Monday, August 29, 2022

Crockpot Monday: Peppercorn Steak

7:38 AM 0 Comments


Peppercorn Steak:

Ingredients:


4 to 6 steaks

1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup of water
2 chopped bell peppers

1 chopped yellow onion
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Put the meat in the crockpot. Cover with the chopped vegetables. Pour in the tomato sauce, Worcestershire, and water. Add the Italian seasoning and black pepper.

Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours, or on high for 4-6. 





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Thursday, August 25, 2022

Story Sneak Peek : Batters Up!

10:56 PM 0 Comments


There isn’t a time in my life that I can remember where I wasn’t playing a sport. From the time I was little, my dad and I would go into the backyard and either throw a football or a baseball back and forth. Sometimes we would kick a soccer ball. It was a lot of fun and as I grew older, I got to play things like kickball in gym class. If it involved a ball, I wanted to play. That hasn’t changed, even though I’m an adult now.

I played football and baseball when I was in high school. I was pretty good at both of them. During the summer, I played soccer with my friends. It seemed like if I wasn’t doing homework or in school, I was on a field somewhere. I loved it.

Then, I went to college and had to decide which sport I wanted to play. I couldn’t play football, baseball, and soccer anymore. There just wasn’t enough time with classes, homework, and hanging out with my friends. In the end, I decided that I wanted to play baseball. It was my dad’s favorite sport and one that I had always loved. I wanted to make sure that he was proud of me.

I did pretty good in college. So good, that after I graduated, a professional baseball team wanted me to come and play for them! I couldn’t believe it. Instead of managing teams, I was going to get to keep playing for one!

I remember my very first game. My family and friends were in the crowd, and I was really nervous. What if I struck out? What if I hit the ball, but tripped and fell while I was running? Before I knew it, it was my turn at bat. I’d been so worried about what might happen that I didn’t even notice that the batters in front of me had all gotten onto base and it was now bases loaded.

I swallowed hard and made my way to the batter’s box. I could hear my family cheering me on. I closed my eyes for a second and then stepped forward to show that I was ready. I took another deep breath and waited for the first pitch. When it came, I swung at it, but missed. The same thing happened with the second pitch.

I stepped back for a moment and adjusted my hat. The crowd had gotten really quiet. I glanced up and saw my dad sitting in the stands. He nodded at me, and it reminded me of all the times we had played catch in the backyard. I smiled and stepped back up to the plate.

This time, when the ball came, I was ready for it. I took a deep breath, swung my bat, and heard the crack of the ball as it hit it. I watched as it went soaring and my teammates started running. I started running too and before I had made it to first base, I heard the announcer yell, “Home run! Salem has hit a grand slam at his first time at bat!”

As I rounded third base, I looked up into the stands and there stood my father, yelling and cheering with the rest of the fans in the crowd. His eyes met mine and he smiled. He was proud of me, and you know what? I was proud of me too. I had done something that some players only dream about and even if it never happens again, it happened to me that time. 


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Monday, August 22, 2022

Crockpot Monday: Loose Meat Sandwiches

7:30 AM 0 Comments


Welcome back to Crockpot Monday! I can't guarantee that I'll be great about posting these, but I'd love to bring back this segment, especially since we'll be doing a lot of crockpot cooking around my house.

Loose Meat Sandwiches:

Ingredients:

1 pound extra lean ground beef

1 onion, finely diced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 cups beef broth

8 hamburger buns

Your favorite hamburger toppings

 

Directions:

 

Crumble ground beef into the crockpot. This is important or it will cook in a large clump.  Add onion, sugar, spices, mustard, and vinegar. Pour in the beef broth. Mix well until everything is fully mixed. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Stir well before serving by scooping with a slotted spoon onto hamburger buns. Top with your desired fixings.


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Friday, August 19, 2022

Kickstarter Announcement!

3:51 PM 0 Comments

Hi, guys! I have some exciting news. Cobalt's Castaways will be coming to Kickstarter in October! What does that mean? Well, let me break it down for you...

What is Kickstarter?

Kickstarter is this really cool platform where you can pre-order my book, along with other goodies, and get it up to six months before it will be available on Amazon. The goodies may be available at shows, but are of a limited quantity and won't be available places like Amazon. You pledge the amount that you want and no money is charged to your card until the end of the campaign and only if enough money is raised. In this case, I'm looking to raise at least $1000. That money goes to pay for the printing of the books and to pay the amazing artists that I work with. 

What is Cobalt's Castaways?

Cobalt's Castaways is my brand new book that will be releasing in October on Kickstarter. It's the sequel to Apo's Army in my kitty series of books. It is 20+ short stories all about cats and their adventures. There's a president, a chef, and a baseball player. There's something for everyone! It also includes eight  new illustrations which means eight new coloring pages! 

What can I get?

Some of the reward tiers include:
  • Digital copies of all four books
  • Print copies of all four books
  • Stickers
  • Prints
  • Bookmarks
In fact, there's a possibility that I'll have a custom enamel pin as part of it! I'm in talks right now with a company that creates them. 

What can I do?

If you're interested, and I hope that you are, head on over to this link and click on "Notify Me on Launch". This will do two things. It will let me and others know that there is interest in this project and when the project launches, it will email you to let you know. That way, you just have to click on the link in the email and it will take you right to the purchasing page! So simple. 

TL;DR

Cool new book about cats is coming! To be reminded, click here.








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