KastKing fishing gear #Review

Hey all, if you are a frequent reader here then you know my husband and I love fishing! So I was excited to get some more fishing gear from KastKing. The only problem is we just got 12 inches of snow recently, so it was making it hard to fish right. 

While we were stuck in the house last weekend watching Winter Storm Jonas, hubby decided that would be a good time though to play with the new fishing gear we got.

Here is some videos of him putting the line on the KastKing Stealth Carbon Fiber Baitcasting Reel

If you look and listen closely on these videos, you can see all the snow out the window and in one you can here the weatherman talking about the storm forecast.lol

RUSTLER’S MOON Blog Tour & #Giveaway

Q&A with Jodi Thomas

Author of

RUSTLER’S MOON

1. This is your second book in the Ransom Canyon series. Tell us about the town.

In RUSTLER’S MOON the town of Crossroads has grown.  After allowing their museum to sit empty for a year, the book opens with a new curator coming.  The museum comes alive and brings the town together as Angela Harold wakes up to life and loving for the first time.  The quiet, shy curator carries a secret that will threaten the whole town and leave rancher Wilkes Wagner fighting for his life as he protects Angela.

2. We’ve heard you have an inspiration room for your writing. Tell us about the spot.

Ransom Canyon room:  When I began the series, I moved my computer to a little room out back of my house.  We call it the bunkhouse.  It’s not big, mission designed and almost a hundred years old.  I took down all the western art and put up white boards.  Removed all books except those on ranching, horses, Texas, or research I might need. Family histories of characters fill one wall.  Plot lines another.  When I step into the bunkhouse, I step into the world of Ransom Canyon.  One by one my characters come in and sit down to tell me their story.

I even have pictures of the flowers of Texas taped up in the bathroom and a Jack Sorenson print of horses running into the canyon on the door.

3. Are there any characters in the series you’d consider for a spin-off?

Yes.  There are characters outlined on one board of my study that may not make it into this series.  Who knows?  Maybe they’ll find their way in the future.

4. If RUSTLER’S MOON were made into a movie, who would you cast as the lead characters?

Like many of my readers I spent my Christmas holidays snowed in and watching Hallmark movies.  Almost every movie I’d say, “That actor would be perfect as this character.”  I’d love to hear from my readers about who they see as playing Wilkes Wagner in RANSOM CANYON.

WW Snow

Winter Storm Jonas hit here. lol. for us 12 inches is a lot. everything is shut down since last Thursday night. lol

Here is various pics taken over past few days:

The Pencil Grips #Review and #Giveaway (three winners)

Hey everyone. Did you know today is National Handwriting day? That is why I thought it would be a perfect time to tell you about a product I recently received. They are called Pencil Grips, from the company,The Pencil Grip, Inc.

do you remember my previous post about Kwik Stix? well this is from the same company.

Here is a shot of everything I got in the mail:

Some info about it;

The Pencil Grip guides children and adults in proper hand positioning. It also promotes good penmanship and expression. They can also reduce hand cramps, stressed muscles and sore fingers.

January Harlequin Series: The Queen’s New Year Secret ( plus a #giveaway )

Our final book this week is "The Queen's New Year Secret ," by Maisey Yates.

Here's some fun topics from the author:

Bon Appétit and a Book
Well, I was going to bake something lovely so that I could offer up a nice photo and recipe to share with you all. (I promise I was! And you can’t prove it if I wasn’t…) But yesterday, the power went out for 14 hours! Yes, an unexpected snow storm (the likes of which the east coast would laugh at) was too much for the power lines in Southern Oregon and 25K people ended up with no electricity, including us. So I couldn’t bake. But, I will share a few things I learned with you: Costco macaroni and cheese heats up nicely on a camp stove. So does apple cider and mulled wine, which you can also handily keep warm on the woodstove! So here is my Lights Out, Desperation Hot Drink Recipe for you. Non-Alcoholic: Apple Juice 2 Cinnamon sticks Whole Cloves Nutmeg Alcoholic: Red Wine 2 Cinnamon Whole Cloves Nutmeg Heat up on your trusty camp stove (don’t catch a chill standing out in the snow!) then move them in and set the pans on your wood stove. It makes your house smell nice and it’s a great way to keep warm if you end up with no heat!

