Monthly Archives: December 2011

Holiday Fun with Sidney Ayers

Posted on December 19, 2011 by TBRG| 5 Comments

Today we have Sidney Ayers on sharing one of her favorite holiday recipes and her favorite Christmas story. Sidney’s newest book Demons Like it Hot is out this month. If you like moody men and women that drive said moody men up the wall with some paranormal activity thrown in then you won’t want to miss this book. 

First off, thank you for allowing me to be a guest. The holidays are a very fun time for my family and I. There’s gifts to buy, houses to decorate and trees to trim. Right now as I write this blog, we’re in the midst of decorating the tree. It’s not going that well. Our angel decided to die. And here I thought angels were immortal!

One of my favorite holiday activities is baking. I love decorating cookies and making all sorts of sweet treats for my nieces and nephews to nibble on. My favorite treat to make for my family is White Chocolate Peppermint fudge. It’s delicious!

1 ½ tsp butter (to grease pan)

2 c. sugar

½ c. Sour cream

¼ cup softened butter (unsalted)

1 bag (12 oz) white baking chips/chocolate

1 cup marshmallow fluff (8 oz)

½ chopped peppermint candy

½ tsp. peppermint extract (Sometimes I like to use peppermint schnapps)

Tools needed:

Candy thermometer

Heavy Sauce pan

Wax/Parchment paper

Wooden Spoon

Square pan

Line a 9 inch square pan with parchment or wax paper and use the 1 ½ teaspoon of butter to grease and set aside.

Using a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, sour cream and softened butter. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Allow to reach a rapid boil and continue to stir mixture until 234 degrees (soft ball stage).

Remove from heat and stir in the chips/chocolate and marshmallow fluff until fully melted. Fold in the candy and  peppermint extract/schnapps. Pour into the pan and let cool until firm. Using your wax/parchment paper, lift from pan and peel off the paper. Cut fudge into 1 inch (or whatever size you prefer) squares. Store remaining (if there is any) fudge in the fridgerator.

Most importantly, ENJOY!

 

My favorite Christmas story is the Gift of the Magi by O. Henry. It shows how a struggling couple  makes sacrifies to give eachother what they wanted for Christmas. Even though it has a really bad ironic twist of fate, the sacrifices they make for each other makes it a worthwhile and endearing story. I’ve posted a link below for anyone who wishes to read the story.

http://www.online-literature.com/donne/1014/

 

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WoW Sunday

Posted on December 18, 2011 by TBRG| 1 Comment

Good friends are like chocolate you can never have to much.

Posted in WOW Sunday

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The Bite Before Christmas by Lynsay Sands & Jeaniene Frost

Posted on December 16, 2011 by TBRG| 1 Comment

Title: The Bite before Christmas

Series: Argeneau (Sands) Night Huntress (Frost)

Author: Lynsay Sands & Jeaniene Frost

Genre: Paranormal

In Lynsay Sands’ “The Gift,” Katricia Argeneau knows grey-eyed cop Teddy Brunswick is her life mate. She just needs to convince him they belong together, and being snowbound in a secluded cabin will make this a Christmas neither will forget. 

It’s “Home for the Holidays” in Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series. Cat and Bones may long to wrap presents and set up a tree, but this Christmas, an evil vampire and long-buried family secrets will threaten to take a bite out of their holiday cheer.

This is going to be a double review. Heather read Lynsay Sands part and Angela read Jeaniene Frost’s part. 

If there’s one thing an Argeneau knows, it’s when they’ve found their life mate. So when Katricia Argeneau is stranded with gentle, gray-eyed cop Teddy Brunswick during a snowstorm, she’s more than up for the challenge of convincing this chief of police that not only is he not too old for her but he’s sexy as well. They belong together, so what could possibly go wrong?

This was a really cute fun read. I was a little worried about how it was going to work out as Teddy is close to retirement when this book takes place. I shouldn’t have worried though she made it work so well. When Kate and Teddy meet she knows he’s her lifemate. Teddy knows all about lifemates and Vampires because of his job. There isn’t a lot of sexual tension as Teddy is an old man, but he does dream and wish that he was younger.

If you like the Argeneau family then you will like this story. It’s a quick fun read.

