Cover Reveal!

Tomorrow is the big day!  I will reveal the cover of The Christmas Assignment! Post a comment here to for a chance to win one of two $10 Gift Certificates to Freya's Bower!

Hot Peppers

This summer I planted some chili piquin peppers. My brother had sent some peppers from his plant at Christmas. I saved the seeds just so I could grow some of my own. The picture above is just before they started to flower.

I watched them grow all summer. 

And waited (impatiently) for them to ripen. Finally they started turning red and I was so excited when I picked the first two. 

These are extremely large for chili piquins. For some reason, I had one plant that produced 2"-3" peppers. All the rest produced the normal 1/2"-3/4" size.

Now that cold weather has arrived in the Tennessee Valley, I have harvested all the peppers from the smaller plants and brought the large plant inside. Here are a few strung up to dry.

Below is from the last harvest, but I picked them as they ripened throughout the fall, so I got a lot more of them than this. Let me tell you, these little suckers are HOT! Natural napalm. Doesn't take much to add plenty of flavor and heat to any dish. 

Today I put them up--pickling some, drying some, and freezing some. To freeze them, I put them in my food processor and chopped them. Then I spread the mixer thinly between two sheets of wax paper. This way, I can break off little pieces for cooking. I collected a few more seeds for next year. I also made some a bowl of "relish" with them. Added onions and garlic. It's kinda like pico de gallo without the tomato. 

I should have plenty of spicy peppers to season dishes all winter. It's a little painful typing this post, though. Next year I must be sure to invest in some rubber gloves. My fingertips are still burning from the capsaicin. And I may need to remember to get some of those little covers for your mouth and nose, too. When you put these things in the food processor, the air even seems to have capsaicin in it.  

Used some already today. As soon as I finished the peppers, the hubby and I cut up some fresh veggies to bake for lunch. I put about a tablespoon of the relish, some butter, and some salt and pepper in the pan with the veggies.

These were delicious. Spicy enough to clear your sinuses, too. 

Cover Reveal & Giveaway

The countdown has begun! The cover for my holiday short story, The Christmas Assignment, will be revealed on Sunday, December 1st!

A sweet holiday romance, this story is about faith, fate, and second chances.

Lyssa is an angel sent to earth to help humans in answer to their prayers. Spencer Hamilton is babysitting his six-month-old niece while his brother and sister-in-law are out of town. Though he is doing his best to keep the baby happy, he is failing miserably and prays for help from above. Lyssa easily meets the baby’s needs, but she soon learns that her assignment is Spencer, not the darling little girl. How on earth can she help a man who needs only one thing—a wife? Why does this incredibly handsome man make her wish she were human? And why does his kiss taste of Heaven?

In celebration, I'll be giving away two gift certificates ($10 each) from Freya's Bower, the publisher of this story and my award-winning historical western novel, The Wagonmaster.  

To enter, simply comment on this post or any post regarding the cover of The Christmas Assignment. You'll receive an entry for each comment (one per post.) Find posts on my blog here, on my Facebook page. You may find links to these posts on Twitter, too. You can also find posts on the blogs, Facebook and Twitter accounts of friends who have generously agreed to help me spread the word. Deadline for entries will be December 1st at 6:00 p.m. EST. I'll gather the names and draw the winner on Saturday, December 7th. 

So make your first entry now. Add your comment. I'll make it easy for you. Do you believe in angels?

New Blog - Well, Kinda

I set up this Blogger blog site a long time ago. (Note the date on the previous blog post.) Then I decided I'd rather use Wordpress and host the blog on my regular web site. That worked just fine for years until some scumbag recently hacked my blog. So many files were corrupted/infected, I lost everything. 

Since this blog site is still available and all ready to go, I gave it a face lift, and I'll be using it from now on. What do you think? Do you like the look? Is it easy to read? Fonts big enough? Too big?

Exciting news to post soon!