If you read Tactical Strike, then you met my grandma at the end of the book. And you’ll likely never forget her now! That scene is based on a true story of the first time she met one of my sister’s boyfriends and it’s become family legend. She was such a force of nature, it’s weird to think of her not being here anymore, but I know she’d be absolutely tickled pink at being included in one of my books.

I’ll never forget when she called me after my first book (Out of Her League) came out. A few of my relatives had bought paperback copies to support me, and grandma, who was an avid romance reader, called me up one day. We didn’t speak on the phone often because we weren’t super close and only saw each other a few times a year. Still, while I was growing up, whenever she was in town she always made a point of coming out to watch my curling and softball games (sports she played herself, and curling at the national level!).

Anyway, during the conversation about OOHL, she says to me, “I didn’t realize you knew so much about sex!”.

LOL. At the time I’d been with my DH for 15 years and had a two and a four year old. *g*

Now, as much of a character as grandma was, she was known for having a good time and not for her cooking. In fact, my father still grimaces when he talks about the food he was forced to eat growing up. But there was one dish she made for dessert that’s still my dad’s favorite and my DH loves it too.

Here it is, grandma C’s famous apple crisp recipe!

Filling
4 Macintosh apples, peeled, cored and sliced into small pieces
4 large Granny Smith apples, same as above (using the combo of the Grannys with the Macs is awesome because the Macs cook down into an almost applesauce consistency and the Grannys give it texture and tang)
sugar to taste (I don’t like mine overly sweet, so I use only a few tablespoons)
cinnamon to taste (we like ours with lots of cinnamon!)
dash salt
zest and juice of one lemon (optional, but I like the zing it gives the filling)
-mix together in large bowl and leave to sit about fifteen minutes until the sugar and salt begins to draw the juices out of the apples
-stir well and pour into an oven safe dish. Remember, a shallow dish will give you a higher topping-to-fruit ratio (the topping’s the best part, but you could use a deep dish and get more fruit per serving instead if you prefer)

Topping
1 pound of butter (room temperature)
3 cups dark brown sugar
2-3 cups of all purpose flour (will depend on where you live, how humid it is, etc)–start with 2 cups and add more as needed
-crumble all ingredients together with your fingers or a pastry blender in a large bowl until it holds together in clumps when you squeeze it in your hand. You don’t want to over mix and make the topping a paste; it should still have texture to it
-you can add a handful of oatmeal or chopped nuts into the topping, but that’s a big no-no in our house so I always just keep it plain
-this makes a big batch of topping, so freeze the leftovers in a Ziploc freezer bag for easy use next time
-sprinkle enough topping over the apples to make a one inch thick layer
-bake at 350 degrees for one hour
-cool a little and serve warm with milk, whipped cream or ice cream

Enjoy!

Today’s our last day in Kauai, and we’re on a red-eye flight late tonight so we’ll be homeless vagabonds for the whole day once we check out of the hotel. We were here for my cousin’s wedding last week and made a vacay out of it, only I got super sick and DH came down with it yesterday. It’s like the plague, I swear. I missed several activities I’ve been looking forward to since last year, but there was no help for it as I spent two full days flat on my back in bed and still have a long way to go until I’m back to normal. I can’t believe we’re spending all this money to sit in our hotel room most of our stay! Gah.

I did have fun early on in the trip though. I finished up copy edits on Lethal Pursuit (out September 16th), then took both my boys out on a Zodiac whale watching tour with a marine biologist. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you already know how much I love humpbacks. Well. Not only did big weasel get to drive the same kind of boat the Navy SEALs use (holy awesome!), but the marine biologist had a hydrophone with her so we got to listen to the male singers sing beneath the water. So cool! (All humpback “singers” are male, but not all males sing, and they only sing in tropical waters. Also, the humpbacks don’t eat while they’re here, and won’t until they go back to their northern feeding grounds for the summer in Alaska, etc. They fast for months while they’re here to mate and give birth.)

I’ve been recording every documentary I could find about humpbacks for the past few months, so both the boys were well versed in whale trivia before we got here. We wound up seeing quite a few whales, and the most surface activity the marine biologist has seen all season long. Woot! I was a very wet, salty and happy camper. I hope the boys will never forget the experience, because I know I won’t.

And look what I managed to catch on video! How amazing is that?! (I still get goosebumps watching this.)

The other neat thing that happened while we were here is that I received notification that Darkest Caress has been nominated for the best paranormal romance of 2012 by The Romance Reviews. I was pretty tickled about that. The paperback version goes out to Harlequin’s PNR subscribers in June. Can’t wait to hold it in my hands!

Once I get home I’ve got administrative stuff to catch up on, then I have to finish up my latest r/s manuscript and figure out what to do with it. Not relishing the thought of another long flight over the open ocean, so please flap your arms for us tomorrow night! (I love flying, I love flying, I love flying…)

Aloha! See you on the flip side ;).

It’s been a long time coming, but Tactical Strike has officially been unleashed upon the world! There are a lot of military terms used in the story, but don’t worry, because Ryan has thoughtfully included a glossary of terms at the end for your reference. What a guy.

Also, if you’re on Twitter, I’m having a party there tonight and giving away prizes if you’re interested in coming by (see details below).

Hope you enjoy Ace and Ryan’s story!

Kaylea 🙂