Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **AUTHOR SPECIAL**
with KATE L. MARY!

Welcome to my Friday bonus feature called Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **Author Special**!! Today, in lieu of one of my own recipes, I’m going to introduce you to a new author who will share one of her favorite recipes. Not only will you and I occasionally learn how to make something new and delicious, but we’ll get a chance to check out some wonderful authors. Introducing author, Kate L. Mary, and her favorite recipe for SODA FOUNTAIN CUPCAKES!

THE LIST
BY KATE L. MARY

Blurb

The List. Twenty things every girl must do before she turns twenty. . .

Body piercing
Get drunk
First kiss

But thanks to her crazy, over-protective father, Annie Roth is way behind schedule. Good thing it’s her first semester of college, because Annie is more than ready to start checking off items. . .

Fake ID
Skinny dipping
Road trip!!!

Where it gets complicated? Ryan and Chris. Best friends. Both sweet, funny, totally hot, and totally into Annie.

But there are some things on The List that Annie only wants to do with Ryan. . .

Lose it
Get Heart Broken
Fall in love

THE LIST
BY KATE L. MARY

EXCERPT

Cami crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. She didn’t look satisfied.

“Boyfriend?” I shook my head and she pursed her lips.

“What do you do for fun?”

“I told you, volleyball.” I squirmed while I tried to figure out exactly what she wanted from me. No matter what I said, her lips got tighter and her eyes more narrowed until they were nothing but tiny slits.

She exhaled and puckered her lips before saying, “What else? I like to go shopping and to the beach, hang out with friends.”

“That sounds like fun.” What did she want me to say?

She was staring at me like I didn’t speak English, shaking her head. “Are you shy?” I shrugged again and Cami nodded. “We’ll work on that. I plan on having an awesome time in college, and I’m taking you with me. Got it?” She tilted her head and grinned at her plan. Then went back to organizing her things, which were still strewn all over the place.

My stuff was neatly put away, and it suddenly occurred to me how grungy I was. I’d taken the red-eye from California. Spent the whole night either on a plane or scrunched up in airport chairs.

“I think I’m going to take a shower.”

Cami shrugged, but didn’t look up from organizing her massive earring collection. “Just be ready in two hours. We’re going out.”

My heart jumped and my stomach dropped, but I kept my mouth shut. The idea terrified me, but at the same time I was more than ready to do something. For once.

Cami was already primping when I stepped out of the bathroom.

She paused long enough to flash me her movie-star smile before going back to her mascara. “Ryan is going to be here in thirty, so you better hurry.”

My hair was dripping; it was going to take me thirty minutes just to get it dry. “I thought you said we had two hours?” Why was that my only question? Shouldn’t I have been asking where she planned on going?

She shrugged and I tried to get a closer look while she expertly curled her eyelashes. How did girls do that without poking themselves in the eye? “He called and said they were going out earlier. They want to catch dinner first.”

I ran a comb through my hair and did my best to calm my pounding heart. It didn’t work. “Where are you going?”

Cami giggled as she put a tissue between her burgundy lips and smacked them together. “We, and who cares? Anywhere Ryan will take us! It’s our first night as college students and I want to have fun!”

She turned the music up on her iPhone and bopped across the room. My heart pounded harder. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever really had a day of fun in my life. Not real fun. Not the way other teenagers did.

I got busy blow-drying my hair, trying not to think about the night ahead. Thinking about going out made my stomach twist into knots, but I was determined to go through with it. Whatever it was. I’d chosen a school far away from home so I could experience life, and that was what I was going to do.

About the author…Kate L. Mary.

Kate L. Mary is a stay-at-home mother of four and an Air Force wife. She currently resides in Oklahoma with her husband and children. You can visit her at www.katelmary.com

 

Links to Kate’s website, blog, books, etc.

Amazon

Website: www.katelmary.com

I hope you enjoy the recipe Kate is sharing with us today on Karen’s Killer Fixin’s. Happy eating!

Karen

P.S. We’re at 201 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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SODA FOUNTAIN CUPCAKES

Ingredients

• 1 two-layer size white cake mix
• 2 3-ounce packages fruit-flavored gelatin (choose two flavors, such as lime, cherry, strawberry, grape or orange)
• 1/2 cup boiling water, divided
• 1/2 cup lemon-lime carbonated beverage, ginger ale or cold water; divided
• 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 6 – 7 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk, divided
• Drinking straws, cut into 3-inch pieces

Directions

• Line twenty-four 2 1/2-inch muffin cups with paper bake cups; set aside. Prepare cake mix as directed on package. Fill muffin cups two-thirds full with batter. (Do not overfill; it will be easier to spoon the gelatin mixture over the cupcakes later if they are not domed.) Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in cups on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, dissolve half of one box of gelatin (about 3 tablespoons) in 1/4 cup of the boiling water. In a separate small bowl, repeat with another flavor of gelatin. Let stand for 5 minutes. (Reserve remaining gelatin from each box for frosting.) Slowly pour 1/4 cup carbonated beverage into each bowl; stir gently.
• While cupcakes are still in the pan, poke each cake a few times with a fork. Generously but carefully spoon or brush one of the warm gelatin mixtures over 12 of the cupcakes, and the other gelatin mixture over the remaining cupcakes. Repeat, if necessary, to ensure cupcakes are well saturated with the gelatin mixture. Discard remaining gelatin mixture. Chill cupcakes in pans about 3 hours or until set.
• For frosting: In two small mixing bowls, dissolve each flavor of remaining gelatin in 1 tablespoon each milk. Set bowls aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar to reach piping consistency. Remove about half the white frosting to a medium bowl; set aside. (That portion will remain white.) Divide the remaining frosting (in the large mixing bowl) between the two smaller bowls with the gelatin mixtures. Beat each with a spoon to tint the frosting. (In the end, you will have two small bowls of colored frosting and one medium bowl of white frosting.)

• Fit two pastry bags with large open-star decorating tips. To fill each bag, spoon one colored frosting and half the white frosting into the bag, placing the frostings side by side (not one on top of the other). Pipe two-tone swirls onto the tops of cupcakes. Garnish each with a cut drinking straw. Cover; chill to store.

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Don’t miss the chance to read this book! Thanks, Kate, for sharing your story with us!