French Toast or Cinnamon Streusele Muffins

My dear sister-in-law made these for Thanksgiving week at my mom's and they were yummy.

Check out her web site, Simply Homemade Chef, for more awesome recipes. She's a nutrition expert and personal chef. Soooo proud....

These have made an appearance twice in the past week. Of course, they are best fresh out of the oven but re-heat nicely with a steaming mug of coffee. Enjoy!

Cinnamon-Streuseled Muffins (adapted from Velvet Lava Cafe)
Yield: ~8-10 muffins

1/3 c.unsalted butter, melted
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg (preferably room temperature)
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium-large bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir until combined, but still a bit lumpy. Don't overmix. Pour the 1/2 tsp cinnamon onto the batter, use a knife to swirl through. Using a spoon, scoop batter into muffin tins that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they just start to turn a bit golden at the edges.

For the topping, mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Place melted butter in another small bowl. Dip the warm muffins in melted butter, then in cinnamon sugar. These will melt in your mouth!

40 Ways To Get Closer To God by Jerry MacGregor

My agent and friend, Chip MacGregor recently released his own non fiction work, 40 Ways To Get Closer To God.

Co-written with Keri Kent, Chip, writing under the name Jerry MacGregor, (not to be confused with Jerry Maguire) writes plainly and straight forward about a life in God.

From his blog:

"But let me warn you: if you read this book, you're not going to glow in the dark. It's not one of those, "I worked to be perfect... now YOU can be perfect like me" type of books. Those books always make me want to vomit. Besides, I'm not tall enough, and I don't have cool enough hair to get my picture on the cover. Instead, this is more of a "I'm a dork, but I did this stuff, so now I'm less of a dork than I used to be... in a way, I guess" sort of book."

I have a lot of respect for Chip, and though I don't disagree with him on everything about a life in God, he's a man of wisdom and candor.

Check out the book!

Lakeside Reunion by Lisa Jordan

I'm so thrilled to tell y'all about a great new book by my friend and fellow My Book Therapy staffer, Lisa Jordan.

She wanted to write, buckled down, did the hard work, learned, wrote and rewrote, and finally landed her first contract earlier this year at Harlequin's Love Inspired. Way to go friend!

A Recipe for Success

My oldest son loves to cook. In fact, after three years of college, he has decided to transfer to a culinary arts program at a different school. His biggest concern was losing his passion for cooking.

I told him if it were truly his passion, the love for cooking would grow. I’m sure there’s someone who could argue that. That’s how I feel about writing—it’s my passion and the desire to be a full-time writer grows daily.

When Scott started cooking, he experimented. A lot. Some of his experiments turned out terrific—his barbecue sauce was yum. His taco lasagna, on the other hand, would have been much better had he put the lettuce on top after it had come out of the oven, instead of baking it in. I see those wrinkled noses.

When he moved into his first apartment near campus this past fall, I gave him a Better Homes & Garden Cookbook—you know the one with the red plaid cover, which covers everything in the kitchen. He loves the cookbook, but still wanted to make some of his own recipes. I told him he needed to learn the basics and then experiment once he had the fundamentals down.

That’s how it is for writers—writing rules are more like guidelines put in place to help us learn the craft. Once we’ve prepared the base, we can experiment to see which craft ingredients work with our stories.

During this blog hop, I’ve been asked what writing advice I’d share with other writers. Even though I’m so guilty of it, I suggested writers shouldn’t rush the process. Cranking up the oven to 400 degrees to bake the cookies in 5 minutes will not produce the same results as baking them 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Take time to study the craft. Read quality writing craft books. Join reputable writing organizations. Read novels to see how published authors keep their readers turning the pages. Learn what works for your voice and for your story. Listen to those who have gone before and shared about their mistakes and triumphs. I know it’s hard waiting to be published—I’ve been there. But submitting that manuscript before it’s ready may be a recipe for rejection. Savor the process to create a recipe for success!

***

I’m holding a scavenger hunt and lakeside photo contest to promote my Lakeside Reunion release. Plus, blog commenters on my blog hop will be put in a drawing for fun prizes—breakfast basket, Love Inspired Authors basket, autographed copies of Lakeside Reunion

Visit my Lakeside Reunion Contest page for more information.

The token for this blog is a cookbook.

