Join me in welcoming back my friend and talented author Linda Broday!
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I’m so excited about my new release – TWICE A TEXAS BRIDE! This is the second book in my Bachelors of Battle Creek series. Don’t miss the giveaway at the bottom of this post.
Years ago, I watched a John Wayne western filmed in 1948 called “3 Godfathers.” Ward Bond played alongside him. In the movie, John Wayne and the others were outlaws on the run. They came across a wagon train that had been attacked. All were killed except for one woman. John Wayne and Ward Bond assist her in giving birth and it made for a scene that was both funny and heart wrenching because the woman dies minutes after delivering. John Wayne and the others vow to care for the babe and see it safely across the desert. Amongst the supplies, they find a tin of Carnation milk so they make a baby bottle using that.
Canned milk and other foods actually were used on the frontier. In 1856, Gail Borden, an American, successfully produced sweetened condensed milk in cans for the first time and was granted a patent. With financial support, he launched the New York Condensed Milk Company in 1857. During the Civil War it was introduced on a large scale.
But to my surprise, canned fruits, vegetables, and some fish and meats were produced in 1812 by a small plant in New York. They were sold in hermetically sealed containers, not tins.
The cans were very heavy, requiring a hammer and chisel to open. Quite an arduous process. The first can opener came out in 1858 and resembled a bayonet. Talk about dangerous! In 1870 a safer model was introduced.
Canned peaches were very popular. I used both milk and peaches in TWICE A TEXAS BRIDE.
Rand Sinclair dearly loves peach pie so he keeps lots of cans on hand. The story takes place in the dead of winter and canned ones are all that’s available.
Later in the story, he and Callie Quinn, the woman he finds hiding in a run-down outbuilding, take in a three-month-old orphaned babe. When the outlaw Nate Fleming has them under siege, Rand can’t get out to milk the cow. The only option for the babe is a couple of cans of evaporated milk.
THE BLURB:
Scars of the past run deep inside former saloon owner Rand Sinclair, leaving jagged pain and two certainties. He’ll never fall in love again. Never marry.
He finally has the ranch and land he’s dreamed of owning and that’s enough. But when he finds a woman and little boy hiding out in one of his outbuildings in the bitter cold, he can’t turn his back. He offers her a safe haven and the warmth of his fire.
Callie Quinn is on the run from a killer outlaw who has vowed to see her dead and take the boy.
Slowly, Rand uncovers her secrets and realizes the only way to keep her safe is to push all his chips to the center of the table. He risks everything…his name…his heart…his life for the woman who’s awakened a fierce hunger for love.
Whoever wants to harm her will have to go through him.
And he’ll go through anything for her.
AN EXCERPT:
With the ticking clock on the mantel loud in the room, Callie sat by the window with the Winchester propped on her lap. Rand occupied a chair nearby at the other window with another rifle and his Colt. Toby played quietly with the babe. When they spoke, they kept their voices low, as though Nate and his brothers might hear and charge into the house with guns blazing.
Two o’clock in the afternoon came and went.
No sign of anyone on the road. The gunfire outside had ceased.
No one moved. It was like they hung suspended over a wide chasm and any sound or movement might send them plummeting over the edge.
Though Toby didn’t complain, she knew the toll this took on the six-year-old. Feeling responsible somehow for what his father did, he carried a huge weight on his young shoulders. What was worse, she didn’t know anything she could say that would lift his burden.
Three o’clock.
After Callie changed the baby, she and Rand went to the kitchen. While he kept watch, she made another bottle using the canned milk. The remaining can on the shelf sent ripples of concern through Callie. How would they stifle Wren’s hungry cries when they ran out?
With the bottle in hand, she and Rand returned to the parlor where she fed the babe and put her down for a nap.
“Is anyone hungry? Rand, I could fix you something.”
His blue eyes met hers. “Not hungry, darlin’, but Toby probably is.”
Toby looked up from the floor where he was stared dully at some carved wooden soldiers. He shook his head.
Three-thirty.
“I need to check your bandage. See if you’re bleeding, Rand.” Callie moved to the chair where he sat. Some blood had seeped through the wrappings. She gathered more clean cloths and rebound the wound.
