Happy National Cheese Pizza Day! I love cheese pizza, whether it’s one with tomato sauce and only cheese or a white pizza with only cheese. Basically, I love cheese. LOL! What about you? How do you feel about cheese pizza?
Happy World Bread Day
Happy World Bread Day! I LOVE BREAD! If I made a list of foods I’d never give up, bread would be on the list. But I also know that I have to watch my carbs, so I don’t eat bread every day. Hubby makes it tough because he’s figured out how to make sourdough bread that doesn’t take a lot of kneading. Of course, I’m to blame since I bought him the sourdough starter kit. LOL! What about you? Do you love bread? P.S. You know who makes great bread? Chefs Tony and Sara from my Hallmark movie book, SOUTH BEACH LOVE. Get it today for only 99 cents at https://amzn.to/4iE24wA or free if you sign up for my newsletter at https://bit.ly/CaridadsNewsletter.
Happy National Beach Day!
Happy National Beach Day! Today we’re going to my favorite place: the beach. I love the beach. I just find it so relaxing and invigorating at the same time. It’s why when hubby and I could, we moved closer to the beach. What about you? Are you a beach lover as well? Speaking of the beach, if you want to get the flavor of my neck of the Jersey Shore, pick up the At the Shore contemporary romance series books! The first one, ONE SUMMER NIGHT, is specially priced at 99 cents. Grab your copy today at https://amzn.to/46eXei9.
Happy National Cuban Sandwich Day!
Happy National Cuban Sandwich Day! Our traditional Christmas Eve meal is roast pork, but we also cook a baked ham because you need both to make a Cuban Sandwich. We also use the ham to make ham croquettes, a family favorite that we make several times a year. Cuban sandwiches are very easy to make, and today I’m sharing a recipe for how to make a “Cubano”. Repeat the recipe as many times as necessary for you and your family or guests. You’ll definitely find mention of Cubanos in many of my books, like WHAT HAPPENS IN SUMMER, SOUTH BEACH LOVE, all the South Beach Security series, and THE FAMILY SHE NEVER MET. Grab your copies of these books at https://amzn.to/4zynJwe.
Ingredients
3-4 thick slices roast pork
3-4 slices baked ham
2-3 slices Swiss cheese
yellow mustard
thin-sliced dill pickles
6-8″ long piece Cuban bread (or Italian bread/hero roll)
Directions
Slice open the bread and layer it with the roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, and pickles. Spread a thin layer of yellow mustard on the top slice of the bread. Personally, I never ate mine with pickles and mustard since I’m not a pickle fan. Lately, I have been eating my Cubanos with mustard. It does add some pep to the taste!
Close the sandwich and butter the outside of the bread. If you have a panini grill or other kind of sandwich grill, use that to flatten and toast the sandwich. You should let it cook for at least 10 minutes or so to let the meats and cheese heat up.
If you don’t have a panini grill, lay the sandwiches on a greased baking sheet. Cover the sandwiches with aluminum foil and place a heavy cast iron pan on top. Press down and bake in a 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes or so.
Remove from the grill, slice diagonally, which is the custom, and serve with some potato chips.
P.S. – Did you know that both Miami and Tampa lay claim to the invention of Cuban bread? You can click here to read more about the origins of Cuban bread in Tampa.
Happy Bacon Lovers Day!
Happy Bacon Lovers Day! I love bacon! Do you? I have a standing Sunday breakfast date with a lovely friend and you can bet that there will always be bacon on the plate when we eat. I also love bacon on burgers and keep some in the freezer to use when I make beans or hearty soups. The bacon really adds smokey flavor and unctuousness to those dishes. What about you? Do you love bacon? Do you have a favorite food or recipe that uses bacon? Share! P.S. I have to ask myself if there’s any book where bacon plays a role. Sadly, no. But you’d find lots of other tasty food in NEVER A BRIDE which features Chef Carlo, who is trying to woo wedding planner Emma, a women who doesn’t believe in HEAs. Grab your copy today at https://amzn.to/4xRgdee.
Happy National Rum Day
Happy National Rum Day! I’m not much of a drinker, but when I do have a drink, I like sweet ones. My favorite drink is a fruity Planter’s Punch with our without rum. And since I mentioned my wonderful client Jose Cuervo, they also had an amazing rum in their line-up! On National Rum Day, I’m giving you my recipe for Planter’s Punch. I use dark rum because it is sweeter, but if you don’t like anything too sweet, switch to light rum and omit the Amarena cherries and juice. If you haven’t heard of those before, they are delicious dark, ripe cherries preserved in a sugar syrup. You might find them in Italian-style groceries, but Aldi also had them recently! P.S. The ladies of the At the Shore novels would definitely sit down for a glass of this punch on a hot Jersey Shore night. Grab the first book in the series, ONE SUMMER NIGHT, for only 99 cents at https://amzn.to/4o0DtCW.
Ingredients
2 tbsp Freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup Grenadine or simple syrup
1/4 cup Dark rum
1/2 cup Pineapple juice
1/2 cup Orange juice
1 tbsp Amarena cherry juice and 2 or 3 Amarena cherries
Instructions
Add lime juice, grenadine or simple syrup, dark rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, and cherry juice. Stir well. If you have a shaker, even better. Put them all in the shaker and shake well. Pour into a tall glass filled with fresh ice. Add the Amarena cherries to the glass. Garnish with pineapple or orange slice to dress it up.
Happy National Middle Child Day!
Happy National Middle Child Day! I’m a middle child, but also more like the oldest because there was a ten-year age gap between my brother and me. Today, I’m sharing a very early picture of the three of us. The baby, my sister, is being held by her godparents as she’s being baptized. My brother is off to the right in the photo and I’m the curly-haired toddler being held toward the middle of the photo by my godmother. My dad is off to the left. My mother is not in the photo as back then there was a holdover practice of the mother being absent because she was recuperating. This photo was taken in Cuba and little did we all know that in the months to come, my parents would have to flee and that it would take a couple of years before we were reunited with them in the U.S. If you want a sense of what that was like, some of those experiences have been fictionalized in THE FAMILY SHE NEVER MET which is FREE on Kindle Unlimited at https://amzn.to/45gn7gW.
