Good Morning Sunshine Casserole from Jill Shalvis

My friend, Jill Shalvis has a new book out on March 29 called THE SWEETEST THING, the second book of her charming Lucky Harbor series. Tara Daniels thinks she's got it all together. A tightly wound erstwhile Southern belle, she knows all the answers. Until sexy Ford Walker swaggers into her life and turns her brain into pudding.

Click here to read an excerpt of THE SWEETEST THING on Jill's website. We're giving away a copy of THE SWEETEST THING today! Post a comment here for a chance to win. US addresses only.

I invited Jill to join me here today to answer five random questions and share one of Tara's delicious recipes. (Clearly, Jill had much better luck with Tater Tots than I did!)

Five Random Questions for Jill Shalvis

Who taught you how to drive? Have you ever had a fender bender?

My 16 year old boyfriend taught me to drive, and it wasn't pretty. It was a VW Bug, a stick, and I'd never driven a stick before. AND we lived in hilly Los Angeles. It was a nightmare. My first of many fender benders involved the tragic death of a mailbox. It died too young.

What is the biggest failure you’ve ever had in the kitchen?

Oh Lord. Pick one. My favorite is when we moved from Los Angeles to the Sierras. High altitude. Like 6300 feet high altitude. And my favorite kind of cooking is baking. But let me tell you, cooking at 6300 feet is VERY different. I burned bread, I burned muffins, I burned cupcakes, I burned pies. And I burned them all quite spectacularly. One time the fire department even had to get involved, but I don't want to talk about it.

What’s with this famous cookie obsession of yours? How did it start?

I can't even remember how it started. But hi, my name is Jill, and I'm addicted to cookies. Any kind. All kinds.

What’s the weirdest thing you like to eat?

Okay but don't judge me. The day after Thanksgiving, I made bread, slice it thick, load on leftover turkey and lettuce and ... ketchup. Don't ask, I can't explain it.

Writers often put aspects of themselves into the characters in their books. What, if anything, do you have in common with Tara from The Sweetest Thing?

Tara and I have very little in common. She's tall and beautiful and self assured (at least on the outside) and tough. I have far more in common with her sister Maddie (whose story was told in Simply Irresistible 10/10). Maddie's a little bit fumbling and unsure, but she is fierce when it comes to those she loves. I'm definitely fierce. :)

Good Morning Sunshine Casserole

1 layer of tater tots
1 layer of ham or sausage cubes (or crumbled bacon, whatever makes your skirt blow up)
1 layer of grated cheddar cheese (there's no such thing as too much cheese for breakfast)

Pour this over the layer:
6 beaten eggs
1/2 tsp salt (or more, if no one's looking)
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 cup of chopped onion
3 cups of milk
2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
Add 1/2 cup melted butter over all that.

Cook 1 hour at 350 degrees uncovered.

Slow Cooker Cheesy Beef

Download a printable version of this recipe for free – and lots of other recipes! – at www.susanmallery.com/recipes.php

Everyone knows I’m on a diet. Slow Cooker Cheesy Beef is not diet food. Which is sad for me because it’s really, really delicious, and I could only have a taste. The thing is, my husband’s not on a diet, and I’m a good wife.

Also, not all of my readers are on a diet, and I created the recipes page on my website as a gift for the readers who have been such enthusiastic, wonderful fans. Every month, I get a report from my webmaster that shows me where readers go when they visit SusanMallery.com. The free excerpts of my books are the most popular pages, thank goodness, but the recipes have been a big hit, too. One of the recipes that’s been downloaded the most is for Slow Cooker Cheesy Potatoes (PDF). So I bought a four-pound chuck roast, brought it home, and thought, “How am I going to make something new and interesting with this in the slow cooker?”

I opened my cabinet, and angels smiled down upon me. There, right at eye level, sat a can of cheddar cheese soup and a box of onion soup mix. Nothing bad could possibly come of that combination! I mixed them together, added a couple spices, then threw them over the beef, onions, and mushrooms in the slow cooker.

