Guest Author Belinda McBride

It takes awhile for autumn to hit Northern California. Generally we run temperatures in the high 90s through October, then one morning we wake up to torrents of rain. Not that I’m complaining…it just takes a bit of adjusting when you go to bed with your summer bedding and wake in the middle of the night shivering. LOL!




When this time of year rolls around, there’s nothing better to acclimate to the changing season than a warm bowl of soup. I’d never have thought that I’d like soup made of squash or pumpkin, but my daughter introduced me to her harvest soup and I’m now a believer! Since she never bothers to write down recipes, here’s one that’s pretty close to what she serves:



Red Clover Inn

Mendon, Vermont

Specialty Recipe

Pumpkin Bisque

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

4 cups light vegetable stock (or light chicken stock or water)

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoons nutmeg

2 cups pumpkin purée

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup heavy cream

Sauté onions, celery, and garlic in butter. Add stock, tomatoes, bay leaves and nutmeg. Cook until vegetables are very soft. Strain and reserve liquid. Purée vegetables with some liquid and strain through a sieve. Combine liquid, puréed vegetables, and pumpkin; heat. Add cream and season with salt and pepper.



And for Halloween, there’s nothing better than a good paranormal romance to get things heated up. This year I went overboard on werewolves…three different books with the furry critters! For today, I’d like to share a blurb from Blacque/Bleu, a m/m romance that is now available at Loose Id Publishing.

BLURB:

Lukas Blacque is a deeply closeted werewolf, and almost more than anything in life, he desires his neighbor, Oliver Bleu. Oliver is a vampire who is slowly dying from insomnia. More than anything, he needs Lukas Blacque and the rich blood that flows through his veins.

On the day that Blacque makes an important commitment to his family and pack, he also succumbs to temptation and agrees to a passionate weekend with the alluring vampire. At sunset on Friday, it’s all about urgent lust and the drive to lose his virginity. When the sun rises on Monday, lust has shifted to love and devotion. He's not sure he can walk away, even for the commitment he's made. He's even less sure Bleu will let him go.

In Blacque’s world, vampires and werewolves make uneasy bedfellows, and a gay werewolf is an impossibility. In Bleu’s world, all living creatures are little more than vessels for food and sex. But in the mysterious and magical town of Arcada, the unexpected is always waiting right around the corner. Now Blacque and Bleu just need to survive long enough for Arcada’s magic to work for them.

Publisher's Note: Blacque/Bleu is related to Chrysalis and Mad at the Moon, which are available at Changeling Press. This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Bondage, domination, male/male sexual practices, violence.



http://www.loose-id.com/BlacqueBleu.aspx



Please visit me at http://www.belindamcbride.com

Or at: http://www.belindam.blogspot.com