Welcome to Recipe for Romance!
Let’s get started. I’m sharing a snippet of my newest release, FOSSIL BEDS BED & BREAKFAST, a sapphic dino shifter romance. Maya owns the Fossil Beds Bed & Breakfast, and there’s a public meeting to determine if the community wants a huge resort to come in and take over their town. Short answer: no. But Maya has taught her kids to be activists already.
Available now everywhere: Fossil Beds B&B
Maya focused on Quinn’s face, her mammalian features full of irritation. “A public meeting about what?”
Quinn frowned, her cute, freckled nose wrinkling. “It’s to see if the residents of Deadman want that tool Clifford Krassobaki to come in here and buy up all the land to make a gawd-awful resort for his ultra-wealthy, tax-evading buddies.”
Maya blinked. “Wait…I know I haven’t been up on politics and local issues as much as you, but when did this come about?” She set her tea down on the arm of the chair and sat up as Quinn handed her the newspaper, a relict that Quinn still read even though she had an online subscription.
“It’s a relatively recent development that started at last month’s city council meeting.” Quinn rolled her eyes. “That douche Mayor Blatherton, who’s friends with Krassobaki, proposed the expansion on Krassobaki’s already palatial ranch. They scheduled a public meeting on Thursday to see what the public has to say.”
“Oh, I have a lot to say. That would put The Fossil Beds B&B out of business. And where are they gonna get all the people to work this monstrosity? The town holds maybe five hundred humans. Oh hell no.” Maya rolled to her feet as her daughter beamed.
“I love it when you get a fire lit under your butt.” Quinn grinned as she followed Maya into the kitchen of their B&B. “It doesn’t happen often, but it’s awesome.”
“You just say that because you’re the firebrand in this family.” Maya shook her head, but a smile curled her lips. “And it’s a damn good thing. Too many people got comfortable and let shit like this slide. But not me, not now. Where’s your brother?”
Quinn shrugged. “He’s down at the Deadman Community Center teaching a class on internet scams and red flags.”
Gluten-Free Cheese Sticks
Almost everyone I know loves cheese sticks. And who wouldn’t? They’re warm, hardy, cheesy, and fried. All the great things, lol!
INGREDIENTS
10+ eggs
Salt (optional)
1 lb of harder cheese (Mozzarella, Monterey Jack, Cheddar) cut into 1/2 inch (13 mm) wide and 3 inch (7.5 cm) long sticks
1/3 cup Gluten Free flour
1 can of Gluten Free breadcrumbs
3 cups of oil
Wax Paper
Large Plate
Fork
DIRECTIONS
Crack eggs into a medium bowl and beat. In two smaller bowls, drop flour and 1/3 the can of breadcrumbs, respectively.
Drop cheese sticks into eggs and let soak a moment or two. Using a fork, spear a cheese stick, transfer it to the flour, and roll, making sure the stick is covered in flour.
Return the stick to the eggs to coat again. Once it’s coated with egg, roll the floured cheese stick in the breadcrumbs until coated.
Drop it into the eggs again and then into the breadcrumbs to be sure it’s completely breaded (double breading). Set aside on the wax paper on a plate until time to fry them.
Repeat the process for each cheese stick, adding flour or eggs or breadcrumbs to the bowls as needed.
Pour oil into a deep pan and turn on high.
Scrape the last of the flour and the breadcrumbs into the remaining egg mixture. Mix together until it becomes thick. If it’s still soupy, add a little more breadcrumbs until you can form bread balls. Add spices if you like.
Scoop out some mixture with a spoon and roll between your hands until it forms a round ball. Do this for all the mixture.
To test the heat of the oil, gently roll the bread balls into the pan. They take the longest to cool, so they are great for both testing the oil and cooking them longer.
Allow the bread balls to fry in the oil until they’ve browned a little (gluten free breading doesn’t darken much until burned). Roll gently with tongs so they’re evenly cooked. Fry for about 4-6 minutes until the bread balls harden and crack a little. Remove from oil onto a paper-towel covered plate to drain.
Add the cheese sticks to cook, 4 at a time. When you hear the oil crackle and spit, turn the heat down to med-high.
Keep rolling the cheese sticks to brown on all sides. When you see a little bit of cheese leaking through the breading, the sticks are done.
Remove from oil onto a paper-towel covered plate to let drain. Cover the oil and let it cool on the stove.
Great excerpt. Intriguing story. And the cheese sticks look amazing.