Friday Foodie Affair: Foodie Author Rachel Harris

 ...where I profess my love for food and food related things.

The lovely Rachel Harris has stopped by for this week's Friday Foodie Affair. Keep reading to learn more about Rachel and her foodie romances and don't miss the giveaway at the end of the post!

Love and Games series

 

Taste the Heat (Love and Games #1)

One sexy fire captain. One Cajun chef, One combustible kitchen…

When chef Colby Robicheaux returned home to New Orleans to save her family restaurant, the last person she expected to reconnect with was her brother’s best friend and her childhood crush. As tempting as a sugar-coated beignet, Jason is one dish she doesn’t want to taste. Colby is counting down the days till she can leave the place where her distrust of love and commitment originated and go back to Vegas.

Fire Captain Jason Landry isn’t looking for love, either. He knows he should focus on finding the perfect mother for his daughter, but when he first sees Colby, all grown up and gorgeous, he can’t help but be drawn to her. And when she suggests a no-strings-attached fling, Jason doesn’t want to say no.

As their relationship grows more intense, Colby finds that Jason isn’t as easy to leave behind as she thought. Could turning up the heat on something real be worth the possibility of getting burned?

Taste the Heat on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble

Seven Day Fiancé (Love and Games #2) releases next week!! October 14^th to be exact!

Angelle Prejean is in a pickle. Her family is expecting her to come home with a fiancé – a fiancé that doesn’t exist. Well, he exists, but he definitely has no idea Angelle told her mama they were engaged. Tattooed, muscled, and hotter than sin, Cane can reduce Angelle to a hot mess with one look – and leave her heart a mess if she falls for him. But when she ends up winning Cane at a charity bachelor auction, she knows just how to solver her fiancé problem.

Cane Robicheaux is no one’s prince. He doesn’t do relationships and he doesn’t fall in love. When sweet, sultry-voiced Angelle propositions him, he hopes their little game can finally get her out of his head. He doesn’t expect her to break through all his barriers. But even as Angelle burrows deeper into his heart, he knows once their seven days are up, so is their ruse.

Seven Day Fiancé on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble

Here's a teaser of Seven Day Fiancé to wet your appetite...

About Rachel

Rachel Harris grew up in New Orleans, watching soap operas with her grandmother, and staying up late sneak-reading her mama’s romance novels. Today, she still stays up late reading romances, only now she does so openly.

A Cajun cowgirl now living in Houston, she firmly believes life’s problems can be solved with a hot sugar-coated beignet or a thick slice of king cake, and that screaming at strangers for cheap, plastic beads is acceptable behavior in certain situations.

She homeschools her two beautiful girls and watches countless hours of Food Network and reality television with her amazing husband. She writes young adult, new adult, and adult Fun, Flirty Escapes, and LOVES talking with readers!

Interview with Author Rachel Harris

What made you decide to write a ‘foodie’ book? 

Growing up in New Orleans, I was surrounded by food. Almost every social event and family gathering had food at the center of it, and we passed down rich family recipes from generation to generation. My husband also grew up there, and he loves to cook, too, so it’s just a part of our lives. Watching Food Network and cooking-related shows is a favorite in our family, and watching the show Chopped actually inspired the idea for this book. It was a firefighter cook off, and there was a moment of flirtation between one of the firefighters and a female judge, and the entire story just popped in my head.     

How did you settle on Cajun food as the star cuisine in Taste the Heat (Love & Games #1)?

I’m from New Orleans, so I’d say Cajun food is obviously the best food (he he). Really, I wanted to write a series set in my hometown, to show the unique culture we have there, the relationships, the humor, and food is such an integral part of that culture that it all just made sense to combine them.

  

 

Can we expect the same in book 2 in the series? 

The first three books in the series are about the Robicheaux family, two sisters and a protective big brother who own a family restaurant, so food will be an important part of all three books in some way. Book 2, Cane and Angelle’s story, is slightly different as we experience all the humorous differences between New Orleans Cajun and Cajun country. I call it Sweet Home Alabama meets The Proposal, set in a Duck Dynasty world.

  

I had a lot of fun with this book…and I must admit that I fell hard for my tatted up, reformed playboy ;)

“…Sweet Home Alabama meets The Proposal, set in a Duck Dynasty world.” I LOVE all three of those! I’m sold!

  

What is the one dish you would recommend to someone who has never tried Cajun food?

Depends on if they want sweet or savory. Sweet, I’d definitely go with a beignet because, well, come on. Who can resist fried dough covered in sugar?? But for savory, I’d go with either jambalaya, gumbo, or the tried and true fried shrimp Po-boy. I lived in North Carolina for a few years and I remember making all of those dishes for some friends, and I’ll never forget them asking, “Shrimp on bread?” It cracked me up because it’s rare that I eat shrimp not on thick, crunchy French bread.  So darn good! And now I’m hungry…

Me too! I’ve never tried Cajun food but you’re definitely making it sound tasty!

  

Sweet or salty?

Sweet please!

  

Cake or pie?

Pie. Pecan pie

 

Favorite thing to cook/bake?

Cookies because they are yummy and easy, but I think my favorite is cooking all the favorites on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Our stuffings, homemade macaroni and cheese, gumbo, and, of course, the pies.

 

What food could you eat every day?

Chocolate. But if you mean an actual meal (he he), I’d probably say red beans and rice. It’s a tradition in New Orleans to make it every Monday, and growing up we’d always have left overs to munch on for the rest of the week. Yum!

What’s one food you love that gets you strange looks when you tell people?

If you’re not from the south, crawfish is always one that people can get squeamish about… especially if you suck the heads. I don’t do that, but almost everyone in my family does. And of course, the shrimp on bread definitely earned me an odd look. That still tickles me…

A Family Recipe from Rachel

Grandma Genevieve’s Pumpkin Pie

½ cup Sugar

1 tbl Flour
½ tsp Salt
¾ tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Cloves
1 tsp Ginger
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1 ¼ cup canned or fresh Pumpkin
1 tbs Molasses
1 tbl Margarine
2 Eggs
1 cup Milk
9” Pie shell

1.                   Mix sugar, flour, salt, and spices together.

2.                   Add pumpkin. If fresh pumpkin, make sure to drain it well.
3.                   Add Molasses and margarine and blend thoroughly.
4.                   Beat slightly, then add milk and eggs to pumpkin mixture.
5.                   Pour into 9” pie shell.
6.                   Bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes then 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Giveaway

To celebrate next week’s release of Seven Day Fiancé, Rachel is so kindly offering an ebook of Taste the Heat to one lucky winner! All you have to do is fill out the form below.

 

-Entries must be received by 11:59pm  (EST), October 17^th.
-Giveaway is open internationally

-Winner will be selected via random.org and announced October 18^th.