The Olympics, the Week Ahead in Reviews and a Milky Way Martini That’s Out Of This World

So things are happening all around this coming week. I have been glued to the Olympics in London along with millions of others and that opening night still has me thinking. Words like stupendous, mystifying, amusing, and outright flabbergasted swirled in my head as the spectacle unfolded. Loved the symbolism of the Oak Tree on Glastonbury Tor but wondered how many people went “huh”. The Industrial Revolution and the molten river was very cool. And who doesn’t love Kenneth Branagh reading a passage from The Tempest? Hmmm…dancing doctors and nurses, and hospital beds for the NHS? I am told it is a “veddy British” thing and it must be as that and the “creepy” big baby had me stymied! Mr. Bean had me in stitches from first sight right thru his Chariots of Fire run. I will pass over the digital revolution. I loved, loved the songs! Singing my heart out along with them. But was it only me that it seemed as though I was watching people watch a large tv on tv? Don’t know. Maybe it was just getting late at night. Then came that eye opening, yelling for others to come see, smashing tour de force at the end. Wow! From the torch arriving with David Beckham (scream of joy) on a fast moving boat to the young athletes acknowledging and saluting their past, the older Olympians, to the lighting of the Olympic Flame (so incredible). Then it is all topped off by Sir Paul and Hey Jude singalong. Let me just say I was a totally happy camper when the lights finally went off. And how great was Her Majesty and her corgis, even the fat one?

So I am watching the events this week and with the permanent generator being installed, yes a permanent generator, on Monday. “Take that Pepco! I should send you the bill.” We are assured of a constant stream of power. A great thing really considering the storms that arrive every night, bringing hail, high winds, and torrential rain to some parts of the area, we just never know where it will hit. So happy dance on Monday, might even post of pic! And no problems getting my posts up – knock on wood. So to the tune of the Olympics theme, here’s the lineup this week:

Monday: Reaping Shadows by Jamieson Wolf

Tuesday: The Man Trap by Lee Brazil

Wednesday: The Trust by Shira Anthony and Verona Keyes

Thursday: Three Fates Anthology by Andrew Grey, Mary Calmes and Amy Lane

Friday: A Foreign Range by Andrew Grey

Saturday: Hired Muscle by Hank Edwards

So we are still trying different cocktails to entertain with and break the heat. Today we are going into outer space for The Galaxy also known as The Milky Way:

Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 cups ice cubes
* 1/4 cup cold water
* 2 fluid ounces vanilla-flavored vodka
* 2 fluid ounces white Creme de Cacao
* 2 fluid ounces irish cream liqueur
* 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup
How to make it

Chill a martini glass by filling it with 1/2 cup of ice and cold water.
Place 1 cup of ice cubes into a cocktail shaker. Pour the vanilla-flavored vodka, white creme de cacao, and Irish cream liqueur over the ice; cover and shake vigorously. Dump the ice and water from the martini glass and drizzle the inside of the glass with chocolate syrup. Strain the cocktail into the glass to serve.

Review of the Warder Series by Mary Calmes

Continuing our Series week, I am featuring a series I loved, this time by Mary Calmes. I love her writing and other series by her will be included in the Spotlight on Series at a later date:

Rating for the Series: 5 stars

In her Warder series, Mary Calmes has created a group of memorable characters and a special universe for them to live and play in. In the Warder universe, demons and other hell creatures have the ability to visit our world via portals. Once here, they wreck death and destruction on the unwary human race ignorant of their presence. The only thing standing between hell and humans? Warders, a group of people called to duty by their special talents and gifts. Each city has such a group defending it against the abyss. Its leader is called a Sentinel, the oldest of Warders. They (male or female) lead a team of five Warders, like the five points of a pentagram. Each Warder, usually a orphan when called, has a special gift to go along with the powers all Warders hold. And while the Warders are incredibly powerful, they also have a need for a Hearth, a person who provides the Warder with a home, a safe place to channel their energy, someone to love them and for them to love.

As the Sentinel explains it. “We have found over the centuries that all power and no heart will kill a warder…“My men protect me and each other, and to do that, they need a balance in their lives. For a warder, their hearth—home—is vital and necessary.” And without a Hearth, the Warder eventually dies. And not just anyone can become a Hearth to a Warder. If a Warder sleeps with someone and that person is not their Hearth, then the Warder drains away the life force of the person they are sleeping with, leaving them aged and withered. If the Warder leaves quickly enough and never returns, the person rebounds back to the age they had been. But when the Warder finds their Hearth, a bond is formed and the Hearth acquires special powers of their own, including keeping their Warder safely energized while not being drained themselves. Their Hearths are their connection to the real world they are protecting.

