{"id":544,"date":"2015-05-03T13:42:05","date_gmt":"2015-05-03T13:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.annasugden.com\/extras\/?p=544"},"modified":"2015-07-03T13:56:31","modified_gmt":"2015-07-03T13:56:31","slug":"a-perfect-entree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.annasugden.com\/extras\/readers\/a-perfect-entree\/","title":{"rendered":"A Perfect Entr\u00e9e!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want a sneak peak at what some of the Ice Cats<\/strong> have been up to?<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Cover-APerfectLuckyCharmRecently, I took part in a fun promotional event with Rae Latte<\/strong><\/span>, at her fabulous blog,\u00a0Books I Love a Latte<\/a><\/strong><\/span>. She asked a number of authors to create a very short scene featuring characters from their book series, which also included a recipe by Aussie chef, Dan Churchill<\/strong>. This was to promote the release of his guy-friendly recipe book, Dude Food<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Naturally, it was too good an opportunity for my Ice Cats<\/strong><\/span> to miss! So, I created a short scene featuring the hero of my St. Patrick’s Day short — A Perfect Lucky Charm<\/strong><\/span> — Patrick ‘Paddy’ Mullroney. <\/em><\/p>\n

Paddy’s in a pickle about what to make for his new girlfriend, Shayla, for a special dinner. With a little help from his team-mates, can he create A Perfect Entr\u00e9e<\/strong><\/span>?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThank God you\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patrick \u2018Paddy\u2019 Mullroney stood aside to let his fellow New Jersey Ice Cat team-mates, Kenny Jelinek and JB Larocque in his front door. \u201cPlease tell me you have a foolproof recipe for tonight\u2019s dinner with Shayla, or I\u2019m sunk. We\u2019ve been dating three months and in a rash moment, I promised to make her a celebratory meal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kenny shook his head. \u201cThis is why I\u2019ll never fall in love. Your heart makes crazy promises your body and brain can\u2019t keep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight.\u201d JB looked pained. Things had been a little rocky for him lately, with Issy. \u201cA nice dinner at a fancy restaurant always works. And there\u2019s no mess to clean up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paddy led the way to the kitchen. \u201cWon\u2019t cut it. The deal is that I cook for her. We\u2019ve eaten at restaurants every time we\u2019ve dated and she wants a cosy evening in. Even if I buy in the appetiser and dessert, I have to at least make the entree.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo why doesn\u2019t she make you a nice meal?\u201d Kenny hopped up on a bar stool at the counter and got out his iPad, which he propped up so they could all see it.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeez, chauvinist much, bro?\u201d JB rolled his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot helping. I\u2019m running out of time.\u201d Paddy thrust his fingers through his hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, I\u2019m the one with the solution.\u201d Kenny grinned, as he set up Facetime.<\/p>\n

A tinny ringing sound echoed through the kitchen. Almost immediately, a familiar face filled the screen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hear you need my assistance,\u201d Tru Jelinek, Kenny\u2019s older brother said. Tru, a former Ice Cat, played out in Denver now.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re the only one of us who can do more than grill a steak and from what Paddy says, that won\u2019t make the grade.\u201d JB introduced them and explained the situation. \u201cWe need the perfect entr\u00e9e.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShayla doesn\u2019t eat red meat,\u201d Paddy added. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t eat frou-frou, fancy stuff, let alone make it.\u201d He sighed heavily. \u201cI\u2019m done for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tru laughed. \u201cRest easy, man. I\u2019ve got you covered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure. How does Turkey Meatballs with Italian Tomato Sauce, served over Sweet Potato Mash sound? Or Coconut Ceviche Fish Tacos? Or Soy and Ginger Salmon with a Watercress and Mint Salad?\u201d<\/p>\n

Paddy, JB and Kenny all moaned ecstatically.<\/p>\n

JB rubbed his stomach. \u201cYou could make any and all of those for me, any time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kenny licked his lips. \u201cMake enough for me too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMmm they sound delicious,\u201d Paddy agreed. \u201cBut are they complicated?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tru gave a thumbs up. \u201cDead easy. They\u2019re from this Australian chef called Dan Churchill, who\u2019s all about man-friendly food and cooking. His book, Dude Food, was a big success and full of fun, easy recipes. He even has videos on his website to show you how it\u2019s done. Here, I\u2019ll email you a link.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three men gathered around Paddy\u2019s phone to check out the recipes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, these don\u2019t look too hard.\u201d Kenny nodded his approval. \u201cI reckon I could even make them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll stick around and help,\u201d JB said. \u201cBut first you\u2019ll need to get the ingredients.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile you\u2019re out, get a bagged salad for an appetiser and something with loads of chocolate for dessert,\u201d Tru suggested. \u201cSo which one are you going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe meatballs look good.\u201d Paddy figured he couldn\u2019t go wrong with them. \u201cPlus if they turn out okay, I could make them for myself sometime too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d make smaller meatballs than the picture shows, so they look more feminine.\u201d Tru held up his hand with his thumb and forefinger together in an \u2018O\u2019 to show the size.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get \u2018feminine\u2019 meatballs?\u201d Kenny laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cLadies like bite-size food, little brother. Something you\u2019ll learn when you grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, let\u2019s get to the store for those ingredients.\u201d Paddy was raring to go. \u201cThanks, man. I owe you one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me know how you get on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got it.\u201d<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

Later that evening Tru got a text, with a picture of Paddy\u2019s efforts attached. He grinned and showed it to his wife, Jenny. \u201cThe boy done good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell done, Paddy.\u201d Jenny clapped. \u201cThanks to you and Dan Churchill, he made a perfect entr\u00e9e.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Want a sneak peak at what some of the Ice Cats have been up to? Recently, I took part in a fun promotional event with Rae Latte, at her fabulous blog,\u00a0Books I Love a Latte. She asked a number of authors to create a very short scene featuring characters from their book series, which also … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74,70,72,73,12],"class_list":["post-544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-readers","tag-a-perfect-entree","tag-a-perfect-lucky-charm","tag-books-i-love-a-latte","tag-dude-food","tag-new-jersey-ice-cats-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annasugden.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annasugden.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annasugden.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annasugden.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annasugden.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.annasugden.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":556,"href":"https:\/\/www.annasugden.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544\/revisions\/556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annasugden.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annasugden.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annasugden.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}