Holiday Cheer - Oatmeal Butterscotch Aftercare Cookies

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Holiday Cheer - Gifts from the Afterlife

WIN A NOOK HD in Holiday Cheer Event

By Sarah J. McNeal

Nothing is more fun than blogging around Christmas, especially when there are free prizes offered. It doesn’t get much better than a free Nook HD.

To help spread the cheer and enjoy a little time talking about Christmas and great stories during the season, I would like to celebrate my single release, Gifts From The Afterlife, just out for just $.99. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I love the $.99 store. I can’t think of anything more fun for the price. To add to the fun, I am giving away a digital copy of Gifts From The Afterlife to someone who leaves a comment. Be sure to include your email address at the end of your comment.

How dark must it get before Lydia sees the light?

Blurb:

Lydia Sinclair’s life has run off the rails.  She has lost everyone she loves and Christmas has lost its meaning.  As Christmas approaches, Lydia wants to go to sleep and never wake up again.  Perhaps an angel, some ghosts and a childhood sweetheart can convince her that life is worth living again.  Can Lydia let go of what once was, renew her joy in Christmas and find the promise of hope for her future? 

Short Excerpt:

She searched her memory and it suddenly came to her that she had, indeed, met a young boy from next door. However, her contacts with him had always been brief. He had been a cute kid, but she couldn't remember much of what he ever said except for once. Lydia, her sister, and a couple of their friends were camping out in an old tent. Austin came over with a bag of fresh baked cookies his Aunt Mimi made to give to them. They shared a few cookies while Lydia told them a ghost story with only the moon to illuminate the tent. When she finished and everyone stopped screaming, Austin had leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Some day when I'm grown up, I'm going to marry you."

The memory came floating back like a pink bubble. She definitely wouldn't tell him about that memory. Instead, she kept it simple and neutral. "I do remember seeing you from time to time."

He smiled and his eyes told her he remembered that night in the tent, too.

Buy Links:

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/245342

Amazon.com:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009VLI3CG

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

       Provided by Sarah J. McNeal

½ cup butter or margarine                               1/3 cup Hershey’s cocoa

2/3 cup sugar                                                   ¼ teaspoon salt

1 egg yolk (set aside the egg white)                Vanilla Filling (below)

2 tablespoons milk                                          Granulated sugar  

1 teaspoon vanilla                                           ½ cup walnuts or pecans ground

1 cup unsifted all-purpose flour                      2 dozen Hershey kisses 

Cream butter, 2/3 cup sugar, egg yolk, milk and vanilla in small mixer bowl; blend into creamed mixture.  Chill dough about an hour or until firm enough to handle.  Keep the egg white at room temperature until dough is ready to handle.  Then beat the egg white until frothy and place in a small bowl.  Roll each ball in either the granulated sugar or the ground nuts and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Make a thumbprint in each cookie. 

Place in oven preheated to 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

While the cookies are cooling,

Prepare Vanilla Filling:

Thoroughly combine ½ cup confections’ sugar, I tablespoon butter, 2 teaspoons milk and ¼ teaspoon vanilla

Once the cookies have cooled, place a dollop of vanilla filling in the thumbprint and top with a Hershey Kiss. 

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Holiday Cheer - RUSSIAN TEA CAKES

WIN A NOOK HD - Just leave a comment

 

By Meg Mims

 

 

Meg will give away a copy of SANTA PAWS to one lucky commenter.....

SANTA PAWS -- The last thing Lacey Gordon—divorced with a teen daughter and two cats—needs is a rescue dog coming into her life. To top it off, she's rooked into a "Get Under the Mistletoe by Christmas Eve" dating contest. Since Buddy the dog prefers to be the only "new guy" in Lacey's life, will Santa Claws ruin her holiday for good?

 

Here's my recipe and a short "story" about the cookie recipe. Stole it from Betty Crocker's website, since my mom always used her old cookbook to make these....