Bio:

Heart, home and faith have always been important to Lisa Jordan, so writing stories that feature both comes naturally to her. She has been writing contemporary Christian romance for more than a decade. Her debut novel, Lakeside Reunion will be released in November by Love Inspired, followed by her second novel, Lakeside Family, in August 2012 by Love Inspired.

Happily married for twenty-two years, Lisa and her husband have two young adult sons. When she isn’t writing or caring for children in her in-home childcare business, Lisa enjoys family time, romantic comedies, good books, crafting with friends and feeding her NCIS addiction. Visit her at www.lisajordanbooks.com to learn more about her writing.

Lakeside Reunion: Bed-and-breakfast owner Lindsey Porter prays she won’t run into Stephen Chase when she returns to Shelby Lake.

Five years ago, the cop jilted her to marry another woman, and Lindsey fled town. But no sooner does she hit city limits than Stephen pulls her over for a broken taillight. Despite the past, he’s still able to stir up Lindsey’s old feelings for him. Now a widower and single dad, Stephen recognizes a second chance when he sees one. And he’ll do anything to make Lindsey trust in God and take a risk for love—again.

***

Read an excerpt of Lakeside Reunion

Vote for Your Favorite book in 2011

Hey all,

For fun, I nominated Softly and Tenderly for Best Fiction Book of 2011 over on Goodreads.

Go vote if you want! Look through the Fiction Category or just nominate Softly and Tenderly at the bottom of the main page. :)

2011 Goodreads Choice Awards: Best Best Fiction Vote now for your favorite books!

La Belle Christiane by Lyn Cote

Can the beautiful daughter of a French courtesan find a love that lasts for a lifetime?

In the early 1770's, Christiane Pelletier, an extraordinarily beautiful young woman, is next in a line of courtesans who have been favorites at the French court during the reigns of two monarchs. Yet she longs to be the beloved wife of one man, not a lovely piece of human art passed from one noble to another. And the winds of change are sweeping Europe.

After her mother's violent murder, Christiane flees France with her renegade father. In the Canadian wilderness, she survives the shock of leaving a life of wealth and privilege.

To escape frontier violence, she moves southward only to become involved in the burgeoning American Revolution. Daughter of a French courtesan to frontier wife to companion of Lady Washington, Christiane moves into the heart of the American rebel elite.

But one man in her life can never be forgotten. Once he was her friend. Now he has become her enemy. Will he become her destiny? Only God knows.

About Lyn Cote

An award-winning author of both contemporary and historical inspirational romance, LYN COTE has been a 2006 RITA finalist as well as a finalist for the HOLT Medallion and the National Readers Choice Award, and in 2011 a winner of the prestigious American Christian Fiction Writer's CAROL Award.

Lyn lives with her husband and four cats in the northwoods of Wisconsin.

Visit her web site here.

Drop by Lyn Cote's blog to learn more about .99 ebook sale.

Purchase Links

For Print Edition

To buy a print copy https://www.createspace.com/3669135

For a discount code for $3 off $15.99 print edition, go to http://LynCote.net and click Contact and email Lyn.

For Digital Editions

For Kindle Readers link

For All Other Ereaders such as the Nook purchase link

First page excerpt

Chapter One

British Canada, July 1774

Tonight, I’ll lie beside some stranger as his wife. Christiane blinked away the bright morning sunlight but could not blink away the dread. Once again she had embarked on another journey that would change her life. She sat between her Algonquin father Shaw-nee-awk-kee and his son in a birch bark canoe. To the rhythm of the dipping paddles, they were gliding farther down the Ottawa River. In the cramped space, she hugged her knees to herself and pressed her forehead against her tattered skirt.

She glanced sideways into the remorseless current, wishing for time, for control. But instead, the river, shimmering with molten sunlight, gave her glimmers of the past--candlelight on silver, soft lace against skin, frosting on the tip of the tongue. But she’d fled France with her father, here to Canada and then. . . She thrust all thoughts of the past year aside. She had to face today. Tonight, I’ll be some stranger’s wife.

The thought brought fear, a rush of sensation—as if the bottom of the canoe, her protection, parted, and she was plunged into the cool water. She fought her way to the surface of this feeling, gasping for air, pushing down panic. She pressed her face harder against her knees. I will not shame myself. Ever.