Take Me Home For The Holidays

Welcome to the blog hop!

When I think about home during the holiday season, a few things stand out in my memory...the Christmas music, the smell of fresh-baked cookies and peppermint, and love. Pretty much just an all around feeling of warmth, like snuggling up in your favorite blanket or being enveloped in a tight bear hug.

I have so many wonderful memories of Christmas celebrations with family and friends...enough to warm my heart on any cold winter day and then some! Sometimes it's bittersweet to remember holidays gone by and miss the loved ones that live on only in our hearts - but knowing I have those memories to cherish, means more than any present I could ever receive.

All of the memories, from the smells, the gingerbread cookies and mistletoe hanging in doorways, keep it all alive for me. And all of those elements went into my Christmas novella, Muffins & Mistletoe. During the hot summer, while I was writing this story filled with snowy days, gingerbread muffins and a matchmaker trying to work her magic with two wounded hearts, I took all my Christmas memories and reveled in the joys of my past. Sometimes going home for the holiday is as simple as closing your eyes and remembering!

Welcome to Starlight Hills! Mountain views, small town charm, and one little bake shop, where romance is always on the menu.

Christmas is the best time of year to be in love in Starlight Hills. Cold nights perfect for snuggling, plenty of mistletoe to be caught kissing under, and an abundance of gingerbread muffins for sharing under the stars. But when Corinne Mackenzie turns down a proposal from the man she loves at the Thanksgiving table, it could be the worst time of year instead. Convinced the only way to fix the biggest mistake of her life is to enlist the help of the town's resident matchmaker, she's got a plan to make this the best Christmas ever.

After his proposal is rejected in front of family and friends, Jimmy Crane knows his only chance of surviving the holiday is to avoid the woman who stomped on his heart. The only obstacle to his plan is his matchmaking mother and Corinne's knack for getting him under the mistletoe.

Available now for .99!

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And because this is a blog hop, and I'd love to give away a $5 Amazon eCard...leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite holiday scent is. What does it make you remember, how does it make you feel now? Thanks for stopping by!

Memorial Day - Honor the Fallen

Today we open up the grills, fill pitchers with sangria and chill the beer. We wave flags at parades and hang them on our houses. We celebrate the official launch of the summer season with our families and friends.

Don't forget to give thanks, salute and observe a moment of silence for the men and woman who sacrifice so we can enjoy the freedom to celebrate in any manner we choose.


Today let us remember, we are the home of the free BECAUSE of the brave!

Amen.

Easter Sunday in the Kitchen - Pesto Stuffed Eggs

Happy Easter!

Every year we follow tradition and as part of our Easter celebration we color eggs.

While Easter is a Christian religious holiday, using the egg as part of the holiday celebration has its roots in the pagan festivals of spring as the egg represents an emergence of new life. From the Christian perspective, the egg represents the emergence of Jesus from the tomb and his resurrection.

The coloring or dying of Easter eggs can be traced back to at least the 13th century, when eggs were forbidden during the lenten season and people dyed or decorated eggs to mark the end of their penance.

When I was young, the Easter Bunny hid the real eggs...so with three kids and usually about 24 hard-boiled eggs, the hunt didn't last too long.

When my kids were small plastic eggs populated the stores and I hopped on board and bought about a 100! Our Easter egg hunts went on for quite a while as the Easter Bunny had to be pretty darn creative to hide 100 eggs around the house...sometimes we found those elusive well-hidden eggs days later!

Even though the kids have grown up and we don't hide eggs any more, we still color eggs. Then we spend the next week (at least!) eating them. Here's a great recipe to put some of those hard-boiled eggs to good use:

PESTO STUFFED EGGS

8 hard-boiled eggs, halved

1/3 cup basil leaves

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons pine nuts

1 small clove of garlic

3 Tablespoons warm water

Pine nuts and basil leaves for garnish

Place the eggs yolks, basil, mayonnaise, butter, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts and garlic in a food processor or a blender. Process mixture until smooth. With the machine on, add the warm water. Taste for seasoning, add salt if needed. Using a pastry bag or spoon, fill egg white halves. Garnish as desired with pine nuts and basil leaves.

