Sapphyria's Book Promotions Presents: Date Night Dinners by Sloane Taylor; #BlogTour, #RecipeTour, #NowAvailable, #OutNow, #Review

Book Details:

Publisher: Toque & Dagger

Publication Date: May 29, 2018

ASIN: B07DD5HDVL

Page Count: 136 pages

Genre: Cookbook
Rating:  5 Stars
I made Fresh Fish Sandwich

Follow the tour to read reviews about many different recipes in the cookbook:

https://saphsbookpromotions.blogspot.com/2018/07/tour-schedule-recipe-preparation-from.html

About Date Night Dinners:

Ready to ignite that old flame? Or perhaps spark a new one? Take your partner by the hand and turn on your stove. A true romantic, award-winning author Sloane Taylor brings her creativity to the kitchen with easy-to-make meals sure to spark the intimacy and quality time you want with your special someone. Cooking together is only the start of the fun!

Create 45 complete dinners for two or flavor your evenings with a new dish. These 80 recipes use everyday foods already on most kitchen shelves. The recipes are easily increased for those fun times friends or family join your table.

Date Night Dinners, Meals to Make Together for a Romantic Evening, is an ideal gift for engagements, bridal showers, anniversaries, or for anyone who wants to spice things up.

Goodreads

Amazon

My Recipe Choice:

I decided on the Fresh Fish Sandwich because it made me think of the beach.  I could picture myself staying at a cottage where I had the perfect view of the ocean.  Not too far away is a pier where they sell fresh fish.  I could see myself going and buying whatever the fish of the day was.  Once the sandwich was ready, I could picture myself sitting out either on the deck or front porch with the sea breeze blowing just enough to smell the salty air.  But first I would need to go out and pick fresh herbs.  I've learned to not be intimidated by the thought of growing my own herbs (and that was before I knew about the cookbook).

It was a very simple recipe to follow and make.  I have a gluten allergy and it was very easy to make an adustment to the type  of roll I was going to use.  The choice I made was the wrong one however.  As you can see from my picture, I had two choices and I went with the french bread loaf than the hamburger roll - based on the shape of fish I bought.  I saw the bread loaf when I was at my local Stop and Shop.  It was tasteless, dry and started to fall apart as I was frying it - such a disappointment.  Some of my ingredients were:

Since I'm not actually at the beach, I went to the nearest Whole Foods to see what they had to offer in the way of fish.  They didn't have the basa or swai that was recommended in the recipe so the fishmonger suggested that I try Hake.  I would say that if you don't like a strong tasting fish this is not for you.  It was so strong that I couldn't even taste the provolone cheese.  

The author suggests what to serve with the sandwich - Homemade Fries and Tartar Sauce.  Her fries recipe suggested frying them but I thought that was a lot of work for one person as well as a lot of fat so I went with buying some Sweet Potato Tater Tots instead.  I would have loved to make her Tartar Sauce but again for a single person that was a lot for one person and I don't think I would have eaten enough fish to get it finished before it went bad.  I used Stonewall Kitchen's Downeast Tartar Sauce.  Now that's not to say that I didn't think her recipes sounded good.  It's just as a single person I learn to adapt recipes and sometimes take shortcuts.  To summer my recipe up, I included a slice of nice sweet watermelon.  It was a satisfying meal and one I could see making again.

Meet the Author:

Sloane Taylor is an Award-Winning author with a second passion in her life. She is an avid cook and posts new recipes on her blog every Wednesday. The recipes are user friendly, meaning easy.
Taylor currently has seven romance novellas released by Toque & Dagger Publishing. Her first solo venture into non-fiction is a cookbook with eighty of her favorite recipes DATE NIGHT DINNERS, Meals to Make Together for a Romantic Evening.
Excerpts from her books can be found on her website, blog, and all popular vendors. Connect with Taylor on  Facebook and Twitter.

