the air-fryer tray by spritzing it with cooking oil spray. Then lay the steaks on the tray and spritz them with the olive oil cooking spray. Flip and spritz the second side.

Once the oven/air-fryer has pre-heated, place the steaks inside and set a timer for 4 minutes. Check at 4 minutes and if golden brown, flip and cook for another 4 minutes.

Once golden brown on the second side, it’s time to eat!

You can use this same recipe to make breaded chicken cutlets or pork chops!

Caridad's Breaded Steak

Get your free copy of this collection of other enticing recipes and engaging reads!

To celebrate the release of SOUTH BEACH LOVE, I’ve created this book of recipes and free reads from my various books. You can download this e-book for free from Kindle Unlimited or get your copy at https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/JT72rhhr.

To see more recipes, please visit my Cook’s Treat section.

Every Ending is Happily a New Beginning

The other day I blogged about typing THE END on my latest manuscript, a K-9 romantic suspense for Harlequin Intrigue. It’s always exciting to write those words because it means I’ve finished another book. Number 60 actually! Wow!

It’s also exciting because it means a new beginning is coming soon as well. Seriously, even before I’ve finished one book I’m thinking about the next one. I’m thinking about what the next story is going to be and what new things I can create for you!

But thinking about endings and beginnings made this thought come to mind on this #MotivationMonday: That even though life is full of endings, each ending is also a new beginning. It’s an opportunity to try something new or revisit something you didn’t do in the past.

What about you? Is there something you just finished that makes you think about what’s the next thing you’ll do?
caridad new beginnings

Happily Picking in Nashville

On my last day in Nashville, I was able to visit the American Pickers store! I just love this show because I love seeing the many unique objects they find as well as the history behind them. When I found out that they had a store in Nashville, I just had to stop by before I came home. The shop is in a lovely old building called Marathon Motor Works which apparently used to house a company that made automobiles! I’m sharing just a few photos from the store. I recognized some of the items from the shows I watched which was pretty cool. Do you watch this show? If you do, what do you love about it?