Friday Recipe: Cheesesteak Egg Rolls

Yes. They are as delicious as they sound.

Prep Time:     Cook Time:     Ready In:
10 Min        5 Min         15 Min

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (12.5 ounce) package frozen sandwich steak meat
• 1 (14 ounce) package egg roll wrappers
• 4 slices American cheese, halved
• 2 cups oil for frying, or as needed
• 1/4 cup ketchup

Directions

1. Heat skillet with the tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Break frozen steak pieces into skillet; cook and stir until steak is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Arrange egg roll wrappers on a flat surface; place a half slice of cheese on each one. Layer an equal amount of steak mixture on top of each cheese slice. Roll up egg rolls according to package directions, and seal edges, wetting with water if necessary.
3. Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet, or preheat a deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. Fry the rolls in the hot oil until golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove; drain on paper towels. Serve warm with ketchup for dipping.

Nutritional Information:
Amount Per Serving  Calories: 779 | Total Fat: 39.2g | Cholesterol: 106mg

Seduction of a Proper Lady

(With the corrected blurb!)

Lady Laurel Westfeld had been brought up to be the most proper of ladies. But when Major Braedon Sinclair sets his sights on the young debutante, propriety is the last thing he wants from her.

Braedon wants a woman with the attributes of a courtesan and the reputation of a fine lady. He wants her to accept his unconventional desires--desires that include another man in their bed.

Ethan Ashmore, Sinclair’s former lieutenant, is the other man in Sinclair’s bed. Now that they’re home from a decade at war, neither wants to give the other up, but both want a woman to share their passions.

The proper Lady Laurel soon becomes their very willing prey.

And this is why we edit

For that matter, this is why we self-edit and double check our historical research!

Sunday I received my copy edits for Seduction of a Proper Lady. They weren't bad, and I agreed with 99%of the changes: a couple comma mistakes, an insertion of a word here and there, the normal. Except for a rather embarrassing and glaring mistake.

I used the English nobility title incorrectly. Glaringly so.

Nope, no idea what happened, brain freeze? Or melt as the hot summer may be. Whatever the case, I'm glad it was caught before it went to up!

Needless to say, I'm spending one more week going over the story. Just to double check there are no further glaring mistakes in there!

Promotion

Now that my latest Regency Ménage Tale is finished, my attention turns to promotion. I think promoting this book is more time consuming than Wickedly Wanton!

I say that only because as my second full-length, I know of more places to promote it. With Wickedly Wanton, I knew little about review sites, paid advertising such as Facebook, or even blog tours. I was lucky to know of a handful of blogs to follow by authors who wrote similarly to me! Blog tour? I knew nothing.

Now I know all this...that is to say I know more than I did 8 months ago!

I'm also thinking of giving away give-aways, contests, and other fun winning stuff.

Blog title

After thinking long and hard (about 4 minutes) I decided to name my blog. It never really occurred to me before, it was my blog, Kristabel's blog. So there. But I signed up to be a blog tour host with Lucy Felthouse and the form wanted to know my blog's name.

Er...

I've now decided on the Wickedly Wanton Tales Blog, yes, yes, taken from my first book but I think it's apropos!

And if you want to sign up to promote your books, Lucy has a page here with info on that.

Sent out!

I'm thrilled I finally managed to send out Seduction of a Proper Lady! It's such a relief.

Lady Laurel Kingsley had been brought up to be the most proper of ladies. But when Major Braedon Sinclair sets his sights on the young debutante, propriety is the last thing he wants from her.

Braedon wants a woman with the attributes of a courtesan and the reputation of a fine lady. He wants her to accept his unconventional desires--desires that include another man in their bed.

Ethan Ashmore, Sinclair’s former lieutenant, is the other man in Sinclair’s bed. Now that they’re home from a decade at war, neither wants to give the other up, but both want a woman to share their passions.

The proper Lady Kingsley soon becomes their very willing prey.

Friday Recipe

Southwest egg rolls. Yum. My cousin made these a few weeks ago and they were delicious. Don't know why she bothered with other food for the party. We gorged ourselves on these tasty little delights.