Hosted By:

Sapphyria's Book Promotions Presents: Date Night Dinners by Sloane Taylor; #BlogTour, #RecipeTour, #NowAvailable, #OutNow, #Review

Book Details:

Publisher: Toque & Dagger

Publication Date: May 29, 2018

ASIN: B07DD5HDVL

Page Count: 136 pages

Genre: Cookbook

Rating:  5 Stars
I made Sage Buttered Pasta

Follow the tour to read reviews about many different recipes in the cookbook:

https://saphsbookpromotions.blogspot.com/2018/07/tour-schedule-recipe-preparation-from.html

About Date Night Dinners:

Ready to ignite that old flame? Or perhaps spark a new one? Take your partner by the hand and turn on your stove. A true romantic, award-winning author Sloane Taylor brings her creativity to the kitchen with easy-to-make meals sure to spark the intimacy and quality time you want with your special someone. Cooking together is only the start of the fun!

Create 45 complete dinners for two or flavor your evenings with a new dish. These 80 recipes use everyday foods already on most kitchen shelves. The recipes are easily increased for those fun times friends or family join your table.

Date Night Dinners, Meals to Make Together for a Romantic Evening, is an ideal gift for engagements, bridal showers, anniversaries, or for anyone who wants to spice things up.

Goodreads

Amazon

My Recipe Choice:

I decided on the Sage Buttered Pasta because I started growing herbs on my back stoop and wanted a recipe that I could make use of some of those fresh herbs.  I used to be intimidated by the thought of growing my own and this year I decided that I was going to give it a shot (and that's before I knew about the cookbook).

It was a very simple and easy recipe.  I have a gluten allergy and needed to make just one adjustment and that was to the pasta.  At times I like to have a vegetarian meal and this was a great choice to build a meal around.  Some of my ingredients were:

Having access to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Share, I thought what better time to use some of my fresh vegetables.  One thing I received were green beans and surprise, surprise there's a recipe in the book.  The onion was also a vegetable that came from the farm.  I bought some baby bella mushrooms (I love these) that happened to be on sale at my local supermarket and was wondering how I could use them.  Because I wasn't going to use meat as a compliment to the pasta I thought that would be a great substitute.  It so happened that she had the perfect recipe to compliment the pasta.  They are low in calories (22 per serving) and have 3 grams of protein.  My pasta choice (Explore Cuisine's Organic Edamame & Mung Bean Fettuccine) has 24 grams of protein, only 180 calories and has plenty of potassium.

 Ingredients:

8 tbsp. (1 stick) (114g) butter, room temperature

6 - 10 sage leaves

2 cups (240g) curly pasta

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Set aside while you make the sauce,

Melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat.

Add sage.  Allow butter to brown.  Watch carefully and stir often as once this starts to brown it can

quickly burn.  Cook until butter reaches a medium carmel color.  Remove sage leaves and discard.

Stir in pasta.  Be sure to coat noodles well.  Heat through.  Serve with plenty of Parmesan cheese.

My Thoughts:

Since I'm not a professional chef but a home cook, I can't tell you the best type of meat that would compliment this dish.  I had leftovers and added some chicken that I bought at the store and they went well together.  Experimentation when it comes to food is a good thing.

If you're not in to dishes that are too fancy, this would be a great side choice.  One thing I wouldn't do is cover this with some other kind of sauce because it would mask all that butter and the flavor of the sage.  It did make me wish that I had been more adventurous with the herb because my version only had six sage leaves and after tasting it I wished I had added more.  I almost want to make some sage butter and keep it in my refrigerator so that the sage would have more of a chance to flavor the butter.  Plus if I only have a short time to get a meal together, I would have my butter ready in order to make this recipe again.

When you have a gluten allergy, for me it's hard to find a pasta that you love.  I enjoy my pasta choice but not sure that it was the perfect choice here.  You can't see the brown butter (the taste was there though) and you can't make that fancy swirl on the plate like the professionals do.  As you can see from my picture below, I added too much cheese.  One reason was because I went with shaved instead of grated.  I think I'll do the grated next time.

As you can see, my plate doesn't look professional but I can honestly say that everything was delicious.  Being a single person there were plenty of leftovers for other meals.  Since the recipes had both oil and butter, I used glass containers for storing.  Felt that putting them in plastic containers was not an option.  Glass would make for a better cleanup because plastic and butter/oil are not friends (too greasy).  

