This month has been so busy! We completed our Backerkit campaign, but now we're adding recipes and teas to our Enchanted Fairytales and have them in a Kickstarter campaign. So much fun! We will be talking about those recipes next time, but for now...let's share a recipe from our Burrows Bay series. Just in time for Halloween!

Today's Recipe

Spooky Deviled Eggs

Hard boil 1 dozen eggs.  Put into ice water and soak 20-30 minutes.  Carefully remove shells and slice in half lengthwise, taking yolks out and putting them into a mixing bowl. 

• Egg yolks, chopped
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons mustard of your choice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and carefully spoon into egg halves. 

• Canned black olives – whole.  You’ll need 12 olives for the body and several more for the legs, so be sure to buy an extra can.

Cut olives in half crosswise.  Place ½ an olive on top of each egg, round side up. 

Cut extra halves into small slices.  Arrange 4 slices on each side of half olive to look like little spider legs on each side of body.  This is a cute and fun appetizer for any age group.  Should make 2 dozen.

This is one recipe, where we ask you to try it and SEND US your photos! We would love to post a few in our blog.

Author Spotlight

For our Author Spotlight today, we are showcasing the last few days of a Kickstarter campaign that we think you might enjoy. We have not read the book, but we love the title!

This is not OUR fairytale, but it looks like a lot of fun, and there's a dragon! You can read the next chapter of our Once Upon A Rose at the end of this blog post.

Once Upon A Rose: A Cozy Fantasy Romance Fairytale Retelling

A cursed lord, a feisty librarian, and their dragon in a no spice, marriage of convenience, Beauty & the Beast fairy tale romantasy.

Lavender CottageCore

We also have a Kickstarter campaign running this week, and we're VERY EXCITED about adding tea and desserts to our Enchanted Fairytales. You can find out more by visiting our campaign...and we'll include some of the details here.

Fairytales, gardens, adventure...and tea for the holidays.

Enjoy these four Enchanted Fairytales with a special tea and recipe for each, along with an Elemental Fairytale and Christmas story.

Enjoy this sneak peek from Magical Garden.

Michela picked up the book to put it back on the shelf and stopped as she saw something slip out and land on the floor.

“What’s this?”  She picked up the paper and unfolded it.  “Aunt Ida, did you know Mom had a drawing in here?”

“No,” Ida shook her head.  “I haven’t looked at that book in quite a while.”

“It’s the garden,” Michela said, turning the paper 90 degrees.  “And it’s from a long time ago…before we added the area on the north side.”

“The miniature trees,” Ida remembered.  “Those are so cute.”

“What Mom called the Fairy Forest.” Michela smiled.  “We had so much fun picking out just the right evergreens for it.”  She turned the paper around again.  “It looks like there’s something written on the bottom.

We hope you enjoyed this sneak peek.  If you'd like to read the first two chapters, visit our website!  

And a special herbal tea and recipe for this story.

Once Upon A Rose - Chapter 15

Finally, we want to include a chapter for everyone to read at the end of each newsletter. Here’s the next part of Once Upon A Rose, the first story in our Enchanted Fairytale Series. Action, adventure, romance…and maybe a little magic. (If you missed the first thirteen chapters, we have a link at the bottom of the story.)

Celsiana poured a small amount of linseed oil in the bowl, then took a handful of soap flakes, making sure she already had some of the natron she always carried in her hand.  She knew the lye would burn for a moment, but she also knew her natron would burn a lot longer.

She nodded to Nicholas as he brought over the candle.  “Are you sure about this?” he asked.

“Go ahead,” Celsiana replied, “but stand back after you do.”

Nicholas lit the oil and they both watched it burn, then spark and burn brighter as the soap ignited.  After another moment, the flames jumped up.

“How did you do that?” Nicholas asked in amazement.

“Even lowly gardeners can do magic,” Celsiana replied.

“All right, I’m sorry about before,” Nicholas said, “but seriously, how did you do that?”

“I added something in with the soap,” Celsiana explained.  “It’s called natron.”

“I’ve heard of it,” Nicholas said, “but how did a gardener end up with such a rare commodity.”

As Celsiana frowned, Nicholas held up his hands.  “Sorry.  It’s going to take a while for me to get used to the idea that the young man helping my sister in the garden knows the tricks of a master apothecary.”

“I’ll explain that later,” Celsiana said.  “Do you have any idea who the client is that Orris mentioned?”

“I’m not sure,” Nicholas admitted.  “I probably should have spent more time trying to get information out of him and less refusing to help him.”

Celsiana nodded.  “It shouldn’t be too much longer until my friends…”  She stopped as she heard the door open. 

“Well?” Orris asked, walking into the room with two of his men.  “Did you have any luck?  My client wants to see your progress.”

“Actually, we have,” Nicholas said, glancing over at Celsiana.  “Your gardener actually had some good ideas.”

Orris glanced over at one of his men. “What is it about studying with Vargas that makes these apprentices so arrogant?”

The man smiled as Nicholas said, “Do you want to see what we’ve come up with or not?”

Nicholas picked up the linseed oil and made a big show of pouring it into the metal bowl as Celsiana picked up the soap.  She made sure to have the natron crystals in her hand as she took a small amount of soap flakes and sprinkled them into the oil. 

“We’ve come up with a combination that should do what you ask,” Nicholas said, taking the candle and lighting the oil.  He smiled as the flames jumped up. 

Orris took a step back, then smiled.  “Very nice.  My client should be quite impressed.”  He glanced down at the table.  “How much can you make?”

“How much do you need?” Celsiana asked.

“That’s none of your concern,” Orris said.  “Just put together enough for tonight, then you can show my guys how to make it.”

“It’s not that easy…” Celsiana began, when the man standing next to her shoved her back. 

“Watch your mouth,” he said.

Celsiana grabbed for the table, but her hands were slick from the soap flakes and she fell to the ground, knocking her hat off.  They all stared as her dark blonde hair came down in a braid.

“You’re a girl,” Nicholas said in disbelief.

“Oh, she’s more than that,” Celsiana heard a woman’s voice say behind her.  “Aren’t you, little sister?”

Celsiana looked up to see Arabella standing there with the man she’d met at the gate that morning.  “You’re the client?” she asked in disbelief.

“Why so surprised?” Arabella asked.  “Did you really think my life would revolve around meaningless parties and producing royal heirs?”

“Who is she?” Orris demanded.

“It seems you have the princess of your kingdom helping to make our little surprise,” Arabella replied.  “How wonderfully ironic.”

“What are you planning to do?” Celsiana asked.

“That’s enough out of you,” the man next to Arabella said, then smiled.  “Seems we have an even better situation than we planned.  We can ransom her back to the king, then launch the attack.”

Nicholas looked from Celsiana to Orris.  “How could you work with enemies of our king?” he demanded.

“I was promised a large reward and control of the guild here,” Orris replied.

“You already control the guild,” Celsiana said, “so why betray my father?”

Orris smiled.  “Did I mention it was a large reward?”

Celsiana glared at him, then looked over at Arabella.  “What about Seraline?  Is she part of this?”

“Of course not,” Arabella said.  “I told you, she doesn’t like to get her hands dirty.”

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