A Meal Made in Heaven

A great meal is the nectar of the gods. It’s heavenly. Sometimes it’s better than sex. I love writing books about chefs and cooks. Such fun.

All four of my grandparents were from the Abruzzo region of Italy. My grandmothers and my Italian mother-in-law were terrific cooks. However, of all the wonderful meals I’ve eaten through the years, one stands out above the rest.

In 2006, my husband and I traveled to Abruzzo, Italy, to join a tour run by my Australian cousin, Luciana. A cousin from Arizona joined us. Luciana had just started her tour company, and this was the maiden tour.

As we traveled through mountainous, wildly beautiful Abruzzo, we ate the most scrumptious food every day. Luciana had arranged the meals and the elegant wines to complement them. We ate at several agrituristicas, farms that grow and serve organic foods and are subsidized by the Italian government in an effort to bring more tourism into the lesser-known regions of Italy.

One such agrituristica, Ill Nespolo, was run by a husband and wife, Maria Angela, from the province of Calabria, and Gabriele, from Abruzzo. Here’s the menu for that meal:

Antipasto consisting of home-made sausage, cheeses with honey and saffron, marinated vegetables, bruschetta with olive paste.

Primo(First Course)-Gnocchi al pomodoro-gnocchi alle verdue

(Gnocchi with tomato sauce and with green vegetable sauce)

Secondo(Second Course)-Petto di tacchino con arancia e rucola (turkey breast with orange and rocket. Rocket is similar to arugula)

Dolce(Dessert)-Home-made biscotti with honey

All served with local Abruzzese wines.

Our hosts provided us with a surprise dish--saffron gnocchi with fresh-shaved truffle. Oh. My. God. That was the best food, hands down, I’ve ever eaten. Ever. In my life.

All the food we ate on that trip was incredible, delicious, wonderful. And the wines were exquisite. But nothing compared to the heavenly delight of saffron gnocchi with fresh-shaved truffle. During the meal, my husband whispered that he might have to divorce me and marry Maria Angela because she cooked like an angel. Couldn’t blame him. I wanted to marry her myself. Our group went nuts over all the food at that meal, but especially the saffron gnocchi. There wasn’t a scrap left of anything when we were done. To this day, I can’t eat gnocchi because nothing will ever be as good as the dish I ate at Ill Nespolo.

Food is more than eating. It’s companionship and memories. I have the most marvelous memories of that trip and of the meals shared with family and new friends. I can’t think of that meal and the others without remembering Luciana and what a great host and tour guide she was. I got to spend more time with my cousin Kevin from Arizona, whom my husband and I traveled with to Australia a few years earlier; the friendship of the others in our group, all Australian, warmed me. As a group, we grew close, sharing some rough times, like when our van got stuck in road ruts in the Abruzzo wilderness. Or when we hiked one of Italy’s national parks on a scorching hot day. Or visited medieval monasteries carved into the sides of mountains. All the memories are bound together with the food we ate.

That trip, and the food, connected me to generations of my family who are as much a part of that region as the stark mountains and hillside villages.

Here are pictures of the gnocchi, the truffle being shaved, and our group. I’m second from left in the turquoise top, holding a glass, conversing with the man next to me.

My romantic suspense, Murder, Mi Amore, is set almost entirely in Italy. Every setting is authentic, based on places we visited and stayed during that 2006 trip. The meals I mention in that book are actual meals we ate. My very first published book, from Avalon Books, A Catered Affair,(reissued under the title A Catered Romance) featured a caterer heroine. Lots of food references in that book. My most current foodie book is Capri Nights, set on the Isle of Capri.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Abruzzo region of Italy or taking a trip there, check out Luciana’s website: https://www.touringabruzzo.com/

Check out all my books at: www.caramarsi.com

Buy Murder, Mi Amore:

https://books2read.com/u/3J8XpP

Danger. Deception. Desire.

Murder, jewel thieves and terrorists intrude on an American woman's Roman holiday; can she trust the sexy, mysterious Italian man who comes to her aid?

Buy A Catered Romance:

https://books2read.com/u/3nY826

Delicious. Hot. Sensuous.

There's more than business brewing between two old high school flames...

Stubbornly self-reliant Mary Beth Kendrick needs financial backing to keep her catering business cooking. A looming corporate buyout forces her to accept help from Tom Sackett, the man who broke her heart and left her with no appetite for love. 