Mom had a special silver tray that she placed a variety of Christmas cookies in rows -- and my favorite was the Russian Tea Cake.

 

After rolling the dough into balls and baking, you roll them twice in powdered sugar. The cookie itself is a bit dry and crumbly, but I love love love them with Hot Cinnamon Spice tea from Harney & Sons, or a nice mocha latte. Mmmm! They're fairly easy to make, too. If you use all butter, the balls will melt down to half circles. I usually use half butter and half margarine.

Russian Tea Cakes

1

cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2

cup powdered sugar

1

teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4

cups all-purpose flour

3/4

cup finely chopped nuts - pecans or walnuts

1/4

teaspoon salt

Powdered sugar

1. Heat oven to 400ºF.
2. Mix butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and the vanilla in large bowl. Stir in flour, nuts and salt until dough holds together.
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool slightly on wire rack.
5. Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar; cool on wire rack. Roll in powdered sugar again.

Makes 4 dozen cookies

Do you have a special dish/tray that you bring out for the holidays? Leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of SANTA PAWS and a nook HD, full of romance stories!

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Holiday Cheer - Family Traditions and Mint Cookies

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By Sarah Hoss

Thanks for having me here today Anna! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

I am here to talk to you today about holiday traditions. I imagine we all have them. I have many in my family.   One tradition we have with the children is that when they go to sleep, we go and get out thumb dirty with soot from the fireplace and then put a thumb print on the children’s faces. Usually the cheek or forehead. See, Santa can’t put the presents out until he knows the children are a sleep so he goes and checks to make sure. When they wake up, the first thing they do is run to the bathroom to see if Santa had left his mark!

(If you don’t have a fireplace, you can use the exhaust from a muffler. I did that once and used the black soot from a burning candle jar.)

 Another tradition that I treasure a lot is getting together with the women in my family and we spend the day making cookies and candies. We play Christmas music, talk, and ….shhh….sample a little here and there as we go!

We make anything from buckeyes, sugar cookies, rock candy, peanut brittle, chocolate covered pretzels and mint cookies. Just to name a few.

 

The recipe I want to leave you with today is for the mint cookies. It will be the easiest recipe you will get here I imagine. Do you like the Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies? Now you can make them yourselves.

 

MINT COOKIES

**You will need peppermint flavoring, Ritz crackers, and melting chocolate.

**Melt the chocolate and then add a few drops of the peppermint flavoring. We add about 2-3 but it is up to your taste on how strong you want it.

**Mix it up then dip the Ritz cracker in the chocolate and lay it on wax paper.

**THAT’S IT!  And it is as close to the real thing as you can get! 

 

 

BOOK BLURB:

When forgiveness heals the soul, love heals the heart. 

Flight nurse Tenlee Hawkins is used to making quick decisions, but one decision she made the Christmas day her mother died haunts her. Wrestling with the past, she spirals into depression—until the day she finds a man unconscious in her woods and saves his life.

When Sam awakens in the hospital with a concussion and no memory, Tenlee rescues him again. She takes him into her home and her life. But as Sam recovers and remembers who he is, he's torn. A guardian angel isn't supposed to fall in love.

As the promise of true love grows, Tenlee realizes that Sam has helped her much more than she ever helped him. But Sam is filled with guilt knowing he must soon leave. Will it take a Christmas miracle to find the life with Tenlee he’s always wanted?

EXCERPT:

Red and blue lights pulsed a beat all on their own, and even though the road was slick, people ran to and fro in a frantic pace to save a woman’s life.

A car sat mangled on the side of the road. The roof, having been cut, rested on the ground beside it. A few feet beyond, a woman lay motionless. She wasn’t breathing as the EMT’s worked desperately to save her life. Sam closed his eyes and said a silent prayer. But it was no use. If he was here for an assignment then the lady on the ground was not going to live. He said another prayer, hoping that there would be no pain and she would slip easily into his world.

The woman with the red hair sat on the ground near the deceased woman and cried, rocking back and forth.

