Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **AUTHOR SPECIAL** with SHANON GREY!

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, SHANON GREY, and her favorite recipe for SCOTTISH STOVIES!

With multiple advanced degrees under her belt, Meadow is ready to go to Scotland to study the castle she inherited from her father. But first, she has to help her best friend from childhood navigate the hazardous waters surrounding a horrific health crisis.

Pushed to leave by that best friend, Meadow arrives in Scotland, only to find the castle and its secrets to be far more complicated than she anticipated. A request from the old sisters, crystals, hidden caves, entities from another dimension, an earthquake, and a groundskeeper who is far more than he appears keep Meadow racing from one disaster to another, all the while trying to honor her long-deceased father.

Forging ahead, Meadow finds stronger links between her two homes, uncovering secrets buried deep in the depths of both Scotland and Ruthorford, hoping their revelation won’t be the destruction of all.

Excerpt

She glanced around the great room, checking for nonexistent intruders. Old habits died hard. She smiled. Carefully, she pulled off the gloves and set them aside. Rubbing her hands together, she waited for the warmth. Then, carefully, she reached out and let her hands hover just over the surface of both images simultaneously.

Energy pulsed from the page, pushing into her hands, up her arms, and through her body. No matter how hard she tried, it could not be returned from her. It was like she’d walked into a room full of static electricity and came to a door that she couldn’t or shouldn’t approach but so far. Every time she tried, it pushed back. Exhaustion followed. Her eyes grew heavy. She pulled her hands back, picked up the Coke, and took a deep drink.

Carefully, she put the journals in their respective containers and placed the stones in each one. Then, on impulse, she pulled her stone back out. This would stay close to her. She wasn’t sure why, but knew that, at one time it had protected Di, so she felt a little bit safer with it near her.

A hot shower revived her and she curled up in bed with the notes she’d compiled on the other journal. With all that was going on, she’d just about forgotten about the harmonics and the keyboard. She knew that getting certain sounds could affect the stones. Thinking back, she knew instinctively that there was another carton, and in that carton were stones. But, where had her father put it and when.

“Wake up.”

The words settled in her mind and she blinked. The binder with her notes lay open on her lap and she was slumped down against the headboard of the bed. Strange dream voice.

“No time for thinking. Act. Man down.”

“What?” Meadow asked out loud, already off the side of the bed and slipping on her shoes.

“Grab your stones. Get the carton you brought up from the table in the storeroom. Hurry.”

She grabbed her stone and ran down the steps, calling, “Who are you?” She picked up the other stone, slipped it into her pocket, and grabbed the carton.

“In time. Go to the cave. Hurry. Not much time.”

Meadow didn’t hesitate, but grabbed the lantern, and keys, and ran down the steps. When she got to the cave, there was no one there.

“What now?” she called. “There’s no one here.”

“Place the stones together on the floor touching the side wall. Place your hands on the wall and concentrate on opening it. Hurry.”

The urgency almost overwhelmed her. Without thinking, she did as she was told. She’d worry about following the instruction of a dream voice in her head later.

The stones on the floor started to glow. Energy, coming from somewhere outside of her, flowed into her and she pushed harder. A door, hidden by a stone façade began to move. She grunted and shoved. It gave and moved outward, into a cave.

A body lay on the ground. She grabbed the lantern and rushed into the tunnel. It was Logan, blood flowing from a wound on his side, a knife still sticking out. She dropped to the ground, reaching for the knife.

“Don’t. He’ll die. You have to trust me. I am going to enter you and take over.”

She looked up, scanning the tunnel. A dream. But she could smell the blood. Logan’s blood. “Okay.”

As soon as she thought the word, her mind felt fuzzy and she could sense something filling her being, pushing her down, taking over. She couldn’t breathe.

“Relax. Breathe normally. It’s only a sensation you are unfamiliar with. Let me work.”
She could feel her body kneeling on the ground, one hand grabbing the knife while the other eased over the open wound and energy flowed from her into Logan’s body. Like Sim. She could sense whatever entity was in her searching through the body, seeking the arteries, the organs. She couldn’t see, but she could sense.

“I can close the injuries. He’s lost a lot of blood. I couldn’t do this from inside of him. I needed your energy. When I leave your body, call the doctor. He needs blood. Your blood.”

As soon as the words settled in her mind, she was back. Her hand, covered in blood, was pressing over the site where the wound had been. She edged up the side of her hand. The wound was closed.

She wiped her trembling hand on her pants and pulled out her phone, hitting Mike’s number.

“Yancy.”

“Mike, it’s Meadow. I don’t have time to explain. I have a man here who needs blood. I believe he’s a descendant.”

“I put Tim’s number in your phone. Call him. He’s in Aberdeen. He was going to call you tomorrow.”

She didn’t say goodbye. She hung up and called Tim’s number, telling him it was an emergency, gave some facts, and to come to the Carriage House, giving directions. She hung up.

“I can’t carry him,” she said to the empty tunnel. “Help me.”

Without words, she felt the same sensation as before and she knew the entity was taking over. The energy flowed through her and she sensed they were moving. When she came back into her mind, Logan was on her bed.

“Thank you,” she said to the room. There was no response.

Logan was pale and his breathing shallow. She reached over and touched his face. “Logan, can you hear me. Hang on. Help is coming.”
When a pounding on the door sounded, she flew down the stairs and pulled open the door to Tim, holding his bag, with Celeste next to him.

“Thank you.” She turned and ran up the steps with him following.

She stood to the side, her arms across her stomach, and watched as he went to the bed.

“The wounds closed. Did you do this?”

