Introducing Mary Alford

Today, I’m thrilled to introduce Mary Alford, a prolific writer and fellow Pelican Book Group author. You all know how I like food, lol, and Mary’s sharing a couple awesome-sounding recipes that I will have to try! Enjoy her article and check out her new book!! Mary, thanks so much for visiting.

Pieces of Me by Mary Alford

As an author, I find myself putting pieces of my life into each of my books. Whether it’s my love of coffee, animals, or cooking, they all seem to find their way into my stories.

In my upcoming White Rose Publishing romance entitled, Grace And The Rancher, all three of these things are interwoven into the story.

My heroine, Grace usually has a cup of coffee handy, and her constant companion is her golden retriever, Lizzy.

When Grace first moved to Delaney Mountain, it was in the dead of winter and she didn’t know anyone in town. With many long, cold days up on Delaney Mountain, Grace realized she had to take up a hobby to survive the solitude. So, she took up cooking.

One of Grace’s favorite recipes and one that she made for the hero of the book, Kyle Delaney, is Grandma’s Chicken noddle soup with Amish white bread.

I thought it would be fun to include both of these recipes here:

Grandma’s Chicken Noodle Soup

Prep 20 m

Cook 25 m

Ready In 45 m

For more flavor, try using smoked chicken.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups wide egg noodles

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

12 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup water

3 cups diced, cooked chicken meat

Directions

1 – Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles and oil, and boil for 8 minutes, or until tender. Drain, and rinse under cool running water.

2 – In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, combine broth, salt, and poultry seasoning. Bring to a boil. Stir in celery and onion. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.

3 – In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water together until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Gradually add to soup, stirring constantly. Stir in noodles and chicken, and heat through.

Amish White Bread

Ingredients

2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

2/3 cup white sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

6 cups bread flour

Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.

Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well-oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well-oiled 9×5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

Both of these recipes are easy to make and I found them on one of my favorite recipe sites, Allrecipes.com

Just like Grace, I love to cook and I enjoy trying new and different recipes. I hope you enjoy these.

In honor of the February 17^th release of Grace And The Rancher, I thought I would give away a PDF copy of the book to one blogger.

Grace Bradford is living a lie. To the world she has the perfect life: A promising country music career and a husband who adores her. But her husband isn’t the man everyone believes him to be. When a car accident widows her and ends her career, Grace escapes to Delaney Mountain. But moving to the remote town doesn’t wipe away the ugly secret of her marriage. Kyle Delaney never intended to return to Delaney Mountain, but he promises his dying father that he’ll turn their land into a working cattle ranch. He uproots his life in Austin, sells his flourishing business as a music agent, and returns to the Colorado town of his childhood. Can a runaway singer and a makeshift rancher, thrust together by circumstance and held together by the common thread of loss and a love of music, find hope and a happily-ever-after under the stars of Delaney Mountain?

Mary Alford grew up in a small Texas town famous for, well not much of anything really. Being the baby of the family and quite a bit younger than her brothers and sister, Mary had plenty of time to entertain herself. Making up stories seem to come natural to her. As a pre-teen, Mary discovered Christian romance novels and knew instinctively that was what she wanted to do with her over-active imagination. She wrote her first novel as a teen, (it’s tucked away somewhere never to see the light of day), but never really pursued her writing career seriously until a few years later, when she wrote her first Christian romance and was hooked. Today, Mary still lives in Texas, and still writes about romance. In fact, she can’t think of anything else she’d rather do. Learn more about Mary Alford at: http://www.maryalford.net. Also feel free to send her an email to maryjalfordauthor@gmail.com.