Monday Muser's Mad Question Time - Elizabeth Coldwell

Good morning all,
And another week is upon us. I think we are all still here. For those of you that are not and may have been raptured - well, you don't know what you are missing. My guest today is the lovely Elizabeth Coldwell and her question is ...

You are putting together a four course romantic dinner for two - you and a celeb of your choice. You have to choose each course from a different country. What would you choose? Remember -a way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

I think you will find her answer quite mouth-watering. I know I did. I have added her to my list of future dinner guests.Take the floor, Liz.

This is a great question, as if there’s one thing I really love to do apart from write, it’s cook. I shan’t name my celeb, if only because I’m pretty sure no one reading this will have heard of him! My mystery man used to play for the football team I support, and now he works as a coach for another club – if you’re really eager for a description, he’s very tall and dark-haired, with big hands and a nice smile. I know he likes to read, so I’d be able to discuss the great variety of books available from all those talented Muse authors, as well as quizzing him about his experiences in football (okay, so that last bit might sound boring to some of you, but I’d enjoy it!).
But, more importantly in relation to the question, what would be on my menu? My four courses would involve a starter, a fish course, a main course and a dessert, and I don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, because that would mean I couldn’t spend as much time with my guest. To start, I’d go with fresh Dutch asparagus, lightly griddled and served with lots of melted butter. Some of the best asparagus in the world is grown in the Netherlands, as I know from having eaten it there in the past, and not only is it supposed to have aphrodisiac qualities, there’s something very sensual about licking all that butter off your fingers.
For the fish course, the obvious choice would be oysters, but I’m not a great lover of shellfish – and oysters are a bit of a cliché, anyway. Instead, I’d choose some nice Swedish gravad lax. Cured salmon, with a delicious dill sauce – very good for the brain, because for me, being able to connect with someone on a mental level is just as important as any physical attraction you may feel for them. I’ve never been a great fan of pretty but stupid types…
The main course would have to be a classic French steak au poivre, with frites and a green salad. Unless you’re dealing with a vegetarian, what man can resist a nicely cooked piece of red meat? The pepper adds a little spice (because as you can tell from my fiction, spicy is good…), and using red wine for the sauce means you can save the cream for the dessert – my favourite course of all!
To round off the romantic dinner, I’d finish with a gorgeous English dessert, Eton Mess. The story goes that it was invented when a chef at Eton school was serving a pavlova, only to drop it on the way. Scooping the mixture of smashed meringue, fruit and whipped cream into a bowl, he served the result as a new creation. Whether that’s true or not, you can’t go wrong with this – it’s very easy, and at its best when made with juicy English strawberries. Again, the fruit is supposed to be an aphrodisiac, because of all the zinc contained in its seeds, but that, to me, is just a bonus.
All that’s left is to make coffee, serve with chocolate mints and you have a perfect evening with a perfect mystery man. Bon appétit!

Hungry yet, folks? Here is a little bit about Elizabeth...

Elizabeth Coldwell lives and writes in London. She’s always loved to make up stories, particularly ones involving hot men. Her other big passion is her home town football club, Rotherham United, and at weekends she can be found cheering them on to victory (hopefully!). Visit her at The (Really) Naughty Corner, http://elizabethcoldwell.wordpress.com

Here is a taste of her up and coming MuseItHot release

The Face In The Glass

Blurb:
Psychic Ceri is startled when her crystal ball starts showing her visions of a handsome man who isn’t the boyfriend of her current client. Things become even stranger when the man’s face appears in every reflective surface she looks into, and the visions become progressively more explicit, showing them making love. To solve the mystery, Ceri must visit the hall of mirrors when the fair comes to town, and use an ancient love spell to try to release the stranger from his bizarre captivity.

Excerpt:
I saw his face in my crystal ball with stunning clarity. Usually, the visions I receive are cloudy and soft-focus. They’re not always easy to define, but this was like looking into a mirror. Dark hair pushed back from a high forehead, brown eyes that sparkled mischievously, a mouth designed to be kissed till the lips were swollen with desire. Truly, one of the most handsome men I had seen in a long time.
Raising my eyes from the ball, I looked at the girl sitting on the other side of the table. “He’s very good-looking, isn’t he?” I commented. A visible thrill of pride ran through her, though I was sure she must hear such compliments on a regular basis. “Those beautiful brown eyes of his...”
She tensed, startled out of the relaxed pose I encouraged her to adopt as the reading progressed. “Rob doesn’t have brown eyes.”
“But that’s the man I’m seeing. Dark hair, brown eyes.” I peered at the vision once more, spotting something I didn’t notice the first time. “And a tattoo around his biceps. A Celtic knot design. Subtle, but distinctive.”
That was the point at which she stood up, snatching her purse from the table top. “That’s absolutely nothing like Rob. I knew I was wrong to come here. You can’t see a thing in that stupid ball of yours. You’re just a fraud. Well, don’t think I’m going to pay you for the garbage you’ve been spouting.”
She left, heels clicking on the floor of my little shop, the chimes hanging above the front door mocking me as they jangled in time to her exit.
I stared back at the crystal ball, but with the mood shattered so abruptly I no longer saw anything in its depths. I didn’t understand it. She asked me, as so many of my clients did, to see whether her boyfriend was faithful to her, and whether he was going to ask her to marry him. I had given her the ball to hold, telling her to concentrate on him and nothing but him. The spirits would provide the answer. Once the ball was in my grasp, that sensual, intelligent face presented itself to me. But if it wasn’t her boyfriend Rob, who was it?

Here are more links for Liz...
http://elizabethcoldwell.wordpress.com/
http://museithotpublishing.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77&Itemid=82