by Kristie Cook
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. Maggi liquid seasoning (or soy sauce if you can’t find Maggi)
1 tsp. dried rosemary
Optional: 1 Tbsp. cornstarch, 1 Tbsp. water
1. Heat half of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly so that it doesn’t burn. Add onions, carrots, and celery and cook until veggies begin to soften (about 5 minutes). Remove veggies from pot and set aside. Add remaining oil to the pot and increase heat to medium-high.
2. Mix 6 Tbsp. flour, pepper, and Sazón seasoning in a large plastic bag. Add beef cubes and toss to coat. Carefully add meat to oil and cook until brown on all sides. Add wine to the pot and stir to deglaze. Add the broth, cooked veggies, potatoes (along with any other veggies of your choice), and seasonings to the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for at least 30 minutes or until potatoes have cooked through. Add more broth if liquid evaporates too quickly.
3. Adjust seasonings to taste.
4. If you would like a thicker stew, combine 1 Tbsp. cornstarch and 1 Tbsp. cold water. Stir mixture into stew and bring to a boil.
*Sazón is a complete seasoning popular in many Latin countries. It is available in many grocery and online stores. It’s really worth trying!
Charlotte’s Perfect Carmel Corn
Submitted by Char Wilcoxson
This is the best caramel corn I have ever had, thanks to my Grama and her excellent baking from scratch skills! I got the idea for this recipe to be used by Clair since she made Tony popcorn in the cabin. This could be for any holiday and was something I wanted to share with everyone.
Ingredients:
2 sticks real butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
½ cup corn syrup
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
(Oil for popping corn)
1. Melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Then boil without stirring for 5 minutes (make sure it does not burn). Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla (this will cause it to foam up, so have a spoon handy if needed).
2. Next, have half of your popcorn in a very large bowl with a lid, slowly pour half the mixture over the popcorn, making sure it is all coasted, then place lid on tightly and shake vigorously. When finished, pour it out onto a large cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes. Halfway through, use a spatula to mix it up and turn it over.
3. When done, spread it out onto foil and let cool. Repeat with remaining popcorn and carmel sauce. To store, place in plastic bowl with a lid if it last that long!
Vanessa’s Blood Jam (Low Iron)
Submitted by Kelly Victorine
This is for Vanessa. It’s a low-sugar jam recipe that actually tastes good. My husband and I spent multiple years perfecting the recipe so it is a little more tart and not overly sugared. It is also a little runny like blood! It sets up more if you include more pectin, but I like my jam in between runny and solid…so here you go.
Ingredients:
6 ½ cups Strawberries (liquefied or smashed depending on your desired consistency)
½ cup Lemon Juice
2 pkgs. Pectin
5 cup Sugar
1. Liquefy strawberries (leave two cups out to crush in hands).
2. Add lemon juice and berries into a large kettle pot.
3. Add pectin and mix thoroughly.
4. Let sit for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to dissolve pectin.
5. Heat mixture to boiling over high heat, stirring constantly for 10 – 15 minutes.
6. Crush remaining strawberries in hands and add to mixture.
7. Let cool slightly, then pour into jam jars.
8. Let jars and jam completely cool on counter.
9. Add lid and move to freezer, allowing jars to freeze overnight.
10. Enjoy Jam on toast, crackers, or crumpets after removing from freezer and thawing.
THANKSGIVING STORIES
AMITY
This first short story, Amity, introduces new characters in the Soul Savers world, giving you a peak into the Daemoni way of life. It does not fit in any particular place in the main Soul Savers Series chronology, although it would definitely be before the events that conclude Wrath (Book 5). I hope you enjoy these characters as much as I enjoyed writing this!
