The Southwest Armchair Traveler: Cherry Scone #Recipe from the Cat Café for #Christmas2021 - plus enjoy this #Romance series for #ContemporaryRomance #SweetRomance

The recipe below is something my mother made on Christmas morning for many years. We have it for breakfast along with Mexican hot chocolate. My cat café series features a bakery and two fantastic bakers. This cherry scones recipe is mentioned in the second novel, Kisses and Kittens at the Cat Café.

Visit the Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series page on Amazon US or Amazon UK. (For other countries click here.)

Cherry Scone Recipe

This recipe also works well with dried cranberries or currents.

½ cup dried cherries, cranberries, or currents

apple juice or grape juice (about ½ cup)

2 cups flour

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ cup cold butter

1 egg

½ cup plain yogurt (full-fat preferred)

1 tsp. lemon or orange zest

Preheat oven to 375°.
Soak cherries in juice for at least 10 minutes while you mix other ingredients.
Mix the flour and ¼ cup of the sugar. Blend in the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture has fine crumbs.
Stir in the egg, yogurt, and zest. Drain the cherries or other dried fruit well. Mix them in.
Spray a baking sheet lightly with oil.
Turn the dough onto the baking sheet. Pat it down into a 9-inch circle.
Cut the dough into 8 wedges. Separate them slightly. You may sprinkle with additional sugar if you want them to sparkle a bit.
Bake until golden and firm, about 20 minutes.
Serve warm with butter … or clotted cream, orange marmalade, or jam.

Kittens and Kisses at the Cat Café: A Furrever Friends Sweet #Romance

A single mother with a nine-year-old son. A younger man who has loved her forever. A box of orphaned kittens. Can they become a family?

Adam has loved Marley a decade, since he was 13, and she was his best friend’s free-spirited older sister. Now he’s 24, and the five-year age gap isn’t so serious. But will she ever see him as more than the kid from down the street?

Marley has protected her heart since the father of her child disappeared. Most men aren’t worth the trouble, and who has the time to date anyway? She’s a baker at the new Furrever Friends Cat Café, which is still trying to find its footing. Her nine-year-old son, Brian, loves animals but can’t have any pets as long as they live with Marley’s allergic mother. And now someone’s posted a flyer for a singing contest. She gave up that dream long ago, didn’t she?

Adam has always wanted to fight dragons for Marley. When someone drops a box of week-old kittens at the café, Adam jumps at the chance to be a hero. But caring for five needy kittens might be tougher than fighting any dragon, especially when two of them fail to thrive. Can Adam, Marley, and Brian, save the kittens and become a family?

Excerpt:

Marley touched the kitten that had orange and white swirls. “Curled up like this, he looks like a cinnamon bun.”

“Mom, that one’s a girl.”

“Fine, she looks like a cinnamon bun.”

“That’s a good name,” Adam said. “Cinnamon Bun.”

They looked at him. Did they think it was stupid?

“Come on,” he said, “Cinnamon Bun is a cute name for a cat, especially one that turned up at a bakery.” He nudged Brian. “But it’s up to you.”

Brian gently scooped up the kitten in both hands and held it six inches from his face. “Cinnamon Bun.” His brows drew together as he studied the sleepy little face. “She likes it.”

“Excellent,” Marley said. “I’ll be able to remember this one and recognize her from her pattern. One down, four to go. Should we keep the bakery theme? We could call them, let’s see … Brownie, Lemon Bar, Scone, Muffin?”

Brian scrunched up his nose. “Not Muffin.”

Marley propped one hand on her hip. “Oh, you’re okay with Lemon Bar and Scone, but you draw the line at Muffin?”

Brian giggled. “I didn’t say the other names were okay.” He put Cinnamon Bun back in the box and studied the other kittens. “Maybe Brownie for this one.” He picked up the black kitten and gave it the same close scrutiny. “Yes, Brownie.”

Adam touched a kitten that was mostly black but with a white patch on the back, kind of like a saddle. He might have suggested an equestrian name, but the baked goods theme seemed to be working. “This one looks like a chocolate cupcake with white frosting. How about Cupcake?”

Over the next few minutes, they settled on Cupcake, along with Sugar Cookie (Sugar for short) for the white kitten with specks of tan, and Peanut Butter Cookie (Cookie for short) for the one with a light brown pattern.

“Okay.” Marley blew out a breath and pushed the curls off her forehead. “We have Cinnamon Bun, Brownie, Cupcake, Cookie, and Sugar.” She touched each of the kittens in turn. “I might forget and you’ll have to remind me, okay? I might accidentally call them Rocky Road and Banana Nut and Croissant. And of course, Muffin.”

Brian snickered. “It’s only five kittens, Mom.”

Coffee and Crushes at the Cat Café: A Furrever Friends Sweet Romance

What do you do when you meet the guy of your dreams? Set him up with your sister, of course.

Kari doesn't have time for love when she's opening her new cat café. Renovating an old restaurant, hiring employees, fighting with the health inspector – oh, and welcoming 16 shelter cats – keeps her plenty busy. She's doing this for the cats, the community, and most of all her family. The café will give her sister, Marley, a job worthy of her baking skills.

Then a tattooed military vet wanders in claiming to be a master baker himself. The café doesn't need another baker, but maybe Marley needs a man. Surely she'll fall for a guy this sweet, this sexy, this tasty.

Colin has other ideas. It's Kari who makes him want to pour on the sugar and turn up the heat. But he's spent the last two years recovering from physical and psychological wounds. Is he really ready for a relationship? He's not even sure he should commit to Samson, the fluffy marshmallow of a cat who steals his heart.

Get this sweet romance on Amazon, or free with Kindle Unlimited.

Kris Bock writes novels of romance, mystery, and suspense. Her Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the employees and customers at a cat café. In the Accidental Detective series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona. Get a free cat café novella, mystery stories, and more when you sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter.

Kris also writes a series with her brother, scriptwriter Douglas J Eboch, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama. The Felony Melanie series follows the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the movie. Sign up for our romantic comedy newsletter and get Felony Melanie Destroys the Moonshiner’s Cabin. Or find the books on Amazon US or All E-book retailers.