The Warder series is the story of the five Warders of San Francisco and their Hearths. In each of the first four books, we have two Warders in desperate need of a hearth, a Warder whose Hearth disappears into another dimension due to a demon’s plan, of an already established couple, their backstory and the dangers that await a Warder and Hearth the longer they stay together and the final book is the story a Warder who visits his Hearth’s home and finds all is not what it should be. Each book is a tale that will tug at your heart and bring you a new couple to love. Mary Calmes gift of characterization flows from book to book, with each member of a couple the yin to their partner’s yang. Sometimes the story is told from the Hearth’s pov, like Julien Nash in His Hearth. We learn along with Julien, what Ryan Dean really is and what is means to be a Warder and his Hearth. It’s a great introduction to the group of men and the series. In other books, it is the Warder telling the story and that is equally necessary to fully understand the pressures and turmoil of a Warder’s inner life as well as the toll all the killings and death of innocents take on their souls.And facing off with the Warders and their Hearths are a series of demons and hell dimensions as well crafted as the Warders themselves. Calmes skillfully builds the anticipation and anxiety as each couple struggles to find and then keep their relationship safe, irregardless of its longevity.

I have been asked several times to name my favorite Warder couple and found it impossible to do. I meet one couple and fall in love with them, read another book in the series and love that couple and so on. Each couple is so different as each Warder brings his own set of needs, insecurities and power to the relationship and that is balanced by the strengths and qualities of their Hearth, giving each story its own flavor and depth. I love this series and have heard that Mary Calmes might be writing one last story in the series. I hope its true.

Here is the books in the order they should be read to fully grasp the role each Warder plays in the group and who all the characters are that are mentioned, complete with outstanding covers by artist Reese Dante:

His Hearth (Warder #1): This is the story of Warder Ryan Dean and his Hearth, Julien Nash. It is told from Julien’s pov and gives the reader the backstory on Sentinels and Warders. Julien Nash is searching for his date at the company Christmas party and finds him with another man in the copy room. Stunned and more than a little irritated when his date comes to find him, their argument is interrupted by former model turned broadcaster, Ryan Dean, who takes his date’s place. Their connection to each other is immediate and Julien finds himself taking Ryan home after the dinner is over. One night turns into the weekend of love and lust that comes to an abrupt end when Julien comes out of the bedroom to find Ryan in deadly combat with four demons. When Ryan’s true nature and calling is revealed, Julien must make a choice that will affect the rest of their lives.

Tooth and Nail (Warder#2): Warder Malic watched as his best friend and fellow Warder Ryan find his Hearth and vowed never to let another get that close, no matter the cost. Just the thought of loving someone, being that vulnerable scared the hell out of him, Malic preferred being the snarly, sarcastic person that his reputation purported him to be. Until he came across a angel being attacked by drunken thugs in a bathroom and everything changed. Dylan is only 19. On his way home from his temporary job as a Christmas angel in a seasonal boutique, he stops at a bar and gets into trouble immediately. He is rescued when a tall scary blond man pulls off his attackers and makes sure Dylan is safe. Dylan knows he has found the man he was meant to love. Now if he can only convince him. Malic is drawn to the gorgeous young man in his arms. The strength of that attraction sends him running off into the night. But fate has other plans and Malic soons meet up with Dylan again, and again. How much will it take before Malic accepts what Dylan already knows to be true, Dylan is his Hearth and they belong together.

Heart In Hand (Warder#3): Hearth Simon Kim loves his Warder Leith Haas but a Warders life is a dangerous one and Simon has always held a part of himself back from Leith, afraid to let that last part of him open to the perils of a Warder/Hearth relationship. Then Leith disappears into a demon dimension while trying to rescue Simon and others from a demon trap. Now Simon must risk everything, including sacrificing his heart,if he is going to get his Warder and love back safely.