The only thing that would’ve made this better would be if I had thrown in some potatoes, too. But I’m a good wife, not a great wife. I couldn’t stand to watch my husband eating potatoes while I denied myself.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Cheesy Beef

1 chuck roast, about 4 pounds
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 packet onion soup mix
1 t dried thyme
1 t black pepper
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
3 T flour
1 C cheddar cheese, shredded
1 C sour cream

Mix together the soup, soup mix, thyme, and pepper. Layer the bottom of the slow cooker with onions and mushrooms, and put beef on top of them. Pour the soup mixture over the beef. Cook on low about 8 hours.

Remove the roast and vegetables from the slow cooker and set aside. Pour 3 cups of the liquid into a saucepan. Discard the rest of the liquid. Heat the liquid to boiling, then add the flour, a little at a time, stirring with a whisk to remove lumps. When it’s nice and thick, stir in the cheddar cheese until it’s melted. Then stir in the sour cream. Return the beef and vegetables to the slow cooker and pour the cheese mixture over it. Cook on low another half hour to an hour.

Don’t forget, ALREADY HOME will be released on March 29!

Serenity's Portobello Mushroom Fajitas

You'll find a printable version of this recipe and many other free recipes on my website, SusanMallery.com.

In ALREADY HOME, which will be in stores on March 29, heroine Jenna Stevens is surprised by the sudden and unwelcome arrival of her birth parents. Why now? They claim they’ve always thought of her… so why did they wait until she was in her early thirties to show up?

Not that she’s been anxious to meet them. Jenna had been raised by loving and traditional adoptive parents in a town outside of Austin, Texas. After a painful divorce, she moved back to her hometown to be near her parents, returning to the comfort of the familiar and expected. The last thing she wants to deal with is a New Age birth mother who won’t go away.

Without revealing any secrets, I will tell you that Jenna discovers that she does have a few things in common with her birth mother, Serenity, after all. Most notably, they both love to cook. But Serenity is a vegan, while Jenna was raised in a family of unrepentant carnivores.

This week, I thought it would be fun to come up with a recipe for Serenity’s Portobello Mushroom Fajitas. These can be vegan, but I’ll confess – I added cheese and sour cream to mine. I’m unwilling to live in a world without dairy.

Recipe: Serenity’s Portobello Mushroom Fajitas (Vegan or Vegetarian)

12 oz Portobello mushrooms, sliced ¼-inch thick
½ C + 2 T olive oil, divided
6 cloves garlic, minced
½ C cilantro, minced
1 t cumin powder
½ t salt
1 small onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 orange, red, or yellow bell pepper, sliced
Splash of lime juice
Flour tortillas
Cheese and sour cream (unless you want to go vegan)

Place the mushroom slices in a casserole dish. Mix half a cup of the oil with the garlic, cilantro, cumin, and salt, then pour over the mushrooms. Stir to coat well. Allow to marinate for an hour or more.

Preheat a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Put a single layer of mushrooms in the pan and cook, without stirring, until it browns, about 3 minutes per side. Keep warm in the oven while you cook the rest of the mushrooms. After all the mushrooms are cooked, add 2 T of oil to the pan and toss in the peppers and onion. Sauté, stirring frequently, until the peppers are crisp-tender. Put in the dish with the mushrooms, and add the splash of lime juice.

Serve on warm flour tortillas with, if desired, cheese and sour cream.

Susan Mallery + Julia London = Win an iPad!

My friend author Julia London and I wanted to do something really special for our fans. We’re giving away an iPad! And you don’t have to do anything special to qualify – everyone who clicks Like on both our Facebook pages will automatically be entered for a chance to win. We’ll hold the giveaway as soon as Julia’s page has 8,500 likes and mine has 6,500 likes. Encourage your friends to like both our pages. The sooner we reach our goal, the sooner someone will win! Could be YOU!

www.facebook.com/susanmallery

www.facebook.com/julialondon

To get this party started, I’m giving away a copy of Julia’s fabulous new book, A LIGHT AT WINTER’S END, to one lucky fan who clicks like or posts a comment on the contest announcement on my Facebook page today! I'll choose the winner at random at the end of the day, so get clicking!