What’s Cooking? with Audra North

Where authors, friends and fellow bloggers share their favorite receipes!

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Audra North fell in love with romance at age thirteen and spent the next twenty years reading as many romance novels as she could. Even now, after having read over one thousand of them, Audra still can’t resist the lure of a happily ever after, and her collection continues to grow. She lives near Boston with her husband, three young children, and a lot of books.

Find her online at http://audranorth.com/

 

 

   

I love the holidays! So much, in fact, that my debut novella is set at Christmastime. Falling for the CEO, which releases on Monday, is a new twist on the Cinderella story:

Finance genius Meredith Klaus prefers numbers to people, especially around the holidays. At least the large sum of money that’s mysteriously vanished from the company accounts will distract her from the ghosts of Christmases past. Until her sexy boss asks her to be his last-minute date to a fundraiser gala, that is, and the promise of a special evening calls to something long-buried in her.

Andrew Stanton, Manhattan’s best-known philanthropist, has worked hard building his reputation in the industry. He offers to work closely with Meredith to fix his company’s financial crisis, but the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to look at her as just a colleague.

A beautiful dress. A handsome man on her arm. A challenge she can’t refuse. Can they find the missing money and fulfill their holiday wishes, or will Meredith be unable to overcome the demons of her past and lose her chance at happiness?

   

In Falling for the CEO, Meredith and Andrew make new holiday traditions together. In keeping with that spirit, I want to share this cinnamon ice cream recipe. Ever year, I like to make one interesting, non-traditional dish. Admittedly, this gets a little more difficult every year, because from time to time one of the new dishes gets incorporated into the regular menu. But it’s worth it! This cinnamon ice cream recipe is one that I first made three years ago and is now it is a standard feature on our Thanksgiving table…a new holiday tradition!

Serve with warm pumpkin pie, or simply garnish with a sprig of yerba buena and enjoy on its own.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

Ingredients

·         1 cup white sugar

·         1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream

·         2 eggs, beaten

·         1 cup heavy cream

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

·  In a saucepan over medium-low heat, stir together the sugar and half-and-half.

·  In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. When the half-and-half mixture begins to simmer, remove from heat, and whisk half of the mixture into the eggs. Whisk quickly so that the eggs do not scramble.

·  Pour this egg mixture back into the saucepan, and stir in the heavy cream. Continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.

·  Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside to cool.

·  Pour cooled mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.