Sinnerman (Warder#4). Warder Jackson Tybalt is secure in his relationship with his Hearth until he catches him cheating on him. The loss of his Hearth/love, causes Jackson in his grief and rage to become a loose cannon, reckless in pursuit of demons, heedless of his own safety, drunken and irresponsible, Jackson now threatens the security of his group and the welfare of the humans he is supposed to protect. Then kyrie Raphael offers him a relationship that Jackson thinks is built on darkness, lust and pain. This is what Jackson has been seeking and Jackson accepts. Raphael is a demon who just happens to hunt his own. He has wanted Jackson as his own for some time and jumps at the opportunity the depressed Jackson gives him. What follows is an exploration of ” what a body needs to bandage the wounds of the heart, and Raphael will hide the tenderness he feels for Jackson for as long as the warder wears the guise of the Sinnerman.” I do think this is my favorite of the series. Far darker than the books before it, it has a depth combined with a vivid description of a man lost in emotional turmoil. And Raphael is just an outstanding character.

Nexus (Warder#5):Nexus is the story of Marcus Roth. top criminal lawyer and Warder and his Hearth, Joseph Locke. They are an interracial couple, with the added twist that Joseph Locke is also blind. They are an established couple which makes the story even more interesting. Nexus begins with Marcus and Joseph traveling to Lexington, Kentucky to celebrate Joe’s grandfather’s birthday. Joe’s family is unaware, even after all the years they have been together of the special nature of their bond of Warder/Hearth. When a demon threatens the family, the local Warder group demonstrates just how ineffectual they have become and Marcus must step in and take charge of the situation. As the situation gets more dangerous, Marcus’ identity is revealed to Joe’s family and Marcus must face a tremendous sacrifice to save them all.

Again, a totally different take from the other couples. Marcus and Joe are still deeply in love after many years together but Marcus doesn’t realize how important he is not only to Joe but to all the other Warders. It is a study of a traumatized man trying unsuccessfully to recover from an ordeal. Marcus and Joe grab the reader from the start, their story is multilayered and easy to empathize with. Loved them.

Cherish Your Name (Warder#6): Malic Sunden is accompanying his Hearth, Dylan Shaw, home for the holidays. Dylan has assured him that his parents and sibling will love him but that’s not the case. Dylan’s parents make it obvious that they think Malic is a cradle robber and that Dylan could do much better. Dylan is occupied with his old friends, and doesn’t see what his family’s disapproval is doing, making Malic rethink their relationship. On top of that, the Shaw’s neighbor is coming on to Malic and a demon with his own agenda, wipes Malic’s memory clean and kidnaps him to another dimension. An amnesiac Malic must fight his way back to a home he no longer remembers with just a name to use as a beacon. As a Warder Christmas story, it has all the right elements, a house decorated for Christmas that would be worthy of the Kranks, a disgruntled family, too much celebrating and a demon to threaten to detroy Malic and Dylan’s bond, that is if Dylan’s family doesn’t accomplish that first. I love Dylan and Malic and loved that we got another story featuring their relationship. We left it at the very beginning of the bond in Tooth and Nail and this gives us a glimpse into the relationship months later. As with the previous books, some of the other Warders make appearances as well. Loved it.

And now all the books have been published in print editions in two books. Collection #1 contains books 1-3, and Collection #2 has books 4-6. All available from Dreamspinner Press and Amazon.

Here are the covers for the printed collections, I love those covers, just gorgeous. Great design:

It’s Series Week at Scattered Thoughts and Our First Book Giveaway!

This week is series week here at Scattered Thoughts… and Joyfully Jay. JJ and hubby were hurrying off to Scotland to celebrate their 40th birthdays (yep, won’t see that one again) and 15 years of marriage (not this one either) and wanted to know if Sammy and I had anything we wanted to write about. Well, little love pandas, I have been reading some outstanding series and loving on the fact that my journey with each cast of characters would not be stopped short at one book! And as my mind wandered over the various landscapes and emotional terrains of those series, a little LED light went off in my head, I waved my hand and piped up “Series! I want to write about how I love series!” Sammy and JJ both had favorites series too, everyone got excited and so the idea of series week was born.

So what an exciting week ahead here in Maryland to offset the return of 100 degree temperatures and humidity that would not be out of place in the Congo! I will be talking about why I love a series, I am listing my favorite series and favorite series covers. I thought about listing my all time worst series but hey we are not about negativity here, at least this week. There are author spotlights and our first ever book giveaway! Nicole Kimberling will be giving away a copy of Primal Red, the first in the Bellingham Mysteries series being reviewed this week! So watch out for her Author Spotlight and the series review. Make a comment and I will choose a winner by the end of the week!