I have another recipe coming in August so I hope you'll come back to see what I decided to cook.  In the meantime I hope you'll check out this cookbook.  You don't have to use it for a date night because it's a great choice if you're cooking for one or two people.  If you have food restrictions, I think you'll find that our author's recipes are very easy to make substitutions for.

Meet the Author:

Sloane Taylor is an Award-Winning author with a second passion in her life. She is an avid cook and posts new recipes on her blog every Wednesday. The recipes are user friendly, meaning easy.
Taylor currently has seven romance novellas released by Toque & Dagger Publishing. Her first solo venture into non-fiction is a cookbook with eighty of her favorite recipes DATE NIGHT DINNERS, Meals to Make Together for a Romantic Evening.
Excerpts from her books can be found on her website, blog, and all popular vendors. Connect with Taylor on  Facebook and Twitter.

Hosted By:

Sapphyria's Book Promotions Presents: Date Night Dinners by Sloane Taylor; BlogTour, #NowAvailable, #OutNow

Title: Date Night Dinners
Meals to Make Together for a Romantic Evening
Author: Sloane Taylor
Publisher: Toque & Dagger
Publication Date: May 29, 2018
ASIN: B07DD5HDVL
Page Count: 136 pages
Genre: Cookbook

Follow the tour to read reviews and recipe teaser lists 
and to view spotlights.

https://saphsbooks.blogspot.com/2018/06/tour-schedule-date-night-dinners-meals.html

About Date Night Dinners:

Ready to ignite that old flame? Or perhaps spark a new one? Take your partner by the hand and turn on your stove. A true romantic, award-winning author Sloane Taylor brings her creativity to the kitchen with easy-to-make meals sure to spark the intimacy and quality time you want with your special someone. Cooking together is only the start of the fun!

Create 45 complete dinners for two or flavor your evenings with a new dish. These 80 recipes use everyday foods already on most kitchen shelves. The recipes are easily increased for those fun times friends or family join your table.

Date Night Dinners, Meals to Make Together for a Romantic Evening, is an ideal gift for engagements, bridal showers, anniversaries, or for anyone who wants to spice things up.

Goodreads

Amazon

Hosted By:

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InkSlinger PR Presents: Bar Bites by J. Kenner & Suzanne M. Johnson; #ReleaseBlitz, #NowAvailable, #OutNow, #Live

Join Man of the Month creator, New York Times bestselling author J. Kenner, and USA Today bestselling Southern food expert Suzanne Johnson as they guide you through their favorite bar bite and drink recipes served at The Fix on Sixth. And don’t forget to spend some time learning a little bit more about the private lives of your favorite characters in all new snippets and short stories! Brought to you by 1,001 Dark Nights, BAR BITES is now available! Grab your copy today!

About BAR BITES:

Before Austin’s hotspot, The Fix on Sixth, became known for its sexy and fun Man of the Month calendar contest, the fictional downtown bar had already developed a reputation for fabulous drinks and mouthwatering bar bites—exactly the kind of venue to take a date and strike up a romance. Now it’s your chance to see exactly what’s on the menu … and to get a peek at the private lives of the men and women who not only work at The Fix, but who’ve made it the place to be in Austin, Texas.

Join Man of the Month creator, New York Times bestselling author J. Kenner, and USA Today bestselling Southern food expert Suzanne Johnson as they guide you through their favorite bar bite and drink recipes served at The Fix on Sixth. Learn how to make the delicious bar bites that Tyree’s bar has become famous for. Whip up your favorite cocktail with the same flare as Cameron or Eric. And don’t forget to spend some time learning a little bit more about the private lives of your favorite characters in all new snippets and short stories!

Most of all, come share a drink, a bite, and a laugh with us! We’re so glad you’re here.

So pull up a chair, raise a glass, and dig in with your favorite Man of the Month characters, and meet a few new ones, too!

Cheers!

Grab your copy of BAR BITES today!

Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | Amazon AU

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Download the Free Kindle App

EXCERPT:

“What’s with you?” Amanda asked as they settled in at one of the two-tops near the bar. “You’ve gone from perky to pensive. Something wrong? Or is it hormones? I know it’s not Reece.”