Chapter 1
Oranges, reds, and yellows painted the trees lining the path of the park as Mindy crossed it on her way to work. One tree blazed like a bright fire against a backdrop of evergreens. Another was nearly naked already, its bare, spindly branches reaching for the overcast sky. Although the cold air didn’t bother her, Mindy snuggled her hands into her coat pockets, trying to look Norman, while flipping the blond strands away from her eyes and cheeks even as the wind insisted on slapping them back against her skin. She sniffed the air, tasting the crispness of fall along with the threads of humanity that floated in the cool breeze. Her mouth watered. But, strangely, not for her usual favorite meal of human blood.
No. Right now, she craved human food. More specifically, a Thanksgiving feast.
She hadn’t craved human food for months. Not since the early weeks of being turned nearly a year ago. Sure, she could eat Norman food and drink Norman drinks, but except for pretty much anything alcoholic, she never strongly desired it. But Thanksgiving had always been her favorite holiday, and for the last couple of days, she couldn’t stop thinking about a table loaded with a golden turkey, fluffy mashed potatoes and creamy gravy, buttery green beans, and her mother’s famous stuffing that was never soggy or mushy, but perfectly browned like her turkey. She dreamt about Granny’s pumpkin pie and Nana’s apple cobbler, too.
Or, maybe, it was really Mom, Granny, and Nana, as well as her sisters, that she truly missed so much.
Not going there, Mindy told herself as she shouldered her way through the door of the bar where she’d serve drinks to humans for the next several hours while deciding which one she’d take for dinner after closing. Thoughts of family were unacceptable. Forbidden, even. But oh, so difficult to avoid this week. Which was why she focused on the food.
The night remained slow, most Normans doing the “family thing” this night before the holiday. The ones who weren’t, though, were her best customers—they didn’t have family to be with tonight or any other night. They’d left their families and never bothered to start ones of their own because they’d much rather spend their time in a dark, dingy bar run by creatures they didn’t believe existed, no matter how many times said creatures drank from their veins. They were alcoholics, loving the bottle more than any soul, which was why they were Mindy’s best customers. Not only did they drink a lot and tip well, but drunk and readily available, they provided easy pickings for her own dinner and were too far gone to remember it the next morning. Or at least, to believe it when they were sober.
Jewels, a fellow bartender and Mindy’s roommate, handed Mindy a card toward the end of the night.
“We’re invited to a Vampire Thanksgiving Feast!” Jewels danced behind the bar with excitement, her vampire gifts keeping her perfectly balanced on her six-inch stilettos when any Norman would have broken an ankle. Her long, brown hair spread like a fan as she spun, and when she stopped, a twinkle shone in her brown eyes. “Time to show our thanks to the Daemoni gods for our immortality.”
Mindy lifted a brow at Jewels after reading the invitation. “It doesn’t say that.”
Jewels laughed. “Of course not, silly. But isn’t that what Thanksgiving is all about—giving thanks? And what more do we have to be thankful for than being vampires?”
“You’re British. You don’t even celebrate Thanksgiving,” Mindy pointed out.
“But I’m here right now. And a vampire feast? I can only imagine how nice that will be!”
Mindy had learned by now that “nice” had a deeper meaning to the English than to Amer
icans. “Nice” to Jewels meant very good, maybe even spectacular, especially when she said it with such enthusiasm. Mindy wasn’t sure about a vampire feast being spectacular. Or even nice. She still fought traces of humanity that lingered in her soul, and a smorgasbord of humans didn’t sound so “nice.”
“Oh, dear. Why don’t you just go and be an Amadis bitch?” Jewels said at the look in Mindy’s blue eyes. The dark-haired vampire shook her head. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you stoop to that. But really, Minz, you need to step it up. You know you feel it—the blood thirst. The craving for human blood. Stop fighting it so much.”
Mindy chuckled as she eyed one of her regulars, and her tongue swept across the bottom of her teeth. Her fangs were retracted at the moment, but she could still feel the little points of her canines. “You know I don’t fight it.”
It was impossible to fight, even when she wanted to.
“Then you’ll come with me to the feast tomorrow?” Jewels demanded.