So here it is, my sweet baboos, the schedule for Series Week!:

Monday: Series I Am Excited About (And Still Reading)

Tuesday: Favorite Series and Series Book Covers

Wednesday: Series Spotlight: The Warder Series by Mary Calmes

Thursday: Author Spotlight: Nicole Kimberling

Friday: Series Spotlight: The Bellingham Mysteries Series by Nicole Kimberling

Saturday: Why A Series Makes My Heart Sing!

Also stop by Joyfully Jay this week. Check out the authors and series reviewed there. She is having book giveaways from Ava March and Katey Hawthorne! Woohoo. Love both of those authors and their books so you can’t go wrong.

Here is another great summer cocktail recipe in our battle against the summer heat and doldrums:

The French 75:

Ingredients:

1 lemon
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) gin
1 1/2 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) simple syrup
1 cup ice cubes
1/4 cup (2 ounces) dry sparkling wine, such as brut Champagne, chilled

Preparation:

Using zester or paring knife, slice peel from lemon in long, thin spiral. Reserve lemon for another use and set peel aside.
In cocktail shaker, combine gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Add ice and shake vigorously for 20 seconds. Strain into chilled Champagne flute and top with sparkling wine.
Curl lemon peel around finger to create twist at least 6 inches long. Garnish drink with twist and serve immediately.

Review of Acrobat by Mary Calmes

Rating: 4.5 stars

Nathan Qells has a pretty great life. He loves being an English professor. He has a son who has grown into a wonderful young man. An ex-wife he adores along with her husband. He loves his condo and takes care of Michael, the young boy who lives across the hallway with his uncle, the mysterious Andreo Fiore. The only thing lacking in his life? A man to really love and have him love back. At least that’s what his ex wife tells him. She also tells him he has never truly loved another man deeply. Nate doesn’t agree with her. At least he thinks he doesn’t. Doubt starts him looking for Mr. Right which leads him into the path of a dangerous man and the mob..

Andreo Fiore started working for the mob as a way to support his nephew after his sister died. Long and unusual work hours meant that Michael would be alone in the apartment. Then Nate Qells, the neighbor across the hallway, came to their rescue and took Michael under his wing. Years later, Michael spends most of his time across the hallway and Dreo has fallen in love with Nate. Dreo sees in Nate a good, wonderful man who also happens to be very handsome. And blind in the face of Dreo’s love. Between Michael and Nate, Dreo wants to lead an honorable life, one where Michael can look up to him and Nate would be proud to be his partner. But first he has to get out of the organization and it has troubles of its own. As Dreo tries to extricate himself from the mob and make Nate realize that love is right in front of him, his criminal past makes them both a target.

As a man in his forties and nicely settled into his life, Nate Qells is a realistic representation of a man who thinks that he is happy with his status quo and stops reaching out for more. In Nate’s case, he has stopped believing in romantic love for himself and has settled just for caring. I find that totally believable. So many people dismiss the idea of love after a certain age, not just the idea but the chance of them falling into love later in life is miniscule to nonexistent. So when Nate refuses to listen to his ex wife when she tells him he has never loved, I totally get it. Nate is capable of caring for others but self satisfied enough not to extend himself further. I know him because I have met him in real life. Nate certainly has his flaws, he is impatient with others, abrupt to those professors within his department he doesn’t respect, and a little arrogant. All of which makes him very human.

Andreo Fiore is much older than his years. I had to keep reminding myself of his age. He accepted responsibility of his nephew in his early twenties, and his time as a bodyguard/muscle in the mob has aged him further. He recognizes that he could coast along the path he has made for himself (very much like Nate in this respect) or reach for what he really wants, a family with Nate and Michael. Deeply steeped in his Italian family and culture, he speaks as much Italian as English. And I loved it. Besides French, there is no more romantic language than that of Italy. Both are the languages of love and it is used very effectively here. I loved Dreo, a honorable conflicted man trying to get out of a bad situation. What a great character.

And then Mary Calmes adds in more characters to give the story substance and layers. There’s Michael, Dreo’s nephew and almost son to Nate. He’s young, cocky but still so much in need of direction and parental influence. Mel, ex wife, and Ben, her husband, both contribute additional needed perspectives on Nate and his life. Duncan, the in-the-closet ex boyfriend and Aubrey, Nate’s sarcastic grad student with just the right amount of snark. All necessary and unique.

