Monday, September 29, 2014

A Jewell Cove Christmas novella from Donna Alward

Here's Donna to tell you about it!

On October 7, I have a digital-only release coming out from St. Martin’s Press. I’m really excited, because this book is part of my Jewell Cove series and Oh My Gosh writing about Jewell Cove during the holidays was SO MUCH FUN!

When my editor asked if I’d be interested in writing it as an addition to our planned books, I had to come up with a couple to write about! I automatically thought of Charlene (Charlie) Yang, the town’s other doctor, and her new husband, Dave. How did they meet? What obstacles did they face getting to their happy ever after?


 

It’s Christmas in Jewell Cove…

And local doctor Charlie Yang finds her quiet, steady life disrupted by both an abandoned baby in the nativity manger, and a real-life mystery man. Sure, she’s always wanted a family of her own, but she didn’t imagine it coming from a baby that wasn’t hers and a man who was more interested in living day by day than making long-term plans.

Ex-SEAL Dave Ricker hadn’t planned on making Jewell Cove his forever home, but the talented and tender-hearted Charlie has him reconsidering his position on settling down. Can a beautiful woman, adorable baby and a small-town full of holiday spirit change his mind for good?

Amazon / Barnes and Noble iTunes Kobo



Saturday, September 13, 2014

Cheese Scone Recipe

This is the recipe for the cheese scones on my Facebook page.
I've looked up the US cup equivalents but it's tricky since nothing is equivalent.
Apparently 2 cups of flour are about 10oz so if you increase the other ingredients slightly it should work. Apart from not getting the dough too wet this is not a recipe that requires precision!
Anyway, here goes -
225 gms (8 oz) of self raising flour
pinch salt
1 level teaspoon baking powder
1 level teaspoon of mustard powder
optional sprinkle of cayenne chili pepper (this is very much to taste but don't overdo it the first time - I used about a pinch)
50 grams (2 oz) of butter or hard margarine chopped into small pieces
150 ml (5 fl ozs) or a quarter of an Imperial pint(which is 20 fl ozs and not 16 like the US one)
100 gms (4 ozs) grated cheese (strong English cheddar is best but something with a bit of a bite)

Sift dry ingredients together, rub in fat until breadcrumby, mix in grated cheese, add milk. The amount of liquid depends on the flour, the humidity, annoying stuff that takes no account of recipes. You may need a touch more but be careful.

Bring together using a folk, knead very lightly (as little as possible) to make a ball, roll or flatten out to about an inch thick. Cut into rounds (or any shape that takes your fancy) and place on baking tray.
Bake in hot oven 220 C (425 F - gas mark 7) for about ten minutes. They will be coloured on the bottom and sound a bit hollow if tapped. Eat fresh. (They freeze well but they're so quick to make it's only a good idea to save yourself from eating them all at once.)
Variations

You can leave out the mustard/chili/cheese and make plain ones to have with jam and cream or butter. Lots of recipes have sugar but I make these the way my mother did. No sugar. They don't need it.

You can add 100 grams of sultanas to make fruity ones. (I think they're called raisins in the US; sultanas are the white grapes, raisins are the dark ones)