Four o’clock and still no sign of anyone on the road. Callie’s nerves couldn’t take much more of this endless wait. The sun would go down soon. When it did, Nate and his brothers would mount an assault. Would they be able to hold them off by themselves?
At five o’clock with no glimpse of Cooper Thorne, Rand stood and put his coat on.
“Where are you going?” Callie’s heart pounded with fear.
He pulled her against him. “Cooper isn’t coming, darlin’. No one’s coming and I can’t huddle inside this house like a jittery jackrabbit. Wren needs milk. We’re almost out of the canned stuff.”
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Canned foods are so common today. Which do you use most? For a chance to win a copy of TWICE A TEXAS BRIDE leave a comment. Winner gets to choose either e-book or print.
Buy Links for the Book:
Amazon: http://amzn.com/1492602841
Barnes and Noble: http://goo.gl/YWffqm
Watch the Book Trailer:
ABOUT ME:
I’m a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of western historical romance. I reside in the Texas Panhandle on land the American Indian and Comancheros once roamed. I love scouring history books and the Internet for little known details to add to my stories. I’ve been accused, and quite unjustly I might add, of making myself a nuisance at museums and libraries. Humble roots and the love of family have become focal points of each book I write.
I love hearing from readers. You can Contact me:
www.LindaBroday.com (sign up for my newsletter also)
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/linda.broday1
Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/lindabrodayauthor
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/lbroday
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/lindabroday1/
Good morning Shanna! Thank you so much for having me back. I just love being here. I love talking about the old West and the strong men and women who settled it. And who are still settling it in my books! LOL It took so much courage and strength and only the strong survived. I’d like to think I would’ve been one of those but I’m not sure. Death could come at any moment from a hundred different ways. Wild animals, an accident, falling, being trampled by a horse–just so many things could’ve happened.
I also love the research that’s involved in writing my stories. Like the canned food. While it was limited and most people shunned it, they did have access to some. Canned peaches and milk were two of the more common. Rand Sinclair loves his peach pie and cobblers. That man sure has a sweet tooth!
Thanks again for having me! I’m really thrilled to be able to be here.
“Three Godfathers” is one of my favorite westerns, & we watch it at least once during Christmas, & occasionally during the year. I love the details authors use in their books, such as canned items, or describing furniture, clothing, etc, of the day, it seems to put me more into the story. I’ve never read a book by Linda Broday. Twice a Texas Bride sounds like a great one to start with!
It is my great pleasure to have you here, Linda!
You are always, always welcome!
I, too, love those strong men and women who settled the West. Your post was so fun. Loved reading about the canned food available… and Rand’s sweet tooth. I’m right there with him! 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing about your new release! Best wishes to you!
Staples in my kitchen would me evaporated milk and pumpkin. Always ready for a pumpkin pie!
Me, too, Janet! I’m a pumpkin pie junkie! 🙂
Hi Janet, thank you for stopping by! It’s a pleasure to have you come and talk about the canned foods in your cupboard. I keep lots of soups on hand, things I can warm up really fast. And I often cook with Campbell’s soup. I also like to keep handy evaporated milk. That makes the best white gravy. Yummy. But I mix it with water of course. Back when I was growing up, my mother used to keep this little baby when her mother went on a drinking binge. Mama would mix evaporated milk, water and syrup in a bottle for her. It sure did make that baby’s breath smell good. I still remember that to this day.
Thanks again for coming. It’s such a treat to be here.
I usually have cans of fire roasted tomatoes in my pantry to make chili and soup dishes from scratch. I also use canned evaporated milk for holiday fudge 🙂 I enjoyed reading this blog about how the canned-foods research turned up in your story,Twice A Texas Bride. And Rand has got to be some guy, doing what he does for Callie! This book is on my TBR list! Thank you both for sharing so much of your expertise…
Thanks for stopping by today, Alice! Canned evaporated milk comes in handy for so many things – but especially fudge! Yum!
Ah yes . . . I remember drinking ‘reconstituted’ canned milk as a child. My parents bought it by the case to keep on hand so we would not run out if milk! Growing up we ‘canned’ all kinds of fruits – peaches, pears, apricots, plum, crab apples, wild saskatoon berries & high bush cranberries. In quart & 2 quart jars. Don’t remember canning veggies but we had a freezer in the basement that we inherited when i was little and i believe my mother probably froze the vegetables.