“That is her mother.”

Malachi’s deep voice broke into his thoughts and Sam turned to acknowledge him.

“No, keep watching,” Malachi said.

The scene on the screen changed. Months passed, for now the trees were green and glorious in their summer splendor. A manicured lawn hugged a log cabin, nestled in the woods. Flowers sprung from pots here and there along the ground and deck. The place looked cozy. Scenes continued to change as did the weather. Snow decorated the landscape once again.

 Searching the scene for all of the details he could gather, Sam spotted her, just past the cabin, in the woods. She sat quietly on a swing hanging from a tree branch. The sadness etched in her features gripped Sam and tore at his emotions. He ached to go to her, to comfort her.

AUTHOR BIO:

Sarah Hoss grew up believing she could try anything and if she set her mind to it, she would succeed. Sixteen years of dance lessons, Cheerleading, and school plays proved to her that her parent’s words rang true. Writing was no exception. Reading the Outlander series made her fall in love with time travels and the historical places books could take her. Always a child with a vivid imagination, she realized as an adult, she could put her imagination to good use and began writing. Marrying her very own hero, they live in Indiana in the town where she grew up. They have three beautiful children and one hyper dog. When Sarah isn’t writing, she enjoys gardening, camping, and watching her kids’ play sports.

Where to find Sarah-

Twitter- @SarahHoss1

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sarah-Hoss/237219983049037

  Website- www.sarahhoss.com
  Blog- www.heart-of-romance.blogspot.com

  You can also find Sarah on LinkedIN, Goodreads, and Pinterest.

 

Leave a comment to be eligible for the nook HD drawing...

Holiday Cheer - Chocolate Chip Cookies

By Anna Kathryn Lanier

Why is it that there are certain foods that we only fix during the holiday season? Fudge is one thing I only make at Christmas time, yet I love it...so why don't I fix it in July?  My family also likes pumpkin bread  (find the recipe HERE), but also, I seem to only make it at Christmas. Contrary to the fact that I post a lot of recipes on this blog, I am not really a big baker/cook.  But during the holidays, from Thanksgiving through New Year's, I bake, make and cook.  Since Saturday, my family has made: pumpkin bread, Mystical Christmas Bars, Oatmeal Candied Chippers, chocoate covered peanuts (find the recipe HERE), and Santa Hats (find the recipe HERE).  I've also put together some Country Six-Bean Soup Mix and plan to make some more 'mixes in a bag' for friends....and soon, since I need to mail some of them across country. 

What do you usually only make during the holiday season?  Be sure to leave a comment so you're eligible for the nook HD drawing and I'll give away a copy of A GIFT BEYOND ALL MEASURE. Scroll through the blurb and excerpt for a chocolate chip cookie recipe, yummy!
 

Blurb:

Arriving home for Christmas, the last thing Jacob Scott expects in his house is a sexy, shotgun-toting stranger. Worse, his attraction to her bothers him even more than the gun. Still reeling from the deception of his long-time girlfriend, he’s not looking for romance.

Tessa Jones has learned one hard lesson—when everyone in your life has failed you the only one you can trust is yourself. Facing the whispers of the townsfolk and an arson charge, Tessa unexpectedly finds herself trusting Jacob with more than her legal troubles.

Struggling between the promise of the present and the hurts of the past, can these two lost souls overcome their pain long enough to discover a gift beyond all measure?

Unedited Excerpt:

In all of her Christmases, Tessa couldn't remember a time when she'd baked cookies. If she left cookies for Santa, they'd have been store bought. Her mother was always too busy to bother with something as time consuming as cookie baking. And the group home didn't allow such activities. Someone probably would have burned the place down.

She was happy to let Jacob take control of the cookie making; it was his tradition after all. She satisfied herself with standing on the sidelines, handing him ingredients as he needed.

"Now, comes the important part," he said. "Putting them on cookie sheets. They have to be just the right sized balls, or they don't cook correctly."
She grinned. "Really? Do they taste bad?"

