Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **AUTHOR SPECIAL**

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 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, ELIZABETH HAYSMONT, and her favorite recipe for MEXICAN STUFFED SHELLS!

BOOK PEEK ~ The High Bridge by Elizabeth Haysmont

Sandra Yorken made it her life’s work proving that spirit sightings are the result of wishful thinking or willful misconduct. She’ll go to any length to debunk a story that makes a location a ‘tourist attraction’.

When she crashes her bike on a remote mountain road while searching for the legendary Ghost Train of the Rocky Mountains, the last person she wants help from is the mysterious (and breathtakingly handsome) Seth ‘Monty’Montclair. If her altitude sickness and an evil spirit don’t kill her first, falling in love with the wrong man may just break her heart forever.

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THE HIGH BRIDGE by Elizabeth Haysmont

EXCERPT

July, 2004

Seasons Park, Colorado

Sandra Yorken adjusted the elastic band of the headlamp to stop it digging into her forehead. Moving slightly, she cast its bluish beam onto the electromagnetic field detector in her hand. She watched the numbers display as she moved the device along the headboard. It irritated her that she had to do this in the dark.

“This wall is absolutely hot with EMF,” she said.

Wade Conrad, amateur ghost hunter, looked up from the camcorder he was setting in the corner. “Hot? Really?”

“I’m spiking the scale,” she muttered, climbing off the bed. “There must be unshielded wires in the wall behind the bed here. We’d better warn the hotel not to allow any guests with pacemakers to sleep in this room.”

“You sure it’s wires? I mean… there have been so many sightings in this room…”

Sandra sighed. That was the problem with investigating haunt-sites with the Believers. Sometimes the hard evidence upset the Dream. She knew better than to stomp on them. It was a hard lesson learned after the article about thatOhiogroup. Boy, did she take the heat for that one.

“Listen, can we turn a light on for a little bit?” she asked. “I’d like to see what I’m dealing with here.”

“No, ’cause Mark says it messes with the night vision cameras.”

Sandra rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay, can’t go against my host.” She continued to trace the outline of the bed, checked the output of the bedside lamps and swept the television on the credenza. She bit her lower lip and flicked the EMF detector into a different mode and back again. “Everything in this room is hot.”

“Well, what did you expect? It’s a haunted room,” Wade said. After a moment, his white grin gleamed against his dark face. “It’s THE haunted room.”

Sandra shook her head, forgetting that the headlamp betrayed her movements. “There must be another explanation for this. I haven’t seen such high readings since the Boston Museum of Industrial Arts. They had this storage room that was right next to an electrical room. The fear cage it generated would have blown your mind.”

“You investigated a museum?”

The awe in his voice was unmistakable, and Sandra blushed. “Well, the Board wanted to clear up why the maintenance personnel kept quitting because of the headless man in the basement. It was a simple fix; just add lead shielding around the electrical room.”

In the dark, Wade let out a sigh, telling her it wasn’t the answer he wanted.

“Anyway, either my EMF detector was damaged during the flight fromBostontoDenver, or there’s something seriously wrong with this room.”

Sandra stifled a scream as suddenly both their headlights went out. In the dark, she heard Wade move, followed by a crash and clatter.

“Oh crap, I’m dead,” Wade muttered.

“What happened?”

“That was Mark’s camera,” he answered, dread weighting his voice.

Sandra groaned and pulled the lamp off her head, clicking the switch repeatedly. What else could possibly go wrong with this investigation? First the flight delay, then the shuttle van from the airport to the mountain resort broke down, now malfunctioning equipment.

“I swear,” she grumbled under her breath. “This event is jinxed.”

“Do you really think so?” Wade asked seriously.

“No,” she sniped back. “Everyone blames the supernatural when things go wrong. I think it’s more that I’ve come from sea-level to 8,000 feet and I’m just screwing up because I’m oxygen-deprived.” She gave up on the headlamp and felt her way towards the bedside light. “I have to turn this light on, Wade. I can’t see a thing.”

The young man agreed reluctantly, so she turned the switch. Nothing happened. She turned it again and it lit up. Must be a standard bulb in a three way lamp. She looked at Wade who was straightening from a crouch with several pieces of camera in his large hands. A tear gently streaked down his black cheek.

“Mark’s gonna kill me.”

Sandra stepped closer and winced at the broken plastic cradled in his pale palms. “Ouch! Did you step on it?”

“No! I swear that it just fell off the tripod. The attachment went from tight to disconnected in seconds.”

Another tear escaped his eye as Sandra stared at him. She didn’t understand all this emotion. She’d engaged in many conversations with Wade, trying to arrange this investigation with his amateur ghost hunting group. In every conversation, he was happy-go-lucky, friendly and cheerful, even during her butting heads with Mark after her late arrival threw off the group’s schedule.

It must be the elevated EMF she detected. It was known to have that effect.

Reluctantly she glanced around the elegant hotel room. “Okay, you win this round,” she murmured. “We’ll leave you alone now.”

Wade gasped. Both headlamps were on again. Sandra growled and turned hers off.

Coincidence. It had to be.

  About the author, Elizabeth Haysmont….

It seems Elizabeth Haysmont’s entire life has been dedicated to research. At least that’s the spin she’s putting on it when she tries to explain why so many of her real life experiences end up in her books. Motorcyclist, photographer, graphic artist, traveler, caver, history buff, rail buff, hiker, off-roader, musician, actor – Life has dragged her (with her husband of twenty-plus years) through 35 states and six foreign countries. She and her husband even chose an adventurous way to wed: in a cave nearSt. Louis, 50 feet underground.

She likes to think that with all this fodder for her imagination, her current friends are safe from being included in one of her novels.

But you never know.

Connect with Elizabeth….

The High Bridge by Elizabeth Haysmont is available!!

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

Karen

P.S.  We’re at 44 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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MEXICAN STUFFED SHELLS

1 lb. ground beef
1 package low-sodium taco seasoning
4 oz. cream cheese
14-16 jumbo pasta shells
1.5 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce (This is a smooth, tomato based sauce found in the Mexican section)
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup monterey jack cheese
3 green onions
Sour cream

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a frying pan cook ground beef; add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions.  Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely.  While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.

Pour salsa on bottom of 9×13 baking dish.  Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes, with the foil removed.  Top with any condiments you’d like (green onions, black olives, etc.) Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa.

NOTE: The only thing I do differently is using Mexican table cream instead of sour cream  and use a Mexican mix shredded cheese but those are minor differences. Also my husband doesn’t like black olives so I’ll add that to mine after serving

(Found this one on Pinterest – http://thewaytohisheart.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/mexican-stuffed-shells/.)

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