Feature Friday Block Party Blog Hop

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Friday, July 18, 2014

Feature Friday Block Party Blog Hop


Welcome - I'm participating in the Feature Friday Block Party Blog Hop hosted by Buy the Book Tours and this week's co-host, author MJ Schiller! Please be so kind as to #FF me on Twitter - My handle is @NancyGideon.

One of my favorite vacays ever was cruising the Virgin Islands. The sun, the warm breezes, the exotic food and music . . . can you spell r-e-l-a-x-a-t-i-o-n! So today I’m bringing a bit of the tropics to the Block with a yummy grill recipe I got off Pintrest and a tease from my next new (actually re-issued) release.

First, get your taste buds tingling with this juicy palate-pleasing delight that made my family’s 4th of July explode with favor!





Teriyaki Pina Colada Burger

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 burgers
Serving Size: 1 burger

Ingredients:

  • 4 Brioche Buns
  • 2 pounds of ground beef (I used pre-made. I’m lazy.)
  • 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons of butter, melted plus more for buns
  • 4 slices of pineapple, core intact (Holds together better on grill. Core after grilling)
  • 1/3 cup teriyaki sauce 
  • 1/3 cup Pina Colada Sauce (1small can crushed pineapple, 2/3 cups cream of coconut, 1/3 c sour cream. Goes a looong way. Can use it as a dip for fruit before adding the mayo so I only used half for the sauce.)
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 4 slices colby jack cheese
  • 4-8 slices of cooked bacon
Instructions:
  1. Butter each side of the buns, set aside, and heat the grill to high heat.
  2. Mix the meat gently with the 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce. Form into 4 burgers and brush with a little melted butter then sprinkle each side with salt and pepper. Place on the grill and grill 4-7 minutes. Using a spoon drizzle the teriyaki over the burgers. Flip the burger and using a brush or a new spoon, spread teriyaki over the burger. Allow to cook for another 4-7 minutes or until done. (Don’t overcook!) Place cheese over each burger right before it is done and close the lid to melt the cheese.
  3. Meanwhile, grill the pineapple until marks appear, about 2 minutes, flip and grill again. Remove to a plate and cut out the core. 
  4. Grill each bun, inside down until grill marks appear.
  5. Spread the pina colada mayo on each side of the bun. Place the burger, pineapple and bacon on the bottom and top with the lid. Enjoy! 
Recipe c/o www.ohsweetbasil.com

Next, let me tempt your senses with this excerpt for my July w/a Dana Ransom contemporary (which should hit in trade paperback and e-book versions from Bell Bridge Books within the next week or so!). I’ve seen the new cover (to die for!) but it’s still hush-hush. Watch for a reveal. Until then, here’s a look at the original from 1993 while you whet your appetite with just a taste . . .



TOTALLY YOURS
Dana Ransom

When a popular self-improvement program gives Lisa Reynolds a smoking hot body, she wins an unexpected prize: a Caribbean cruise as the club’s corporate spokesmodel. Lisa, a hardworking insurance sales rep who prides herself on her brains, hesitantly accepts the siren call of being admired for her figure, too.

But suddenly this new glamour girl faces magnetic CEO Harlan Jameson, whose interest in her matches her attraction to him, except . . . the “real” Lisa isn’t this workout babe he created. And old self-doubts about being loved for herself resurface.

Harlan’s not what she thinks. A self-made success, lonely, and isolated by a busy schedule . . . he’s drawn to Lisa’s honesty and warmth. When he understands her fears, he sets out to prove there’s only one thing he wants her to change for him: her last name.

Excerpt

Gorgeous. 

Lisa Reynolds was gorgeous. 

It wasn’t something Harlan didn’t already know, but studying the contact sheets of the morning’s shoot brought it home like a hammering punch to the solar plexus. Teddy had developed the pages of tiny photos so his employer could pick the ones he wanted blown up in the makeshift darkroom he and Moe had assembled. All of the pictures looked good. It wasn’t just because Teddy was an excellent photographer. It was Lisa. 

Harlan tried to maintain a cool objectivity as he went from shot to shot but it escaped him. He found himself admiring the sleek curve of Lisa’s throat in one, the mystery of her smile in another, the powerhouse sexuality in yet another; the Mari­lyn Monroe pose that in his own words, knocked his socks off. Everything he wanted was there, the fresh quality, the heart-yanking vulnerability, the spirit, and poise. Everything he wanted . . . and it made him irritable as all get out. 

He was being stupid. He knew it. He was a powerful man, a wealthy man. He could con­trol all those around him, but he could not control the direction Lisa’s heart chose to take. She had no way of knowing that he’d gone half-crazy over her before they’d even met. She wasn’t responsible for the fact that he had chosen her as the woman to fill the gap in his life. And he would be totally, certifiably crazy if he decided to pursue her now that he knew her affections lay elsewhere. He wasn’t used to having a rival. In busi­ness, where he was always in complete command, he competed only with himself. An outside chal­lenge unsettled him and chafed against his confi­dence. He didn’t like feeling vulnerable. He didn’t like the idea that he might lose. 

He gave the sheet of photos one more look then sighed. He’d let Maggie choose. She wouldn’t be distracted by things like softly parted lips and the tempting tip of a head. She’d see product not poten­tial passion and he was blind to the former. He glanced at the paper in his other hand—their tenta­tive shooting schedule. For this afternoon, it was the atrium Jacuzzi. He groaned inwardly, imagining what that would be like. Lisa up to her neck in the frothy water, him up to his gritted teeth with turbu­lent desire. But he had to be there to supervise. His photographers were experts, but it was his habit to have his thumb on every aspect of anything he was involved in. And right now, he wanted more than his thumb on Lisa Reynolds.

Happy summer and enjoy what my neighbors from the Block have in store for you by following the Hop links.

4 comments

  1. The recipe sounds nummy, and so does the book!

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  2. Okay, my comment disappeared. Let's try again since it was so brilliant. LOL

    That burger sounds downright sinful. :)

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  3. That burger looks out of this world! Copied that sucker down! Thanks for sharing! And I loved how you tied it in with your book. Great excerpt!

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  4. I can't wait to see your new cover! How exciting!

    ReplyDelete