Bitten by Paranormal Romance: Guest paranormal romance author PJ Schnyder and giveaway

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Guest paranormal romance author PJ Schnyder and giveaway

Posted by Laurie (BittenbyParanormalRomance) |

Please welcome author PJ Schnyder!

Ah romance, I could sit all day and dream up love stories. Of course, I like to add my own flavor to the wistful happily ever after.

I do things a little different. Valentine’s Day is no exception. :P

Here in the US, the month of February is sometimes filled with plans for couples to dine out, do up a romantic evening and exchange tokens of affection. On many a night before Valentine’s Day, I’ve gotten a few giggles out of seeing a long line of men extending out from the Build-a-Bear store, each with some cute stuffed animal in hand and refusing to look any of the others in the eye. This sort of holiday is rough on American men.

What I love to do comes from the Japanese way of celebrating Valentine’s Day. In Japan, the women give men chocolates. (Men, lucky dogs, get to see what their ladies give them and don’t have to return the gesture until a month later on White Day)

There are two different meanings behind chocolate gifts to our guys. “Giri (obligation)-choco” is given to our friends, coworkers, classmates and any guy in our lives. I find myself giving out a lot of these since I’ve got a lot of guy friends and not particularly any serious anything going on.

The very special guy in a lady’s life would receive “honmei (prospective winner)-choco”. These chocolates are usually more expensive or even handmade from blends of chocolate to the man’s taste. Often, a special gift accompanies the choco or chocolates, such as neck ties or clothes or other expressions of affection.

If you’ve read Heart’s Sentinel or Red’s Wolf, you might notice particular detail in description when it comes to the cooking and savoring of food. I have a great love of food, my friends.

Enjoying cooking the way I do, have I made honmei-choco? Yes. I’ve even got a few recipes to share.

And before you try out the recipes, leave a comment and tell me what you do for Valentine’s Day for a chance to win a free ecopy of Red’s Wolf.

White Chocolate Matcha (Green Tea) Desserts

Ingredients:

1/2 lb white chocolate, finely chopped

2 tsp Matcha (green tea powder)

1 Tbsp milk

1/8 cup heavy cream, plus extra for consistency

*matcha green tea powder for coating, optional

Preparation:

Allow milk to come to room temperature or warm gently.

Put 2 tsp of green tea powder in a small bowl. Pour warm milk over green tea powder and stir well. Set aside to infuse.

Put finely chopped white chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside.

Pour heavy cream in a small pan and heat on medium heat. Stop the heat before cream starts to boil and add in the green tea and milk mixture, whisking to stir well. Pour the cream mixture over white chocolate in medium bowl, stirring until completely melted.

*check consistency. Should be thick enough to set into ganache but completely melted. Add a bit more heated heavy cream if not completely smooth.

Cool the chocolate mixture for about one hour at room temperature. Scoop the cooled chocolate ganache into about 1 1/2 inch balls and place them on a sheet of aluminum foil.

* melon baller or mini ice cream scoop works well for this

Cool in refrigerator for about one hour, or until firm. Remove chilled chocolates and round chocolate balls by hand. For a stronger green tea flavor, coat with green tea powder.

Dark Chocolate Truffles (adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

1/3 cup heavy cream

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

11.5 oz Bittersweet Chocolate, finely chopped

1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa or finely chopped almonds or pecans

Preparation:

In a small saucepan, bring cream to a simmer. Add unsalted butter and whisk until melted.

Add chocolate. Whisk until completely melted and smooth. Remove from heat and pour into a shallow pan.

Cool at room temperature for an hour, cover, and refrigerate the mixture until firm, at least 1 hour.

Using a melon baller or small ice cream scoop, scoop the mixture into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball by hand to round out and then roll ball in the cocoa or nuts. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. If refrigerating, bring to room temperature before serving.

Thanks PJ!!

