My Awesome Recipes – the perfect blank paperback cookbook series for organizing your favorite meals, desserts, drinks, holiday classics, and more!
🔥 My Awesome Recipes Are YOUR Awesome Recipes
Record your recipes in these nifty 128-page paperback recipe cookbooks, journals or organizers. From crafting the perfect cocktail to baking delightful treats, these ‘My Awesome Recipes’ journals are designed to help you document and perfect your culinary creations. Explore the full series below.
🍰 My Awesome Dessert Recipes Capture your sweetest creations in one delicious place! This blank dessert recipe book is perfect for bakers who love cakes, cookies, pies, and everything in between. Book link: My Awesome Dessert Recipes
🍹 My Awesome Beverage Recipes From cozy cocoa and smoothies to cocktails and mocktails, this blank drink recipe journal is perfect for mixologists, hosts, and everyday sippers alike. Book link: My Awesome Beverage Recipes
🍳 My Awesome Cooking Recipes A flexible blank cookbook designed for everyday meals, comfort food, and kitchen creativity. Book link: My Awesome Cooking Recipes
🥖 My Awesome Baking Recipes For home bakers who love kneading dough, whipping up pastries, or inventing new bakes. Book link: My Awesome Baking Recipes
🎄My Awesome Holiday Recipes Celebrate the magic of the season and preserve your most delicious traditions with My Awesome Holiday Recipes, a DIY blank recipe book made for home cooks, bakers, and festive foodies of all skill levels. Book link: My Awesome Holiday Recipes These blank recipe journals are designed for bakers, cooks and mixologists of all levels!
Build your own kitchen journal set – the perfect gift for food lovers, students, or newlyweds!
Imagine stepping inside a Beverly Hills mansion where romance, mystery, and cinematic moments unfold in short videos. My Imagine Beverly Hills series brings these moments to life across several platforms.
Why am I so intrigued with Beverly Hills? Because my latest book, North of Sunset: A Novel is set there. In brief, it’s about a levelheaded temporary assistant who is sent to the Beverly Hills home office of a demanding and successful action movie producer, only to discover he’s testing her loyalty in unusual ways.
Rather than market this slow-burn romance book with a series of ads, I defaulted to creative mode and made short videos highlighting various scenes in the book or inspired by the book. When I lived in Los Angeles, I was only a ZIP Code away from Beverly Hills. I sometimes even walked there to see a movie or get some exercise. I also had many long and short-term jobs in various companies in and near Beverly Hills.
Some scenes in the Imagine Beverly Hills short video series include:
A romantic rooftop dinner with views of Beverly Hills and Los Angeles
A poolside lunch with Emily’s boss and a renowned movie star
A private screening room
Emily discovers the door to a secret room
A beautiful home library
Click photo to watch
Step into the world of Imagine Beverly Hills and experience the romance, intrigue, and luxury one short video at a time.
Click photo to watch
If you love books, videos, and videos about books, explore my three main channels linked below.
In January, I took a one-month-long break from the internet. My goal was to rewrite one of my novels. The events in the book also took place in January, so I was completely immersed in my rewrite. Going over my original notes, reading old books, and researching the last decade of the 20th century, I saw what changed and what hadn’t. I wanted to be certain that “North of Sunset” gave off that 1996 vibe. Back then, the internet was only a few years old.
My passion for this project increased as I was able to stay away from the online world which can be distracting. I made notes in a spiral bound notebook. I remembered how Los Angeles was so different than it is now. I listened to music from that time period and watched movies filmed in the mid-nineties. Research always pays off.
While this book is still a novel with a strong female protagonist, it’s a bit more romantic and the ending has changed from the 2015 version. Some of the language has been cleaned up.
Book Description:
1996. Beverly Hills, California.
Sherman Lee is a wildly successful action movie producer with one obsession left: critical respect. But his temper, indulgences, and irrational demands have made him difficult to work for — no assistant lasts more than a few days.
Until Emily Karelin.
Disciplined, grounded, and far removed from Hollywood excess, Emily steps into Sherman’s home office with no industry experience — and no idea what she’s walking into. Navigating his unpredictable demands is challenging enough. But when Sherman’s best friend, internationally adored movie star Wesley Barron, becomes captivated by her, the stakes turn personal.
Will Emily survive Sherman’s loyalty tests?
Can she resist the charm of a renowned movie star?
In a world built on ego, image, and ambition, Emily must decide how much she’s willing to endure and what does loyalty truly cost?
