The Skye Trilogy: Isle of Skye, Isle of Night, and Isle of Dawn. * Bonus: Scrumptious Skye Confections Cookbook*

by Shannon Barczak

  It was a few more weeks until I gave birth, but Mathias had wanted to be on the safe side and be near the hospital. Merrick and Morgan were born on a warm late summer morning. They were both healthy and the most handsome babies I had ever seen. I don’t think those two ever slept in their cribs until they were a few months old because everyone was constantly holding them.

  Three years later I had woken up to another light shining inside of me. We were all shocked that I had conceived again, and our little family decided to be surprised instead of finding out the sex. Elizabeth Cecelia came roaring into this world after only a few hours of labor. I had barely woken Mathias up before he called Katya and my parents to come to the house before she arrived.

  I don’t know who was more shocked that it was a girl Mathias or the boys. Merrick and Morgan had wanted a little brother so they could boss him around and be their slave. Poor Mathias for some reason thought that there was no way in hell that he could produce a girl. The moment Lizzy snuggled into my arms; I had taken one look into her big blue-green eyes and knew that she was full of magic in more ways than one.

  Mathias and the boys had gotten over their trepidation very quickly. They fell in love with her the minute they looked at her sweet face. Merrick and Morgan promptly declared that they would protect her with their lives, and I had cried through my laughter at the ferocious expressions on their earnest little faces. Mathias, of course, said that Lizzy would be living with us for the rest of her life so there was no need to worry about her safety, and I had a feeling he was still living in that fantasy world.

  I felt sorry for the poor men out there who would even try to talk to her, let alone try to date her.

  Jeremiah and Veronica had married soon after we did and had settled into a large flat above the library. The boys loved going to see their Uncle J and having their Aunt V read to them. Lizzy just liked to go and tear books of the shelves that funny enough Jeremiah never seemed to mind at all.

  Riah and Julia had gotten married after the boys arrived. They had a large, grand, beautiful wedding at the castle. Polly and I had made them a beautiful cake and much to Mathias’s chagrin we pretty much became the main entertainment at the reception after several bottles of champagne. I still to this day laugh when I think of both my grandmothers trying to twerk on the dance floor while Polly rapped along with Fifty Cent blaring over the speakers.

  We were stunned when Julia became pregnant right after their honeymoon and even more so when Katya announced that it was triplets. I had laughed hysterically, and when Julia flipped me off, Polly and I had almost wet our pants.

  Payton, Pierce, and Pippa were truly little hellions, but I adored them. Since they were only a year younger than my boys, I had been deliriously happy that they would have the experience of growing up with cousins near them. Now and then when they were all playing, Riah would just throw his arm around me and we would smile as we watched them run around together.

  Gussie and Cuddy doted on their grandchildren. I always popped over to Cuddy’s shop when he had them just so I could watch them wreck holy havoc with all of his junk.

  Cormac and Cecily had taken to being grandparents with such enthusiasm I was almost afraid to let the kids go to Mimi and Papi’s house because I was scared they would never give them back. My dad had to travel to the Earth realm quite a bit but when he was home you could always find him fishing with the boys or taking Lizzy for walks on the beach.

  My mother had taken over a bedroom at our house before the boys were even born, and we never worked at the same time in the bakery so she could babysit the kids. Cecily finally got her wish as she would play trucks with the boys in the dirt and then turn around to play tea party with Lizzy. Mathias transformed the barn into a large airy home for my mom and dad when Elizabeth joined our family, and we saw them almost every day.

  Polly had gone back to Woodlia so she could move her tree to the Isle of Skye. Riah and Julia had bought my old house from the Lau’s, and Polly decided to place her Japanese maple by her Airstream camper. Nobody had expected though for her to bring not only her tree, but her neighbor Alex. I wasn’t surprised that she had the hots for him. When she announced that they were going to try cohabitating together, I had almost fallen to the floor. I still couldn’t believe this clean cut average guy had captured her heart.

  I was shocked at Polly’s new relationship, but that was nothing compared to how I felt about Mathias’s new best friend.

  Machall and Beatrice had quietly eloped right after our wedding. They also got pregnant right away, and when they named their son William after me I had been deeply touched. Mathias and Machall bonded over soccer one night. They both loved the same team, and when I found that out, I had invited them over for dinner to watch the game in hopes that Mathias would get over his residual anger towards Macky.

  They had become thick as thieves which wasn’t that surprising since they were similar in so many ways. I’ll never forget when they told us they were naming their daughter Mattie after Mathias. He had almost dropped the squirming baby in surprise.

  Lucian would come around every so often. He and the other members of his vampire family had gone their separate ways almost immediately after the battle with Fonn and Cual. Pretty much because over half of them had decided to stay at the Vermont Fae Reserve and serve as Guardians to their fellow Fae who had welcomed them graciously and offered them sanctuary in return for protection.

  Lucian was somewhat of an enigma. I still had no idea what he did for a living exactly, but I had a feeling he was still some mercenary for hire. We usually only heard from him when he would call with news about a den of Rau that were hiding out somewhere.