Mindy’s eyes travelled back to her roomie’s face, and she frowned.
“That looks like a ‘no’.”
“I kind of ... I kind of want a traditional dinner.”
Jewels’ nose wrinkled. “Like human food?”
She shuddered.
“It may be the last time I crave it, so why not?”
“And where are you going to do that?” Jewels’ eyes narrowed. “You’re not thinking about going home, are you?”
Mindy rolled her eyes, although the desire to see her family one more time remained as a pit in her stomach. “Of course not. That would be stupid.”
“And forbidden.”
Yup. And forbidden. A new idea struck Mindy. “I could make my own little Thanksgiving feast at the apartment.” Her excitement grew at the idea. “You could join me, too, and we can eat like human pigs.”
“Yuek. No, thank you. I’ll be going to the vampire feast. And you should really go with me. It’s much healthier, you know.”
Mindy laughed. “Healthy and Thanksgiving feast don’t even belong in the same sentence. You really should join me and learn what an American Thanksgiving is all about.”
“Giving thanks and gluttony. I already know. And that’s what I plan to do—with all of our new vampire mates.” Jewels sauntered down to the other end of the bar, indicating the conversation was over.
Not quite wanting to throw it away, Mindy shoved the invitation into the back pocket of her jeans. As she served the few customers the rest of the night and even as she drank from one after, she made a mental grocery list. The craving for a traditional Thanksgiving became so strong, her mouth watering so much, she nearly drained her customer dry. She was a baby vamp herself, too young to be siring a newborn, but if she hadn’t stopped in time, her only other choice would have been to leave him to die. So she was thankful she’d come to her senses when she did.
No, she wasn’t full Daemoni yet. And that could likely get her killed. But for now, she wanted to enjoy these last bits of her humanity. She was thankful she hadn’t lost her soul ... yet.
“Much to be thankful about,” she happily muttered to herself as she entered the twenty-four-hour grocery store near her apartment, but then she clamped her mouth shut and looked around. Too many Daemoni vamps around to be talking like that. But she could think it. A real Thanksgiving dinner is especially something to be grateful for.
Chapter 2
“What the hell are you doing?” Jewels demanded when she came out of her bedroom the next morning wearing nothing more than an extra large t-shirt and maybe panties underneath, but the shirt was too long to know for sure. She didn’t really need to sleep—neither of them did—but sometimes a vampire needed some alone time in the privacy of her own room. Jewels’ dinner-date still slept soundly in her bed. “And what the hell are you wearing?”
Mindy sat on the couch with her knees pulled to her chest, wearing her old pajamas left over from a life she no longer had—pink fuzzy ones with yellow elephants on them. Her eyes didn’t leave the television screen where a four-story-tall Elmo floated by. “Watching the Macy’s parade in my jammies. Thanksgiving Day tradition.”
Jewels glanced at the TV, then glared at her roommate. “Are you daft? We have a feast to get ready for!”
“I told you. I’m making my own feast, and the turkey’s already in the oven. But even if I was going with you, it doesn’t start for twelve hours.”
Jewels huffed. “Yes, well, it’s the event of the year. At least, since I’ve been here, which has almost been a year. It’s going to be glorious, and I want to look my best.”
Mindy looked at her roommate and pretended to gag. “Are you actually going to wear a dress? Gads!”
“Hmph. I might.” She spun on her heel and returned to her bedroom.
Daylight was only a nuisance to them, although direct sun could be a little more problematic, but less so for Jewels, who was a couple of years older, in vampire age, than Mindy. Jewels showed no repercussions as she had another go with her dinner before kicking him out of her bed so she could get ready for the night’s gala. After the parade was over, Mindy moved a little slower than she did at night—but still faster than any Norman. By noon, she was dressed in dark blue jeans and a festive brown and red sweater, her turkey was sitting on the counter resting, and she’d finished whipping the potatoes, buttering the green beans, and now stirred the lumps out of the gravy. Her stuffing hadn’t turned out nearly as good as her mother’s, and she wasn’t sure she even wanted to eat it.
