Sophie’s Run Blog Tour – Guest Post & Giveaway

Come dine with Sophie and Dan: Today’s treat is… Party food deluxe and yet comfort food par excellence… Sophie’s Cheesy Fondue!

Hello! *waves* My name is Sophie Penhalligan. You may already know me from Sophie’s Turn, the book about how I fell in love with and very nearly married my favorite rock star. Well, my author, Nicky Wells, has released the next part of the story of my romance with Dan Hunter, lead singer of legendary rock band, Tuscq. Things don’t go quite to plan for Dan and me for a while, and Sophie’s Run will tell you about a little detour that our friendship takes. It’s all good, though, and we’re very happy indeed.

So much so, in fact, that we thought we’d take you on tour with us to show you all our favorite places throughout the entire Rock Star Romance series, and share the yummiest food with you.

Y’all know I love my food. Dan, Rachel and I are forever going out to restaurants, or cooking, or ordering meals in. It’s a huge part of our lives! Today, I’d like to share with you the best (and easiest, in my opinion) recipe for Cheesy Fondue. If you’ve never tried it, give it a go; you’ll love it! It’s basically a dish where you melt lots of cheese and then dip your bread or sausage or veg into it. It’s heavenly! It’s both elegant and comfortable. It’s a great party food!

Dan introduced me to it. Of course he did. He took it upon himself years ago to further my culinary education, and this is merely the latest addition in the portfolio. We were all a little hung over from Tuscq’s massive end-of-year gig… It was a fabulous event and the next day… The next day we all felt very groggy.

Everybody crashed out at Dan’s place after the gig, the band, Rachel and I… and a few other people. Dan has a fairly big house but even then, there weren’t enough bedrooms for all of us. It was like something out of a disaster movie, with Joe, Mick and Darren (the other members of Tuscq) and their wives camped out with sleeping bags in the lounge around the fire. Very cozy, actually.

Anyway, we muddled our way through some sort of breakfast and amused ourselves playing games on the Wii until everybody got hungry again. Do you find that hangovers crave greasy food? Mine do, and evidently so do Dan’s, because he suddenly suggested going to this little Swiss restaurant he knows in the middle of London for a cheesy fondue. Everybody jumped on the idea and within the hour, we were ensconced at a big table with several cauldrons’ worth of bubbling, delicious cheese. Pure bliss!

I’ve since learnt how to make this at home, and here goes:

To serve 4 to 6 of your friends, you need…

~1 clove of garlic cut in half

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

250 ml white wine

250 g grated Gruyere cheese (I’m told Aged Jack would be a good substitute for North American readers, but have never tried it)

250 g grated Emmental cheese (I believe it’s called Swiss Cheese in the US?)

2 teaspoons of corn flour

1 small tablespoon of Kirsch brandy

A pinch of white pepper

A pinch of nutmeg

Accompaniments:

~crusty bread that’s ever so slightly stale (i.e. from the day before). Try fancy bread like olive bread, bread with onions in or, my favorite, cranberry and stilton bread if you can find it! Cut the bread into bite-size chunks.

~olives, grapes, tomatoes

~cold meats like ham or salami

~a nice, mellow red wine

Oh and ~ you need a fondue pot, of course! I use a gas one but an electric one is just fine! If you haven’t got a fondue pot, you can do this on the hob. You just need to eat a bit faster because the cheese might set when you take it off the heat!

 

and here’s what you do. It’s really easy!

 

Rub the inside of the fondue pot with the garlic. Add the white wine and lemon juice and heat on a high flame until the liquid is bubbling. Turn down the heat slightly and start adding the grated cheeses, handful by handful. Take care to stir and melt the cheese before you add the next handful!

When you’ve added three quarters of the cheese, dissolve the corn flour in the Kirsch and add this to your bubbling cauldron of gooey, cheesy pleasure. Then add the rest of the cheese until it’s all in. Now add a pinch of pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Keep stirring but don’t allow the cheese to boil. Stir, stir, stir, until the mixture starts to gloopify. Then you’re ready to dip and enjoy

About Nicky Wells: Romance that Rocks Your World!

Rock On! Nicky Wells writes fun and glamorous contemporary romance featuring a rock star and the girl next door.  A signed author with U.S. publisher, Sapphire Star Publishing, Nicky is in the throes of publishing her Rock Star Romance Trilogy. Nicky loves rock music, dancing, and eating lobsters.  When she’s not writing, Nicky is a wife, mother, and occasional teaching assistant.

Originally born in Germany, Nicky moved to the United Kingdom in 1993, and currently lives in Lincoln with her husband and their two boys. In a previous professional life, Nicky worked as a researcher and project manager for an international Human Resources research firm based in London and Washington, D.C.

Visit Nicky on her blog where you can find articles, interviews, radio interviews and, of course, an ongoing update on her work in progress. You can also follow Nicky on Twitter and find her on Facebook. Nicky is a featured author on the innovative reader/author project, loveahappyending.com and has joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association. Nicky also has author pages at Sapphire Star Publishing, Amazon and, of course, Goodreads.

Sophie’s Run

Her famous star remains her rock while life takes her on a little detour…

Who says that the road towards true love is straight and even?  Sophie is certainly discovering that it is anything but.

So she has finally found the man of her dreams! Well… she knows who he is, even though she hasn’t actually quite met him yet.  But she misses her opportunity, and then her life goes crazy.  Rock star and ex-fiancé, Dan, keeps getting in the way of her new romance—even if he is just trying to be helpful.  A fire, an impromptu mini-trip with Dan, and a dreaded wedding later, Sophie is still struggling to meet the love of her life. Then, just as she is getting it together with her perfect man, best friend Rachel commits an act of unspeakable betrayal.

Sophie has had enough. Confused and distraught, she decides that it is time for radical change.  Surprising herself and shocking her friends, she embarks on a secret journey and eventually gets her life back on track.

Sophie’s Run is now available in Kindle edition from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, and in Paperback edition from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. You can also get the paperback at Barnes & Noble, or download Sophie’s Run onto your Nook (coming soon).

 

Sophie’s Run GIVEAWAYS

1) Standard Giveaway

Nicky Wells is giving away one delicious chocolate gift to a lucky winner in the UK or North America!

The small print: This Gift prize is a product of Unique Chocolate. The Gift prize is subject to availability in your country. If the Gift prize is not available in your country, Nicky Wells reserves the right to offer a substitute gift prize of a similar nature at her discretion. Nicky Wells will require the winner’s postal address for shipping purposes.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

2. Bonus Giveaway

Nicky Wells offers a giveaway of one Amazon gift voucher worth $20/£15 for one lucky winner. To enter, simply share your thoughts on Sophie’s Run with Nicky. Email your comment to nickywells@sapphirestarpublishing.com and your name will be entered into the draw. Competition closes 1 May 2013.