  After months of arguing, I had finally convinced Mathias to go hunting Rau with me. He had put his foot down at first. He said that I was now a mother and needed to act like one but when I had told him that I was still affected by my extra powers and needed to release them, he finally relented. Every three or four months I would open a portal, and we would travel all over the world trying to decimate the Rau population.

  We may not have wiped out their species, but we were making a pretty good dent.

  I heard the sound of giggling coming from the beach, and I smiled in anticipation. Mathias and I had brought the kids to the treehouse on the weekends in the summer. He had taken all three of them yesterday afternoon to the other side of the island to go camping, and I couldn’t wait to hear about their adventure.

  Oscar and Cupcake came into the house first to greet me. The sound of a little girls laughter was growing louder and louder. Elizabeth came running to me as fast as her little legs would carry her.

  “Hi sweet pea,” I said as I gave her a big hug. I breathed in her sweet scent that was mixed with campfire smoke and the sea air. Her hair was the exact auburn shade of mine own and everyone called her my mini me.

  “Momma,” she yelled. “Daddy killed a snake.”

  “What?” I asked as I looked up and saw Mathias walk in the house with the boys

  “It was a small snake,” he said grinning

  “It was a monster,” Morgan said excitedly

  “Morgan,” Merrick admonished his brother. I had to stifle a smile. Both of the boys looked exactly like Mathias with their dark brown hair and whiskey colored eyes. Merrick was more serious minded while Morgan was more easy going and mischievous.

  “What?” Morgan asked. “It was freaking huge.”

  “Morgan Worthing,” I reprimanded. “I told you not to say the word freaking.”

  “It’s better than the other one Mum,” he answered

  “Morgan, listen to your mother,” Mathias said

  “Sorry mum,” he said contrite

  “It’s ok,” I said. “So it was big huh?”

  “It was humongous,” Merrick said. “Dad ripped his head off and then Cupcake played with what was left of his body.”

  “You are so giving that dog a bath,” I said to Mathias as Cupcake whimpered when he heard the B wor
d

  “Speaking of baths,” Mathias said. “Boys, you need to get cleaned up first.”

  “Ok,” they both grumbled

  “Hey stink monsters,” I said throwing my arms open, “How about a hug first for your mom?”

  They both came over and gave me a big hug before rushing off to their room. Mathias had added two more levels to the tree house when the boys came into our lives. The boys had one big room and their own separate bath while Elizabeth’s was smaller and right off of our bedroom.

  “Can I watch my show before my bath momma?” Lizzy asked

  “Yes, but just one show and then you’re getting in the tub,” I answered. Lizzy yelled out happily and scampered off up the stairs.

  “How was camping?” I asked Mathias as he sat on the couch and let out a sigh

  “It was great,” he answered. “Merrick kept us all in line.”

  I smiled. “I missed everyone but you especially.”

  “Oh really?” he asked, his eyebrow raised with interest

  “Something about you pitching a tent made me warm and tingly on the inside.”

  “I do that every morning that I wake up next to you.”

  “I knew you were going to say that,” I said as I got up and climbed into his lap

  “I have a feeling those kids are going to bed early tonight,” he said as he started nipping my neck with his teeth

  “Well, I have it on good authority that you are going to go to sleep tonight with a big smile.”

  “That’s something else I do every night,” he said. “I go to bed with a smile and wake up with a giant hard…”

  “Mom, Morgan didn’t wash his hair,” Merrick yelled

  “Morgan,” I yelled warningly. A few seconds later I heard shouts and splashing. “I have to go check on them.”

  Mathias’s phone rang, and I left the room when I heard him answer. I made sure the boys washed up and had just started running Elizabeth’s bath when Mathias walked into the room.

  “Who was that?” I asked

  “That was Lucian,” Mathias answered. His brow was furrowing in thought.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Lucian needs our help,” he said

  “He needs our help?” I repeated, “With what?”

  “Apparently he was hired by the formerly ousted queen of the Fae witches to be her granddaughter’s bodyguard and he needs our assistance in finding some cursed stone or something.”

  “That’s interesting,” I said. “You mean he doesn’t want me to kill anyone?”

  “I think he needs your enhanced powers to help with locating the item.”

  “No problem,” I said “but not until I use my enhanced powers on you first.”

  “As you wish,” Mathias grinned

  Playlist for Isle of Dawn

  Echo ~ Jason Walker

  Between~ Courrier

  Bleeding Out~ Imagine Dragons

  Just Breathe~ Pearl Jam

  An Island Now~ The Canvas Waiting

  Human~ Sarina Rose

  Young and Beautiful~ Lana Del Ray

  Wings~ Birdy

  Sigh No More~ Mumford+Sons

  Magic~Coldplay

  I've never seen a Witch~ Lydia

  Never Let Me Go~ Florence+ the Machines

  Siren Song~ Bat for Lashes

  Fever~ The Black Keys

  Do I Wanna Know~ Artic Monkeys

  Falling Through~ Ray LaMontagne

  One of those days~ Joshua Radin

  Uprising~ Muse

  The Cursed Charm, Book One of the Fae Witch Series

  will be available in February, 2015!

