Thursday, August 28, 2025

Roasted Sausage and Potatoes #recipe @vmburns

VMBURNS: I inherited my hatred of grocery shopping from my mom. Every Saturday, I remember hearing, "I hate going to the grocery store." During the pandemic I discovered the freedom of grocery delivery services. There are positives and negatives to having someone else pick your produce, but I'm willing to endure the scrawny cucumbers to avoid a trip to the grocery store. However, due to an unfortunate mishap, I found myself with two pounds of polish sausage and a lot of potatoes. Rather than frying everything (I'm trying to make better choices), I decided to roast it in the oven. It came out just the way I like it. Yeah, I'm that weird person who likes my sausage and hot dogs crispy and a little burnt. Don't judge.

WHEN I make this again (and there will be a next time) I will add a bell pepper. (or two). I don't think the color will matter, but I think red or yellow would look nice. The Slap Ya Mama Seasoning isn't pictured, but it's basically a cajun seasoning. If you don't like heat, skip it.

ROASTED SAUSAGE AND POTATOES

INGREDIENTS

12 oz Smoked Sausage sliced
3 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 yellow onion, sliced
1/2 Teaspoons Black pepper
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1-2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
2 Teaspoons Paprika
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
1 Teaspoon Slap Ya Mama Seasonings (Optional)
1 Teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. I also use parchment paper, but it isn't necessary, but clean up is a breeze!
Add the potatoes to a large bowl and coat with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil.
Sprinkle all seasonings over the potatoes and toss to coat.
Add the onion and stir.
Add the sliced sausage and the remaining olive oil and stir to coat.
Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet in an even layer.
Bake 40-45 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender.

READERS: The cajun seasoning and red pepper flakes make this dish spicy. Do you like spicy? Let me know in the comments.

ICING ON THE MURDER
Influencer-turned-bakery-owner Maddy Montgomery has sold plenty of wedding cakes before, but before she turns one out for her and her fiancé’s wedding, she’ll have to solve a little case of murder . . .

Aunt Octavia would be so proud! Maddy has turned Baby Cakes Bakery—named for her 250-pound English Mastiff, Baby—into a runaway success, and she’s marrying the love of her life, veterinarian Michael Portman. #DreamWedding! Plus the timing couldn’t be better: the country’s biggest bridal expo has come to New Bison, Michigan, and Maddy has secured a spot for Baby Cakes to showcase their cakes. She’s also entered a contest for an all-expenses-paid wedding extravaganza offered by world-renowned wedding planner Serafina.

Unfortunately, supremely nasty Serafina truly takes the cake—she makes the worst bridezilla seem like a shy flower girl. But there’s one thing the wedding planner didn’t plan on—being impaled by one of the skewers Baby Cakes uses on their tiered wedding cakes.

While Maid of Honor Sheriff April Johnson rounds up suspects at the expo, Maddy and her aunt’s friends, the Baker Street Irregulars, and even Baby join forces to unveil a killer hiding in plain sight . . . before wedding bells start to chime.

BUY LINK

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Zucchini "Hash" #recipe by @LeslieKarst

This is something I came up with as a way to use up some of the massive quantity of zucchini I currently have, thanks to my ever-producing plant who keeps pumping them out, day after day. It’s a take on corned beef hash, but substituting bacon for the corned beef and adding—you guessed it—zucchini! Which makes it count as a vegetable, right?

In the style of your traditional hash, I served mine with a pair of poached eggs on top, and it made for very tasty dinner. (And there was lots left over, which is always nice.)

Zucchini “Hash”

Ingredients

1 lb. bacon

5 medium russet potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks

2 yellow onions, cut into 1-inch chunks

salt and black pepper to taste

5 medium zucchini, cut into 1-inch chunks

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon herbes de Provence

2 eggs per person

(You can see some tomatoes peeking in at the side of the photo, but I ended up not using them in the dish.)

Directions

Slice the bacon into ½-inch pieces and cook it slowly over low heat in a large skillet to render as much of the fat as you can.

Once the bacon is cooked through and browned, remove it to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat and set aside for later use.

Heat the bacon fat over medium heat, then add the potatoes and fry, stirring as need to keep from burning, until almost cooked through and starting to brown.

Add the onions to the potatoes and continue to cook until everything is cooked through and nicely browned. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the potatoes and onions to a bowl and set aside.

