TOUCHED Blog Tour: Guest Post & Giveaway!!

Remy O’Malley heals people with touch—but every injury she cures becomes her own. Living in a household with an abusive stepfather, she has healed untold numbers of broken bones, burns,and bruises. And then one night her stepfather goes too far.

Being sent to live with her estranged father offers a clean start and she is eager to take it. Enter Asher Blackwell. Once a Protector of Healers, Asher sacrificed his senses to become immortal. Only by killing a Healer can a Protector recover their human senses. Falling in love is against the rules between these two enemies. Because Remy has the power to make Protectors human again, and when they find out, they’ll becoming for her—if Asher doesn’t kill her first.

This is Book One in the Touched trilogy, and will be out November 27th, 2012 from Kensington/KTeen.

**READ AN EXCERPT HERE**

Buy the Book: Amazon | Indiebound| Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million| German Amazon

Add to Your Shelf: Goodreads | The Reading Room

Prize: (1) $5 Starbucks gift card and a box of Twinkies, plus (1) Signed copy of TOUCHED

In TOUCHED, food is a recurring theme and figures into the romance between Remy and Asher. The scenes where they eat are some of my favorites for reasons you will see when you read the novel (I don’t want to ruin the fun for you). Remy tends to love junk food, and her favorite foods are based on (surprise!) my favorites. She loves mac and cheese, bleu cheese burgers, café mochas, and chocolate. For fun, here are a few recipes so that you make the food from the book.

Plus one lucky winner will win a $5 Starbucks gift card and a box of Twinkies. Trust me, the Twinkies are a sweet joke in the book. Enjoy the recipes!

BEECHER’S MAC AND CHEESE
Note: Beecher’s is a famous cheese shop, and they advertise having the “World’s Best Mac and Cheese.” Now you can even buy their mac at Whole Foods. LOVE.

serves 4 as a side dish 
 

SAUCE 

2 tablespoons unsalted butter 

3 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 

1 1/2 cups whole milk 

7 ounces Flagship cheese, grated (about 1 3/4 cups) 

1 ounce Just Jack cheese, grated (1/4 cup) 

½ teaspoon coarse salt 

¼ to ½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder 

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

PASTA 

6 ounces penne pasta (about 3 ¼ cups) 

1 ounce (1/4 cup) Flagship cheese, grated 

1 ounce (1/4 cup) Just Jack cheese, grated 

¼ to ½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder

Instructions 
 
To prepare sauce, melt butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat and whisk in the flour. Continue whisking and cook for 2 minutes. Slowly add milk, whisking constantly. Cook until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add cheeses, salt, chili powder and garlic powder. Stir until cheese is melted and all ingredients are incorporated, about 3 minutes. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter or oil an 8-inch baking dish. Cook penne 2 minutes less than package directions. (It will finish cooking in the oven.) Rinse pasta in cold water and drain well.

Combine pasta and sauce in a medium bowl; mix carefully but thoroughly. Scrape the pasta into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle top with cheeses and then the chili powder.

Bake, uncovered, 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Source: Beecher’s


BLUE CHEESE BURGERS

Yield: 8-10 burgers

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds ground chuck
1 pound ground sirloin
1/2 cup seasoned dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup steak sauce (recommended: Crosse and Blackwell)
3 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 to 10 hamburger buns
8 ounces blue cheese, sliced (recommended: Danish Blue)
Arugula and sliced tomatoes, for serving, optional

Directions
Carefully mix the meats, breadcrumbs, steak sauce, eggs, salt, and pepper with the tines of a fork, but do not mash them. Lightly form hamburger patties and press lightly into shape.

Prepare a charcoal or a stove-top grill.
Cook the hamburgers for 4 minutes on 1 side, then turn and cook 3 minutes on the other side for medium-rare. Remove to a plate and cover with aluminum foil. Allow the hamburgers to rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, grill the buns, cut side down, for 1 minute, until toasted. Place a hamburger and a slice of blue cheese in each bun, plus arugula and tomato, if desired, and serve hot.

Source: Ina Garten, Food Network

  

Corrine Jackson (pronounced Cor-een) is a young adult author repped by Laura Bradford of Bradford Literary Agency. Her debut young adult novel, If I Lie, will be published by Simon Pulse (August 28, 2012). Touched, the first book of her young adult paranormal romance trilogy, will be published by Kensington/KTeen (November 27, 2012).

Once upon a time, Corrine worked as a graphic designer before she switched to account management at one of the country’s top marketing agencies. She has a deep and abiding love for Anthropologie and intends to move into her nearest store when the employees aren’t looking and/or she can get her hands on a key (which she expects to find in one of their bins).

An education addict, Corrine has attended eleven different colleges, has earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. A recipient of a West Chester Poetry Conference scholarship, she is also the former Editor-in-Chief of two literary magazines, including Statement (CSU, Los Angeles) and Dash (CSU, Fullerton). A member of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators), RWA, YARWA, and AWP, she has mad skills in the kitchen, especially when it comes to pies and cupcakes.

Follow Corrine via her: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

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