Prep Time:     Cook Time:     Ready In:
20 Min             12 Min            4 Hrs 32 Min (I have no idea why 20+12=272. But then I hear tell the prep time for this is way longer...cutting the veggies, all that chicken prep. Luckily, I just enjoyed the fruits of her labor)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast half
• 2 tablespoons minced green onion
• 2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper
• 1/3 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1/4 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 2 tablespoons diced jalapeno peppers
• 1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
• 3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 5 (6 inch) flour tortillas
• 1 quart oil for deep frying

Directions

1. Rub 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over chicken breast. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook chicken approximately 5 minutes per side, until meat is no longer pink and juices run clear. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in green onion and red pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until tender.
3. Dice chicken and mix into the pan with onion and red pepper. Mix in corn, black beans, spinach, jalapeno peppers, parsley, cumin, chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until well blended and tender. Remove from heat and stir in Monterey Jack cheese so that it melts.
4. Wrap tortillas with a clean, lightly moist cloth. Microwave on high approximately 1 minute, or until hot and pliable.
5. Spoon even amounts of the mixture into each tortilla. Fold ends of tortillas, then roll tightly around mixture. Secure with toothpicks. Arrange in a medium dish, cover with plastic, and place in the freezer. Freeze at least 4 hours.
6. In a large, deep skillet, heat oil for deep frying to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Deep fry frozen, stuffed tortillas 10 minutes each, or until dark golden brown. Drain on paper towels before serving.

FINISHED!

Actually finished Seduction of a Proper Lady on Sunday. And then I crashed. I don't remember much of Monday & Tuesday, other than the sure, let's edit...yeah right. More like I'll stare at the computer screen and my eyes will cross and then I'll give up and fall back to the couch since 7 pm is entirely too early for bed.

I'm editing it this weekend. Which is when I wanted to start my Flowers in the Tower story, but that'll have to wait until next weekend. The good news on that is: The plot is done! The bad news is that my deadline is August 1.

But since my editor was kind enough to give me some leeway for Seduction, I'm hoping she'll also realize by turning that in mid-July there's no way I can crank out another story in 2 weeks. Nope, my brain will melt for certain.

July?!

And here we are, alreayd July 7. Summer's flying by, I've been to the beach all of ONCE, I'm behind in my BBQs, and over all missing summer already.

But I have July goals! Already 60%+ into Seduction of a Proper Lady. I want to have that finished by the start of next week. Considering I'm finally on a roll with it, I think I'll make that goal.

Then I'll give myself a break (but not a long one since there's no time!) and start Flowers in the Tower. I have that completely plotted and ready to write. Phew! I'd like to start that one by the end of the month.

Social Networking

Two weeks ago I almost cancelled my facebook account. I never used it, I didn't know anyone on there despite the 'friends' I had. I never talked with anyone or chatted with them, posted on their posts or had anyone comment on mine. What was the use? I was going to cancel and be done with it. I had other things to spend my time on.

I didn't, I waited, and I changed my mind.

It wasn't anyone else's fault by my own. I didn't interact with anyone on facebook, so naturally no one would interact with me. As with most things in life, social networking is a two way street. Hence the terms SOCIAL and NETWORKING.

I have since rectified that and am don gmy best to post regularly and comment on other's posts. It's not always as easy as it sounds, but it's progress. And that seems to be what this week is all about!

Progress!

This has been a great 3-day weekend. Not only did I get to spend time with family & friends, have great cookouts, and fun times, but I did 10,000 words this weekend, too!

I'm so psyched about that, it's a fantastic feeling to not only see progress, but know that all those annoying plot points that I struggled with are now smoothed over.

PHEW!

Independence Day

Independence Day is more than fireworks, nifty patriotic music, and cookouts. No seriously, it is! It's about remembering what America is all about, and frankly I hope it's about more than cookouts, yummy tho they might be.

Remember what our Founding Fathers fought for and what our serving armed forces and vets are still fighting for. However, try this site for some Fun Facts about the Fourth of July.

Declaration of Independence:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Friday recipe: Patriotic Gelatin Salad

I wouldn't call this a salad so much as a dessert. Definitely a dessert...and yummy at that!

Ingredients

• 2 (3 ounce) packages berry blue gelatin
• 2 (3 ounce) packages strawberry flavored gelatin
• 4 cups boiling water, divided
• 2 1/2 cups cold water, divided
• 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. In four separate bowls, dissolve each package of gelatin in 1 cup boiling water. Add 1/2 cup cold water to each and stir. Pour one bowl of blue gelatin into an oiled 10-in. fluted tub pan; chill until almost set, about 30 minutes.
2. Set other three bowls of gelatin aside at room temperature. Soften unflavored gelatin in remaining cold water; let stand 5 minutes.
3. Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat just below boiling. Stir in softened gelatin and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and vanilla until smooth. When blue gelatin in pan in almost set, carefully spoon 1-1/2 cups sour cream mixture over it. Chill until almost set, about 30 minutes.
4. Carefully spoon one bowl of strawberry gelatin over cream layer. Chill until almost set. Carefully spoon 1-1/2 cups cream mixture over the strawberry layer. Chill until almost set. Repeat, adding layers of blue gelatin, cream mixture and strawberry gelatin, chilling in between each. Chill several hours or overnight.