Welcome to week three of Iron Rack’s movie night. As a romance writer, I’m always struggling to wrangle my characters and this week’s post was no different.
I’m currently revising the third book in the Deadly Force romantic suspense series so I have to be careful not to give away any spoilers. And as I was writing this post, the male characters in the series started talking about what had just happened in One Dark Wish, the second book that doesn’t come out until September 24th! Oh, the problems of a romance writer!
So I took Nate aside and told him to get his men in line and not to give away any spoilers. Nate laughed and promised he’d try. Now Calum’s butler Ivers is trying to usher everyone into the dining room to serve the first course Hearts of Palm & Artichoke Salad. Of course, now that Ty has taken over the DJ duties, Ivers may be serving the salad outside!
Nate ~ “Everyone is having such a great time drinking beer, eating appetizers on the patio, and Ty is now playing DJ. Unfortunately, Ivers (Calum’s butler) is stressed because the Hearts of Palm & Artichoke Salad is being served and no one wants to come inside. Since I need to wrangle my men, I use some good old-fashioned blackmail. I tell them that if they come inside like the good soldiers they are, Calum will break out his forty-year-old scotch before we head into the theater to watch the movie.
I have to laugh, though, because I didn’t ask Calum first and now he’s looking a bit pale. There are seven of us here tonight and I know, for a fact, that my boiiis can drink. 🙂 Hopefully there will be enough food, or at least enough popcorn, so I don’t have to drive them all back to the gym after the movie.
Speaking of the movie, I haven’t told them yet that I’ve switched horror flicks. But now that I know they’ll be focused on the scotch, I’m not too worried!”

Hearts of Palm & Artichoke Salad
Ingredients
- 1 14-ounce can hearts of palms drained
- 1 10-12 ounce can or jar quartered artichoke hearts drained
- 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup fresh spinach washed and dried
Instructions
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Drain the artichokes and hearts of palms. Chop both the artichoke hearts and hearts of palm into bite-size pieces.
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In a large mixing bowl, stir together the artichokes, hearts of palm, dijon mustard and olive oil. Use salt and pepper to taste.
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Wash and dry the spinach and layer the spinach in a salad bowl. Top with the artichoke/hearts of palm mixture and serve.