He nodded. "Yes, that's why you have to eat them before anyone else does. You don't want anyone to eat yucky cookies."

Laughing, they each filled a cookie sheet with dough. Tessa noticed that more than one of his cookies were not the same size as the others. He caught her looking and winked.

She turned back to her task and sighed. It almost felt normal to be doing this with him. For a brief moment, she had a flash of them doing it together in future years, perhaps with children of their own. Ah, Christmas wishes, the stuff dreams were made of.

Best to remember reality.

"You never answered my question," he was saying.

"What question?"

He finished his own sheet of dough and put both in the oven. "How did you end up in Spencerville? Most people leave Spencerville for a big city. They don't leave the big city for it." He set the timer and faced her.

With her back to the island, she leaned against it, her hands gripping the cool marble surface. "It wasn't meant as my final destination. I was heading to Washington with a classmate from my cooking school. He wanted to take the scenic route through Montana and Idaho. His car broke down just outside Spencerville. After we got it towed and looked at, we knew we didn't have the money to fix it. So, we got rooms in the boarding house and found jobs. I got hired on at Baxter's Diner. He got a job with the feed store."

Jacob raised a brow, but didn't ask any questions.

"We planned to stay until we got the money to fix the car, which we did in about two months. We were all set to leave town when I woke up one morning to find the car, our money and Bobby gone." She brushed flour off her sleeve. "So was the daughter of the feed store owner."

Trust me, he’d said. Ha!

"Bobby did leave me a note. Something about destiny and how he needed to follow it. He always was a little dramatic. Personally, I think it was just lust between him and Priscilla."

Jacob leaned against the counter near the sink and crossed his arms over his chest. "When was this?"

His hazel eyes held interest. In her? Unexpected warmth surged through her. She cleared her throat.

"Two years ago. Old Man Baxter took me back, since I’d quit my job in anticipation of leaving. I worked there until....well, last month."

"Did you love him?"

"Old Man Baxter? Hell, no." She cleared her throat, picked up the bowl and moved to the sink.. She knew who he meant.

His lips twitched as he moved out of the way. "No, did you love Bobby?"

"I don't think so." She put the bowl in the sink and rinsed it out.. "Mostly, I trusted him. I trusted he'd fulfill his promise and get me to Washington, to the new life we discussed."

"A new life together?"

His interest was getting too personal for her comfort. She glanced at the timer. Maybe he’d end the interrogation when the cookies were done.

"Not the way you’re thinking. He had family there, but we talked about getting a place together. He thought we were already living together and that living together meant …." She stopped. Good Lord, what was she doing? Jacob didn't need to know that about her.

He cocked his head. "Meant what?"

Having sex. She clamped her mouth shut and shook her head. Thankfully, the timer went off and she didn't have to answer. Hopefully, he'd drop the subject. Mercifully, he did.

True to his word, Jacob ate the cookies he'd made that weren't the right size. A bit of the lightheartedness returned when he did.

It was nearly ten when they finished washing the dirty dishes. She hid a yawn behind her hand.

"That was fun. Thank you, Jacob."

He stood a few feet from her, hands flat atop the counter. "No, Tessa, thank you. It helps to remember the traditions of the holiday."

A dizzying current raced through her, ending with a tingling in her stomach. She swallowed the desire rising in her breast. The desire to fling herself into his arms and beg him for a kiss like the day before.

"Well," she breathed. "I'm off to bed. I still have to get up at four-thirty."

Instead of moving toward the door, though, she stood where she was. Something in his eyes shifted. Her stomach did a flip. He stepped toward her, ran a finger down her cheek, smoothed his thumb over her lips.

"Merry Christmas, Tessa."

His lips brushed hers in a soft touch. She sighed and he pulled her closer, kissed her harder. He cupped her head as his tongue parried deep into her mouth. She suckled it, tasting decant chocolate chip cookies.

