Karen Docter

It’s time for Karen’s Killer Fixin’s!

Over the years, I’ve filled two 4-inch, 3-ring binders with my own creations as well as recipes my family and friends were willing to share with me. I simply love to cook and want to share that love with my readers.

So every Friday, I share one recipe I think you and your family might enjoy. It might be a main course recipe. A cookie or baked item. Candy. Salads. Whatever strikes my eye and fancy…which today is BIEROX!!

Bierox is a German version of a hamburger.  My best friend shared this recipe with me because she knows I make my own homemade sauerkraut and love to find new recipes that uses it. I’m so glad I found this one to share because I haven’t made it since she first introduced me to them, and that just won’t do! Guess what I’m making sometime soon?

I hope you enjoy today’s Killer Fixin’s. Happy eating!

Karen

P.S. We’re at 92 recipes and counting with this posting. Hope you find some recipes you like. If this is your first visit, please check out past blogs for more Killer Fixin’s. In the right hand column menu, you can even look up past recipes by type. i.e. Desserts, Breads, Beef, Chicken, Soups, Author Specials, etc.

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BIEROX
[Serves LOTS]

 Filling: 

Brown 1 ½ lb. ground beef. 

Add 16 oz. sauerkraut, 1 pkg. onion soup mix, salt & cayenne pepper to taste.

Make your favorite soft dough/roll recipe with 1 pkg. yeast. Let rise until double or refrigerate up to 24 hours to rise.  Then, divide into 4 parts to work.  Roll each part to ¼-inch thickness and cut into 4” squares.  Place 2 heaping tablespoons filling on each square and pinch corners together to seal.  (Or cut dough into circles and fold to half circles.)  Let rise another 15-20 minutes.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes on greased sheet.

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  KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH

Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench where, every Wednesday, readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!

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Welcome to Novel Gems ~ SATIN PLEASURES TuesDaze Week #3!

For those who check in regularly every Tuesday, I’ve been sharing bits and pieces of my upcoming romantic suspense novel, Killing Secrets.  I do love to sneak a peek into a writer friend’s developing novel. It’s just so much fun watching their story grow and getting the inside scoop.  However, for the month of May, I’m going to share bits and pieces from my romantic comedy novel, Satin Pleasures, which is published. Some of you have already read this book on your Kindle and that’s okay.

To celebrate May Day and Mother’s Day and Memorial Day and my looooong vacation, I’ve decided to use my Novel Gems to showcase Satin Pleasures each week and give away four (4) personally autographed paperback versions, one for each week in the month.  If you comment on all four Novel Gems this month, you’ll have four chances to win one of the autographed novels.  So stop by each week and comment to improve your chances!

I’ll announce the four winners on Friday, May 31st.  Good luck!!

A bit of set up for today’s gem….

Tess is as distracted by Dan as he is by her (see last TuesDaze!)…and that’s all you’re getting!

Happy Reading!

Karen

Satin Pleasures by Karen Docter

The meeting was long and tedious, and Tess was never more fidgety in her life. A strange phone conversation with her parents before she left her office was partially to blame. It wasn’t until after she’d hung up that she realized they’d adroitly avoided her inquiries about their welfare, while their none-too-subtle probes about her job indicated her lack of success in keeping her problems from them.

This brought her to her hard-won marketing campaign on today’s agenda. Once she presented her report, she hoped to kick back while months of effort paid off in increased retail sales, and in her promotion. With the promotion’s bonus package in hand, she could stop worrying about covering the shortfall in her father’s insurance coverage. She’d have the surgeon’s fifteen-thousand dollar deposit before the September deadline.

No, she didn’t dare relax. Not yet.

Her distraction was unacceptable, if readily explained. Every time she moved, her leg bumped against Dan’s, their shoulders rubbed. Her lungs filled with his scent when she took the smallest breath. The conference room, always too small to accommodate these meetings, was becoming smaller, hotter, more airless, by the minute.

She longed to strip off her jacket. She didn’t dare. Although her lace-trimmed camisole doubled as a blouse, the satin wasn’t thick enough to hide the way her nipples tightened when she walked into the room and spotted the man who’d featured in her dreams last night. Incredible dreams overflowing with lingering touches and intensifying passion.

Whatever had possessed her to sit next to Dan? She should have taken a seat as far from him as possible. Across the conference table, across the room…across the planet wasn’t far enough if she couldn’t control her fantasies better than this!

Her gaze slid sideways to Dan’s charcoal gray suit jacket stretched across his broad chest, the red power tie lying beneath his square jaw. Here was the man she’d conjured in her mind yesterday. In command. Powerful. The tailored look fit him as perfectly as jeans and flannel.