Buy Capri Nights:

https://books2read.com/u/3L9z51

Sensual. Sumptuous. Sizzling.

Love under an Italian sky.

A San Francisco sous chef discovers she might have bitten off more than she can chew when a scrumptious Italian man stirs up a recipe for romance on the delicious Isle of Capri.

Topaz and Thanksgiving

November is my birth month so it’s always been special to me. This year, however, it also represents hope and renewal. October was an especially brutal month for me personally. I’m still dealing with the aftershocks, but now that November is here, I’m trying to move on.

A theme for our November blogs is parties, as in who would you most like to party with.  In my twenties and thirties, I was all about partying. God forbid we stayed in New Year’s Eve. Last year my birthday fell on Thanksgiving. Because it was a milestone birthday, I wanted to celebrate with the two people I love the most in the world, my husband and son, the only two people I need to make my party complete. My son lives near Las Vegas so my husband and I flew to Sin City for my Thanksgiving birthday. We had an amazing holiday dinner, but the best part was that the three of us were together. Family is what Thanksgiving is all about.

I used to fantasize about having an elegant family Christmas party where the women and girls were dressed in taffeta, silk, and satin, and the men and boys wore elegant suits. The table would be set with fine china and Waterford crystal and everyone behaved beautifully. Definitely a fantasy. If your families are anything like mine, we dress up for Christmas, but comfortably, and in most cases not in silk, satin, or taffeta. And what about Thanksgiving? Loose clothes are the order of the day.

Another theme this month is November’s birthstone, topaz or citrine. Since it’s also my birthstone, I love the gem in all its colors. I have a citrine ring, a pair of citrine earrings, a smoky topaz ring, smoky topaz earrings, a mystic topaz ring, a golden topaz ring which my grandfather gave me when I was a child, and a blue topaz ring.

Topaz comes in many colors which might surprise people. Here’s what I found on Wikipedia:

Pure topaz is colorless and transparent but is usually tinted by impurities; typical topaz is wine red, yellow, pale gray, reddish-orange, or blue brown. It can also be white, pale green, blue, gold, pink (rare), reddish-yellow or opaque to transparent/translucent.

Orange topaz, also known as precious topaz, is the traditional November birthstone, the symbol of friendship, and the state gemstone of the US state of Utah.

Imperial topaz is yellow, pink (rare, if natural) or pink-orange. Brazilian Imperial Topaz can often have a bright yellow to deep golden brown hue, sometimes even violet. Many brown or pale topazes are treated to make them bright yellow, gold, pink or violet colored. Some imperial topaz stones can fade on exposure to sunlight for an extended period of time. Blue topaz is the state gemstone of the US state of Texas. Naturally occurring blue topaz is quite rare. Typically, colorless, gray or pale yellow and blue material is heat treated and irradiated to produce a more desired darker blue.

Mystic topaz is colorless topaz which has been artificially coated giving it the desired rainbow effect.

Two gems are appropriate for November birthdays -Topaz and Citrine.

 

Citrine, the other birthstone for November is known as the "healing quartz". This golden gemstone is said to support vitality and health while encouraging and guiding hope, energy and warmth within the wearer. Citrine can be found in a variety of shades ranging from pastel yellow to dark brownish orange. It is one of the most affordable of gemstones and plentiful in nature. Citrine is found most frequently in Brazil, Bolivia, and Spain.

If you need a break from all the holiday eating, I recommend the delicious stories in Entice Me: Luscious Love Stories. I’m honored to be part of this anthology with so many talented authors.

My contribution is Capri Nights, a sensuous romance set on the bewitching Isle of Capri.

A San Francisco sous chef discovers she might have bitten off more than she can chew when a scrumptious Italian man stirs up a recipe for romance on the delicious Isle of Capri.

Sous chef Cat Connors has spent a lifetime feeling like a stale cracker on a plate of fancy hors d'oeuvres among her stepfamily. But when she travels from San Francisco to the sunny Isle of Capri, she’s determined to finally shed her dowdy image and spice up her life. She has big plans for her future as a chef. Those plans don’t include a yummy Italian with a mouth-watering body and a smile that melts her insides like gelato under the hot Capri sun.