EXCERPT
Emily let herself into the gate that morning. Not since her health food store days had she worked on a Saturday. Last night he’d given her a key to unlock the front door and she opened it and went into the office. No sign of him. Emily made coffee and retrieved several messages, mostly from the pesky media. Which was she to do first, the Rolodex or the scripts? She switched on the computer. Emily went into the kitchen to look for him. Harriet was there, scrambling eggs.
“Hi, Harriet.”
The older woman looked up and smiled. “Good morning, Emily. You’re just in time for breakfast. Sherman’ll be out in a minute.” Harriet pointed her spatula toward the open sliding glass door. Beyond that was the pool.
Emily hadn’t been near the pool. She decided to ask her boss about her first project of the day. She walked out on the large redwood deck and over to the pool that was a natural stone-lined edifice rather than a turquoise oval.
Sherman wore black trunks and was swimming the crawl stroke. He finished a lap and went over to the edge, breathing rapidly. He smiled at her and pointed to a towel on a nearby chaise lounge. “Hi Emily. Hand me that towel, will ya?”
“Sure.” She picked it up and gave it to him.
Sherman dried his face. “Just did thirty laps.”
“Thirty? Wow, I’m impressed. I couldn’t even do three.”
He pulled himself out of the pool and proceeded to dry himself off with the sheet bearing the Olympic rings. “You can go for a swim…”
“No thanks. Besides, I don’t even own a bathing suit.”
Sherman smiled as he dried off his legs. “Who the hell says you need a bathing suit to swim?”
Lisa Maliga is an American author of contemporary fiction, psychological thrillers, and cozy mysteries. Many of her works of fiction are set in Los Angeles.
For Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or any special occasion, this vibrant red velvet hot chocolate is a clear winner for a tasty holiday drink. This kid-friendly caffeine-free version is for those of you who want to enjoy a late night beverage. For an extraordinary holiday season, share this simple yet indulgent recipe with your family and friends. It’s from my latest dessert cookbook QUICK & EASY CHOCOLATE DESSERT RECIPES. Scroll down to watch the video!
Stir well and keep stirring until it just begins to bubble. If using an infrared thermometer, the temperature should be about 150° Fahrenheit / 65° Celsius.
Turn off burner and remove from heat. You don’t want to scorch your milk.
Add the vanilla extract.
Keep stirring as it thickens.
Add the food color[s].
Pour into glass[es] and top with marshmallows, sprinkles, whipped cream, or enjoy as is!
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Buttery, chewy cookies with white chocolate chips and colorful sprinkles are my new favorite! Made with salted butter, pure vanilla and almond extracts, these cookies are sweet and sassy. Make anyone’s birthday a great reason to bake these or just bake them to celebrate any happy occasion!
Have you ever made French hot chocolate in July when the temperature was 100 degrees? Or mixed up a batch of chocolate cake batter well past midnight so the oven didn’t overheat the kitchen? Did you refrigerate your soda glass so it was nice and cold for your chocolate mint milkshake?
Yes, I did all of that and more when creating the recipes that made it into my latest cookbook. And I also learned that having an extra hot kitchen was an advantage when photographing the chocolate treats. Here’s an example of the melting chocolate in the fresh-from-the-oven Baked Chocolate Fudge Bars.
So, if you love chocolate, or know of someone who does, give my latest book a look-see! Here’s the official description.
Indulge Your Sweet Tooth with Quick & Easy Chocolate Dessert Recipes!
Desiring something chocolatey and delicious? Look no further! This tempting collection of 37 irresistible, quick-to-make recipes is the ultimate treat for chocolate lovers of all ages. From dreamy hot and cold chocolate beverages to decadent cookies, brownies, fudge, and puddings, this cookbook is filled with mouthwatering recipes that come together in a jiffy.
Each recipe is paired with stunning full-page color photos, so you can easily recreate these chocolatey delights at home. Whether you’re a seasoned baker or a novice in the kitchen, you’ll find simple yet indulgent recipes that satisfy every chocolate craving.
Discover showstoppers like Red Velvet Cookies, Cotton Candy Hot Chocolate, Egg-Free Chocolate Cupcakes, Mini Chocolate Bundt Cakes, and a rich Double Chocolate Parfait—perfect for cozy nights, special occasions, or whenever you need a chocolate fix!
Yolanda’s Yummery Cozy Mystery Series Box Set, Books 1 -3
Includes 3 full-length cozy mysteries and four free dessert recipes!