Grade A

Home For the Holidays

So, Cat and Bones are one of my all time favorite couples, right up there with Ron and Hermione and Eve and Roarke, so I devour every story about them I can get my hands on.  This one was no different.  This time Cat has to save Bones from his birthday present, which falls a few days before Thanksgiving, turning her fun Holiday get together with friends and family into a small disaster.  Fortunately, Cat has Ian to depend on… because Ian is always so helpful, not!  This time he pulls through and together they save their loved ones by Christmas but it’s hit or miss the entire time.  This quote sums it up fairly well “Two vampires and a demon, allied together.  It was a Christmas miracle alright, but of the macabre kind. Still, I’d take my miracles however I could get them.”  Won’t we all?

Grade A+

Posted in FF&P, Review

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Holiday Fun with Delilah Marvelle

Posted on December 15, 2011 by TBRG| 1 Comment

The first time we went to RomCon we had never heard of Delilah, that soon changed and I now count her as a good friend. In fact my oldest has crush on her daughter, but shh don’t tell him I said anything. She sent us these amazing cookies that I can’t wait to try. 

I have three all time favorite Christmas movies I simply would never be able to chose from:
Elf (OMG), A Miracle on 34th Street (the 1947 edition), and the ever glorious It’s a Wonderful Life.  I cry throughout each and every one of these and HAVE to watch them all every single year at least once (though it ends up being 3-4 times each)
As far as Christmas music goes:
Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You
Bing Crosby’s White Christmas
Eartha Kitt’s Santa Baby
Christmas Apricot Sage Cookies:
Ingredients:
1 3/4 C all purpose flour
1/3 C sugar
1/4 C yellow cornmeal
1/2 C butter
2 TBS snipped sage, lemon thyme or Rosemary
3 TBS milk
1 egg white
1 TBS water
Fresh sage leaves
sugar
2 TBS apricot preserves
Directions:
1.) In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar & cornmeal.  Using pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs and clings.  Stir in herbs.  Add milk and stire with fork to combine.  Form mixture into a ball and knead dough until smooth.  Divide dough in half.
2.) On a highly floured surface, roll half of the dough at a time to 1/8-inch thickness.  Using a 2 1/2 inch round cookies cutter, cut out dough.
3.) In a small bowl combine egg white and water.  Brush half of the cookies with the edgg white mixture.  Place a small sage leaf or two on each cookie.  Brush leaves with egg white mixture.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
4.) Bake in 375 degree oven for about 7 minutes or until edges are firm and bottom are lightly browned.  Transfer onto wire racks.
5.) Spread apricot preserves on the bottom of each cookie without a safe leaf.  Top preserves layer with a sage topped-leafed cookie, bottom side down.
Makes 16 sandwich cookies

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Holiday Fun with Ashley March

Posted on December 14, 2011 by TBRG| 1 Comment

Ashley has got to be one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. She is the spearhead of the Romance Biggest Winner. We had to have her on to share one of her favorite holiday recipes.

Here’s my favorite holiday recipe. =) (Note: these are addictive. We might need to put a warning out there to the RBW competitors. ;)
Peanut Butter White Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients:
Ritz Crackers
Creamy Peanut butter
Vanilla flavored (white) almond bark
Directions:
To melt almond bark:
Break bark into squares with knife.  Place into a microwave safe glass dish.  Microwave a few squares for 30 seconds at a time.  Stir well.  Continue to microwave for 30 seconds at a time until completely melted.  Be careful not to burn bark!
To make cookies:
Sandwich two crackers together with a generous amount of peanut butter.  Press together so peanut butter spreads to edge.  Use your fingers to wipe off any excess that squeezes out.  Using tongs, dip crackers into melted almond bark.  Place on foil or waxed paper to harden.

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Holiday Fun with Elisabeth Naughton

Posted on December 13, 2011 by TBRG| 2 Comments

One of the people I love to talk to on twitter is Elisabeth Naughton, she is a ton of fun and loves the same movies as me. I had to ask her to share her favorite holiday treats with us and also her favorite holiday read. 

Your question got me thinking…you know, I don’t know that I’ve ever read a holiday themed romance! How out of it am I? When I was younger I used to get all excited about the holidays but the older I get, the more work they seem! Maybe what I really need is a good holiday themed romance to get me in the mood!
My favorite holiday goodie though is easy…
Tea Time Tassies (Like mini pecan pies…heaven!): 
TEA TIME TASSIES
3 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. butter, unsalted
1 c. flourFILLING:

1 egg, beaten
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

Mix cream cheese, butter, and flour together and chill until firm. Form pastry into 24 (1 inch) balls. Press into cupcake tins; fill with filling. To prepare Filling: Mix together egg, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Use half of nuts in bottom of each pastry shell. Add egg mixture to shells and top with remaining nuts. Bake 25 minutes at 325 degrees.