When Alex Viteli retreats to his villa on Capri to escape the notoriety and legal troubles brought on by his family, the last thing he needs is a beautiful, tempting dish of a woman. Alex may be the scion of a wealthy Italian family, but that won’t matter if he can’t cook up a scheme to clear his father’s name and keep himself out of prison.

Though they fit together like strawberries and chocolate, Cat and Alex may not have time for more than a quick bite of romance. Cat’s future is in San Francisco. Alex can’t leave Italy. But the sultry Capri nights might tempt them both to savor just one more sweet taste of love.

http://www.amazon.com/Entice-Me-Luscious-Love-Stories-ebook/dp/B015YEHP9U/?tag=carmaraut-20

   

ABSOLUTELY CAPRI!

Absolutely Capri!

Faraglioni

Happy autumn, everyone. Our theme for September is Absolutely! I’m privileged to have a story in the RB4U anthology, Entice Me, an absolutely terrific set of love stories, coming in October. My story is Capri Nights, a sensual romance set on Italy’s Isle of Capri.

I absolutely love Capri. I’ve visited there twice and hope to go again. It’s a place of wondrous beauty and legend, and one of my favorite places in the world.

From Wikipedia:

Capri is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been a resort since the time of the Roman Republic.

Some of the main features of the island include the following: the Marina Piccola (the little harbour), the Belvedere of Tragara (a high panoramic promenade lined with villas), the limestone crags called sea stacks that project above the sea (the Faraglioni), the town of Anacapri, the Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra), and the ruins of the Imperial Roman villas.

Blue Grotto

I love anything to do with Ancient Rome, so I’m especially interested in Capri during Ancient Roman times. More from Wikipedia:

Ancient and Roman times

According to the Greek geographer Strabo, Capri was once part of the mainland. This has been confirmed by geological surveys and archaeological findings.

The city has been inhabited since early times. Evidence of human settlement was discovered during the Roman era; according to Suetonius, when the foundations for the villa of Augustus were being excavated, giant bones and 'weapons of stone' were discovered. The emperor ordered these to be displayed in the garden of his main residence, the Sea Palace. Modern excavations have shown that human presence on the island can be dated to the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. Augustus developed Capri; he built temples, villas, aqueducts, and planted gardens so he could enjoy his private paradise.

In his Aeneid, Virgil states that the island had been populated by the Greek people of Teleboi, coming from the Ionian Islands. Strabo says that "in ancient times in Capri there were two towns, later reduced to one." Tacitus records that there were twelve Imperial villas in Capri. Ruins of one at Tragara could still be seen in the 19th century.

Augustus' successor Tiberius built a series of villas at Capri, the most famous of which is the Villa Jovis, one of the best-preserved Roman villas in Italy. In 27 AD, Tiberius permanently moved to Capri, running the Empire from there until his death in 37 AD.

In 182 AD, Emperor Commodus banished his sister Lucilla to Capri. She was executed shortly afterwards.

Marina Piccola

Now you have a little bit about Capri. What I remember most are the flowers everywhere, the festive crowds, the bright colors, the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Naples, and majestic Vesuvius rising in the distance, a monarch surveying his domain.

You can tell the native Italians from the tourists. The natives are better dressed. I loved sitting at the outdoor cafes enjoying luscious meals and rich wines. The Blue Grotto is thrilling and beautiful, but crowded and touristy. In Capri Nights, my heroine, Cat, tells the hero, Alex, that the Blue Grotto is too touristy for her. He tells her it won’t be touristy when she’s with him. And he is so right!

I first visited Capri when I was twenty-years-old. While there, I had a short fling with an Italian named Giuseppe who worked in our hotel. I called him Joseph. I’ve romanticized that fling over the years. Joseph is my inspiration for Alex in Capri Nights.

Here’s my blurb for Capri Nights:

A San Francisco sous chef discovers she might have bitten off more than she can chew when a scrumptious Italian man stirs up a recipe for romance on the delicious Isle of Capri.

Sous chef Cat Connors has spent a lifetime feeling like a stale cracker on a plate of fancy hors d'oeuvres among her stepfamily. But when she travels from San Francisco to the sunny Isle of Capri, she’s determined to finally shed her dowdy image and spice up her life. She has big plans for her future as a chef. Those plans don’t include a yummy Italian with a mouth-watering body and a smile that melts her insides like gelato under the hot Capri sun.

