Here on the blog, we love reading—and we love food. So what better than to combine them with recipes from authors? We’ll start with the recipe to whet your appetite, then you can learn more about the author and her books below!

Cathy Skendrovich’s Award-Winning Chili
Cathy says: I’ve been making my mom’s chili forever. It’s my sons’ favorite meal. Every fall our church has a chili cookoff. One year my younger son suggested I enter the contest. “Your chili is the best, Mom. You should enter it.” I thought about it and decided he was right.

At the end, I won first place in the contest, taking home the prize of a kitchen mitt, pot holders, and apron! My family cheered. Even though it’s all in good fun, the fact that my home cooking won makes me proud. I can truly call it an “award-winning recipe.”

Ingredients

• 1½–2 lbs. ground beef or turkey
• Garlic powder, to taste
• Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 medium onion, chopped (more or less, to taste)
• 1–2 Tbsp. green bell pepper
• 15-oz. can chili beans (1 or 2 cans, if preferred)
• 28-oz. can whole tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Grated cheddar cheese (optional)

Instructions:
In a large soup/stock pot over medium to medium-high heat, brown meat with garlic, salt, pepper, onion, and green pepper until meat is cooked through. Drain off fat and return meat to pot.

Add beans, tomatoes, chili powder. (You can use your stirring utensil to break up the tomatoes, if desired.) Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, 1½ to 2 hours. Add sugar near the end.

Serve with grated cheddar cheese and corn bread, if desired—and with Cathy’s Undercover with the Nanny on the side!

Undercover with the Nanny
DEA agent Sawyer Hayes came to California in search of a drug cartel leader who slipped through his fingers in El Paso. The link to finding him is Kate Munroe, a nanny for one of his henchmen. The problem? He didn’t expect to be so drawn to a possible suspect. How is he supposed to do his job when his growing feelings for her are clouding his judgment?

Interior designer Kate Munroe’s life is a train wreck. Her parents’ deaths left her with their mounds of debt, she can’t get a job designing even a cubicle, and she’s bunking in her best friend’s spare bedroom. To make ends meet, she’s a nanny to a lonely little boy whose rich father works all the time. Romance is not on her radar. But her hot new neighbor could change her mind, with his broad shoulders and Southern charm. Too bad his secrets could destroy her.

See more about this title and Cathy’s other books on Goodreads.

Meet Today’s Cooking Author
Cathy Skendrovich has always loved a good story, and spent her formative years scribbling what is now called Fan Fiction. The current heartthrob of the time featured heavily in all her stories. Unfortunately, once she went to college, her writing took the form of term papers.

Upon graduation, Cathy took a job as an English teacher in a middle school. Along the way, she married her husband of now thirty-three years, had two sons, and moved to southern Orange County, California. She chose to work part-time in the school system there.

Now she has returned to writing. Prisoner of Love is her first published novel, followed closely by The Pirate’s Bride. The sequel to The Pirate’s Bride, The Pirate Bride’s Holiday Masquerade, came out Oct. 1, 2017. Undercover with the Nanny, came out on April 23, 2018.

She likes writing romance because she feels it’s lacking in today’s technological world. While she enjoys writing contemporary stories, creating romance in bygone times fascinates her. She hopes her ability to write in both genres will be the beginning of a long and satisfying writing career.

You can find Cathy cooking up more great stories at:
Cathy’s Facebook Author Page
Twitter: @cskendrovich
Cathy’s Website
Cathy’s Author Page on Amazon