From https://www.merriam-webster.com/
Definition of ratatouille
Let's be honest. Ratatouille is a GREAT way to clean out the vegetables in your fridge begging not to be tossed. As long as you have garlic, you can cobble together a batch. It's as simple as gathering your ingredients, slicing them up (in pretty, concentric pieces if you want to create a statement dish to WOW your guests; meanwhile, cubed and done up as a stew tastes just as fabulous). For this most recent batch I made (as pictured), I used yellow and zucchini squash, eggplant, button mushrooms, sweet potato, carrot, bell pepper, tomato, and red onion. Flavoring came from garlic, green onion, fresh thyme, and parsley, which I sauteed down before layering in the sliced vegetables. Cover for first 20 minutes of baking to encourage steaming, then uncovered until the veggies are all done. Can be eaten alone, or as a hearty side. If you have some red wine on hand to add to the steaming liquid, even better!
I like to include cooking escapades in my books when writing. In my latest release Wanted, I have (what I think) is a fun excerpt between Gypsy and her young niece...EXCERPT:
Abandoning the food prep for packing her
suitcase, Gypsy froze when she heard Tina’s small voice behind her.
“What’s
going on, Aunt G?”
Shit. In
her manic state, she’d forgotten her niece. Gypsy was letting the “old” her
decide her current actions, which translated to get the hell out of Dodge.
Except, she couldn’t do that this time. Because this time she had
responsibilities. She had Tina.
“Oh,
hi. Are you done reading and sunning already?” Her brain raced for any excuse.
“I was checking my stash of fall clothes. What do you say to some real shopping
before school starts? We could call a cab to the bus station in the morning,
then hitch a ride into Spartanburg and hit the mall.” Even as she began voicing
plans, a part of her brain was checking her bank balance and questioning how
smart this was. She could take the Mustang, she supposed, now that she had a
license again, but that would be relying on his
graciousness. Something lacking of late.
“Um,
yeah, it’s getting warm out there and I figured dinner would be ready soon so
I’d come in and clean up—”
“Shit,
dinner!” Remembering the state she’d abandoned the kitchen in with her moment
of panic, Gypsy found it all too much. She slumped onto the edge of the bed then
buried her head in her hands.
“Hey,
are you okay?” Tina came over to console her. “What’s wrong?”
“I
don’t know how to do this, Tina,” she confessed in a blubbery sob. “I can’t even
keep my own crap in order, how am I supposed to take care of you?”
Small
arms slid in around her waist and tightened as Tina whispered, “We’ll figure it
out together, Aunt G. For what it’s worth, you’re doing great so far.”
“Yeah?”
Tina
pulled back and smiled. “Yeah.”
“You’re
not so bad, kiddo, you know that?”
“And
you’re not such a bad aunt… when you feed me. I’m starved. When do we eat?”
Gypsy
snorted hard enough a bubble of snot escaped her nose, which sent both of them
into a fit of disgusted laughter as she lunged for the tissue box. Once she’d dealt
with her nose, she nodded toward the door.
“Come
on, we’ll eat faster if you come help me.”
“Let
me change and put my book away, and I’ll meet ya in the kitchen.”
Gypsy
had already washed and dried her hands, and resumed slicing the vegetables into
thin discs when Tina joined her. “Hands clean before you touch anything,” she
directed her niece, earning her the eye roll Tina had perfected.
“Did
it upstairs. Where can I start?”
Setting
the knife on the cutting board, she assessed the kitchen and what was left to
do. “The garlic spread should be softened, so you can go ahead and get the
bread ready to toast right before we eat. The cheese is in the fridge still.
After that, we’ll need to get the pasta pot ready to go once this goes in the
oven.” Gypsy indicated the baking dish to her right. “The ratatouille will take
about an hour.”
“The
rat what?” An expression of abject horror appeared on Tina’s face.
Pointing
at the pile of vegetables in front of her, Gypsy refrained from laughing and
described the dish. The girl’s face relaxed at the mention of tomatoes, herbs,
and garlic.
“So,
no rat, right?”
“I
promise. Can you pass me the bowl of tomatoes next to you?”
Tina
did as asked, and the two of them settled into a serene silence while they
worked side by side. It took them about twenty minutes before Gypsy was sliding
the artisan-looking pinwheel of veggies into the oven and setting the timer.
“Thanks
for your help, kiddo. Did you have fun?”
“I
did actually. Thanks for letting me help. Anything else I can do?”
“Nah,
I’ll handle the clean-up. You can take off, just be back in about an hour if
you want your meal hot.”
Not
that it would taste bad reheated, or even cold, which is why it was one of her
chosen recipes. So Hyde could fit a real meal into his nocturnal hours.
The
quick, unprompted hug Tina gave her before she darted off left Gypsy with a
warm spot in her chest, and she set about cleaning. Several minutes later,
while humming to herself as she wiped down the counters, an icy shiver wracked
her body, and she turned to find the blonde watching her from the doorway.
🎙🎙🎙STAND ALONE ROMANCE!🎙🎙🎙
Hyde
Johnson is an erotic audiobook performer. A ‘Read By’ byline is too plain, and
‘Narrated By’ still doesn’t capture what he does. His livelihood is his
passion. Performance art, the air he breathes. Which translates to a recluse
who is a hot mess. He’s not eating right, he’s drinking more, and his family’s
meddling is making it harder to stay on task.
Being
designated the guardian of her young niece Tina is the last thing Gypsy
Hartford expected. But when the State of South Carolina unceremoniously puts
Tina in her care, Gypsy accepts it’s time to grow up and stop floating from
town to town. Where does she start when she has no degree, no real friends, and
no family besides Tina?
A
want ad could be the answer to both their conundrums. Or it might open a whole
new can of worms. Especially when you throw in a crazed author with an
unhealthy obsession for her narrator.
AUDIO
(narrated by Tor Thom & Charley Ongel) ✔ https://www.audible.com/pd/Wanted-Audiobook/B08PCCT5H9
AMAZON✔ https://amzn.to/3aVJQBO
No comments:
Post a Comment