When Alex Viteli retreats to his villa on Capri to escape the notoriety and legal troubles brought on by his family, the last thing he needs is a beautiful, tempting dish of a woman. Alex may be the scion of a wealthy Italian family, but that won’t matter if he can’t cook up a scheme to clear his father’s name and keep himself out of prison.

Though they fit together like strawberries and chocolate, Cat and Alex may not have time for more than a quick bite of romance. Cat’s future is in San Francisco. Alex can’t leave Italy. But the sultry Capri nights might tempt them both to savor just one more sweet taste of love.

Read all the luscious love stories, including Capri Nights, in Entice Me, The Boxed Set, available for pre-order October 1, 2015.

My So-Called Life

It’s my turn to interview myself. Warning: I lead a dull life.

Remember, one commenter will win a RB4U T-shirt. So bring on those comments! And don’t forget to leave your email so we can contact you for your snail mail address.

Here’s my “official” bio:

Cara Marsi, an award-winning author and self-proclaimed TV junkie, is a former corporate drone and cubicle dweller. Freed of her fabric-covered cage, she can now indulge her love of all things romance. She craves books with happy endings and loves to write about independent heroines and the strong heroes who love them. And she loves to put her characters in dangerous situations or situations merely dangerous to their hearts and watch them fight for the happy endings they deserve.

An eclectic author, Cara is published in romantic suspense, paranormal romance, and contemporary romance. She’s also published numerous short romance stories in national women’s magazines and online. When not traveling or dreaming of traveling, Cara and her husband live on the East Coast in a house ruled by their fat black diva of a cat named Killer.

And now to the questions.

1. Your novel is being made into a TV series/movie. Who’s in your dream cast?

           

            That’s easy. My fantasy is that A Groom for Christmas will be made into a Hallmark movie (Hallmark Channel, are you listening?). Jake Falco would be played by swoon-worthy Tom Mison of TV’s Sleepy Hollow. Graceann Palmer would be played by Amy Adams or Emma Stone, both with dark hair. See Mison below.

2.  What’s your writing schedule like? Do you strive for a certain number of words each day?

            What writing schedule?

3.  What is the most important thing you do for your career now, as compared to when you first started writing?

            I write more because I’m no longer working full time as I was when I first published. I also do lots more promo than I did before. My first book was a hardback from Avalon Books. They paid a flat fee and no royalties. Promo wouldn’t have changed what I made so I did no promo. Ah, those were the days.

4.  How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in your book?

           

            Lots. My heroines all have a little of me in them. Like me, they’ve been responsible and dependable, like a pet dog, always doing what is expected, all their lives. I like to get them out of that bubble and shake things up. I like to write stories about characters, especially women, who are deterimined to change their lives.

5. Covers. Did you ever get one you wish you could change?

            Yes! I hated the cover Avalon gave me for my first book, A Catered Affair. See it below. Do you agree? Oh, wait, I did change the cover when I got the rights back, revised the story, and renamed it A Catered Romance. See my new cover next to the old one.

6.  How do you choose names for your characters?

            I name the villains after old boyfriends who dumped me, my ex-husband and the mean girls who made my life hell in high school. I look for age-appropriate names for my heroes and heroines. I have a list of the most popular baby names from the early 80’s which would be when most of my characters are born. I consult that for first names. For last names, I search the Internet for ethnic names that are easy to spell and pronounce. The heroes must have strong names. I try to give at least one of my main characters an Italian last name, as that’s my heritage. The heroine in A Groom for Christmas is Graceann, named after one of my nieces. The heroine in Murder, Mi Amore is Lexie, named after another niece. Some of the heroes in my short stories have been named after my nephews.

7.  Have you ever used an incident from your real life in one of your books?

            Yes. In A Catered Romance, I took a hurtful thing the guy I crushed on in seventh grade said about me and expanded it to form the inciting incident in the story. In one I’ve just written, Capri Nights (no release date), I used the experience I had when I visited the Isle of Capri in Italy when I was twenty. I met an Italian named Giuseppe Desiderio, made out with him on the roof of the Europa Palace Hotel, and wrote to him for six months after I got home. Most of my short stories are based on things that happened to me. Of course, I change the incidents to make them deeper and more interesting than they really were. Remember, my life is dull.

