Recipe & Book with
Mari Manning
A lot of people don’t know this, but the Golden
Delicious Apple was born in West Virginia. It was the result of a one night
stand between two native apple trees who met by chance. The unwelcome offspring
started life as a scrawny weed on the Mullins’ farm in Clay County. Needless to
say it proved itself worthy despite its rocky start and is the official apple
of West Virginia.
Since my story, Holding Out for a Hero is set partially
in West Virginia (and partially in Chicago) I give my favorite apple crisp. Use
golden delicious apples if you want to be authentic.
Mari’s
Apple Crisp
1/3 cup of Craisins (raisins are okay, too; dried cherries are amazing as a substitute)
3 Tbsp sugar
2/3 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2/3 cup + 2 tbsp old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Toss apples with 3 tbsp sugar and Craisins in a 9x12
glass dish
Stir together flour, oatmeal, sugars and cinnamon.
Drizzle in butter, tossing ingredients with fork to blend. Do not overmix.
Mixture should be crumbly. Sprinkle over apples. Bake at 350 degrees for 1
hour.
One month before
her wedding, Seneca Simms discovers that everything she believed about her life
is a dangerous lie. Will Collin Atlee, the detective she hired to find the
truth, be able to protect her when the past comes calling?
Seneca
Simms hurried down the narrow corridor. Her eyes scanned the numbers on the
office doors as she brushed past them. When she reached number 425, she
stopped. Through frosted glass and thick black letters announcing Collin Atlee, Private Investigator, the
shadowy figure of a man hunkered over a computer.
“Gottcha.”
She
twisted the knob and pushed. For a moment the door stuck in the frame. Then it
gave, banging against the wall with a dull thud, and Seneca gazed at the most
beautiful man she’d ever seen. His features were sharply cut, forehead high,
cheekbones prominent, nose straight. His mouth was generous, almost sensual, a
feature the dark stubble covering his square jaw failed to hide. Beneath blond
hair and dark brows, long-lashed eyes glittered like a king’s ransom of sapphires.
A
few seconds ticked by while Seneca adjusted to the presence of a handsome
stranger sitting in Collin Atlee’s office. He frowned at her, perfect brows
knitting over the sharp bridge of his nose. Concern creased the corners of his
mouth.
Seneca
hitched up the heavy purse slung over her shoulder and folded her arms. “Where
is Collin Atlee?”
Mr.
Beautiful’s eyes narrowed until the blue barely showed beneath his sweep of
lashes. “If you are looking for Richard, ma’am, you’re on the wrong side of
town.”
“I’m
looking for the guy whose name is on the door.” She jerked her head sideways at
the lettered glass. “Collin Atlee.”
His
head tipped back. His eyes widened in surprise. “I’m Collin Atlee.”
“I’ve
met Mr. Atlee, and you are not him. If you don’t tell me where he is right now,
I’ll-I’ll . . .” What would she do? She itched to punch him, but from the width
of his shoulders, she guessed a jab delivered by a woman barely five-foot-two
wouldn’t convince him to start talking.
“Who
are you?” he asked.
“You
know very well who I am. Mr. Atlee put you up to this, didn’t he?”
Mr.
Beautiful rose to an intimidating height, requiring her to tilt her head to
keep an eye on him. As he came around the desk, he fished something out of the
back pocket of his desert camo combat pants. He produced a worn leather wallet
and flipped it open. An Illinois state driver’s license with the name Collin R. Atlee stared out at her along
with a fairly hot DMV photo.
You can see Mari’s weekly blogs and upcoming releases at: Website
Oh, Mari, you have no idea how much I love apple crisp! Thanks for the yummy recipe.
How about you, readers--Apple or Cherry???
8 comments:
My favorite kind of apple is a Gala. I can't wait to try this recipe, Mari. Thanks!
Oh, yum!
Both the book and the dessert sound delish!
Liese
Hi, Angela! I love Gala too. And the recipe--yummy!
Hi, Liese! I agree!
Hi Angela and Liese, I've tried this recipe with half golden delicious and half Granny Smith, too. In the fall, the fruit seller puts together little bags of 5-7 apples that she calls the apple pie mix. I suspect they're the less than perfect apples, but those crisps
always turn out great.
I forgot to include my name ... the "unknown" commentator is Mari Manning.
Lol, Mari! Happy you're here.
Happy to be here. Thanks so much for hosting me. As much as I love apple crisp, I am trying to decide to dessert to make for Easter. Something springy.
Exciting excerpt. I'm a cherry girl! But you knew that!
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