“I have to admit, it smells nice,” Jewels said. She still wore only a silk robe and walked on her heels, cotton woven between her freshly painted toes. She took a spoon out of the drawer and scooped out a bite of potatoes. She wrinkled her nose as she swallowed it. “Ugh. How can you eat this?”
Mindy took her own bite with petulance, sure Jewels was just being difficult. Teasing her again for wanting human food. But she frowned as she moved the creamy potatoes around her mouth with her tongue.
“Something’s not right,” she admitted. “It’s missing something.”
“Norman,” Jewels called to the guy who had left her bed and found his way to the couch to watch football. Why he was still there, Mindy didn’t know, especially when Jewels wouldn’t need him tonight—not with the feast the girl was so excited for.
“I’m sure he has a name,” Mindy hissed at her roommate.
“That is his name,” Jewels said, and she giggled. “He’s a Norman named Norman. And he’s delicious, isn’t he? I think I want to keep him.”
The guy—a rough and rugged type with tousled brown hair and a scar on his cheek—looked up at Jewels with complete adoration in his eyes. Mindy shook her head with amusement. How did Jewels do it? Her roommate always managed to get what—and whom—she wanted.
“Come here, baby,” Jewels crooned. “We need your help.”
Norman the Norman crossed the living room in three long strides and joined the vampires in the kitchen. Jewels fed him a spoonful of potatoes.
“What does it need?” Mindy asked.
“Salt?” Norman asked, unsure of his answer.
“Oh! Of course.” And Jewels lifted Norman’s arm to her mouth and with what looked like an intimate kiss, slashed her fangs across his wrist.
“Jewels!” Mindy screeched as the other vampire held Norman’s wrist over the bowl of potatoes and stained the white spuds red. “Salt. Not blood. You’ve ruined—”
“Oh, Minz, you have to taste these now.” Jewels’ eyes sparkled with delight as she licked the spoon while taking another from the drawer, filling it with potatoes and shoving it into Mindy’s mouth.
Mindy’s eyes sprang open. “Oh, my god. Those are the best potatoes ever!”
Mindy glanced over all of the bowls and platters spread out on the counter, and she knew exactly what all of her dishes lacked. Blood. Human blood was the missing ingredient that would make this the best Thanksgiving feast ever.
“Mind if I grab a plate before y
ou do that?” Norman asked as Mindy grasped his arm in a tight grip and began making him bleed all over her Thanksgiving feast.
“Ugh. Hurry,” Mindy barked, her mouth watering even more at the spread of food before them. She couldn’t wait to dive into it, hoping she’d have the self-control to be able to savor all the goodness. The way her heart sped at the thought of such gluttony, she wasn’t sure. At least there was a lot of food here, enough to keep her happy for a while. Just grabbing a serving spoon took Norman too long, so Mindy moved in a blur as she dumped spoonfuls of this and that until food heaped in a mountain on his plate. She had it filled in less than three seconds. Then she grabbed his arm once again, slashed it open, and made him rain blood over her feast.
After several minutes, before she’d even made it to the platter of carved turkey, Norman’s body began to slump. Mindy’s brain suddenly clicked back on. Or maybe it was her humanity. She jumped away from the guy and gasped.
“What have I done?” she cried aloud. She shoved Norman’s plate at him and pushed him out of the kitchen. He stumbled for the couch, while she stared at her so-called traditional Thanksgiving feast. Tears filled her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Jewels said, confusion lacing her voice. “Isn’t this what you wanted?”
“No!” Mindy nearly shouted while her eyes never left the crimson-stained food. “I wanted a real Thanksgiving. Not one soaked in blood!”
Jewels laughed. “Ah, Minz. You’re a vampire now, remember? Maybe this needs to be your compromise.”