Recipe Friday: Fabulous Chicken Ball

Recently I have taken my chicken ball to a couple of events and have had many folks ask for the recipe.  I have to say that it is such an easy recipe that I almost ashamed to admit that it  but here it is.

Chicken Cheese Ball

1 large can of white meat chicken (I guess you could use cooked chicken but why bother?)

1 package of cream cheese, softened

1 package of ranch dressing mixture.

Mix everything together and form into a ball.
Chill for several hours then serve.

There are ENDLESS variations of this recipe.  My sister likes more meat in hers so she uses two large cans of chicken and 2 cream cheese packages but still only uses one ranch dressing. Her chicken ball is a little less spicy and has more meat.  My Uncle Brother liked his chicken ball with more of a kick so  he always added some cajun mix.   You can also make it with Hormel smoked ham.  The wonderful Rhonda Nelson makes this and it is always great! 

You can roll the shaped ball in nuts like pecans and I have  seen it with cheddar cheese pressed into it.  I still think that was done by a hostess who forgot to buy nuts but I like it best with just the green flakes from the ranch mix giving it some color.  I think the nuts and such just get in my way and keep me from the chickeny goodness. Of course, you can also shape it like other things such as footballs and logs.  Recently I had the ham version of this at a party and it was just served in a bowl as a dip.  It is truly a hostesses best friend!

What to serve it with is often a question for discussion. I originally had it served with crackers.  I still serve it with crackers sometimes but I like it better with corn chips--the big ones that you can really scoop food up with.  I also heard some recent speculation that it would be good served with those bowl-like tortilla chips.

With the holiday season coming up we all need easy recipes that we can make with things in our pantries.  What is your favorite easy party food to make?

Rhonda Nelson's The Phoenix

This week I am reviewing the book The Phoenix by Rhonda Nelson.  This is a Harlequin Blaze book.  
The cover, as you can see, is just red hot!  I also really liked the tag line that was on it "Some guys burn hotter than others."  It just seemed like the kind of book to warm up my cold winter night, and I was right.

The premise of the book is really cute...the heroine, Charlie Martin,  is an investigator and so is the hero, Jay Weatherford.  In fact, the Jay was hired for the job at a top security firm that Charlie had applied for.    Charlie was hired at a rival firm and they both ended up assigned to the same kidnapping case but hired by different people to solve the crime.  In fact, it wasn't a kidnapping at all but was a dognapping.  That's right, a dog had been snatched and was being held for ransom, but not just any dog.  A very rich dog.  It was a dog that had been left millions of dollars by its owner. 

Charlie's dad hasn't spoken to her since she left the police force for private investigation/security work and Jay is struggling to deal with some demons that were chasing him since his unit was attacked in Baghdad.  So as you can see there is a lot of tension to go around, Jay got the job Charlie wanted and now they are both trying to find this millionaire dog.  On top of all of this when they meet it is extremely obvious to both of them that they have a physical chemsistry that is off the temperature charts hot!

This book delievers all of the humor and heat that I have come to expect from a Rhonda Nelson book.  I love how she always makes me laugh.  It is one of the many reasons I buy every book she writes but this book had a  romance between two secondary characters Miss Aggie and Smokeythat I found extremely charming and sweet.  It proved yet again that you are never too old for love, if you are willing to take the chance.

I was correct in my original thought that this would be a great book to curl up with on a cold night.  It was sizzling hot and a great read!

Have you read anything recently that warmed up your cold winter days, or better yet nights?

So Many Books, So Little Time

I don't know about everyone else, but it seems that I have tons of really great looking books to read right now. I purchased several last week then more this week and have even more on my list to purchase soon. It often seems as if I can't find anything that I am in the mood to read. Oh, I read all the time but often it feels unsatisfactory--as if some spark of excitement is missing in me about the books.

Those days appear to be over! I thought I would share some of the books that I am excited about with you. Over my Christmas break I consumed books at a rate that really felt more like a binge, but one I didn't want to end.