  All Rights Reserved

  Copyright@ 2014 Shannon Barczak

  No part of this book may be reproduced,

  distributed or transmitted in any form or

  by any means or stored into a database retrieval

  system without the prior written permission of the author.

  You must not circulate this book in any format.

  Thank you for respecting the rights of the author.

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status

  and trademark owner of various products referenced

  in this work of fiction, which has been used

  without permission. The publication use of trademarks

  is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the

  trademark owners. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance

  of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely

  coincidental.

  www.shannonbarczakbooks.com

  Cover Design by Shannon Barczak

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to my wonderful family and friends

  who were my taste tasters. I know it was a

  hardship but thanks for sticking it out with me.

  Dedication

  This cookbook is dedicated to my three amazing children.

  I love you Ethan, Wyatt and Lilah!

  Foreword

  I am so excited to be doing this cookbook! For years, I have talked about putting one together for my family and friends but I never got around to completing the book. When I first dreamed up Isle of Skye I knew that I wanted my character to be a baker and a whiz in the kitchen. I guess it was another way for me to connect myself as a writer with my main character.

  When I finished Isle of Skye, I suddenly had an idea. Why don’t I also write a cookbook to accompany the trilogy when I get done? I knew that this was going to be a lot of work, but I also was aware that deep down this cookbook was also going to fulfill one of my dreams.

  I love to cook and bake. I’m not sure if it’s because I love food so much or if it’s because I find that when I’m in my kitchen, I usually do some of my best thinking. To me, cooking is my therapy. It’s the time when I can focus on not only creating something delicious for my family and friends to eat, but also when I can be alone with my thoughts.

  I decided to create this cookbook from Willa’s point of view and add little more tidbits about the characters and their favorite dishes. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed putting this together!

  With love,

  Shannon Barczak

  Cookbook Recipe Index

  Starters

  Homemade onion dip

  Spinach, Artichoke and Roasted Red pepper dip

  Mom’s cheesy Artichoke Dip

  Hot Crab Dip

  Polly’s Stuffed Mushrooms

  Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus

  Sautéed Shrimp with a Spicy Aioli dipping sauce

  Aunt Gussie’s Tomato Bites

  Uncle Cuddy’s Hot Wings-3 ways-

  Deviled Eggs-2 ways-

  Roasted Potato Salad

  Roasted Vegetable Salad

  Parmesan Stuffed Potato Skins

  Cabbage Salad

  Scallop Chowder

  Lemony Chicken Soup

  Tomato Basil Tortellini Soup

  Corn Chowder

  Ode to Yuma

  Bean Dip

  Salsa Chicken

  Taquitos

  Polly’s Avocado Salsa

  Dos Equis Fish Tacos

  Mexican Meatloaf

  Churros

  Cormac’s Irish Dinner

  Irish Colcannon

  Braised Carrot & Cabbage Slaw

  Honey Mustard Glazed Corned Beef

  Moist Irish Soda Bread

  Irish Crème Pound Cake

  Chinese

  Egg Rolls

  Crab Rangoon’s

  Orange Pork with Scallions

  Thai Chicken Wraps

  Mamma Mia Italian, Willa Style!

  Lasagna with Pepperoni Sauce

  Lemon Pasta with Arugula

  Bow Tie Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper & Cream Sauce

  Linguine with Asparagus, Parmesan & Bacon

  Baked Ziti

  Best Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

  Chicken Marsala Cacciatore

  Chic
ken Scaloppini with Spinach & Linguine

  Chianti Braised Short Ribs

  Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

  Mathias’s Favorite Dinner

  Pot Roast

  Willa’s Awesome Roasted potatoes

  Desserts & Breads

  Apple Bread

  Blueberry Muffins

  Cinnamon Rolls

  Apple Turnovers

  Double Chocolate Chunk Andes Candy Cookies

  Granny Winnie’s Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

  Nectarine Pound Cake

  Chocolate Ganache Cake

  Queen Sidra’s Lemon Tea Cakes

  Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

  Polly’s Nutty Baklava

  Petit Fours

  Lemon Curd Tartlets

  Apple-Blueberry Pie

  Lemon Meringue Pie

  Mimi’s Homemade Blueberry Pie

  Peanut Brittle

  Chocolate Mascarpone Cups

  Starters, Soups, Salads & Sides

  Dips!

  I love a good dip, in fact sometimes I am perfectly content to just make a few for dinner and munch. I’m including several different varieties featuring artichokes because I love them, and it’s my freaking book! I also wanted to include my recipe for homemade onion dip and can I just say that once you make this, you will never buy a powdered onion mix again!

  Homemade Onion Dip

  2 TBLS. Olive oil

  1-½ cups of minced onions

  ¼ tsp. kosher salt

  1-½ cups of sour cream

  ¾ cup of mayo

  1 tsp. hot sauce

  ¼ tsp. each of garlic powder, pepper and salt

  Directions:

  1) In a sauté pan, warm olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and ¼ tsp. salt. Cook until onions are caramelized, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Mix the rest of the ingredients, and then add cooled onions.

  2) Refrigerate and stir before serving.

  Spinach, artichoke and roasted red pepper dip

  1 TBLS. of butter

  ½ cup chopped onion