The Great Brownie Taste-off, Book 1
Cat shelter employee Yolanda Carter loves her job, but her dream is to own a bakery. Living in Sherman Oaks, California with her tuxedo cat, her only outlet is baking treats for her friends, coworkers and family. Her situation changes when her high school friend, Teagan Mishkin, drops by to tell her about an incredible job opportunity that will give Yolanda enough money to launch her bakery. The job interview takes an unexpected turn and Yolanda stumbles across a scheme to close the cat shelter. She concocts a sweet plan to save the shelter and share her decadent brownies in the Great Brownie Taste-off. Assisted by her artisan parents, friends, shelter employees and a rising young blogger who gives her much-needed publicity, will she win the taste-off and save the shelter? Includes the winning brownie recipe.
The Missing Sea Captain, Book 2
The successful launch of Yolanda’s Yummery in the trendy Brentwood area of Los Angeles has Yolanda Carter working seven days a week. Her delicious desserts are garnering many repeat customers and in just a few weeks the adjoining Beverage Bar will be opening. She’s involved in a budding romance with sophisticated British tea baron, Nigel Garvey. The mystery involves Captain Angus, a regular homeless customer who disappears. Clues point toward Yolanda being involved in foul play. Lead investigator Detective Churchill thinks she’s a murderer, along with her best friend, Teagan Mishkin. Will Yolanda’s name be cleared, and can those bestselling Magical Cakes of Love save her and the yummery? Includes two new recipes!
A Pie to Die For, Book 3
In this cozy mystery, Yolanda Carter is told of her grandmother’s best friend’s unsolved murder. Mildred Overmeyer was an outstanding home baker who was stabbed to death while baking a cherry pie. The story of the 1960s crime touches Yolanda, along with her new friend, Detective Churchill. Her budding sleuthing skills lead her to search for the killer. In between investigating and baking batches of pies in time for her latest product launch, Yolanda discovers more about the sweetness of love. And who is heating up the kitchen with Yolanda? Includes the recipe for Yolanda’s Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!
Whether you like muffins for breakfast, as a snack or dessert, zesty lemon streusel muffins are quick and easy to make. These muffins also contain white chia seeds, which are tan to light brown in color. They don’t show up in the baked muffins. They’re lighter than the familiar black chia seeds as they’re immature. There is no difference in taste or texture. I’d run out of the standard black chia seeds, so I used what was in my cupboard.
The streusel is made first. It’s a crumb topping that adds texture and flavor to your zesty muffins. By adding melted butter, you spend less time mixing it.
Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit/190 Celsius. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In a medium bowl, mix the egg and add ricotta, water, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice. Blend together.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into the middle then mix with a silicone or rubber spatula. When half-mixed, add chia seeds, gently folding into batter.
Scoop batter into the muffin pan’s liners. Each should be 3/4 full.
Top each muffin with streusel topping.
Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool on cooling rack.
Lemon streusel muffins taste best when heated. Store in an airtight container for up 5 days.
Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small amount of money from qualifying purchases.
VIDEO
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How easy is it to make healthy popcorn on your stovetop? So easy it’ll only take about 5 minutes. Stovetop popcorn is a lot healthier than microwave popcorn. Plus, you control the types of oil, butter and amount of salt you need. This is the perfect recipe for those who follow the Keto diet, and it’s always a great snack to enjoy when watching a movie or reading a book.
From the classic cookbook BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS NEW COOKBOOK, copyright 1968.
A slightly revised recipe by Lisa Maliga, copyright 2024.
I was looking for an apple crisp recipe, but when I found this 56-year-old Apple Betty recipe from my vintage cookbook, I went with it. It’s quick and easy to make. It can be served with ice cream or whipped cream, but I only had chocolate ice cream, so I just had a large piece without any topping. It was still hot from the oven, which is the best temperature to serve this dessert.
Apple Betty Recipe
Ingredients
4 cups sliced pared tart apples or 1 1-pound 2-ounce can
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
1/2 cup [4 ounces] butter
Oven temperature: 375 Fahrenheit / 190 Celsius
Directions:
Mound apples in buttered 9-inch pie plate; sprinkle with orange juice. Combine sugar, flour, spices, and salt; cut in butter till mixture is crumbly; sprinkle over apples.
Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or till apples are tender and topping is crisp. Serve warm with cream. Makes 6 servings.
OPTIONS: I used golden sugar, which is slightly less processed than white sugar.
I sliced the Granny Smith apples and left the skins on.
I added 1/8 teaspoon allspice.
You can substitute lemon juice for orange juice.
Salted butter was used.
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