The story itself has many wonderful moments. I especially liked the storyline with Nate and his missed dates with Sean Cooper, an attending doctor. With them, as in real life, sometimes it is all about the timing. People can seem to be right for each other, and yet the timing is off for them to be a couple. Nobody’s fault. Stuff happens. I haven’t seen this pop up in a storyline and loved it’s authentic treatment here. I don’t know enough about organized crime to comment on it here (outside of what I have seen in The Godfather movies) but the idea that you can have people at different levels of competency in mob organizations struck me as realistic too. Old fashioned businessman versus young takeover turk. Crime is still a business albeit a criminal one. Is there angst? Of course, there is. It wouldn’t be a Mary Calmes book without it. Never fear, our protagonists future is assured. I liked how all the different elements pulled together in the end to give me a very satisfying story and a new couple to love.

Cover: The cover art by Anne Cain is such a sensual piece of art that I would love to have a copy. In the introduction Mary Calmes and Anne Cain talk about the inspiration for the cover, deceased artist Steve Walker’s painting Parallel Dreams. I looked up that painting and thought it beautiful. I learned much about Steve Walker and his art which I really appreciated. But this cover stands on it own, glorious in its depiction of love between two men. It has already become a favorite of mine.

Freedom Is Not Free and the week Ahead

It looks as though the sun might come out for our Memorial Weekend here in Maryland after all, humid but at least it’s sunny. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Please don’t forget to spare up time to think about our veterans, what they have sacrificed for us and the Nation. With so many still fighting abroad and many more fighting to survive their injuries here at home, take the time to send a prayer if you are religious, send thanks if you are not and perhaps visit a memorial. If you are close by, start with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial here in DC and Arlington Cemetery in Virginia. Two places where service, honor, and sacrifice spreads out before us in stark contrast to each other. One in black, one in white. Unforgettable and painful in every way.

Freedom Is Not Free is a website dedicated to aiding wounded service members, their families and the families of the fatally wounded. Listed here are poems from the enlisted honoring veterans and sharing what it means to them to be a part of the military. Be prepared with tissues, as many of these poems strike straight into your heart.

My thoughts also turn to the fallen gay soldiers for whom the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was far too late. Let us not forget their additional sacrifice as well. I would leave you with these images for Memorial Weekend:

And now for the week ahead and some outstanding new books:

Monday: Reviews of several short stories by Silver Publishing

Tuesday: Armed and Dangerous, Cut and Run series #5 by Abigail Roux

Wednesday: Infected: Shift (Infected #4) by Andrea Speed

Thursday: Acrobat by Mary Calmes

Friday: One Small Thing by Piper Vaughn and MJ O’Shea

Saturday: New Vocabulary Gone Bad – When A Bare Rises To the Occasion Due Ewe Here A Yelp?

Review of Frog by Mary Calmes

Rating: 4.75 stars

At 44, Weber Yates realizes that his age, talent and physical condition makes his dream of becoming a rodeo champion a remote possibility at best. When a job on a ranch becomes available, Web figures he ought to grab the only job he is fit for. But first he must make a phone call to the man he loves, Cyrus Benning, a neurosurgeon in San Francisco. Weber met the handsome surgeon while Cyrus was on vacation at a dude ranch where Weber was a seasonal employee. Sparks flew and a one-time hookup turned into 3 years of phone calls, meetings between rodeos, short hookups, and arguments over pride and a future together. Weber has always felt like the frog in their fairy tale relationship, but Cyrus has always seen the prince that is Weber under the rough cowboy image he projects.

Shivering in a phone booth outside of San Francisco, Weber reaches out one last time to Cyrus before beginning his life on a ranch up north. They had parted after another argument over their future together, something Weber has always regretted. Can both men find their way back to each other through obstacles built of pride and mismatched backgrounds? Or will Cyrus finally convince Weber that they belong to each other and accept his place as prince of his heart?

Mary Calmes strengths as a writer are front and center in this heartwarming story of love, acceptance, and family. I really love the fact that this is a story of two men in their forties, finding love later in life. Weber Yates has some of the same qualities Mary Calmes has given her other main characters. He is charismatic, a person who by personality alone brings people closer and resolves conflict. He is beloved by children and animals without feeling at ease in upper class social situations. But Weber Yates with greater depths and layers. He is also a man who has seen his dreams die a hard, dusty death in the rodeo arena and realizes the pursuit of that dream has left him penniless, physically broken and alone. Insecure, and aware that he lacks education, Weber feels that pride is all he has left. Tall, skinny, with red hair and bruised ribs, he is hardly the golden boy of some of Calmes other novels. Those physical attributes fall to Cyrus Benning, the neurosurgeon who chanced upon his soulmate during a vacation in Texas. Cyrus Benning is also a character with his own insecurities and needs, the “golden boy” image hiding his frustration over his inability to profess his love and need for the itinerant cowboy passing in and out of his life and heart. Two complex men who are given one last chance to make their relationship work amid a family crisis and a job offer waiting for Weber in Alaska.