Add 2 tablespoons of the reserved bacon fat to the skillet and heat over medium heat. When the fat is melted, add the zucchini and fry, stirring often, until starting to turn golden-brown. (Save any bacon fat you have left, as it’s great to use for frying eggs, vegetables, and potatoes!)

Add the potatoes and bacon back to the skillet along with the zucchini, and sprinkle in the garlic powder and herbes de Provence. Continue to fry, stirring often, until everything is heated through. Taste, and add more salt and/or pepper as needed. (As you can see, I should have used a bigger pan or a wok, as it all just barely fit.)

While the vegetables are reheating, cook 2 eggs per person. You could fry them, but I went with poached eggs.

Plate up the “hash,” then top with the eggs. Yum!

🍷 🌿 🍳

Out now!

Orchid Isle Mystery #2

WATERS OF DESTRUCTION

Buy link here.

"Immerse yourself in Hawaiian lore and savor the portrayal of the stunning landscapes
while enjoying the entertaining mystery."

Kirkus Reviews

And now available

in paperback!

MOLTEN DEATH

Orchid Isle Mystery #1

Buy link here

“Karst’s first Orchid Isle novel is part murder mystery, part vividly evocative, colorful sketch of Hawaii and its history, geography, tradition, culture, food, language, and people. Armchair travelers and mystery aficionados alike will find it entertaining.”

Booklist

This first book in my brand-new Orchid Isle mystery series features retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen who, on a trip to the Big Island of Hawai‘i, swap surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions when a hike to an active lava flow turns deadly.

Praise for MOLTEN DEATH:

“a compelling read that will enlighten, engage, and entertain, leaving readers longing for their next trip to the Orchid Isle.”

--New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay

“a terrific debut to a series that will go on my must read list!”

--USA Today bestselling author Deborah Crombie

A SENSE FOR MURDER

2024 Lefty Award Nominee

for Best Humorous Mystery!

This newest Sally Solari mystery

is available for purchase here !

Praise for A SENSE FOR MURDER:

“[Sally is] sassy, irresistible company... Culinary cozy fans will be in heaven.”

--Publishers Weekly

“An enjoyable read for mystery mavens and foodies alike.”

--Kirkus Reviews

Justice is Served: A Tale of Scallops,

the Law, and Cooking for RBG

is the 2024 Silver Medal Winner for both the

IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award

and the IPPY Award!

Buy link here

Praise for Justice is Served:

"a suspenseful, exhilarating memoir; Karst relays her determination to serve the 'perfect' meal to RBG alongside an uplifting, enlightening portrayal of one of the most admired justices in the history of the Supreme Court."

-Foreword Reviews (starred review)

"[This] book is a romp from cover to cover—and, just like a great meal, left me ready for more."

-Karen Shimizu, executive editor, Food & Wine-

All of the Sally Solari Mysteries (as well as my other books) are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

How to Make #LowCarb FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE with #ProteinCollagenBoost from Cleo Coyle #keto

From Cleo Coyle: This version of Frozen Hot Chocolate is insanely easy to make yet still quite tasty. It can be enjoyed as an icy chocolate drink or fun frozen dessert. Also, depending on how you choose to make it, this chocolate treat can be made sugar-free and even boost your daily intake of protein and collagen. I'll show you how in today's recipe. But first, I'm happy to share this drink's inspiration...

☕ Did you know the "Frozen Hot Chocolate" orginated her in New York City? It began with Seredipity, a wonderful word that means finding the pleasantly unexpected by chance.

It's also the name of a legendary café that began in the basement of a New York Brownstone. Three bohemians launched the white-washed space as a hipster coffeehouse of the 1950’s. Four tables, sixteen chairs, and one giant, old espresso machine were all they needed to attract nightly lines around the Upper East Side block.

Serendipity 3 cafe - photo by Ben W courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Serendipity 3 Frozen Hot Chocoalte
By Tduk Alex Lozupone,
courtesy Wikipedia Commons

The trendiest of avant-garde types were soon packing the place, including Andy Warhol, who declared it his favorite sweet shop. (As legend has it, he paid his checks with drawings.)

These days, Serendipity has a much different vibe. The Tiffany lamp-decked ice cream parlor is packed with happy tourists, families, couples, and kids celebrating birthdays.

