Post Christmas Food, Cover Reveal, and a Book Release

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I have some Christmas photos and a book release! But first, I have to share the doll my daughter made me. Totally made me laugh! We have a tradition of home made Christmas gifts so I knew she was working on something... I just didn't know it was Mr. Darcy!

Isn't he adorable??

I love his grumpy face!!!

She actually used my Necklothitania book from 1860 to tie his cravat. I just love him. I want to smooch his little frowny face! He sits by my computer and is most displeased with everything I write. *swoon*

Speaking of writing, I have four books coming out in the next six weeks (how does that happen??) and one of them is all about FOOD.

I mean, all of my books have food. I think I've only written three books without recipes (for LI) but every other book has recipes and food is simply part of the characters' lives. Kind of like real people! (Have to show off my sweet onion pork roast. Oh my word, so delicious.)

So, anyway, although I do cook things like this (and the pork roast above), I'm happiest in the summer when all our produce is ripe. For about five years we've worked to be "locavores", meaning we eat locally and produce as much food as we can to support ourselves. (Locally is food grown/ reared and butchered/packaged/produced within 50 miles, which is absolutely doable because we live in a valley surrounded by orchards and cattle farms. We certainly aren't suffering!)

Now, we don't refuse food sent to us, like oranges from Florida, but we try our best to eat what's grown here, cutting down on fossil fuels used to bring the food to us, and also hopefully supporting farmers that treat workers ethically and humanely. 

Man, this picture makes me so nostalgic for summer!

Now, my next series is related to being a locavore and....this fun exhibit from our local Children's Museum.

The Farm to Table movement isn't new... it's the way it's been done for centuries! 

In our Children's Museum, they had the funnest exhibit where kids could "grow" vegetables and buy them. This new exhibit replaced the "grocery store" where kids picked out boxes of mac and cheese, and fake candy bars.

This apple tree cracked me up. You put an "apple" into the hole and tried to get it to fall in one of the exit holes and into the basket.

One of my guys planting veggies.

Another mans the store!

We all know asparagus and grapes are different seasons but that's okay!

Cutest artichoke EVAH.

More of the apple game.

You could hang the grapes on little hangers and then "harvest" them. SO fun for little people who have watched harvest and heard about crush time for years.

So all of this ties into my new series set in the shared world of Arcadia Valley! Six authors who love fresh food and farm-living are releasing a total of twenty four books over the next two years, beginning with our boxed set of SIX new novellas set in the same town. 

Romance Grows in Arcadia Valley releases on Tuesday the 10th, but you can preorder your copy now for only .99! 

Pop on over to our website, Arcadia Valley Romance. and check out the author pages, and the books that are coming next. 

ALSO...

My next book in the Cane River series has a cover!  It's SO SPARKLY.  This book is releasing on the 31st and I'm so excited about the new direction the series went. It's my 18th book and I've been following the hero/ heroine alternating POV chapters for what seems like FOREVER. This was so refreshing to revisit every couple in the series and tell the story of the romance from their perspective. It was a lot more complicated than I anticipated but I LOVED IT and I hope readers will, too!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Epiphany and has a delightful weekend! May all your projects run smoothly and all your food be fresh. 

Until next time!