January Harlequin Series: Fortune’s Secret Heir

Here is the next installment in this weeks Harlequin series, continued from yesterday. Today's book is Fortune's Secret Heir, by Allison Leigh.

Here is info written by the author:

Bon Appétit and a Book

My favorite cookie, year-round, is pictured on one of my holiday cookie trays—Glazed Fudge Drops.  (The little round frosted chocolate cookies in the very front.)  I even used the recipe in a prior book.  It’s a frequent request from my family.  The combination of chocolate with a hint of almond…love it!

Cookie Recipe:

1 ¾ C sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ C sifted unsweetened cocoa
2 eggs
2/3 C vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract
1 C granulated sugar

Sift all the dry ingredients together and set aside.  In medium bowl, beat eggs slightly.  Stir in oil, extracts and sugar until thoroughly combined.  Mix in dry ingredients until smooth.  Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Drop by rounded teaspoonful, 2” apart, on ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes, remove to wire rack and cool partially before glazing.  (recipe follows)

Glaze:

2 C sifted confectioner’s sugar
2-3 TBSP milk
¼ C unsweetened cocoa
pinch salt
few drops almond extract

Mix all glaze ingredients until desired consistency.  Spread on slightly warm cookies.

Writer’s Space:

My writing space is my home office, which has a bay window overlooking our front yard, with lovely trees across the street.  Attached is an image looking into the space.  I tend to rove around a bit, working on my desktop computer some days, or sitting in my reclining chair with my laptop.  Usually there is a mess of papers strewn about from my notes…the picture shows things very tidy in preparation for holiday guests.  Ha!

January Harlequin Series: Reunion at Cardwell Ranch

I have another set of books for the next three days to tell you about. The first one is Reunion at Cardwell Ranch



Here is some interesting topics from the author, B.J. Daniels:

Bon Appetit and a Book:

One of my favorite recipe is some warm comfort food this time of year. This enchilada casserole does the trick alongside a book like REUNION AT CARDWELL RANCH that hopefully keeps you turning the pages so fast, you won’t eat too much.  

ENCHILADA CASSEROLE:

2 cups chicken, turkey (or browned burger would work great too) (I used diced turkey)

3 cups grated cheese (I used both cheddar and jack)

1 4-5 oz green chiles (I used 4 fresh ones from the garden after taking the peel off under the broiler)

1 pkg corn tortillas (12)

1 16 oz can refried beans

1 19oz can of enchilada sauce

1/4 cup chopped green onions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 35-45 minutes in a 13x9 inch dish

Mix meat with 1 1/2 cups of grated cheese and all of the chiles.

Put a few spoonfuls of sauce in bottom of baking dish. Layer 4 tortillas on top of the sauce. (You can cut them to make them fit. I overlapped them to fit in the bottom)

Spread beans over tortillas (I didn't, but I think they would spread easier if heated)

Add half of the meat mixture and half of the remaining enchilada sauce

Put four tortillas on top.

Spread on remaining beans and meat mixture.

Put remaining tortillas on top

Add rest of enchilada sauce

Sprinkle on 1 1/2 cups of cheese.

Cover with foil. Bake. Garnish with green onions and serve.

#Jinglevoxbox from @Influenster #review

As mentioned before, I recently got the #Jinglevoxbox from +Influenster  here is a picture of contents of box when it arrived

1. Biscoff
2. Hallmark Itty Bittys
3. Pure Ice
4. NYC New York color eyeliner
5. Ore Ida tater tots
6. Kiss lashes
7. Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream

#OreIdaTotchos #contest recipe

Recently I got a coupon for some Ore-Ida tater tots. They came in the #Jinglevoxbox I received from Influenster. I went to Walmart and got a free bag.

I was asked to come up with a recipe using the tater tots. I don't know about you but until now I never thought of using tatertots in any other way but then cooking as is in the oven.