Her imagination hadn’t prepared her, however, for the loss of his mustache. Behind that softness, Dan’s sculpted upper lip was concealed. Beneath the hair, the two indentations that framed his mouth and gave his face strength and character were blurred. Revealed, the combination was downright devastating.

Dan affected her as no other man had before. With one look into the depths of his eyes, her heart began to flutter in her breast like a trapped butterfly, her skin flushed with the heat of a sun-scorched beach. She didn’t know whether to fly away or sink into the fire.

Was it any wonder she’d taken steps to protect herself?

Guilt made her squirm in the chair. She’d lied to Dan. Twice. Although, technically, she hadn’t actually lied about anything. Still, dangling a non-existent lover in his face was a cowardly thing to do. It was frightening to know her half ounce canary, Anthony, was her sole defense against her growing desire for A Touch of Silk & Satin’s co-owner.

….see you next Tuesday with another NOVEL GEM.

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**AUTHOR PEEK** Interview with Author, Lizzie T. Leaf

Before we get started talking about your writing, tell us a little about yourself, where you’re from, what you do for a living (if you’re not a fulltime writer) what hobbies you have, etc. Whatever you’d like to share.

Are you saying you’re ready for a nap, Karen?  Yep, I’m boring.  I live in the Denver, Colorado area these days.  Grew up in North Carolina and a trip back there, if only for a few days, brings back the Southern accent that is mostly gone.  I did spend a lot of time in corporate American, some in management.  It’s safe to say I’m delighted I don’t have to do that these days.  My days are mostly spent writing, cleaning house (unless I’m on a roll with the writing, then the cleaning can wait), cooking and spending time with my family.  And traveling…have suitcase ready to pack.   The hobby beyond the traveling these days is reading.  Once upon a time, I sewed and crocheted, but had to narrow down the interests because of time limitations.   Oh, and cooking.  I do like to experiment with recipes, doing my own spin on them.

“There you have my life in a nutshell, Karen.  Karen.  Karen.” Nudge  “Karen, you can wake up now.  I’m done.”

1. How did you get started writing?

Writing, or at least making up stories in my head has happened as long as I can remember.  I didn’t have a lot kids around where I grew up and my made-up friends were my playmates.  In school, English assignments on writing a short story were at the top of my favorite list, unlike some of my class companions who groaned out loud.

My goal was to become a journalist, but life happens and I ended up a military wife with two kids, then a divorce that led to the working, single mom period.  Remarrying added to the brood and the transporting, cooking, housework and a fulltime job.  I didn’t have the juggling ability so many mothers of today have, so writing went on the backburner.

It took my third marriage nine years ago to get me on the right track.  My husband is very supportive…to the point he nags if I don’t produce.  He believes in me and that’s always a good thing, no matter what we attempt to do in life.

2. What genre(s) do you write in and why?

My current genres are Paranormal Romance with humor & spice (ok, some are downright hot) and Contemporary Erotic Romance.  The why?  With the Paranormal I love creating worlds.  The Contemporary is fun to do something based more in reality for a change.

There are also a couple of children’s picture books in the edit stage.  One of my granddaughters and I wrote them together.  They aren’t under the Lizzie handle, but one of my other alternate egos.  Heck, I’m turning into Sybil with all the personalities (i.e. pen names) on the planning board.

3. What is your favorite part of writing?

My favorite part is creating characters that evoke emotions in the reader, whether it’s in the form of laughter or tears.  Plus, writing is an escape into a world where others have problems that aren’t mine, or I can tap into some things from my life and enhance them as needed.  Very therapeutic!

4. What is your least favorite part of writing?

The quiet, and creating the worlds and situations, as well as characters I like.  And not having to fight the traffic to get to work.  I may step on the cat or need to dump him off my lap when he tries to help type, but still better than traffic jams.

5. Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

Some will scoff because authors say, “Everywhere,” but that’s the truth.  I’m terrible about eavesdropping on conversations when out in public, the news is a never ending source of material, watching a movie can trigger a story idea that takes a different angle from what’s on the screen, people watching is great and dreams…yes, I’ve had dreams filled with story ideas wake me up.

6. What is your typical day like?

Are we talking a good work day, or a non-productive one?…LOL.

During the week, we get up at 4:00 a.m. (yes, it does exist) and while my husband gets his shower I work on the morning coffee, his breakfast and lunch.  Once he’s out the door around 5:00, I may pour another cup of coffee and catch up on the news, or if the ‘to do’ list is longer than usual, I move up to the computer.

