Helena Fairfax

I’m excited to welcome author Sharleen Scott today with a delicious offering: her page-turning romantic suspense and her family’s recipe for chocolate-butterscotch pie. They both sound absolute heaven – and I can imagine curling up in front of the fire on a cold November evening with both of them!

Welcome, Sharleen!

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Thank you for inviting me to join you here today. I’m Sharleen Scott and I’m from Yakima, Washington, a large agricultural area on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. The hops in your last beer/ale were probably grown here in the Yakima Valley. Cheers!

I’m a romantic suspense writer, formerly a travel agent, currently a rural mail carrier, and an amateur genealogist. When I saw that Helena is from Yorkshire, I had to investigate, and sure enough, there is a connection. My ancestors arrived in Yorkshire (surname Woods) in the early 1600s, stayed for a few generations, made a detour through Ireland, and arrived in the colony of Virginia in the early 1700s. So, hello Yorkshire! It’s good to meet you.

(How interesting, Sharleen! My family went the opposite way – they started off in Ireland and travelled east to Yorkshire. I know a lot of people called Woods who live in Yorkshire.)

Helena asked me to share a holiday recipe, and I’ve chosen a pie that has become a Thanksgiving favorite for my family. Thanksgiving dinner (American Thanksgiving) is about family and tradition. My childhood memories are of getting up early on Thanksgiving morning and running next door to my grandparents’ house to help with dinner preparation. We’d pull the silver from its storage, gather the serving dishes, and set the table with my grandmother’s china. Now, my grandparents’ table resides in my home and each year my family gathers at that table for a turkey dinner served on Grandma’s china. The tradition continues.

After the meal is cleared from the table, we indulge in another Thanksgiving tradition: pie. Lots of pie. Pumpkin, mincemeat, huckleberry, apple, and my personal favorite, chocolate-butterscotch pie. We enjoy this pie so much, I have to make two.

Chocolate-Butterscotch Pie

9-inch pie crust, baked

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

¼ cup baking cocoa

3 tablespoons flour (British: use plain flour)

2 tablespoons cornstarch (British: cornflour)

½ teaspoon salt

2 ¼ cups milk

½ cup light corn syrup (British: golden syrup is the best substitute)

3 egg yolks, beaten

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

whipped cream

Prepare crust and set aside. Combine brown sugar, cocoa, flour, cornstarch, and salt in medium saucepan. Blend in milk, corn syrup, and egg yolks. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil and stir one minute. Remove from heat. Blend in butter and vanilla. Pour into cooled piecrust and carefully press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the pie filling. Cool at room temperature. Chill. Serve topped with whipped cream.

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Caught in the Spin

Buy links: Amazon US

Amazon UK

Sharleen Scott website http://www.sharleenscott.com

Blurb:

When bull rider Tom Black earned his business and psychology degrees, his goal was to manage his championship winnings and entertain his friends with intellectual psychobabble. Years after a near-fatal bull riding wreck ends his career, a spooky nocturnal visit from a former love has Tom wishing he’d paid more attention in psych class.

An attorney confirms his ex-fiancé’s death and drops the news Tom is the father of a resentful eleven-year-old stranger. Tom isn’t sure he’s up to the task and thinks his recent acquaintance with sexy single mom Tallie Peters is his best hope for parental success.

Tallie Peters is up to her eyebrows in troubles. She survived her ex-husband’s attempt on her life and has kept her son safe. But budget cuts and phony good behavior put her ex back on the streets early, and he’s vowed to finish the job that put him in prison. Tom offers Tallie and her son refuge behind the gates of the Masterson-Black Ranch, but he soon finds the best security measures are no match for a determined ex-con with nothing to lose.

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What a fabulous recipe, Sharleen – thanks so much for sharing! I can’t wait to try it. And I love the premise behind Caught in the Spin. It sounds a really dramatic and suspenseful read – just right for a cold winter’s evening!

If you’ve enjoyed Sharleen’s recipe, you can find even more delicious dessert recipes in our Bake, Love, Write dessert recipe book, which is available in paperback on Amazon US and also on Amazon UK, and also in Kindle format.

Thanks so much for coming to Yorkshire today, Sharleen!

If you’ve enjoyed Sharleen’s visit, or have any questions or comments at all, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you!