But guess what you can!

Here is the simple recipe I came up with. And that is because I didn't have many ingredients in the house at the time. Which is cool anyway, because that means you can come up with something with only a few ingredients.

WW Christmas/NYE 2015

sorry - haven't posted much lately. and/or posted some personal type posts.

but here is this year's Christmas card:

tree with some presents under it:

Spotlight 3 books by Adam Dunn

It’s the near future and New York City as we know it is an alternate universe away. Race riots, terrorist threats, a collapsing economy, warring political parties and widespread distrust in all institutions rule the land. Every day is a fight for survival. With his fast-paced new series, Dunn forces readers to wonder—just how close are we to stumbling into the same fate? 

excerpt from The Big Dogs:

Two months to the day after Thanksgiving, Miss Grace Yunqué, of East Elmhurst, Queens, rose late on her day off, fixed herself brunch, then boarded the westbound M60 bus at 23rd Avenue.

She preferred taking the bus whenever she could. The subways saved time, but were fraught with risk. Despite a heavy police presence underground at key times and terminals, the cop coverage tended to thin out to nothingness towards the outer boroughs, and unless there was someone with a badge and gun on the platform with her, she simply didn’t feel safe on the subways any more.

Besides, the bus was fast, thanks to the Mayor’s enforcement of bus-only lanes across major bridges. And it was comfortable. Miss Grace Yunqué had no idea which kind of bus she rode along the M60 route (a slightly older Orion VII Next Generation semi-low floor hybrid electric built by Daimler Commercial Buses), but it was quite good. She had seen much, much worse in her day.

As usual, the bus looped north through LaGuardia International Airport, meandering by the Marine Air Terminal on Bowery Bay, before settling down for its long westward cruise along Astoria Boulevard. As the bus arced out across the Robert Kennedy Bridge spanning the Hell Gate section of the East River, she looked down upon Wards and Randalls Islands far below, dusted with snow. She was mentally planning her own route. While her main business of the day was routine (a followup visit to Dr. Lazar regarding her condition), the stop she planned to make afterwards was anything but.

Miss Grace Yunqué was a homely, portly Latina of Peruvian descent in her late fifties who was starting to feel gravity’s pull more acutely. Her arches were falling, her heels ached at night, and her ass seemed to spread wider with each passing year. Her husband was dead, her children grown and struggling with families of their own. What little brightness there was in her life came from her grand-nephew José, and her Pomeranian, Hector.

Still, it wasn’t all bad. She had worked for years keeping the books of a small firm that made spare parts for servicing city buses. The benefits were good, and she had her late husband’s small pension coming in as well, which she diligently invested in TIPS, inflation-protected bonds that had been adjusted for the extended period of low rates following the crash. Miss Grace Yunqué did not know when the city’s fortunes would take a turn for the better, but she intended to have a toe in the water when they did. She believed the city would rise again—someday, perhaps not even in her lifetime, but someday—and she wanted to have something to bequeath to her darling little niňo José.

For more info and to purchase visit Amazon and Dunn Books

*joining blog tour - no compensation given * may contain affiliate links 

Pro Quality Apple Cutter by Magikuchen #review

✔YOUR 5 A DAY: Perfect MUST-HAVE tool for all fruit lovers. Makes 8 thin juicy slices with one moderate pressing motion simultaneously removing the core in the process. Less waste, More nutrients.

✔ FOOD SAFE: Premium High Quality kitchen tool built to last! BPA free, FDA approved made from pure 100% Food Grade stainless steel. Healthy and safe essential for all fruit lovers and health enthusiasts.

✔ BEST IN QUALITY AND MULTI-PURPOSE FUNCTIONALITY: Made of tough, rust-proof, razor sharp, stainless steel blades so it won't tarnish or get dull. Can and may be used to slice and cut other fruits and vegetables (e.g. PEARS, TOMATO, APPLES, etc.)

✔100% DISHWASHER SAFE: Designed to make it incredibly easy to clean using the dishwasher and super easy when doing hand wash too.