Today i use canned beans & sauce for chili, beef broth to cook my rice in, pasta sauce in jars & salmon in cans.
To this day i can NOT stand the taste of canned milk which my mother still uses as ‘creamer’ in her coffee (she is kind enough to buy 1/2&1/2 for me to use in my coffee when i go to Canada to visit).
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My mom canned a lot of produce, too, Gail. I’m still afraid of the pressure cooker and make freezer jam, etc. 😉
Hi Alice, thank you so much for coming by. I’m glad you found my blog on early canned foods interesting. Sometimes we don’t stop and think that some things were around a lot earlier than we thought. Fire roasted tomatoes…yummy! I would die for some that chili you make! Fire roasted tomatoes really make everything very tasty.
Rand and Callie both are such wounded people. I loved being able to bring them together and help those scars they carry.
I’m glad my book has caught your fancy. Who knows? Maybe you’ll win the one I’m giving away. Good luck!
Hi Gail……thank you for stopping to read my blog. I really appreciate it. Sounds like you didn’t go hungry when you were growing up. I’m sure your mom kept a garden as so many back then did. Those sure helped out in feeding a family.
I keep canned beans, pasta sauce and both chicken and beef broth. Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do if canned foods weren’t available. I use so many. After a long day of writing, I often don’t stop early enough to put something on to cook. It’s nice to be able to grab a can of something and open it. But today is a rarity. I have fresh green beans cooking and have some small red potatoes to put in them in a bit. I can’t wait.
I’ll be your mom would do most anything to get you to visit her. Buying half and half milk for you is worth it.
Good luck in the drawing for the book!
You didn’t mention if the canned foods of that time were expensive, or maybe i missed it. I enjoy canning, the pressure canner is my friend. Your book sounds like a good read, Linda.
Hi Shanna & Linda! Does chocolate come in a can? Yes, it does! Herserys Chocolate Syrup. Actually, I don’t know if it can be bought in a can anymore but I remember as a kid that the labeling was even appealing. Yum! Anyway, I’m a research nut so I enjoyed your post Linda. I’m the person in Cracker Barrel looking to see if they have anything new on the walls. I’ve seen some very old cans at Cracker Barrel but it was fun to read the dates that you found in your research. They must have had to use faith in those days when it came to their food because I don’t know if I would trust their processing/preserving method. Well, I guess we still do have to use our faith even with today’s standards. Ha! Write on ladies! Shanna, you know I’m a huge fan of your work! I must admit that I haven’t read one of your books yet Linda but that will change soon enough. Hugs & Chocolate!
Hi Jen! I’m with you… I might have survived life way back then if I had amply supplies of chocolate! 🙂 The Cracker Barrel has so many cool old relics – how could you not study them all! Happy Weekend to you, my friend!
Hi Old Things R New! Thank you so much for coming by. I’m glad you enjoyed my blog. The canned foods near as I can tell were very inexpensive. But there’s not a lot of information about prices during that period. I wish I could can. I really like having fresh veggies and fruit during the winter. I don’t really know how and I don’t have a pressure cooker. My mother canned a lot though.
I’m glad my book interests you. Maybe you’ll win a copy. 🙂
Hi Jen, thank you for coming over! I loved your comment. Oh I sure hope chocolate would’ve been available. That could sure have made any day brighter. I think the pure dreariness of the time would’ve been difficult to take. A can of Hershey’s chocolate would’ve been with having a shootout over! I, too, love Cracker Barrel. Those things from times past always make me smile. I’m with you, too, on not eating much of that canned stuff. I wonder how many died from food poisoning or from the can itself? Bet there was a good many.
Thank you for coming. It was fun. Good luck in the drawing.
Enjoyed the post.I remember Hershey’s syrup in a can too. I’m old.ugh! I remembered hearing about the cans of beans and other things from my grandfather who was a cowboy. I keep cans of milk, tomato sauce, and veggies in my pantry today. I know many don’t like the canned taste but sometimes fresh or frozen is not available.