The Cowboy's Summer Love (43 page)

Fudgie Wudgies

(No-Bake Cookies)

2 cups sugar

4 tbsp. cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

2 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup coconut

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine sugar, cocoa, milk and butter in heavy saucepan. Over medium heat, stir until blended. Continue stirring and bring to a hard boil. Let boil for a minute.

Remove from heat and add oatmeal, coconut, vanilla, mixing well.

Drop by spoon-full on waxed paper or parchment paper.

Try to wait for them to cool before devouring.

Banana Ice Cream

5 eggs

2 1/2 cups sugar

4 cups whipping cream

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. banana flavoring

4 cups milk

4 ripe bananas, mashed

* Warning!
Consuming raw eggs may increase your risk of food borne illness. Please use eggs that are fresh with no cracks in the shell.

Start by beating the eggs until they are foamy and light, about five to six minutes on medium speed. Add in sugar and continue mixing. Slow the speed on the mixer to low and add in the cream followed by the salt, vanilla and banana flavoring. Continue mixing and add in the milk, blending in the bananas last. Pour into your ice cream freezer and freeze according to machine directions.

Enjoy!

(This recipe will easily fill a four-quart freezer.)

Coming Fall 2012!

The Cowboy’s Autumn Fall -
Brice Morgan thought love at first sight was some ridiculous notion of school girls and old ladies who read too many romance novels. At least he does until he meets Bailey Bishop at a friend’s wedding and falls hard and fast for the intriguing woman.

Bailey Bishop attends her cousin’s wedding with no intention of extending her brief visit to Oregon. Married to her career as an archaeologist, Bailey tries to ignore her intense attraction to her cousin’s best friend, Brice. Ready to return home to Denver, Bailey is offered the opportunity to explore a new archeological dig not far from the family’s ranch in Grass Valley.

Can she keep her feelings for Brice from derailing her plans for the future?

As the autumn season arrives, love falls on willing hearts at the Triple T Ranch.

Coming Summer 2012!

Savvy Summer Entertaining - 
The savvy hostess will find all the hints, ideas and recipes she needs for a fun and successful summer entertaining season!

From Savvy Entertaining's blogger, this book includes her favorite tips for celebrating summer!

Coming Summer 2012!

Learnin’ The Ropes  -
Out of work mechanic Ty Lewis is homeless and desperate to find work. Answering a classified ad for a job in Harney County, Oregon, Ty accepts when he is offered the position. Saying goodbye to his sister and his life in Portland, he heads off to the tiny community of Riley to begin a new adventure, unsure about his boss Lex Ryan, a man he has yet to speak with or meet.

Lexi Ryan, known to her ranch hands and neighbors as Lex Jr., leaves a successful career in Portland to keep the Rockin’ R Ranch running smoothly after the untimely death of her father. It doesn’t take long to discover her father did a lot of crazy things during the last few months of his battle with brain cancer, including hiding half a million dollars that Lexi can’t find.

Ty and Lexi are both in for a multitude of surprises as he arrives at the Rockin’ R Ranch and begins learnin’ the ropes.

by

SHANNA HATFIELD

An excerpt
…

Learnin’ The Ropes

Copyright 2012

by Shanna Hatfield

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

For permission requests, please contact the author, with a subject line of "permission request” at the email address below or through her website.

Shanna Hatfield

[email protected]

shannahatfield.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Lesson One

Location, Location, Location

“Git yerself out of thet durn city and into God’s country.”

Tyler Lewis read through the classified ad a third time, trying to decide if he was desperate enough to apply for the open position.

Leaning against his truck door with the paper propped on the steering wheel, cold seeping into his back from the rain-splattered window, and hunger gnawing at his insides, he concluded he was that desperate.

Wanted - Good mechanic able to work on a variety of equipment in Harney County, Oregon. Certification a plus. Wages congruent to experience. Room and board included. Must like animals.

Ty took a deep breath, quickly typed a text message and hit send to the number in the ad before he could change his mind.

If someone told him a year ago he would be living in his pickup, unable to find a job, and willing to do just about anything that was legal to make a few bucks, he would have laughed in their face.

That was before the garage where he worked for the past seven years decided to lay off all but their newest mechanic to cut costs. Ten months later, Ty had $486 left to his name and everything he owned was packed into his pickup.

Let go with a promise that he would have his job back as soon as business picked up, the once-busy garage in a Portland suburb went out of business within a few months, leaving Ty no hope of being re-hired.

Applying for every open mechanic job he could find, he interviewed for positions doing everything from janitorial work to flipping burgers and couldn’t get hired on anywhere. There were way too many people in the same sinking boat.

Five weeks ago, he gave up his apartment and moved into his truck. With rapidly dwindling funds, he sold all of his furniture and anything else he didn’t need which left him his tools, clothes, and one box full of mementos from his childhood.

Although  it was expensive, the one thing he refused to give up was his iPhone. Without it, he would be completely cut off from the rest of the world. It served as his phone, computer, camera, radio, filing system, and number one job-hunting tool.

Wondering if he’d lost his mind for responding to the latest ad, he was Googling information on Harney County when a tap on the glass at his back startled him.

Looking through the water streaks, he grinned and rolled down the window.

“Hey, you might melt out here,” he said to his sister, Beth, as she stood under a huge umbrella.

“Not likely,” she said with a smile. “Come inside and have some dinner with us, Ty. You’ll freeze out here tonight.  The weatherman said it might even snow.”

“In Portland? You’re talking crazy,” Ty said, stuffing his phone in his pocket and getting out of his truck. Locking the door, he followed his sister across the street and up to the tiny studio apartment she shared with her husband Nate. Ty tried to hide a smile as he watched Beth waddle off the elevator and down the narrow hallway. Eight months pregnant, she was definitely looking the part.

Opening the apartment door, the smell of baking bread made Ty’s stomach grumble in anticipation. Beth gave him a narrowed glare.