Dish The Pie With Monique & Marissa Garner
We're starting this week with another treat for you. Today Marissa Garner is joining me to dish the pie on her new FBI romantic suspense series, and she'll also be sharing her recipe for Hot Fudge Pie. Marissa, a warm welcome to Dish The Pie. I think you know my first question is always going to be about the pie, right? So, tell me, Marissa...
Do you like desserts? What is your favourite and would you share the recipe with us?
Marissa: Love, love, looove desserts. Just about anything chocolate gets a high ranking, but this Hot Fudge Pie is definitely #1. I hope you enjoy it.
Monique: You had me at fudge, hunny! Let's not keep the readers waiting.
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| Photo: Marissa Garner |
Ingredients:
1 can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
¾ cup water
3 egg YOLKS
12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
Dash of salt
Baked, deep-dish piecrust
Instructions:
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| Created by Crystal Swan for Dish The Pie With Monique |
In a heavy, medium-sized saucepan, whisk sweetened condensed milk, water, and egg yolks together until thoroughly blended. Then heat over medium heat, stirring continuously. When hot, add chocolate chips, vanilla, and salt. Continue to cook until mixture thickens and turns glossy. Pour into already baked piecrust. Top with meringue and brown lightly OR let cool and top with whipped cream before serving. Enjoy!
Monique: Oh, we will! Have you ever eaten pie for breakfast, Marissa? If so, what was it?
Marissa: That’s rather personal, don’t you think? Any question starting with “Have you ever…” can raise some rather serious issues. But since pie for breakfast isn’t too serious, I’ll dish just for you, Monique. The day after July 4th, the pie is apple. After Thanksgiving, pumpkin pie is yummy in the morning. And the day after I made the Hot Fudge Pie for this picture, guess what I enjoyed for breakfast.
Monique: Haha... "Have you ever" can also be the beginning of a really cool game. I see you have a strategy...a pie for every occasion...I like it! Are you married? How did you meet your husband?
Marissa: Yes, I’m very happily married. We met at college, taking a class in one of those theatre-style classrooms. He says he noticed my legs first. Hmmm.
Monique: Aww...yeah, it's never our brain, is it?? What do you love most about him?
Marissa: He’s my rock and the wind beneath my wings. Yes, I believe a person can be both.
Monique: You lucky girl! What is your idea of an ideal vacation?
Marissa: I love going to new places and doing new things. It can be as simple as visiting a national park or as extravagant as a Mediterranean cruise. My husband shares this philosophy, so we’ve taken many diverse trips. We’ve travelled from Athens to Anchorage to Acapulco. Not all in one vacation, mind you. I’ve enjoyed the thrill of hiking on a live volcano and a receding glacier. Recently, we explored Yellowstone National Park for the first time, and it was amazing.
Monique: Wow! I'm kinda tethered to the home front at the moment, but I love to armchair travel. Bet you have some amazing memories! Share one fact about yourself that might be surprising.
Marissa: I learned to belly dance. My husband enjoyed it more than I did.
Monique: Next stop...pole dancing...
Thank you so much for dishing the pie with me today, Marissa. Please tell us a bit about your new series.
HUNTED (FBI Heat Book 1)
by Marissa Garner
Published by Grand Central/Forever Yours
But Amber is more than he bargained for. Hunted by an obsessed ex-boyfriend, the fiercely independent nurse chooses fight over flight for the chance at a future with her hot, blue-eyed neighbor. When she gets caught up in Ben’s plans to rescue five kidnapped women, their lives get entangled and their attraction flares into passion. But they’ll learn that in this dangerous game of cat and mouse, real love can save—or doom—them . . .
Her focus never wavered as she slid behind two people. The man’s head turned with her movement.
The traffic light changed, and the crowd surged forward. Amber’s hand dug into her purse until it gripped reassuring metal. Weaving between bodies, she moved to the outside edge to put as much distance as possible between her and the man before the other pedestrians passed on the street. With each step, her heart beat faster.
Halfway across, the man reached up, pulled back the hood…and smiled. Straight black hair. Almond-shaped eyes. Asian features.
Not him.
Amber’s knees went weak with relief.
Not him. Not this time.
A car horn blared. She jumped and spun around to find a taxi idling a few feet away, its driver gesturing impatiently for her to get out of the way. Waving an apology, she scurried across the street. She found a spot out of the pedestrian flow next to the corner of a building. She needed a moment to quiet her nerves.
She braced her hands on the knees of her pastel pink nurse’s scrubs, inhaled deep breaths, and released them slowly. Fear began to fade as calm returned.
Damn you, Jeremy Nelson. I want my life back.
Amber grimaced and closed her eyes. It was starting all over again. Two years had passed since she’d broken up with her obsessed boyfriend, but he continued to stalk her. Restraining orders and calls to law enforcement had proved useless. Now she alone was responsible for her safety. She’d lived in Coronado, across the bay from San Diego, for only two months. But two or three months was the amount of time it normally took for Jeremy to find her. From now on, she would have to be on constant alert. The worst part was imagining him wearing every hoodie, hiding in every shadow, or following in every vehicle. Usually, she didn’t wait for an actual sighting—that would be too late. No, she couldn’t hesitate. Once her instincts told her he was closing in, she had to move on. She cringed. How much longer will I be hunted?
Marissa is a wife, writer, chocoholic, and animal lover, not necessarily in that order. As a little girl, she cut pictures of people out of magazines and turned them into characters in her stories. Now she writes edgy romantic thrillers and steamy contemporary romance. She lives in SoCal with her husband, but enjoys traveling from Athens to Anchorage and many locations in between.
