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Prairie Roses Multi-Author Covered Wagon Romance Collection

Kaitlene Dee • Apr 04, 2023

Today I welcome author Kaitlene Dee as she shares about her upcoming release.


In about a month, the Prairie Roses Collection will be making its annual release of a collection of covered wagon romances. Not all of the stories in the collection are set on the Oregon Trail, but some may be. The titles all bear the name of the heroine of the book; mine being Grace.


Nineteen-year-old Grace loses her best friend and inherits her three-year-old daughter, Emma. It was her friend’s dying wish that Grace raise Emma because the little girl is without any other family.


Adam begrudgingly comes to the rescue of Grace and Emma with a marriage of convenience proposal—and together, they set out to help an elderly couple of sisters move their tea shop business from one town to another in a covered wagon to carry the sisters’ precious bone china and heirloom cabinet. What should only take two to three weeks travel time turns out to be a much longer trip, ripe with danger and disaster. In all this, Grace and Adam find out how much they must trust in God as He guides them into discovering that they more than need one another.


I love outdoor cooking, and this story was and is (I’m still writing it) fun with all the cooking that goes on in it. I enjoyed researching foods pioneers ate and packed for their journeys. Guide books made suggestions on things to pack in their provisions. A few suggestions that were especially interesting were taken for ‘medicinal purposes’. Yes, you guessed it, whiskey and maybe some brandy or rum.


But more interesting to me, were the spices—I’m always interested in what spices and herbs were available in historical times and what they were used in, or for. Some curatives that were packed were cinnamon bark for the relief of diarrhea and nausea and to against digestive issues, cloves have antiseptic and anti-parasitic properties and nutmeg or mace are a tonic (FoodTimeline.org –an awesome and fun resource! They refer to Randolph B. Marcy’s A Handbook for Overland Expeditions, a valuable resource manual for traveling west).


Potable meat and portable soups, dessicated dried, or canned vegetables, and powdered pumpkin and dried fruits were delightful to me as I thought all they had was beans, cornmeal mush, biscuits, and bacon. At least, in the first part of their journey they likely had a few small treats things, but since the limited space and weight of their supplies and items played such an important part, they didn’t get to pack much in the way of variety, for there was not room in the wagon.


I hope you’ll join us in the Prairie Rose Collection in a few weeks for several covered wagon romances. There’s sure to be adventure, romance, and food in each of the stories. You can join the Facebook group for the release party, which will be announced in just a couple of weeks. Join us here for the fun: https://www.facebook.com/groups/PrairieRosesCollection/


One of the treats mentioned in the recipes I found was Strawberry Dumplings. It was found in a old trunk that came across the Oregon Trail in the 1800s. This recipe can be found on a site called, GroupRecipes. For the recipe Old Time Strawberry Dumplings, you can visit the site for the recipe directions, but for now, here are the ingredients:

Strawberry Dumplings (or any edible berry along the trail)


Batter 


Topping 

 

Thank you for visiting today and enjoying a little time around the campfire and sharing interesting things on a covered wagon journey. I hope you’ll pre-order Grace, and the other wonderful books in the Prairie Rose Collection releasing this month and in May. You can get all the Prairie Rose Collection books, past and upcoming, in the series here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R8DSMB4


Also, thank you to Donna for having me as a guest today!

 

About Kaitlene:

Kaitlene Dee spends her time daydreaming about western romances and the spunky heroines who insist on having their own stories written, and the swoony cowboys who love them. She often rescues stray dogs and can’t wait to give a forever home to her next dog or two…or five. She lives on the west coast and enjoys traveling, research, writing, and hanging out with reader friends in her Facebook readers group or with her newsletter readers. She’s an avid coffee drinker—and don’t even think about getting between her and a bear claw pastry. Follow her for updates on upcoming releases on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Kaitlene-Dee/author/B0BRCNDRK3

 

 

 

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