Guest Blog - Significant Others

Happy Valentine's Week!
We're a little late, but it's still the week for romance. Caroline and I are trading blogs today and talking about romance in the real world. Hope you will join me in welcoming her!

Here in the week we celebrate the week of Valentine’s Day, our minds conjure up memories of meeting our significant other, in my case my sweet Hero husband. Since I’ve known him since I was twelve, I probably shouldn’t go back that far. But I will. LOL


The first time I saw my husband was in Lubbock, Texas at his sister’s thirteenth birthday party in 19mumblemumble. I first met Joyce in Sunday School, but we were later in Girl Scouts and school together. I knew she had a twin brother, but had no idea she also had an older brother. Halfway through the party, my fifteen-year-old Hero arrived from work to take photos for Joyce. Instantly mesmerized, I thought Hero the most sophisticated, suave “older man” I’d ever seen. What each of us wore that evening, where I sat, everything about the evening is seared into my brain as, “Hey, this is important stuff, so remember it!” Surprisingly (or not), I have photos of Hero when he was fifteen and he looks exactly as I remember, but...maybe I was star struck and he wasn’t really so sophisticated or suave. Hero was and is a geek, a genius, an electronics wizard. In fact, he became an electrical engineer in the aerospace industry specializing in rockets. Yes, Hero is a genuine rocket scientist who has several patents to his name.



But I am ahead of myself. Hero’s sister was angry that I--according to her--flirted with him at her party. No matter. We did not marry when I was twelve. We dated off and on when I was in high school and a freshman at Texas Tech, but then he graduated and went off to Dallas. Our paths didn’t cross again until we were both living in Dallas several years later.



One year I wanted to go visit my parents over Thanksgiving, but couldn’t afford air fare for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hero’s sister told me Hero was driving to Lubbock for Thanksgiving and she’d tell him I needed a ride. Yes, the same woman who fussed at me for “flirting” with her brother was now matchmaking. Go figure! Hero invited me to accompany him to Lubbock for the upcoming holidays, and also invited me to dinner on Friday. Again, I remember what each of us wore and where we went for dinner: I wore a sleeveless black dress and my black suede heels and we ate at Yee’s Chinese Restaurant. We were married four months later in Dallas and went to New Orleans on our honeymoon. Our first child was born two years later followed by the second daughter almost three years after the first. I truly believe Hero and I are soul mates and hope we enjoy many more years of our happily-ever-after together. His kisses still curl my toes, and there is no better husband in the world. Now that is real romance!



Speaking of romance, www.thewildrosepress.com/caroline-clemmons-m-638.html will take you to the purchase link for my latest romances, the western historical THE TEXAN’S IRISH BRIDE and the paranormal modern time travel OUT OF THE BLUE. They’re also available in print and download from most online stores. My back list of contemporaries SNOWFIRES and BE MY GUEST and linked historicals THE MOST UNSUITABLE WIFE and THE MOST UNSUITABLE HUSBAND are available at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/36055?ref=CarolineClemmons and will soon be available at other online sources in e-download.



Please check my blog at http://carolineclemmons.blogspot.com to see what A. J. Nuest has written on this topic.

Thanks to Amy for letting me guest on her blog today.

---Note from Amy---
Be sure to leave comments as you will automatically get entered for both our weekly and grand prizes for the Wild Rose Press blog tour. The tour runs from Feb 2 through Feb 23, and we're giving away gift certificates and a fabulous grand prize so stay tuned!

Valentine's Day - Truffles

My husband is a choc-a-holic and his birthday falls the day after Valentine's day, so even though he's not supposed to eat sweets, once a year I make him truffles. They are ridiculously easy to make and if you're scratching your head, wondering what the heck you can do for your significant other, it's a great last minute idea.

Here's the basic recipe...

Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients
1 & 2/3 c. heavy cream
7 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 lb of semi-sweet chocolate
2-3 Tbsp Bourbon (Amaretto or Grand Marnier are also good), optional
Cocoa powder

Directions

1. Chop up the chocolate roughly
2. Pour the cream into a saucepan and add the butter in chunks.
3. Heat the cream and butter over medium heat until the butter melts, stirring constantly.
4. Turn up the heat and keep stirring until it's just starting to boil. Remove from the heat.
5. Add the chocolate and stir it in until it melts and starts to thicken & cool.
6. Add the liquer (if you wish--this is entirely optional).
7. Cover and cool for 2-3 hours (or longer). While it is cooling, stir it about every 45 minutes or so.
8. Sprinkle some cocoa on a plate and coat your palms. Form the truffles by scooping out 1 tsp (you don't have to be exact--this is just a rough size and you can make them larger or smaller at your discretion). Roll them briefly to make balls (don't hold them too long or they will melt) and then roll them on the plate to give them a nice coat of cocoa.

Keep them refrigerated.

Note: I like to wash out and save the glass instant coffee or mason jars to use as truffle jars. They make really cute gifts when you tie a red ribbon around them. 

So there you are--easy, right? These truffles have a deep, rich flavor and you can have fun adding different liquers if you wish. Orange-flavored liquer is excellent, although my husband is a big fan of bourbon-flavored truffles.

I've got my mixture sitting in the refridgerator right now and I'm planning to surprise my husband with a jar of his favorite bourbon truffles this evening, right after a scrumptious dinner of venison bourguignon, pasta, and a huge salad.

Happy Valentine's day (a little early, but...)