At the mention of his name, Jenna’s mood lifted. “No,” she agreed. “Not a thing wrong there. Right, peanut? Your daddy’s pretty much perfect.” She smiled down at her belly, and when she looked up, a minor miracle took place. Not only did Eric deliver her drink that very second, but Reece stepped out of the back hallway and entered the bar at the far end of the room.

He was yards and yards away from her, but it didn’t matter. Even across the cavernous bar—even despite the happy hour crowd that filled the room and kept blocking him from her sight—even then, she could feel him. Could sense him.

The heat of him. The power. The strength…and the tenderness.

With his shaved head, shadowy beard, broad shoulders, and rock hard muscles, Reece Walker was the kind of man who never lacked for attention. Add in the intricate tats that covered his chest, back, and arms—today only visible emerging from the short sleeves of his T-shirt—and he radiated a dangerous sex appeal, like a bad boy biker on a mission to ravage a woman.

Her whole body tightened in response to that particular thought, and as she rubbed her hand over her belly, Technicolor memories of the reason she was in this particular state filled her mind, making her breasts ache and her sex throb with such an intense need that she squirmed on the chair, disguising the sudden, demanding sexual craving by reaching for another piece of candied bacon.

The pregnancy hormones were doing a number on her; she was certain of that. She was ridiculously horny all the time. A little fact that really hadn’t bothered her husband one bit.

But this wasn’t a hormone reaction. This was a Reece reaction. The man called to her without saying a word. Possessed her without using his hands. Captured her with only his eyes.

They’d started out as best friends, and thank God they still fit that definition. But they were so much more.

“Hey, Beautiful,” he said, reaching for her. With one hand, he pulled her to her feet. The other he spread wide over her belly. “I missed you both.”

Warmth and love spread through her, and she laughed lightly. “I’ve only been gone a few hours.” She’d cut out that morning to go check on the various retailers stocking the calendar and to talk with the printer about a second print run since sales were so high.

“That’s a few too long.”

About J. Kenner:


Julie Kenner (aka J. Kenner and J.K. Beck) is the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of over forty novels, novellas and short stories in a variety of genres.

Praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a “flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations,” J.K. writes a range of stories including super sexy romances, paranormal romance, chick lit suspense and paranormal mommy lit. Her foray into the latter, Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner, is in development as a feature film with 1492 Pictures.

Her most recent trilogy of erotic romances, The Stark Trilogy (as J. Kenner), reached as high as #2 on the New York Times list and is published in over twenty countries.

J.K. lives in Central Texas, with her husband, two daughters, and several cats.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

About Suzanne M. Johnson:


USA Today bestselling author Suzanne Johnson is family trained, a south Georgia native who's been cooking all of her life, creating not only some really unique food, but precious memories that re-occur every time she smells something simmering in the oven. In all of her books, Suzanne shows that making a delicious meal doesn't have to be complicated--it just has to be made with love. So go ahead, don't be bashful, dive right in. Who knows? You might just make a few memories of your own.

Website | Facebook

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InkSlinger PR Presents: Master Bits & Mercenary Bites by Lexi Blake & Suzanne M. Johnson; #ReleaseBlitz, #NowAvailable

Top restaurant has become the hot spot in Dallas for elevated comfort food—and a side of spicy romance. Run by executive chef Sean Taggart, Top is the premiere fictional destination for gourmet food. Join creator, New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake, and Southern food expert Suzanne Johnson as they guide you through the world of Masters and Mercenaries via the secret recipes behind the food served in Top.

But what would a gourmet meal be without some company? Spend an evening with your favorite characters from McKay-Taggart as they celebrate the special moments that make up their happily ever afters. Learn how to make Sean’s specialty dishes and Macon’s desserts while exploring the private lives of the characters who make up the world. From Charlie and Ian’s next demon spawn to a change in path for Simon and Chelsea, these are the times that bind us together, the moments that make us a family.

Good meals, good times, good friends.

Bon appétit!

Amazon | iTunes | Barnes & Noble | GooglePlay | All Romance eBooks | Kobo

Ian went to grab the dog’s leash. Bud started up his pee-pee dance, his massive body twisting and turning as he ran after Ian. His big paws thudded against the brand new hardwood he would never have spent that god-awful amount of money on had he realized a dog would pee on it.