Enjoy!

A New York Holiday Minute

 First I need to a take a few lines to express my deepest sympathy, my heartfelt remorse and my utter shock at the senseless tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  My heart goes out to every parent of that community. I know our prayers and support aren't enough, but I do believe in God and I do believe in the power of our prayers. May God bless all those angels.

Now, for the first time in years I planned a trip into NYC (about 90 minutes by train) with the hubs and 2 of my 3 kids - because my oldest hates the city and refused to go.

Even though we all felt a little down this weekend and not really in the holiday spirit due to the CT tragedy - we went with the feeling that life can be short, it can be fleeting and we should take the moments with our loved ones when we get them and celebrate. We all know how quickly things can change, "in a New York minute" we like to say...and so we headed out for our long-planned day in the city.


Immediately after stepping out from Penn Station we found the most important destination of our day to our 13 year old daughter - the One Direction store! We stepped into a hot store brimming with screaming teenage girls in their absolute glory (Okay, I was teen once and admit to same the consuming crushes, I think David Cassidy was my first celebrity crush and if that doesn't date me, I don't know what does!)

After surviving the One Direction store and the jibes from her 19 year old brother...we continued on. We took a few wrongs turns once out of Penn Station, but we had some laughs and ended up at our next destination, The Discovery Center for their exhibit on the real world of Spying and Espionage.

As someone who deals in the fiction trade, even though I write romance, this was AMAZING. The stories, the photographs and the actual items used during the last 100 years or more were fascinating. From hollow coins to poison "suicide" pins and carrier pigeon cameras - we went from one room to the next pointing things out to each other. The fact that it held the attention of both a 13 year old girl and a 19 year old boy I think speaks volumes!

Being that it was cold and rainy, we didn't do as much window shopping as we would have liked, but the window displays at Macy's are always worth braving the weather for. This year the windows depicted scenes from "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause" and they were all fun to see.

After eating dinner we headed for the tree in Rockefeller Plaza. Here I am with my wet hair (Isn't hubby lucky he has no hair to worry about? LOL!)

The train ride home was quiet but the smiling faces sitting across me filled my heart with all the goodness and hope I still feel and want to believe in. I gave my kids a wonderful memory that will last a lifetime this weekend and as a mom, that's all I can ask for.

Happy Monday my friends and safe travels wherever your road leads this holiday season!

Holiday Traditions - The Gingerbread Cookie

Making gingerbread cookies is a tradition in my house. In fact, it's been a holiday EVENT in our house for the last 17 years.

Hubby makes the dough, we invite our closest family friends and we spend the next few hours decorating cookies with the kids. Yes, I have pictures of our kids growing up at my dining room table...17 years of those smiling faces decorating cookies from the early days of simply a pair of chocolate chip eyes, to the years the boys covered the cookies in red hots to simulate gun shot wounds - we've seen it all!

  
And I even have my share of pictures of me covered with flour handprints (courtesy of my hubby!)

This is one holiday tradition that I adore and well, it just wouldn't feel like the Christmas season without the annual gingerbread night at our house.



Here's the recipe we've been using for 17 years...(warning you really need a good mixer - this recipe is thick!)

Gingerbread Men

1 Cup butter

1 Cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 Cup dark molasses

2 Tbs vinegar

5 Cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp ground Ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

Cream butter, salt & sugar. Add egg, molasses & vinegar. Beat well. Stir in flour, baking soda and spices. When it's well mixed, chill dough for at least 3 hours. Roll out dough to desired thickness on a lightly floured board or pastry mat (we like ours thicker and more doughy!) Cut with the traditional gingerbread man cookie cutter and place on UNgreased cookie sheet about an inch apart. Decorate as desired.
Bake cookies at 375 for approximately 6 to 8 minutes (depending on the thickness and your oven)
Let cool for about a minute, then remove to wire rack to continue cooling.

Enjoy!

Does your family have that one cookie you have to make every year?

Safe travels and happy scribbling!