Posts made in March, 2016

Bready or Not: Baileys Irish Coffee Creamer Chocolate Mini Muffins

Posted by Beth on Mar 9, 2016 in Blog, Bready or Not, breakfast, brownies, cake mix, chocolate, muffin | Comments Off on Bready or Not: Baileys Irish Coffee Creamer Chocolate Mini Muffins

I’m not ashamed to use cake mix every now and then. It’s fast. It can make delicious things. In this case, about 70 delicious things.

I doctored this recipe to use nonalcoholic refrigerated Baileys Coffee Creamer instead of the hard stuff, and I also adapted it for mini muffins. Loads of them.

These are bite-sized dollops of chocolate: chocolate cake dappled with chocolate chips, with the added smoothness of Baileys. Plus, it’s fast to whip up, especially if you have more than one mini muffin pan!

Since I bought a large container of coffee creamer (hey, it was a good sale, and I needed St. Patrick’s recipes, so…), you’ll see more recipes with Baileys featured the next two weeks as well!

Modified from Couponing & Cooking.

Print Recipe

Bready or Not: Baileys Irish Coffee Creamer Chocolate Mini Muffins

This shortcut recipe uses chocolate cake mix to churn out about 70 brownie-like mini muffins! Sure, you could use the hard Baileys in this, but nonalcoholic Baileys Coffee Creamer makes this kid and workplace friendly--and a LOT cheaper.

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Keyword: cake mix, chocolate, mini muffin

Author: Beth Cato

Ingredients

• 1 box chocolate cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup Baileys Irish Coffee Creamer nonalcoholic
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips, + additional for tops, if desired

Instructions

• Prep your mini muffin pans(s) by placing liners and dousing with nonstick spray. Note that the recipe makes about 70 mini muffins. Preheat the oven at 350-degrees.
• In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, eggs, oil, and Baileys Creamer. Once that's mixed to show no clumps, add the chocolate chips. The batter will be a little runny.
• A teaspoon scoop makes it easy to dole out batter into the liners--but don't fill to the top! They will grow as they bake. Top with a few extra chocolate chips, if desired.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the tops are springy and the innermost muffins pass the toothpick test. Use a fork to pop them out and onto a rack to cool.
• Store in a sealed container in the fridge or at room temperature.
• OM NOM NOM!

Sunday Quote is weirded out that it’s March

Posted by Beth on Mar 6, 2016 in Blog, Quote | Comments Off on Sunday Quote is weirded out that it’s March

“And if you can make the reader laugh, he is apt to get careless and go on reading.”
~ Henry Green

Tucson Festival of Books 2016

Posted by Beth on Mar 4, 2016 in Blog, public speaking | Comments Off on Tucson Festival of Books 2016

‘Tis the season! Book Festival season!

Next weekend I’m attending the Tucson Festival of Books. I have two panels on Saturday the 12th, both followed by booksignings:

[The Penguin Book Truck at the 2015 Tucson Festival]

Writing Heroes of Diversity
We need more diverse books! These authors delivered.

Integrated Learning Center Room 130 (Seats 143, Wheelchair accessible)
Sat, Mar 12, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
SciFi / Fantasy / Horror
Signing area: Sales & Signing Area – Integrated Learning Center (following presentation)
Panelists: Austin Aslan, Beth Cato, Jon Proudstar

Kick-Ass Women of Sci-Fi
Writing strong women characters in a traditionally male-dominated genre.

Optical Sciences 410 (Seats 150, Wheelchair accessible)
Sat, Mar 12, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
SciFi / Fantasy / Horror
Signing area: Signing Area – Flandrau BookStore (Science City) (following presentation)
Panelists: Beth Cato, Jeffe Kennedy, Yvonne Navarro, Judith Tarr

I’ll be at the LA Times Festival of Books in April, too–more info on that soon!

#SFWAPro

Bready or Not: Slow Cooker Verde Pork Loin

Posted by Beth on Mar 2, 2016 in Blog, Bready or Not, crock pot, main dish, pork | Comments Off on Bready or Not: Slow Cooker Verde Pork Loin

Since March is all about green, let’s start off the month with some colorful meat! This verde pork loin recipe, originally posted at the Holy Taco Church, creates delicious and versatile protein.

My slow cooker is one of my best friends, a friend that cooks up loads of food to feeds us for days. It works miracle when I’m writing on a deadline. This meat recipe reminds me a lot of posole, that luscious green Mexican stew.

This dish, though, focuses on the meat. This lets you be flexible. You can eat it on a plate with a vegetable side. Or on a salad. Shred it in tacos, burritos, or in a nice oozy quesadilla. Throw it on a Mexican pizza, or load it on nachos.

With good, tasty meat, you can find your bliss in many ways.

Plus, this is great to freeze in a larger dish or in personal portions. Make it last as long as possible!

Print Recipe

Bready or Not: Slow Cooker Verde Pork Loin

This slow cooker recipe takes minutes to prepare and makes a delicious pot of green, shredded pork. It's awesome in taco shells, tortillas, salads, quesadillas, enchiladas, Mexican pizza, etc. Freeze leftovers for later enjoyment!

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: pork, slow cooker

Author: Beth Cato

Ingredients

• 3 - 4 pound boneless pork loin shoulder works, though it's much fattier
• 15 - 16 ounce salsa verde jar green salsa
• cumin
• salt
• pepper
• yellow onion or white onion

Instructions

• Slice onion and place it in bottom of crock pot. Trim excess fat from pork and place it atop the onion. Sprinkle with cumin, salt, and pepper. Pour the full jar of salsa over the meat.
• Cook in crock pot for 8 to 10 hours on low, or 4 to 5 hours on high. About 30 minutes before eating time, shred the pork. Make sure it's all submerged in the sauce and keep on warm setting until meal time.
• This verde pork is awesome in taco shells, tortillas, salads, quesadillas, enchiladas, Mexican pizza, etc. It makes for happy leftovers, too.
• OM NOM NOM!

“Beat Softly, My Wings of Steel” is up at PodCastle

Posted by Beth on Mar 1, 2016 in anthology:story, Blog, podcast | Comments Off on “Beat Softly, My Wings of Steel” is up at PodCastle

I’m delighted to have a story included in Artemis Rising II, a month-long celebration of female and non-binary authors in genre fiction across all three Escape Artists podcasts. My story is in PodCastle, and it’s one of my favorite stories I wrote last year: “Beat Softly, My Wings of Steel.” It’s a tale of strong women and war pegasi.

Listen to it over here!

#SFWAPro