Emails and the social sites are addressed and then my blog (sometimes I’m bad on that), and from there open up the documents I’ll be working on that day.  Before I become too engrossed, I hop in the shower & get dressed, throw in a load of laundry or load the dishwasher.  During this process I also grab breakfast.

Then back to the computer and work on the book(s) of the moment for a while.  Some days, the brain cells are dead and I am led astray by social media and gab with my friends.

Other days I’m nose to the grindstone, stopping for a quick lunch and a little exercise before back to writing.  I work until around 3:00 when I need to stop and start dinner.  See, authors live a life of leisure!

7. What is most difficult for you to write?  Characters, conflict or emotions? Why?

Conflict.  Keeping the intensity going at times is frustrating.  Wow, I create conflict for myself with that issue!  Hadn’t thought of that.

8. Tell us about your next book & when is it being published?

There a couple of revised re-releases coming up shortly.  The end of May or first part of June, Educating Amber (originally released as Call Me) will come out as a self-published novella.  Then June 21^st, Barely Legal is scheduled to re-release at Passion in Print Press.

There will probably be at least two more self-published re-releases over the next few months as well as at least two new books before the end of the year.

DEAD Santa is scheduled for a November 2013 with Musa Publishing and hopefully, Banshee Magic will release at Passion in Print Press in 2013.

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ALSO BY LIZZIE T. LEAF

Links to Lizzie T. Leaf’s website, blog, books, etc.

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BE SURE TO COME BACK to read more about Lizzie and her novel, BEYOND MAGIC, on Wednesday’s Karen’s Killer Book Bench!

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**SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:  Lizzie will give away a PDF copy of her book, BEYOND MAGIC, to one lucky reader who comments on either her Monday Interview or Wednesday Book Bench blogs!!  Winner will be randomly selected and announced Monday, May 27, 2013.  Thanks, Lizzie , for sharing your story with us!

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It’s time for Karen’s Killer Fixin’s!

Over the years, I’ve filled two 4-inch, 3-ring binders with my own creations as well as recipes my family and friends were willing to share with me. I simply love to cook and want to share that love with my readers.

So every Friday, I share one recipe I think you and your family might enjoy. It might be a main course recipe. A cookie or baked item. Candy. Salads. Whatever strikes my eye and fancy…which today is TWO-TONE FUDGE!!

This is a fun recipe and an impressive gift for the holidays or that special occasion or just for the fun of it! I love the two flavors blended together.

I hope you enjoy today’s Killer Fixin’s. Happy eating!

Karen

P.S. We’re at 91 recipes and counting with this posting. Hope you find some recipes you like. If this is your first visit, please check out past blogs for more Killer Fixin’s. In the right hand column menu, you can even look up past recipes by type. i.e. Desserts, Breads, Beef, Chicken, Soups, Author Specials, etc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TWO-TONE FUDGE

2 cups brown sugar                                                     1 cup sugar

1 cup evaporated milk                                                 ½ cup walnuts

1 jar marshmallow                                                       1 tsp. vanilla

1 pkg. (6 oz.) butterscotch chips                                 1 pkg. (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

Combine brown sugar, sugar, milk, and butter in pan.  Bring to full boil, over medium heat.  Stirring.  Boil 10 minutes over moderate heat.  Remove from heat.  Add marshmallow and vanilla.  Stir until smooth.  To 2 cups of hot mixture, add butterscotch and ½ of the walnuts.  Stir until smooth.  Pour into greased pan.  To remaining mixture, add chocolate pieces and the rest of the walnuts.  Stir until smooth.  Pour over butterscotch.  Chill.

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Welcome to Novel Gems ~ SATIN PLEASURES TuesDaze Week #2!

For those who check in regularly every Tuesday, I’ve been sharing bits and pieces of my upcoming romantic suspense novel, Killing Secrets.  I do love to sneak a peek into a writer friend’s developing novel. It’s just so much fun watching their story grow and getting the inside scoop.  However, for the month of May, I’m going to share bits and pieces from my romantic comedy novel, Satin Pleasures, which is published. Some of you have already read this book on your Kindle and that’s okay.

To celebrate May Day and Mother’s Day and Memorial Day and my looooong vacation, I’ve decided to use my Novel Gems to showcase Satin Pleasures each week and give away four (4) personally autographed paperback versions, one for each week in the month.  If you comment on all four Novel Gems this month, you’ll have four chances to win one of the autographed novels.  So stop by each week and comment to improve your chances!

I’ll announce the four winners on Friday, May 31st.  Good luck!!

A bit of set up for today’s gem….