Also, on that same trip to Capri, I had a date earlier in the day with another Italian guy who worked at our hotel (two dates in one day!). I was on some mountain with this guy and he got fresh with me so I hauled off and hit him with my purse. In Murder, Mi Amore, my heroine hauls off and whacks a guy with her purse because he’s attacking the hero. Yes, I hit one guy for trying to kiss me and I made out with another guy that same day. But I was wildly attracted to the second guy. Makes all the difference.

8.  If you could give a younger version of yourself advice, what would it be?

     Start writing in your twenties and not wait until your late forties to begin. And embrace your paleness and stay out of the sun.    

            9.  How many stories are swirling around in your head? Do you keep a mental list, a computer file, or a spiral notebook filled with the ideas?

            Lots of stories. I keep everything mentioned above: a mental list, a computer file and a spiral notebook. I’m obsessive about some things.

            10.  Of all your characters, who’s your favorite and why?

            That’s like asking a mother which of her children is her favorite. I confess I fall in love with each of my heroes. I like my heroines, but I love my heroes. Right now, I’m in love with Jake from A Groom for Christmas, but the man who’s held my heart the longest is Logan Tanner from Logan’s Redemption. Logan had been a character in my mind for so long before I wrote him. He’s special to me.

            Drumroll!! Now for the fun stuff.

            1. What’s your favorite holiday and why?

                        Christmas. I love the music, the excitement in the air, the decorations, the food, getting together with friends and family.

            2.  What are two things people might be surprised to know about you?

                        When I was in my late teens, I worked part-time at my local Sears store. One Easter season, they made me dress in a bunny outfit and walk around the store handing out candy from a basket I carried. This wasn’t a Playboy bunny outfit, but a big, bulky thing that looked like a child’s PJ’s with feet. I had big rabbit ears too. Most humiliating experience of my life.

                        I ate kangaroo meat on a trip to Australia. Tastes like chicken.

            3.  As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

                        A writer, an anthropologist and a teacher. Not all at the same time and not necessarily in that order.

            4.  Favorite food.

            That’s a hard one. I have a hearty and eclectic appetite. I eat most everything. I’ve eaten snails, the aforementioned kangaroo meat, and alligator in South Carolina. I won’t eat muskrat, though, which is a delicacy in some parts of my state.

            5.  Favorite happy memory.

                        Coming down the stairs Christmas morning when I was little and seeing all those gifts under the tree.

            6.  Favorite drink.

                        Wine. What else is there?

            7.  Hot summer days or chilly winter nights?

                        Summer, all the way, baby.

            8.  What is the top thing on your bucket list?

                        To live in Arizona, or at least live there part of the year, during winter so I can escape the cold back East. I’ve visited there many times. I told my husband if I die before him, he should spread my ashes in the Arizona desert because that’s probably the only way I’ll get there permanently.

            9.  If you could have a super power, what would it be?

                        To clean my house with a twitch of my nose like Samantha in Bewitched.

Find me at: www.caramarsi.com

Twitter: @CaraMarsi

Facebook: https://facebook.com/authorcaramarsi

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/caramarsi/

I love hearing from readers and fellow authors

Blurb from my latest release, A Groom for Christmas:

When a young woman hires her hometown’s former bad boy to be her pretend fiancé for the holidays, she finds she can’t wrap up her feelings as easily as a Christmas gift.

New York jewelry designer Graceann Palmer has two days to find a fiancé to bring home to Pennsylvania for the holidays so her matchmaking mama will quit fixing her up with jerks. The Falcon, a motorcycle-riding, leather-clad former high school crush, helped her out once before. Maybe he'll do it again.

Jake Falco, man of many mysteries, is back in town on a mission—one the people of Spirit Lake most likely won't appreciate. When Graceann presents him with her crazy scheme, it gives him something he's always wanted—a chance to get to know Graceann. It also gives him the perfect opportunity to add fuel to his project of revenge.

But as Jake and Graceann grow closer, their engagement-of-convenience begins to feel like the real deal—until Jake’s secrets are revealed.

Can a relationship that began with lies and secrets bloom like a rare Christmas rose into happily-ever-after?

Buy links:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G03I5UI/?tag=carmaraut-20

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-groom-for-christmas-cara-marsi/1117185595?ean=2940148677871

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/a-groom-for-christmas

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/a-groom-for-christmas/id740347966?mt=11

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/371969

This book is also available in print.