She clung to him, to the promise he held in his eyes, to the promise his mouth gave and for this moment she wanted to believe them.

Shaky fingers slipped the buttons of his shirt free, then smoothed over the hard planes of his chest. A deep groan escaped him when she brushed his nipple. She paused, then teased the nipple again, eliciting another groan. Joy erupted in her heart. She did that to him, little Tessa who nobody wanted.

A Gift Beyond All Measure - The Wild Rose Press

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp water
½ tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup chocolate chips
½ cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven 350°. Mix together butter, sugars, egg, water and vanilla. Beat well. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add oats, chocolate chips and pecans. Mix. Drop by the spoonful onto baking sheet and bake 12 to 15 minutes or until light brown.

Holiday Cheer - A Gingerbread Dog Biscuit Kind of Christmas

By: Carla Rossi

So, one sunny day I’m writing a short story for Pelican Book Group’s Holiday Extravaganza.  It’s a Christmas short story, and I’m all in to writing about the holidays – except that it’s 92 degrees and I’m wearing shorts and watching the heat rise off the driveway through my writing cave window.

And in walks a dog.

Let me back up.  I always knew this story would include animals.  I’m a pet lover from way back, and can’t put a single word on the page without Saber the Maine Coon Muse Cat sitting nearby.  When Dr. Noah and the Sugar Plum Fairy took root in my brain, I happily developed situations to include furry companions.

Now.  In walks a dog.

I say A dog because it’s not MY dog.  It’s my son’s dog.  But between flight school, job changes, and life events, Case the Cuddle Monster has spent more time with me at my house than he ever has with my son at his.  A rescue from Houston Area Doberman Rescue, Case has always been eternally grateful to have a safe home.  He was found wandering a country road – underweight, with burned and blistered pads from walking the on the hot concrete, and with a chain well on its way to being embedded in his neck.

So I’m writing my Christmas story…

And in walks a dog.

I’m like, “Hey there, Dog, I’m writing a Christmas story and this heat is making it hard to stay in the Christmas frame of mind.”

 

And he’s like, “Baking always does it for you... Do some Christmas baking.”

Then I’m all, “Brilliant idea, Dog!” 

So my heroine Jane got busy researching how to make homemade dog biscuits with a holiday theme, and Jane and Dr. Noah’s Gingerbread Dog Biscuits were born.  And let me just say these treats are yummy (Case says so) and make the whole house smell like Christmas. 

So in walks a dog.  And he’s eating Christmas cookies. 

Jane and Dr. Noah’s Gingerbread Dog Biscuits

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 ½ to 2 tablespoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ cup molasses

¾ cup water 

¼ cup canola oil  

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon and cloves until combined.

In a small bowl, stir together molasses, water, and canola oil. 

Pour molasses mixture into flour mixture. Stir until thoroughly combined.

Separate dough into manageable portions and roll out to ¼ to ½ inch thickness.

Use your favorite dog cookie cutter to cut shapes.

Lightly spray a baking sheet or use a baking stone.

Bake for 20 minutes. 

Cool completely on wire rack.

These dog biscuits will keep fresh in the refrigerator for several weeks. They also freeze well.  

Also from Dr. Noah and the Sugar Plum Fairy:

Sunny Trumbull’s Best Ever Sugar Cookies

 1 ½ cups sugar

½ cup shortening

½ cup butter or margarine, softened

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 ½ cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Combine sugar, shortening, butter or margarine, eggs, and vanilla and beat at medium speed with an electric mixer.

Spoon dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture. Mix well.

Chill for several hours or overnight. (Dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.)

Separate dough into portions and roll out to desired thickness—usually ¼ to ½ inch.

Cut out cookies.

Bake on cookie sheet or baking stone at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Remove cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

 Decorate as desired.

 

 

 

Blurb:  Dr. Noah and the Sugar Plum Fairy

Take one lonely veterinarian and one reluctant ballerina.  Add a dash of crazy family and a pinch of adoring pets.  Mix well.  What’s not to love about Christmas?

