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!

Dining With Joy Release Day November 16th

The big day is finally here. The third in the Lowcountry Romance novels, Dining with Joy.

This is a fun book with serious undertones about a cooking show host who can't cook. In the video below, I talk how I came up with this concept and the process of writing the book.

Thomas Nelson is partnering with me to host a contest, for you, the reader! Post your comments below for a chance to win. See contest rules here.

What's up for grabs? An KitchenAid Artisan Mixer is

the grand prize. The winner will be chosen randomly on December 3rd after the December 2nd deadline.

You can post a comment, or your own fun kitchen-cooking story. Stupid Cooking Tricks is an element on Joy's show and we invite you to share your own stories.

I'll be sharing mine this week.

Ten runner ups will receive a signed copy of Dining with Joy and the new Thomas Nelson cookbook, Second Helpings with Johnnie Gabriel.

I'm excited for this opportunity for you all!

Dining with Joy video

Writing about food

I'm writing about a character who can't cook, but food is central to her world. It's challenging -- not only to write a sympathetic engaging character, but one who lives in the foodie world but does not feel apart.

In that way, Joy is very much like me. But how do I show it?

I don't get the foodie world. Watching the Food Network doesn't make me want to run to the kitchen and break out the pots and pans. Reading recipes only irritates me. Why does any dish need more than five or six ingredients?

I once tried a mac-n-cheese recipe from Pat Conroy's cookbook. Oh my gosh, what a mess. I dirties three pans, per his assembling instructions, never mind the mess on my counter. And I'm not a slob. I kept thinking, "all this for mac-n-cheese?" I never wanted to make it again. I stayed out of the kitchen for a week after that night.

I don't want to cook for cooking sake so don't ask me to add citron to a cake. I'm not going to do it. First, what is citron? Second, how is it going to enhance the chocolate taste I'm baking the cake for in the first place?

Asking me to grate a lemon rind equates to asking me to grate my own nerves.

One friend said to me, "It's like everyone is in on this great secret about food and not telling me."

Exactly!

I've read Molly Wizenberg, Judith Jones, Suzan Colon, and Julia Child memoirs with fascination. What makes their heart zing over recipes?

I love food. I love to eat. And maybe that's why I don't like cooking. Because I want to EAT what I've cooked. Weight and I are not friends. "It" wants to control me. And don't want "it" to control me.

Yet, I love the aromas of baking cakes, cookies and bread in a warmly lit fall or Christmastime house. It's comforting and homey. But whose going to eat the warm treats I bake?

Still, in the midst of it, I'd rather read or write than stand in the kitchen. I'd rather walk or bike, or frankly, I'm being honest here, I'd rather Drive-thru.

In the midst of my writing and research, I have yet to connect with the heart and love for food as those I've read. God didn't give me that gene. I understand what the writers are saying and I appreciate every fine detail, but my emotions are not moved.

Growing up, I was never fascinated with the kitchen or watching my mom or grandmothers cook. In fact, I avoided the kitchen at all cost fearful they'd put me to work. One cannot cook without dirtying a few pots and pans. I never liked doing dishes either until college. Now I'd rather clean than cook.

Lest you start the violin strings for my hubby, I do cook. I can't afford not to! But cooking must not involve a recipe. If it does, no more than six maybe seven ingredients and nothing that I cannot pronounce. It's just not worth it to me. I'm not "into" it.

I bake. I can make mean chocolate chip-peanut butter chip cookies. I have a few tricks for making a box cake that is yummy. However, I can eat the whole thing myself, so let's not go there.

My can opener is my number one tool and the Rachael Ray knife I use to cut onions. I do love onions.

So, back to my character. There's something about food she does love, something she is longing and looking for, and it will spill out on the pages. . . eventually.

What about you? Do you cook? Do you like to cook? What are your favorite food memories?

Let Them Eat Cake by Sandra Byrd

Please welcome my friend and author, Sandra Byrd! She has a wonderful chickmance I was proud to endorse, and Let Them Eat Cake was a finalist in this year's Christy Awards!


…Chick-lit never tasted so good! LET THEM EAT CAKE is one of those rare chick lit novels that integrates faith elements without being preachy, and includes plenty of romance without it being the only point of the protagonist's existence. . .
Five star review, faithfulreader.com


About the book!

Lexi Stuart is at a critical crossroads. She's done with college but still living at home, ready to launch a career but unable to find a job, and solidly stalled between boyfriends.

When a lighthearted conversation in French with the manager of her favorite bakery turns into a job offer, Lexi accepts. But the actual glamour is minimal: the pay is less than generous, her co-workers are skeptical, her bank account remains vertically-challenged, and her parents are perpetually disappointed. Her only comfort comes from the flirtatious baker she has her eye-but even may not be who he seems to be!

So when a handsome young executive dashes into the bakery to pick up his high profile company's special order for an important meeting-an order Lexi has flubbed– she loses her compulsion to please. "What am I going to do?" he shouts.

"Let them eat cake!" she fires back with equal passion and a nod to Marie Antoinette. And then, something inside Lexi clicks. Laissez la revolution commencer! Let the revolution begin! Instead of trying to fulfill everyone else's expectations for her life, Lexi embarks on an adventure in trusting God with her future–tres bon!


About Sandra:

Best selling author Sandra Byrd married the country boy who accepted her dare to eat escargot, and lives with him and their two children in Seattle, Washington. She's published nearly three dozen books in the Christian market including her latest series, French Twist, which includes Let Them Eat Cake (2007) and Bon Appetit (September, 2008). Most of her other books are for the Young Adult market, and she's published a book for new moms, Heartbeats.

Many of Sandra's shorter works appear in periodical markets such as Relevant, Clubhouse Magazine, Pockets, Decision, and Guideposts.

For the past seven years Sandra has shared her secrets with the many students she mentors through the Christian Writer's Guild. Before turning to full time writing, Sandra was an acquisitions editor in the ABA market.

Sandra's first submission - and rejection - was at age 12.

Recipe Alert!

Boyfriend Bait Beef Stroganoff

1 1/2 pounds beef tenderloin, well trimmed, meat cut bite-sized pieces (about 1” square)
4 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
2 ½ cups sliced mushrooms
2 cups canned beef broth

3 tsp corn starch
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp Dijon mustard

Over medium high heat, gently sauté beef tenderloin in 2 tablespoons of butter for about 2 minutes, till just seared on all side. You’ll still be able to see red. Remove from pan and set aside in a rimmed dish or baking sheet so you collect the juices.

Over medium high heat, sauté shallots and mushrooms in remaining butter until soft and wilted, about 5 minutes. Mix corn starch into cold beef broth, whisk to blend. Pour into pan, and stir together with shallots and mushrooms till thickened, two or three minutes.

Add sour cream and mustard, stir to blend. Add beef and juices from dish; stir over medium just till warmed through. Sauce will coat but not be overly thick. Serve immediately over noodles or white rice, salt to taste.