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Holiday Fun with Anna Campbell

Posted on December 12, 2011 by TBRG| 30 Comments

A couple of years ago Melanie discovered a new to her author, she then proceeded to start cyber stalking her to win her latest book. When she got to meet her in person Anna squealed my cyber stalker, and a friendship was born. When we were planning this series it was no brainer we wanted Anna to participate. So without further ado we will turn it over to Anna as she tells us about Christmas Down Under. She has a Christmas surprise as well. 

Christmas in Australia

Hi Heather and Book Reading Gals! Thank you for asking me to participate in your Holiday Spectacular.

Here in Australia, Christmas falls right in the middle of summer so all those wonderful scenes of Santa urging reindeer through snow and robins shivering in frost and carol singers rugged up to the nines have no relevance at all. Which doesn’t stop a million Christmas card retailers! We still get all the winter imagery for Christmas.

It’s kind of… surreal.

Christmas in Australia, or at least the coastal bit of Australia I come from, is made for the beach. Or if you haven’t got a beach handy, the pool. Or at the very least a hose in the back garden. It’s a time of long summer days and sitting in the evening with a glass of crisp white wine. Speaking of wines, there’s also the whine of mosquitoes. Summer is mosquito season here! Christmas coincides with our long summer holidays and with all the summer fruit being in season. Yum!

It’s also cricket season. Cricket is the big summer sport down here – with a bit of world-class tennis thrown in. I remember screaming fights with my father when I was a teenager because he wanted to watch the test match (test matches go on for what to a teenager is an excruciating four days of nothing happening) when I wanted to watch something else. This was back in the days of one TV families. I went to boarding school and holidays were my only chance to watch TV. The irony is I’ve become quite fond of cricket as I’ve got older.

When I grew up, most people still did the big traditional English lunch. Even though in our climate it is completely insane. We had roast turkey, roast pork, ham, roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, stuffing, beans, cauliflower in cheese sauce, gravy. Then followed it up with hot plum pudding with hot custard, cream and ice-cream. I’m surprised we didn’t all die of heart attacks – the temperature outside can approach 104 degrees F/40 degrees C and the humidity can hit 100%. As you can imagine, after lunch, everybody just collapsed like drunken elephants to sleep off the mountain of food!

These days most people do something much more climate appropriate. Seafood and salads or a barbecue on the ubiquitous beach. But I was indoctrinated early. If it’s not the sort of meal that makes you feel like you’ve eaten a ton of bricks, it’s not Christmas.

Another thing I remember fondly from those long Christmas holidays when I was a young ‘un is lying around reading book after book. Mainly romances. That’s definitely a good memory!

If you’re in Australia or New Zealand and you’re short of reading matter over the holidays, HarperCollins here have put out CLAIMING THE COURTESAN, TEMPT THE DEVIL and MY RECKLESS SURRENDER as an e-bundle called THE COURTESAN COLLECTION at a bargain price. It’s available from 13th December from all good e-book retailers. Here’s the Amazon link:  http://www.amazon.com/The-Courtesan-Collection-ebook/dp/B00642XEPG

My recipe isn’t really a recipe but it’s very yummy.

Summer Fruit Salad:

Chop up fruit in season, for example, plums, peaches, cherries, mangoes, watermelon, apricots, nectarines. Mix together in a large bowl. For a touch of decadence, stir in a splash of sweet liqueur (Frangelico is nice for this). Serve alone or with cream or ice-cream. Makes a lovely breakfast dish (without the Frangelico – well, all right, add the Frangelico if you want, it’s Christmas!).

Wishing you all a very happy Holiday season and all the best for 2012!

***So how old were you when you read your first romance? Was it over a summer holiday? Do you remember what it was? I’ve got a signed copy of MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION going out to one lucky commenter. Good luck. Open World Wide***

 

 

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WoW Sunday

Posted on December 11, 2011 by TBRG| Leave a comment

One of my favorite Christmas Stories is that of Silent Night during WW I. The movie Joyeux Noel depicts this story so beautifully, even though it was 2 years later than this story. A couple of years ago Walter Cronkite told this story with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It has been almost a 100 years since the events in this story but they are ones that remind us of the importance of this season.