Despite the fact Tess is a workaholic, something Dan’s familiar enough with to run in the other direction and, believing she’s got a boyfriend, Dan is still finding it difficult to put his attraction aside…and that’s all you’re getting!

Happy Reading!

Karen

Satin Pleasures by Karen Docter

Late the next afternoon, Dan yawned under cover of his hand and watched the conference room fill up. The air conditioner blew overhead, but the sunny room had obviously been closed for some time and too many bodies made it worse. A nap on the balcony of his newly leased cliff house overlooking the beach, the warm sun caressing his naked chest, sounded like the only prescription worth swallowing.

He smiled at the thought of his productive morning. The first thing he’d done after signing the papers on the house was to buy a couple of double chaise lounges. He was dying to try one of them out. Alone, if necessary, although it would be more fun if someone joined him.

Like Tess.

He could easily imagine her lying next to him on the ultra-soft cushion, her luxuriant curls loose and blowing every which way on the playful ocean breeze. It would trail over his bare skin as she leaned over to plant slow, drugging kisses in an erotic line from his throat down to his chest. He swallowed hard when she dropped lower and—

Laughter from beside him made him tug at the knot of his tie. He shifted in his chair, grateful the conference table shielded his lap. Sporting a hard-on in front of the entire Merchants Association was not good business. “What?” he demanded of his aunt.

Aunt Mary grinned from her seat at the U-shaped line of tables. “Nothing.” Her tone said ‘everything’.

He’d hoped to avoid this conversation altogether. “I’m sorry you had to unlock the door at three a.m. If I’d realized the time, I’d have camped out in the truck for the night. My watch is still packed in a box.”

“I don’t know why you keep apologizing, Daniel.” Her eyes widened with innocence. “You shouldn’t feel guilty about last night. If it will make you feel better, I can assure you it’s already forgotten.” She suited her actions to the words and turned to a new arrival on her other side.

“I don’t feel guilty,” he muttered.

What he felt was hot and bothered and frustrated as hell. He’d met a woman who brought his blood to a hard boil with one look, hell, one thought, and she was a workaholic with a boyfriend. A live-in boyfriend. For all he knew, she was married to the guy.

After speaking to Tess on the phone last night, Dan ordered himself to walk away. It wasn’t any of his business if the woman chose to work herself to death.

He told himself to let Anthony worry about her.

Did it work?

No.

….see you next Tuesday with another NOVEL GEM.

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CONGRATULATIONS WEEK 05-08-13 GIVEAWAY WINNER! 

Karen’s Killer Book Bench with J. Morgan!!

Giveaway: J. Morgan will give away an ebook or print copy of his new book, LOVE FREE STAKE HARD, to one lucky reader who comments on either his Monday Interview or Wednesday Book Bench blogs!!  Thanks, J. , for sharing your story with us!

WINNER!!  DEBBIE!!

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See you in June. 

Avid Reader, Author, and RomCon Founder

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It’s time for Karen’s Killer Fixin’s!

Over the years, I’ve filled two 4-inch, 3-ring binders with my own creations as well as recipes my family and friends were willing to share with me. I simply love to cook and want to share that love with my readers.

So every Friday, I share one recipe I think you and your family might enjoy. It might be a main course recipe. A cookie or baked item. Candy. Salads. Whatever strikes my eye and fancy…which today is TANGY GRILLED KABOBS!!

There are a lot of different ways you can make kabobs. This version is simple, easy and tangy. Serve with a salad or rice and you’ve got a good meal. If you’re like me and like your marinades stronger, simply leave everything in the marinade longer than suggested.

I hope you enjoy today’s Killer Fixin’s. Happy eating!

Karen

P.S. We’re at 90 recipes and counting with this posting. Hope you find some recipes you like. If this is your first visit, please check out past blogs for more Killer Fixin’s. In the right hand column menu, you can even look up past recipes by type. i.e. Desserts, Breads, Beef, Chicken, Soups, Author Specials, etc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TANGY GRILLED KABOBS
[Serves 6]

1 ½ lb. boneless beef sirloin steak or boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1½-inch pieces
Assorted cut-up fresh vegetables (peppers, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, etc.)

Prepare marinade of 1 cup MIRACLE WHIP Salad Dressing, 1 pkg. Italian Dressing Mix, 2 T. vinegar, and 2 T. water.  Arrange meat and vegetables on skewers. Marinate at least ½ hour.  Grill over medium-high coals 10-15 minutes to desired doneness, turning once and brushing with additional marinade.

NOTE: Can also be broiled in your oven if you can’t grill the kabobs.

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  KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH

Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench where, every Wednesday, readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!

Filed under: Karen's Killer BOOK BENCH | 4 Comments →