     College senior and not-so-ex-ballerina Jane Trumbull is home for Christmas break.  She welcomes the joyful chaos of a happy family holiday – then the rollercoaster of emotions begins.

     Veterinarian Dr. Noah Barron hopes his return to Texas and his new clinic will help him forget about his dark days in California.  But he can’t outrun unresolved issues and doesn’t know how lonely he really is – until he meets slightly clumsy Un-Plain Jane. 

     Can Jane and Noah learn to share who they really are and what they really want?  And can they allow God to send joy after sorrow, hope for hidden dreams, and healing for past wounds? 

Enter a comment to win a PDF copy of Dr. Noah and the Sugar Plum Fairy!

Buy links:

AMAZON:

http://tinyurl.com/ba4g8xc

NOOK:

http://tinyurl.com/a9ptngd

PELICAN BOOK GROUP:

http://tinyurl.com/at2vjao  

www.carlarossi.com

facebook.com/carlarossiauthor

Thank you, Anna Kathryn, for letting me stop by!

Wednesday's Chow: ANZAC Biscuits

By Margaret Tanner

In 1915, these biscuits were baked by mothers and sisters and sent in food parcels to troops serving on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey and also to France and Flanders.  The soldiers were members of an expeditionary force, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS). As my novel, Daring Masquerade, is set against a background of World War 1, I thought readers might be interested in this recipe.

Note from Anna Kathryn:  I love ANZAC biscuits. My Girl Scout troop had Australia one year for a Round the World Day activity and we made these 'cookies' for our snack.  I have since lost the recipe, so I'm glad to have it given to me now! ANZAC biscuits were popular with the troops because they 'traveled' well.  Thanks for sharing with us, Margaret.  By the way, if you have not read Margaret's Monday post on Roses: The flower of love, please do so now.

ANZAC biscuits

Ingredients:

125g (4 oz) butter

1 tablespoon golden syrup

2 tablespoons boiling water

1 ½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (baking powder)

1 cup rolled oats

¾ cup desiccated coconut

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar. 

Method:

Melt butter and golden syrup over low heat. Add boiling water mixed with bicarbonate of soda.  Pour into mixed dried ingredients and mix well.

Drop teaspoonfuls of mixture on to greased baking trays, leaving room for spreading.

Bake in pre-heated slow oven (150C/300F) for 20 minutes. Cool on trays for a few minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool.

Store in an airtight container.  Makes about 45. 

DARING MASQUERADE

By the time Ross Calvert discovers Harry Martin is in fact Harriet Martin she has fallen in love with him. Realizing she has failed in her final effort to protect her shell-shocked brother, she puts a desperate proposition to Ross. Marry her and she will give him an heir.

Ross accepts.  However, he is tormented by the betrayal of his former fiancée Virginia.  On his honeymoon he meets her again and is still infatuated.  With the army recalling him to the trenches of France, he faces a terrible dilemma. Taste Virginia’s passion before he marches off to war, or keep his marriage vows to Harry.

 

Buy DARING MASQUERADE here.

 To put myself in the same position as my heroine, Harriet (Harry) in Daring Masquerade, who was thrown into jail for a crime she did not commit. I visited an old jail and went into the little stone cell, and although it was a hot day, inside the cell it was bone chillingly cold. I wanted to know what it was like to be incarcerated in such a place, so I could relate to how Harry felt. Pregnant, alone, the fear and the physical discomfort and the absolute hopelessness of her situation made worse by the hatred of her fellow prisoners who thought she was a spy. And if that wasn’t bad enough, her husband was fighting in the trenches of France, and she didn’t know whether he was alive or dead.

Margaret Tanner
Poignant, Passionate Wartime Romance
2011 EPICON FINALIST
2010 BEST HISTORICAL ROMANCE AT READERS FAVORITE
http://www.margarettanner.com