Author Talina Perkins Guest Post

I'm thrilled to welcome Talina Perkins to my blog today. Her new cookbook, SweetPea Delights, is due out in early December, and it sounds delicious! So without further ado, here is Talina. 

Gabrielle, thank you so much for having me over, I am so excited to be here today!  You have such a warm and cozy den to spend some time in.

How many of you remember the first time you ever tried to cook a turkey? Did you get it perfect or did your efforts turn out less than the stellar feast you had planned when you set out on your adventure?

Well, I remember my first time and till this day I can’t look at a turkey without laughing. Seriously! Let me tell you a quick story of why I will never forget Christmas of ’93, the year of the exploding turkey.

It was five in the morning and I had a plan that would make my grandparents very proud to have a twelve year old granddaughter that could cook a turkey all alone. I eased from my bed and quietly disabled my grandmother’s alarm which was set to wake her at six. I had plenty of time to prepare the turkey before anyone was the wiser.

I ventured into the kitchen ready to create a masterpiece of a turkey. I collected all the ingredients from the cupboards including the six boxes of family sized stuffing and cooking wine that was often used in our home recipes.

In hindsight, I now realize my grandmother hadn’t intended to use all that stuffing for the turkey or wine. Anyway, back to the story.

I quickly set to work adding all the dry stuffing to the turkey then closing it up with cooking wire as I had seen done on TV. I moved on to bathing the over sized bird in not only half a bottle of wine but the entire bottle, all the way ‘till the very last drop. Yeah, I was a bit of an over achiever as a child.

Satisfied with my work I continued on in complete ignorant bliss. In to the oven went the bird and on to the couch I went to get some much deserved rest after such great work.

It was the piercing screech of horror followed by a very audible splat that woke me from my slumber and should have clued me in on what was to come. I quickly rushed to the kitchen to find the oven door swung open and stuffing blazing a trail across the kitchen, finally ending up on the opposite wall, splattered there as if had been intent on taking out someone. All the delicious wine dripped down my grandmother’s sunflower colored wallpaper. Offense number two, might I add.

I am having a hard time writing this through the tears of laughter even now.

There stood my grandmother shaking her head full of curlers and her famous wooden spoon in disgust. Not the exact response I had imagined upon her waking to find the turkey already cooking or should that be exploding.

Needless to say that day we had no turkey. While my excessive use of stuffing had reacted in an unexplainable explosive way with the wine, the bird had dried out within the five hours it had been cooking. Who knew I would be creating such a bomb! I narrowly escaped being grounded for life that day. As I am told, if it hadn’t been for my utterly stunned face that had made my sweet grandmother crack up it would have been doomsday for me instead of a not-so-much Turkey Day.

Fast forward to the present. When my ever so patient grandmother found out I currently have a cookbook set to release she couldn’t hold back from telling me the tale of the exploding turkey just one more time. She even asked me if I had prepped the intro with a how-to turkey bomb. Figuring not to many mothers would appreciate that, I nixed that idea and went with some recipes kids can really help with in the kitchen. 

Below I have a couple of recipes to share with you from my SweetPea Delights: Easy Meal Ideas for Moms-On-the-Go that is out now in Kindle. I really hope you enjoy them!

Do you have any funny cooking stories to share? Come on don’t be shy! Let’s dish!

Creamy Chicken ‘N Rice Casserole
3/4 c. rice
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 envelope dry Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 c. water
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Chicken pieces, about 2 lbs.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix rice, soups and water, leaving out the Lipton Onion Soup Mix. Pour into greased 13 x 9 pan. Place chicken pieces on top. Sprinkle with Lipton’s dry onion soup mix and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until the chicken is cooked through and rice is tender. Remove foil, sprinkle with cheddar cheese and return to oven until cheese is melted and lightly browned; about 10 minutes. This can be made the day before and refrigerated. Serves 4-6

Prep Time: 1 hr 10 min.

Sunshine Smoothie
My children love to make this right before movie time with a thick slice of pound cake and popcorn.

1 cup orange sherbet (or substitute frozen yogurt)
1 cup fresh strawberries, trimmed
1 1/3 cups pineapple chunks, fresh or canned in juice and drained
1 1/2 cups sparkling mineral water

Blend sherbet, strawberries and pineapple chunks in a food processor until smooth; add mineral water and blend until well mixed. Serves 4

Prep. Time: 10 min.

Buy link for Easy Meal Ideas For Moms On The Go:

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Meal-Ideas-Moms--ebook/dp/B006FKZSVA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322583378&sr=8-1

More About Talina:

Paranormal & Contemporary romance pre-pubbed author, A multi-Top Pick Reviewer for Night Owl Reviews and owner and author of Bookin' It Reviews. A place where you’ll find guest authors, giveaways, & video snippet readings of books she is currently reading or recommending. You’ll also get to hear her thoughts on authors' writing styles and plots. Stop by and discover a world just for readers at Bookin’ It Reviews! Talina Perkins is currently working on a shifter paranormal romance series while submitting to Harlequin Nocturne Cravings.

You can email her at talinaperkins@ymail.com any time or keep up with her going-on’s at the following links:

Twitter:@talinaperkins

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Bon Appetite!