“Yes. But not like you think.”

About Author Shanon Grey…

Shanon Grey weaves suspense and action with mystery and romance. Under contract with Crossroads Publishing House and TOVA Publishing House, her books are available in e-format and print at most booksellers.

Shanon spent most of her life on coasts, both the beautiful Atlantic and the balmy Gulf. A major hurricane taught her the fragility of life and the strength of friendship, family, and starting over.

She found out that her son had salvaged notes and pages of her original novel, Capricorn’s Child, which she thought had been destroyed along with everything else. (Ironically, a neighbor found her marriage certificate in a tree.) Her plans to resurrect that story have been put on hold as Ruthorford took hold and she is not in her tenth novel about that amazing place and it’s remarkable people. She still plans to resurrect her original novel one day.

Shanon now lives in Georgia, trading the familiarity of the coast for the lush beauty and wonder of the mountains, where her husband fulfilled her lifelong dream—to live in a beautiful cottage in the woods, where inspiration abounds. As she recently learned, living among the trees can prove a challenge as, after a storm, one fell on the house. They were okay and the house’s roof and side are now repaired, but it definitely put off the release of her latest novel and may have taken a few years off of her life.

Having dual careers, one as an author and the other in IT Security, affords her, in her dual personas, to meld expertise from many disciplines and venues into stories that keep her readers coming back for more.

Jerry Hampton, the companion attendant to the alter ego, Shanon Grey, provides the discipline and order to the creativity. She also provides the artistry that goes into covers and accompanying materials for web sites, events, and book signings.

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Links to Shanon’s website, blog, books, #ad, etc.:

Amazon: Cheating Destiny

Books2Read (Draft2Digital) for various vendors: https://books2read.com/u/bod7qA

Amazon Author Page for her other fabulous stories where science and magic merge: Shanon Grey

Stay up-to-date on other Shanon Grey books and events by visiting her website at: www.ShanonGrey.com

You can also visit Shanon Grey – FictionWeaver on FaceBook or X (formerlyTwitter) @ShanonGrey.
You can write her at shanongreybooks@yahoo.com
She would love to hear from you.

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I hope you enjoy the recipe Shanon is sharing today on Karen’s Killer Fixin’s. Happy Eating!

Karen

P.S. We’re at 693 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.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: If an author’s favorite recipe isn’t their own creation and came from an online site, you will now find the entire recipe through the link to that site as a personal recommendation. Thank you.

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SCOTTISH STOVIES

NOTE FROM SHANON: The history of Stovies goes back to about the 16th century or to the introduction of potatoes into Scotland. It is considered one of the Scots’ favorite comfort foods and is their equivalent of our stew—or, should I saw, our stew is the equivalent of their Stovies. Many times, it is made the day following a large meal with a roast of beef, mutton, lamb, corned beef, or sausage with a base of a large amount of potatoes and onions. It can also be made with all sorts of leftover vegetables, using drippings or fat from meat, leaving out the meat, proper.

My recipe, which is derived from several I found, is for beef, since I did a large Sunday beef roast the day before I made the Stovie.

You will need:

• A large pan. I have a deep frying pan with a lid.
• Measuring cup. I used a 2-cup Pyrex cup
• Measuring spoon
• Mixing spoon
• Knife
• Chopping board

Ingredients:

• Left over roast from previous meal. You can also use other meat from those mentioned above. The recipe recommended 8.8 oz. I am sure mine was more.
• 2 lbs Roasted Potatoes from previous meal. Add extra raw to make up the difference
• 4 Tbsp beef drippings saved from the previous meal prep. You can also use butter, oil, other drippings, or lard.
• 2 Cups Stock or leftover gravy with water added to make up the difference. I add beef stock to gravy from pot roast from day before.
• 2-3 Tbsp Beef Jelly from previous meal. (This is optional if you don’t have it. I don’t. But, if you put drippings from the roast in a container and refrigerate it overnight, it will separate into drippings and meat jelly.)
• 1 Large Onion. I roast onions with my pot roast, which I add, so there are plenty.
• 2 Large Carrots. I only add one since I had plenty from the previous meal.
• Other vegetables. You can just go with the carrots and potatoes, but I have also added peas and corn. You can add whatever veggies you prefer.

Dice the raw onion and peel and chop the extra potatoes and carrots.

Rough dice beef or preferred meat.

Add Beef drippings, or substitute fat, to a large hot pan. (You can use your substitute fat.)

Add onion to hot fat in a layer at bottom, allowing them to change color but not brown.

Add diced meat on top of onions. Stir together.

Add potatoes and other veggies on top but do not stir.

Make up stock, adding beef jelly, stirring to combine.

Pour stock into the pan. It should come to just below top of veggies. Add more or less as necessary. Do not stir but leave everything in layers.

Bring to a boil. Turn down to simmer, cover, and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until potatoes soften and begin to break down.

Season with salt and pepper. Now, stir. Potatoes will break down as you stir, leaving crispy bits on bottom and not all potatoes are broken down.

My variation is to use store-bought beef stock to add to the gravy from the night before. You can thin this with more stock if it is too thick.

They mention you can add stout (beef) a few tablespoons. I don’t because I used a good deal of burgundy in the stock/gravy the night before.

We serve it with machine-made fresh bread and butter.

Enjoy!

Special Giveaway: Shanon will give away a print copy (U.S. Only) of CHEATING DESTINY to one lucky reader who comments on her Karen’s Killer Fixin’s Blog.

Happy Reading!

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Thanks, Shanon, for sharing your book with us!

Don’t miss the chance to read this book!