#Delectable December: Andrea Speed’s Cookie Concotions #mmromance #paranormal @aspeed
Today’s guest for Delectable December is Andrea Speed. I love her wonderful and unique shifter series Infected, from Dreamspinner Press. She doesn’t use food much in her books, but she does enjoy whipping up something just as new and creative in the kitchen. Andy’s here to share a recipe that’s delicious any time of year. She’s contributing a copy of Lesser Evils to the Rafflecopter giveaway.
About Andrea Speed
Andrea Speed was born looking for trouble in some hot month without an R in it. While succeeding in finding Trouble, she has also been found by its twin brother, Clean Up, and is now on the run, wanted for the murder of a mop and a really cute, innocent bucket that was only one day away from retirement. (I was framed, I tell you – framed!)
In her spare time, she arms lemurs in preparation for the upcoming war against the Mole Men. Viva la revolution!
Andrea Speed on the web: http://www.andreaspeed.com
Andy’s Delectable Musings
Food doesn’t play a huge part in my Infected series, or so I thought, but I guess it’s not true. Roan’s metabolism goes nuts after a transformation, and it’s well noted in stories that he empties out the fridge during those times. Also, he’s a well documented fan of breakfast foods, at any time of day (breakfast burritos and croissants seem to be a favorite). Dylan is also a vegetarian in the series, and Roan isn’t, although it isn’t a form of conflict between them. It’s just an accepted difference, just like Dylan can cook, and Roan isn’t very good at it. (Although I suspect he’s better than he thinks he is.) One important plot development even occurs as Roan is making an “apology dinner” for Dylan, but if I told you any more, it’d be spoiling.
So the role food plays in the Infected series is the same one in all of our lives. Important, but unless you’re starving, you’re probably not thinking much about it.
Tropical Chocolate Chip Cookies
I improv a lot in cooking, so if you have a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, feel free to use it instead of this one. It’s a very basic recipe, one that I dressed up. Feel free to make your own contributions. Replace the coconut with oatmeal, or more nuts. Replace the macadamias with pecans or peanuts, or replace them with dried cranberries. Hell, replace the chocolate chips with butterscotch or peanut butter chips if you’d like. It’s your recipe, and it’s no fun if you don’t make it your own. (Also, this makes a small batch, about a dozen cookies. Feel free to double the recipe as needed.)
Ingredients
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup white sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon hot water
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (or semi-sweet, your choice)
1/3 cup flaked coconut
1/3 cup macadamia nuts
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the butter and sugars (white & brown), until smooth. Add egg, mix, and add vanilla. Dissolve the baking soda in hot water, and add, then add the salt. Follow by adding the flour, chocolate chips, coconut, and nuts. Just stir until it’s all mixed together, no more, and then drop spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. How large you want to make the cookies is really up to you. They should take about ten minutes to bake, or until the edges start to brown. Once they’ve cooled down a bit – but not completely – you could also dress them up with sprinkles or icing, or just enjoy them plain. They also make great base cookies for ice cream sandwiches.
Infected: Lesser Evil
Infected: Book Six
In a world where a werecat virus has changed society, Roan McKichan, a born infected and ex-cop, works as a private detective trying to solve crimes involving other infecteds.
Until recently, Roan was ahead of the curve when it came to reining in the lion that lives inside him. Now his control is slipping at the worst possible times. A new drug has hit the streets—one that triggers unscheduled changes in infected users. Street hustler Holden Krause gets attacked by one of his clients, then is surprised to find himself involved in an unwanted, unexpected relationship. And a serial killer begins targeting infecteds in their cat form—something that’s 100 percent legal.
To stop the murders, Roan has to work outside the law. But his newfound thirst for violence makes him worry he might be more like the killer than he thought, and his reluctance to talk about it with his husband, Dylan, puts an extra strain on their relationship. So Roan isn’t just fighting the killer and struggling with his mutating virus… he’s trying to save himself.
Rainbow Award Winner
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The Excerpt
Garcia gestured violently with his gun. “Clear the scene.”
He was trying to eye fuck him, and Roan eye fucked him right back as he left the apartment, the pain starting to creep in, the adrenaline an ebbing tide leaving agony in its wake. Every step was like walking barefoot on broken glass, but he made sure not to show it around Garcia. The EMTs (this pair he didn’t know) did a double take as they walked past him in the corridor, and the black female one stopped and started coming toward him. “He doesn’t need treatment,” Garcia said, stepping out into the hall and intercepting her. He still had his gun drawn, but it was aimed down at the floor. “Nothing kills this fucker.” Garcia gave him a toothy grin that was just one step above a snarl, and his eyes almost glowed with hate. The EMT noticed this and looked to him questioningly, but Roan just shook his head. If he needed medical attention, he could wait until this prick was miles away.
It was a narrow upstairs corridor, and the armored members of the cat squad eyed him with either nervousness or discomfort (or both) as they lined the hall. Only Garcia knew him well enough to openly despise him.
He heard footsteps on the stairs, and Dylan calling out, “Roan? Are you okay?”
“Get that maricón out of here,” Garcia barked, and two of the closest troops responded, blocking the top of the stairs and basically herding Dylan back down.
Why did that make him snap? Roan had no idea, except splashing contempt on him was one thing—throwing it on Dylan was absolutely another.
There had been no decision to move, at least not on his part; the lion was still so close to the surface it was pure reflex. He grabbed Garcia and threw him against the opposite wall, pinning him there with one hand on his throat as he ripped the gun out of his hand and aimed it at the rest of his shock troops. To keep Garcia from getting any leverage, he was holding him an inch off the ground by his throat—he could feel the fine bones of his neck starting to bend under his fingers, and he wasn’t even gripping him all that hard. Or at least not as hard as he wanted to. “Save the shit for me,” he growled (literally, of course—it just went with the rage at this point). “Keep my partner out of it. Entienda?”
Garcia was turning deep red, shading toward purple. Roan was aware that his shock troops had raised guns on him—tranquilizer guns, but still—and he told them, without looking away from their boss, “If I wanted to kill him, he’d already be dead. Holster those before someone gets hurt.”
Garcia tried to talk, despite the lack of air. “Fucking dick—”
“I’ll let you go as soon as you agree. Not before.”
Buy from Dreamspinner or Amazon
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The contest
Win a copy of Infected: Lesser Evils. Enter on the Rafflecopter and be sure to leave a comment below. (Refresh page if Rafflecopter is not showing).
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One Response to “#Delectable December: Andrea Speed’s Cookie Concotions #mmromance #paranormal @aspeed”
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I never used to like shredded coconut, but I’ve become a convert to the unsweetened ones in recent years. The cookies sound fantastic! And hallelujah, the annual tamale extravaganza has begun in earnest!