Many decades may divide Serendipity’s past from its present, but one delicious bridge closes all gaps: chocolate. FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE to be exact. Serendipity is world famous for it.

Although you may not have this legendary café in your town, today I’ll show you how to make a simple, inexpensive home version of their famous frozen hot chocolate...

How’s that for serendipity?

Cleo Coyle writes two
bestselling mystery

series with her husband.
To learn more, click here.

☕ A Note from Cleo

Some recipes for frozen hot chocolate make no sense to me. Heat up milk and cool it again? Use 3 cups of ice, which dilutes the chocolate flavor? There is a better way, and even a way to make it a low-carb, sugar-free, chocolate treat with a protein & collagen boost.

There are many products on the market that can turn this recipe into a good-for-you experience. I'll show you how in the recipe below...

May you eat with joy and in good health!

~ Cleo

To download a free PDF
version of this recipe

that you can print, save
or share, click here.

Click here or on the image above
for Cleo's Free Recipe PDF.

Frozen Hot Chocolate

by Cleo Coyle

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 one-ounce packets of your favorite hot chocolate or cocoa mix. If using loose powder, measure out enough to make two servings. *See my notes below on making this recipe sugar-free/low-carb and even a boost to your daily intake of protein and collagen.

2 cups milk (skim, whole, dairy or non-dairy such almond or soy milk)

1 ounce of semi-sweet or dark bar chocolate, finely chopped or grated *Again, see my note below on making this recipe sugar-free/low-carb.

Whipped cream (optional, for my non-dairy whipped cream recipe click here)

* * * Options * * *

*LOW CARB, SUGAR-FREE OPTION: To make the drink low calorie and low carb, look for brands of hot chocolate or cocoa with no added sugar. See below on how to turn this drink into a nutritional boost to your protein and collagen. There are also many good low-carb, sugar-free bar chocolates on the market. If you neeed a suggestion, try Lily's sugar-free chocolate bars or the ChocZero brand products.

*GOOD-FOR-YOU PROTEIN & COLLAGEN BOOSTING OPTION: Many products on the market today help boost protein and collagen while providing a tasty chocolate drink. If you want a suggestion, I use the Perfect Keto Chocolate-Flavored Collagen, which delivers grass-fed collagen and 9 grams of protein per serving with no added sugar and only one net carb.

This is the "Perfect Keto" brand product
that I use and enjoy as a chocolate
drink treat with a boost of
grass-fed protein & collagen.
To learn more, click here.

Directions:

Step 1 – Make "Hot" Chocolate Milk: Whisk one of your two packets of hot chocolate mix into your cup of cold dairy or non-dairy milk (you'll use the second packet later in the recipe). As noted above, if using loose hot chocolate powder instead of packets, or a product like a chocolate collagen drink, then simply measure out enough powder to make the equivalent of one serving and mix it into the cold milk.

TIP: No need to heat the milk as some recipes direct. Simply whisk the milk and hot chocolate mix for 60 or so seconds until the powder is dissolved. Be sure to use a real whisk, not a spoon or fork. You’re finished when the liquid resembles smooth chocolate milk with no sign of powder or granules.

Step 2 – Make "Hot Chocolate" Ice Cubes: Pour the cold chocolate milk mixture into an ice cube tray. Chill in your freezer until solidly frozen. TIP: When ready to use, if the frozen chocolate cubes stick to the ice tray, simply set the bottom of the tray in a lukewarm water bath and use a knife to dislodge the cubes quickly and carefully.

Step 3 – Repeat and Blend: Using your second packet of hot chocolate to create another cup of chocolate milk. Place this milk in your blender with the "hot chocolate" ice cubes. Pulse the blender to chop the frozen cubes into fine particles. You are creating a slushy drink with small ice chips (like a frozen margarita). As an option for a super chocolatey finish à la Serendipity's famous Frozen Hot Chocolate, see Step 4 below...

Step 4 – Optional Choco-fication: Add most of the finely chopped (or grated) dark or semi-sweet chocolate into the blender with the hot chocolate slushy (holding back some of the grated chocolate for garnish). Pulse once or twice to mix. Pour into cups or mugs. Finish with whipped cream (dairy or non-dairy), then a final sprinkling of grated chocolate and…eat with chocolate joy!