I discovered Lora Leigh's Breed Series. I have Bengal's Heart on my night stand. I read the story of the hero's twin brother during the holiday binge and I can't wait to see how this one works out.

I also picked up the first two books in Ms. Leigh's Tempting SEALS series. I bought the first two of the three, which was all my book store had. They look hot and sexy. Just what I need on a cold winter night to warm me up!

On my second trip I purchased The Husband Recipe by Linda Winstead Jones. I like to cook and I would like to have a husband so I decided this might give me the secret ingredient that I have been missing!

I saw The Cowboy's Secret Son by Trish Milburn and almost picked it up but didn't because, well, as everyone knows I hate a secret baby book so imagine my surprise when I got home and read the four star review in Romantic Times. It was all about how great it was I decided that I am going to get it when I go back to the book store. It sounds so interesting that I am going to try to move past my prejudice and give it a chance.

Isn't this beautiful!

On this second trip I tried to purchase a book that isn't out yet but that I am looking forward to with great anticipation, The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak.

I think my new fascination with romance in Russia began when I read Behind the Palace Walls by the fabulous Lynn Raye Harris. It made me yearn for hot Russian men to warm up the long winter nights.
I am really looking forward to reading all of these new books. I have been thinking about doing a book review at least one Thursday a month and have decided that this is a great time to start that. I am currently reading The Phoenix by Rhonda Nelson and will review it next Thursday. I am really excited about starting this and hope you will enjoy hearing more about some of the books that I am reading.

It is also my hope that you will share books that you are enjoying with us here under the tulip tree!
What book or books are you excited about reading now?

Rhonda Nelson's Yummy Portuguese Bread

I bet this bread would be great to eat while snuggled up on the couch with a cup of tea while reading Rhonda's newest release, THE SUVIVOR.  The heat from the book would probably keep your bread and tea warm!

Rhonda writes:

Because the weather has turned cooler and nothing says fall like the smell of homemade bread cooking, I thought I’d share this recipe with y’all today. I made this myself over the weekend and it turned out so well I’ll definitely be making it again. It’s a very tasty, sturdy bread, which slices well and, as I discovered on Sunday morning, makes excellent French toast. This recipe is for a bread machine because the other way is too intimidating for me. Also, I don’t like to get my hands sticky and flour-y. *shudders* If you don’t have a bread machine, then I’m sorry, I can’t help you. I have no idea how to tell you to make it the way they did in the olden days, before bread machines. (Jean might have a suggestion, though.) Have a good weekend!

Portuguese Sweet Bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk

• 1 egg

• 2 tablespoons margarine

• 1/3 cup white sugar

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 3 cups bread flour

• 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions

1.) Add ingredients in order suggested by your manufacturer.

2.) Select "sweet bread" setting.

Rhonda Nelson Confesses

Please join us in welcoming Rhonda Nelson to our blog as she shares about her moral struggles and her  latest Blaze release, THE SURVIVOR.  Rhonda is giving away two copies of her book to lucky commenters tomorrow so please sure to comment to day, keep your fingers crossed, and check back tomorrow to see if you are one of the lucky winners!

Rhonda has also supplied a yummy recipe for tomorrow so be sure to come back and visit with us.

A Confession…


Y’all, I have something to tell you and I’m not proud of it.

For the most part, I think I’m an easy-going, kind-hearted and generous person. I’m quick to share my time, to take a meal when others are sick, to offer a word of encouragement. I donate to various charities, can’t walk past the Salvation Army buckets at Christmastime without feeling guilty, even if I’ve already given that day. According to the abbreviated version of the Myers-Brigg’s test my personality type is called “The Nurturer.”

Given that, one would think that I wouldn’t be stingy about anything, right? And yet, I am, y’all. When it comes to one thing, I completely lose my cool and any sense of sharing, even with those I love, those I care about.
And you know what that thing is? It’s…French Fries.