With Weber and Cyrus as the heart, Mary Calmes pulls more wonderful characters into the story. Enter Carolyn Easton, Cyrus’ sister and her three young boys, Tristan, Pip and Micah – the family in crisis. Carolyn’s husband has walked out on the family and took the nanny with him. She needs her brother and the stability he offers just when Cyrus wants only to concentrate on Weber. The dialog and action between the boys has the real flavor of someone who is familiar with adolescent boys and their behavior. The way in which Weber relates to them seems so very authentic as did their reaction to him. Carolyn is a wonderful portrait of a woman whose world has fallen to pieces and is too stressed out to find a way to put it back together by herself. Bit by bit, Weber is pulled into a family who needs him and is strengthened by it. All of the author’s gift at characterizations are evident in the people she has created for Frog. Each and every one memorable in their own right. To borrow an overused phrase, I “heart” them all.

I loved this heartwarming tale. Perfect? No, there are a few places that some will say stretch the boundaries of belief, especially when it comes to Micah, a child whose voice was frozen by past trauma. Did I mind it? No. This book left me smiling and feeling great. So perhaps we can leave it with an almost perfect. How about practically perfect in every way! And we all know who said that don’t we? And I am never one to argue with her.

Cover: Artist Reese Dante. That confused me a little. Reese Dante usually has these lush covers yet this is simplicity itself. I thought the handclasp was nice but how does a cowboy and neurosurgeon figure into that? It gives you no idea of the story within nor does it relate to the title. It could be just two guys at the beach? See? Call me Confused.

Pork Florentine and the Week Ahead

This is going to be a great week ahead with some exciting books to be reviewed, including Who We Are by TJ Klune and the first book in a great new fantasy series by Megan Derr. A Mary Calmes book is reviewed as is the latest book from a new author for me, AR Moler. Happy Mother’s Day all. Have a great Sunday! It’s picture perfect weather here and I am going outside to enjoy it!

Monday: Review of Bear, Otter and The Kid by TJ Klune in preparation for its sequel

Tuesday: Review of Who We Are by TJ Klune, sequel to BOATK

Wednesday: Review of Treasure (Lost Gods #1) by Megan Derr – a real treat for all you fantasy lovers

Thursday: Review of Frog by Mary Calmes

Friday: Review of How We Operate by A.R. Moler

Today is all about the great dinner I fixed last night – a perfect for Mother’s Day or any day at all. Trust me, you will serve this over and over again.

Rolled Pork Florentine

Serves: 4 Prep time: 3o min Total Cooking Time: 1 hr 10 min Total Time: 1 hr 40 min

Ingredients:

1 pork loin, about 2 pounds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
7 ounces spinach
2 slices bacon, cut into lardons or small pieces about 1/4 inch
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon oil, for frying
1/2 cup white wine

Directions:

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Set the pork on a cutting board and imagine you’re going to cut an upside-down letter T into it: in other words, slice half-way through, lengthwise, then half-way through to the left and the right. Open out the meat. Lay plastic wrap over it, and pound flat with a mallet. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Rinse the spinach and spin dry, allowing a little water to remain clinging to the leaves. Put it in a saute pan, cover, and wilt, about 5 minutes. Lay the spinach on a clean tea or kitchen towel and squeeze dry. Chop, and set aside.

Wipe out the pan and put if back on the stove. Fry the bacon until cooked, remove to drain. Pour off all but a tablespoon or 2 of the fat and fry the onion until golden. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir through the bread crumbs and spinach. Season with salt and pepper.

Pat the stuffing over the meat, leaving a 1-inch border. Roll and tie the pork at 2-inch intervals. Wipe out the saute pan and heat the oil in it. Brown the meat on all sides, pour in the wine, and then transfer to the oven and roast until done, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the meat rest 10 minutes. Wrap for later, or slice and serve with the pan juices poured over.

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