 

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Holiday Fun with Jessa Slade

Posted on December 9, 2011 by TBRG| 3 Comments

To meet Jessa is to love her. We happened to meet her the first year we went to RomCon. She has since become a great friend to us here. Now if you follow Jessa on twitter you know that she loves chocolate. So when she shared her holiday recipe complete with picture I almost licked my phone. These are so good I’m just going to turn this over to her.

I’m a lazy holiday baker. Or maybe I’m being unfair to myself; I’m a BUSY holiday baker. Everybody’s busy, right? So here’s my lazy/busy baker best.

Creamy Mint Brownies

One box of Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge Brownie Mix: Yes, it’s a box! Remember, we’re busy. Plus, once you dress it up, nobody will notice it’s from a box. Other box mixes would probably work, but I like the Duncan Hines because it’s usually 99 cents at my store. Also, it makes a 13×9 pan which is better than an 8×8 pan by about… uh, I can’t do the math because I’m too busy. Make the brownies following the directions for “more fudge-like brownies” which take only 2 eggs instead of 3. (Thus saving time AND money!) Make sure not to over-bake; dry brownies are a drag and a little gooey is good.

For added chocolateyness, I sometimes mix in Nestle Toll House mini chocolate chips. Totally unnecessary, except when isn’t more chocolate necessary? I use the mini chips because big chips or chunks can overwhelm the batter.

Once the brownies are baked and completely cool, you add the creamy minty layer.

Mint layer:
3 tablespoons of softened butter*
1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar**
1 teaspoon of real mint extract*
2 tablespoons of milk

* Get good ingredients. Not margarine, not mint “flavored.” I know, I know, it’s a box mix; but to disguise the boxiness, you need the extra oomph of good quality additives.

** A lot of recipes that use powdered sugar say you should sift it first to get out the lumps. Whatever! We’re busy!

Use a hand blender to mix all ingredients into a creamy frosting consistency. Add extra sugar or milk to thicken or thin the mix as
needed. Spread in an even layer over the cooled brownies. Put pan in refrigerator so the mint layer gets a bit of a crust on it. While the
mint layer is hardening, make the chocolate layer.

Melt together 1/2 cup of chocolate chips/chunks/bars* and 2
tablespoons of butter.

* I really like the Trader Joe’s Pound Plus 72% Dark. You get a lot of chocolate — decent quality and not too sweet, which is a good
contrast to the sweet brownie and mint layer — for a respectable price. It’s scored into squares so it’s easy to break and melt. And
eat.

Let the melted choco mix cool a little bit, then spread on the minted brownie. Be careful when you spread the chocolate; its warmth will
soften the mint layer and you don’t want to mingle the layers. Once the chocolate layer has hardened a bit, just cut into squares and
eat!*

*If you want to get fancy and festive, you can mix up another batch of the mint layer, and use a cake decorator bag, poultry injector, etc. to pipe decorations on the top of the brownies. The sugar layer sets up crusty and holds its shape fairly well. Or use chocolate curls,
those are fun too.

I find there is sometimes not enough chocolate at Thanksgiving and Christmas because everybody is focused on the pumpkin and pecan, eggnog and ginger. But in the middle of the earthy tones of the holiday table, these little dark and light mint brownies squares look quite elegant.

Favorite holiday story:

“The Snow Queen” by Hans Christian Andersen

And this is one time when you need to read either in hard copy or on a big color tablet because you MUST read the story from the book STORIES FROM HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY EDMUND DULAC. In this case, it was as much the beautiful images from Dulac as the story that delighted me as a child.

But the story itself is wonderful for the winter season. From the imagery of the swirling hoar frost to the northern adventures of a
brave girl, it was everything perfect for reading to myself on a snowy night in Chicago waiting for hot cocoa and Christmas morning!

 

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Holiday Fun with Beth Williamson

Posted on December 8, 2011 by TBRG| 1 Comment

Today Beth Williamson (also known as Emma Lang) is sharing her favorite holiday recipe and stories..

Favorite story? Little Drummer Boy. Favorite Rankin and Bass Christmas movie? The Year without a Santa Claus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year_Without_a_Santa_Claus)

I like this recipe because it’s so simple and does not require a mixer.

Pumpkin Bread
(Makes 2 loaves)

Preheat oven to 350

3 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
3 cups sugar
2/3 cup water
1 cup oil
5 eggs, beaten
1 16 oz. can pumpkin
Nuts (optional)

Grease loaf pans. Mix together all dry ingredients with a spoon. Blend in water and oil, then mix in beaten eggs. Blend in pumpkin. Fold in nuts.
Divide batter between pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

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