*hangs head in shame*

Yes, you read that right. It’s French Fries. I would gladly give the shoes off my feet to a total stranger if they needed them, but you let a friend or loved one try to sneak a French Fry from my plate and I become stingy, greasy-fingered b*tch. Seriously. I’m horrible! It’s not like I’m going to eat all the fries, or I’m in danger of starvation, or am never going to get another French Fry.
So…why? What is it about French Fries, of all things, that bring out the absolute worst in me? What does it matter if someone gets one measly fry?

Please tell me I’m not along in my stingy fry shame. Tell me there are more of you out there. We can form a self-help group. Create our own twelve step program.

Confess in the comments and I’ll pick two winners for my latest Blaze release, THE SURVIVOR, which is on shelves now.

Special thanks to Jean, Stephanie, Kathy and Cheryl for having me here today!

Upcoming Guests

I am sure  many of you are checking your calendars thinking, "Did I miss some days? I thought today was Monday, Pantster's day on the blog."  I am equally sure that everyone expected to find a witty, sassy blog that probably included a list of rules for behavior for situation that adults should already know but seem to have forgotten--or worse--choose to ignore.

Instead, you find a blog by me. Believe me, it can only go up for you from here.  In an effort to make sure you aren't too disappointed, I decided to share some exciting news with you.  Since the guest blog by The Guy went so well while we were at the RWA national conference, we have decided to have more guest blogs.  We have contacted many of our author friends, including some very excited first book authors, and we have over ten guest bloggers scheduled for the upcoming months.  Most of them are also going to share a recipe that relates to her book so that will make Recipe Fridays more fun too.

These guest spots will coincide with new book releases so that we can all get the inside scoop on the hottest books before they hit the shelves. (Well, unless your store is Books-A-Million, but that is Pantster's story to tell.)  In the next few months we are going to have visits from Kimberly Lang, Katharine Ashe, Debby Giusti, Rhonda Nelson, Debbie Kaufman, Melanie Dickerson. After Christmas, we'll hear from Kira Sinclair, Missy Tippens, and  Andrea Laurence.  Exciting times indeed!

We look forward to visiting with these authors and think you will enjoy getting to know them and chatting about their upcoming releases.

Is there an author you most anxiously await new releases from?  Has it changed over the years?

Book Report: Real Men Wear Plaid

When we started this blog .we intended to review books. I have not done a very good job of making this happen, probably because I didn't have a plan. Now, I  have one.  I am going to do a monthly book review and give the book to a lucky commenter  Normally, my review will appear the last week of the month, but I'm a week early this time because I am going to be at the Romance Writers of America National Conference next week. 


The book I would like to talk about this month is Real Men Wear Plaid,  by my Heart of Dixie Chapter-mate, Rhonda Nelson.  This Harlequin  Blaze  was just the red hot read this single girl needed!  I love men in kilts and this book delivered them in triplicate. It is comprised of three stories about Scottish brothers who all fall in love with sweet girls from the American South. As a Southern girl myself,  I adored the premise that no one can resist our charms.

In the first story, Ewan MacKinnon (The Wanderer) meets Gemma as they are both hiking along The West Highland Way.  It turns out they are both making the trek as a journey of self-discovery, but what they actually find is sizzling passion along with the answers they were seeking within themselves.

In The Warrior, Cam MacKinnon, has bought the castle of his dreams and runs it as a bed and breakfast that specializes in fishing and murder mystery parties--which he secretly writes.  His hard fast rule against fraternizing with guests goes by the wayside when finds he can't resist Summer's sexy southern charms.  What they expect to be one weekend of holiday fun, turns into a lifetime of  true love.

The final story is about Alec MacKinnon (The Wayfarer) and his best friend and mentor's daughter, Isla.  Before meeting her, Alec expected Isla to be a spoiled selfish American, but she turns out to be nothing like he expected and nothing short of  irresistible!

I loved that these stores showed three very different paths to finding a lifetime passion and that  love doesn't respect borders or boundaries.  It can happen any time and any place, especially when you least expect it!

I recommend this book to anyone who likes a steamy romance with rich satisfying characters, full of the joy of finding love. 

I will announce the winner of this month's book tonight at 10:00 p.m.

What is your favorite book where the men wear plaid?