Ollie's review of Red's Wolf

Labels: guest author

26 comments:

BLHmistress said...: How lucky these men are- I am a chocoholic and these recipes sound mouthwatering good too. Oh you asked a question lol, I don't plan on doing anything really (no man in my life) except cuddling up with a good romance.

vampiremistress2010(at)gmail(dot)com; Feb 9, 2011 1:37:00 AM
BooksforCompany said...: l love this idea!
Well me and my boyfriend decided to just go out for a meal this year! It's on a Monday so a bit difficult so we are celebrating it on Friday! (lol)
booksforcompany @ gmail.com; Feb 9, 2011 6:58:00 AM
Maria (pronounced Mariah) I blame my mother... said...: I can't rememeber the last time my husand and I actually got to do something for valentines day...maybe in a couple years when our girls are old enough to say by themselves we can actualuall spend some time alone!

Thank you! mmafsmith@gmail.com; Feb 9, 2011 8:57:00 AM
Sweet Vernal Zephyr said...: Those truffles sound decadent! This may sounds strange, but for Valentine's Day my husband and I invite over our best friend and all make dinner together. That will all change if she ever finds a man she can tolerate!

Thank you for the recipes and the insight into Japanese tradition. It is very cool.

mdwartistry at yahoo dot com; Feb 9, 2011 9:14:00 AM
theJeepDiva said...: This year, I will be driving my husband to the airport. However the Friday before we will be going to a local resturant to have dinner together. Since to move to the Boonies we seldom go out to dinner in the evening. I got a really cute lacy black top to wear with an awesome pair of jeans I got for Christmas. I am gonna hooch it up notch that night.; Feb 9, 2011 10:10:00 AM
MoonStar said...: I need to check out your recepie. And your book looks interesting :)

Here in Norway we don´t really celebrate Valentine so much. I have never done anything special.. But maybe I meet the one, one day :P Who will give me delicious special chokolate :P; Feb 9, 2011 10:15:00 AM
MoonStar said...: Ups.. forgot to post my mail adress. Don´t know if thats neceserie.

line_boegh@hotmail.com; Feb 9, 2011 10:16:00 AM
Crystal H said...: The Japanese tradition for celebrating Valentine's Day is interesting. I learned about that a couple years ago because Japanese culture is always interesting to me.

This year I'm single, so I'll probably just spend the day with a few friends on Valentine's Day. Friends who are also single of course. Then once night comes, I'll probably curl up on my couch and watch a few of my favorite movies. Not necessarily romance films, just movies that I enjoy watching anytime of the year.

Thanks!

crystal_reaper@hotmail.com; Feb 9, 2011 11:00:00 AM
Reading Against All Odds said...: Well, I´m single so I will spend Valentines Day with my girls (who are single,too, of course) eating delicious food.
Aaand if we are in the mood for it, we are going to rock a club (there is no better chance to find a guy) :-D
And thanks you!

sweettemptation@hotmail.de; Feb 9, 2011 12:04:00 PM
P. Kirby said...: I love that in Japanese, "chocolate" has so many meanings. Not surprising, since Japanese is such a complex language.; Feb 9, 2011 12:05:00 PM
laceyinthesky said...: Unfortunately I probably won't be doing much for Valentine's Day unless I wanna pay for me and my bf's dinner. Blah

laceyinthesky@live.com; Feb 9, 2011 1:18:00 PM
April said...: What a great post! Those recipes sound delicious.

inspector.librarian@gmail.com; Feb 9, 2011 2:48:00 PM
Ronda Tutt (Queentutt's World of Escapism) said...: After almost 14 years of marriage Valentines Day is celebrated no different than any other day. My huband and I cherish each other everyday especially these last 4 years now that the kids are out of the house. We can now make love anywhere in the house - LOL

We are both retired and we spend all day with each other. We hold hands all the time even when we go to the grocery store shopping. He still opens the door for me when I get in the car.

We take turns cooking for each other and we watch TV/Movies everyday while we snuggle up with our arms wrapped around each other and just being happy that we have each other. He kisses me several times a day and everyday and everynight we tell each other several times how much we love each other. I tell him he is my man and he tells me I am his baby.

He is my best friend and I love surprising him with gifts and just special things he likes and he does the same for me.