He looked back Charlie’s way. “You know there’s a whole forest out back for him to go in. He should be a free-range dog. Aren’t we taking away his dogness by putting him on a leash?”

Charlie frowned his way as she refilled Kenzie’s cup. “Yes, he’s the mighty wolf dog, Ian. I watched him run away from a bunny the other day.”

He grabbed the leash. “See, if he had to go out and hunt, he wouldn’t be such a shitty guard dog. Don’t even say it, you two. Say good words. Not Daddy words.”

Charlie put a hand to her belly. “I swear this one will come out giving the world the finger and cursing.”

Bud whined, running back and forth in front of the door. Ian sighed and attached the leash. He stepped outside and Bud took off, barking and jumping against the leash until he managed to drag Ian out onto the lawn where he immediately squatted in the middle of Charlie’s azaleas and started to take a crap.

Yep. This was his life. Watching the dog crap. He was so building a fence. “You know you were supposed to be a guard dog. You were supposed to be a raging, feral beast who would take out anything in your way.”

Sort of like Ian had been at one time.

He’d been the bane of intelligence agencies. He’d been Dr. Death, raining down justice and protecting America.

Now he was a dumbass with a mortgage, a dog who seemed to be a bit constipated, two tiny chaotic things, and another on the way. No one even let him kill people anymore.

It was a never-ending cycle of waking up in the morning and seeing their faces, taking care of them, going to work, coming home, and going to bed with his wife.

It was kind of fucking awesome.

Sure, his younger self would likely tell him he’d sold out and he was a pathetic version of himself, but his younger self had been stupid as shit. His younger self thought a great time was following a known terrorist around for three weeks so he could find the cell. His younger self had needed a freaking shower, some decent food, and a comfy bed.

And a dog who didn’t take his time with the poop.

“Come on, Bud. Pinch off, man. We’ve got shit to do today.” Well, he did anyway. He was sure Bud would have a full day of licking his private parts and waiting for the girls to drop food. Bud seemed forever optimistic that one of these days the girls or Charlie was going to drop a ham in front of him.

A butterfly landed on the bush next to Bud and that was when he went into protective mode. He barked, the deep sound threatening to anyone who didn’t know what a wuss he was, and he pulled hard at his leash.

Hard enough to make Ian stumble and damn near break his toe on the garden gnome Alex had left as a joke. Hard enough to send Ian crashing down to his knee, pain flaring and making him curse.

Bud twisted again and Ian tripped over the riding ladybug thing Kala liked to push around the yard. He landed flat on his back, looking up at the sky.

Taken down by a freaking ladybug. And his back was spasming. The pain flared through him and he could feel his lower back seizing like a motherfucker.

Bud suddenly blocked out the sky, his big doggie face staring down.

“Don’t you dare.”

It was too late. Bud licked his face and Ian realized he shouldn’t have gotten up that morning. Nope. He should have stayed in bed and then he would be warm and happy and not having his face licked by a gargantuan mass of body odor and a tongue that licked its own ass from time to time.

God, if he didn’t die from breaking his spine he was going to catch some dog disease and waste away. Right here. Because he wasn’t sure he could move. “Bud, I need you to go get Charlie. Go on. Run and get her.” He let the leash drop. Bud simply sat down beside him. “Go get Charlie, boy. I think she’s got a ham for you. Go on.”

Bud laid his big head down on Ian’s chest.

Now he had a sleeping mutt and a garden gnome that was practically up his ass. He could feel the pointy cap thing attempting to violate him.

“Ian? Ian, I need you.”

Thank god. His wife would laugh her ass off, but at least she would be able to maybe help him up.

“Ian, I think the baby’s coming.”

Yep. It was that kind of day.

NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog int eh world. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance and urban fantasy that she found the stories of her heart. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome, or foursome may seem.

FACEBOOK / TWITTER / WEBSITE / AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE

Suzanne Johnson is family-trained, a south Georgia native who’s been cooking all of her life, creating not only some really unique food, but precious memories that re-occur every time she smells something simmering in the oven. In all of her books, Suzanne shows that making a delicious meal doesn’t have to be complicated — it just has to be made with love. So go ahead, don’t be bashful, dive right in. Who knows? You might just make a few memories of your own.

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