What we do on valentines day is instead of him buying me roses in a vase, he buys me the whole flower bush so that they will last for a life time. You guessed right, my yard is filled with different types of flower bushes and of course palm trees - LOL

My husband is so sweet, we went to the grocery store and my arm is wrapped around his arm as he is pushing the basket. I stop and step away and get behind him. he turns his head back to see that i am looking at something so he stops and waits for me to come back to him. I tell him to go on that i will catch up with him - well he doesn't move and as I get up to him he tells me that we are equal and that I am never to walk behind him, I am to walk beside him or in front of him.

Thanks for sharing the recipes, my husband thanks you,he loves it when I fix him treats especially when it involves chocolate.

mrsqueentutt@yahoo.com; Feb 9, 2011 4:52:00 PM
Tanya said...: What an interesting post! I love it!!

Thanks for sharing the different culture activity!

Hmmm.. Valentine's Day for us depends on our paychecks! LOL! If we've got extra money, then we usually go out to a really nice dinner. Once, we went away overnight to get away from real-life and just focus on each other. If money is tight, then we usually just sit at home, watch a movie together, and make sure we eat dinner at the table with everything else off!! :) Actually, it's those times that I like the hallmark holiday more! I like just finding quiet moments for the two of us!

Thanks for the recipes and opportunity!

amongthemusesATgmail.com; Feb 9, 2011 5:08:00 PM
Danielle @ Romance Book Junkies said...: Wow thanks for the recipes.; Feb 9, 2011 5:18:00 PM
Danielle La Paglia said...: Thanks for the yummy recipes! I've already got Red's Wolf, but I wanted to stop by and wave to my fellow Rebel!; Feb 9, 2011 11:23:00 PM
Meredith said...: We're going out tomorrow for a fancy lunch so we can beat the Valentine's Day rush and not have the kids in tow!

meredithfl at gmail dot com; Feb 9, 2011 11:57:00 PM
Shaiha said...: That is such a great idea! Women tend to be better at remembering to give gifts anyway.

I also wanted to thank you for the tea recipe. I collect those as I am a tea-aholic; Feb 11, 2011 12:40:00 PM
casinerina said...: This looks yummy. Especially the dark chocolate ones. I might have to try them, it would be something different from the sugar fudge we make.; Feb 11, 2011 2:05:00 PM
Angela Addams said...: I don't really celebrate V - Day (my husband and I aren't really into the romantic stuff) but we both love chocolate!; Feb 11, 2011 3:57:00 PM
Pink Panther said...: Hm... Valentine's Day is just like any ordinary day, no special celebrations. But well, every day has something special anyway! :) Thanks so much for the lovely recipe, I'm so gonna try it out!
You can reach me at luvpinkpanther@gmail.com; Feb 12, 2011 9:33:00 AM
Andrea I said...: My Valentine's is just a quiet evening, but mybe dining out.

lillieblue613@gmail.com; Feb 14, 2011 6:46:00 PM
Crystal ♥ said...: Okay, I have to admit, I'm not a big chocolate fan but that white chocolate recipe sounds delish.
As for V-Day this year, we won't be doing anything special. Maybe next year will be more exciting! =); Feb 14, 2011 11:38:00 PM
Kasumi said...: I cook a cake with a flower mould. And I posted on my blog, too!
The handmade chocolate is too much for me (in Spain I never saw that ready to prepare packs)

Thanks for the international giveaway!

kasumigogo[at]gmail[dot]com; Feb 15, 2011 6:10:00 AM
Jessica Peter said...: Mm, delish. I had no idea about the semi-opposite Japanese tradition! Very neat.; Feb 15, 2011 9:54:00 PM
pj schnyder said...: Hi everyone! Thank you so much for dropping by and sharing your Valentine activities. I've got a bit of a surprise - I've picked two winners. ;)

Congratulations to Andrea I and Reading Against All Odds. You should be receiving your ecopies of Red's Wolf shortly. :); Feb 16, 2011 9:27:00 PM