Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I've received feedback on Coming Home from my editor and all of my beta readers. Thankfully, they all liked the book. There are a few minor tweaks I'll need to make and/or fix but overall, there won't be a lot of rewriting or editing to be done before the book is released in early January 2025.

 Motivational Quote: "To fulfill a dream...to be given the chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life." ~ Bette Davis

What I'm Reading:  I'll be starting Beach Read by Emily Henry tonight when I go to bed. I've heard good things about it so I'm looking forward to reading it.

Random Thoughts:  Cookie baking will commence today and continue throughout the week. We make 12 different kinds of cookies and about 10 dozen of each type every year. We pack them in containers and give them out to friends and family. Every year I say we're not going to cut back and not make so many different kinds, but we always end up with 12 anyway. Some recipes are tried and true that have been made for years (since I was a child) and some are newish having been made at least 3 years and some are new, new being made for the first time. It's a lot of work, but I look forward to it every year.

Random Photo: 

The frosted sugar cookies we make every year and have been making since I was a child.
 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related: Still working on revisions and edits for Ivan's story. Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot done last week. I ended up having to work late a few nights and then had to run out and do the last of my holiday gift shopping. 

Motivational Quote: "You can begin again now. Any moment is a valid starting point for doing the thing you want to do and being who you want to be." ~ Unknown

What I'm Reading: I'm reading Wrong Alibi by Christina Dodd. It's the first book in the Murder in Alaska series.

Random Things: I still haven't made gingerbread yet, but I'm determined to make it this year. I've been wanting to do it for a few years now, but never seem to be able to squeeze it in with all of my other holiday baking. 

Random Photo:

                                            Mrs. Green playing hide and seek.

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related: I'm still working on revisions and edits for Ivan's story. It's getting harder to get a decent amount done on a daily basis now that holiday responsibilities are ramping up. That must be why I usually take every December off from writing. It's really hard to get writing stuff accomplished when holiday related items take up a lot of my free and writing time.

Motivational Quote: "You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." ~ Maya Angelou

What I'm Reading: I started reading Bombshell by Sarah MacLean, the first in the Hells Bells series, in the middle of last week. I'm still reading it because I don't have a lot of free time. I've been trying to squeeze in fifteen or twenty minutes each night before I turn the light out and go to sleep. 

Random Things: Last week in this section I mentioned that I was going to make gingerbread. I didn't end up making it because I didn't realize I didn't have enough molasses. I'm going to make it this week. I made brown sugar cinnamon cookies instead because I had some coconut oil I wanted to use up. 

Random Photo:

                  Here's a photo of the brown sugar cinnamon cookies I mentioned above.

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related: I'm still working on revisions and edits for Ivan's story. I was hoping to have the final revised version to my beta readers by the end of last week. That didn't happen. I had some unexpected things pop up that killed a lot of my writing time. I'm working as hard as I can to get the revisions finished and the book to my betas asap. I hate that I didn't get everything finished in November as originally planned.

Motivational Quote: "Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong." ~ Ella Fitzgerald

What I'm Reading: I'm not currently reading anything right now. I'm trying to use as much of my available free time as I can to get the revisions on Ivan's story finished.

Random Things: Sometime this week, I'll be making gingerbread for the very first time. Gingerbread seems to be such an integral part of the Christmas holiday season that I've always wanted to try to make it. Next week I'll let you know how it turned out.

Random Photo:

 I ordered some office supplies and everything came in one box except this item. It came in a giant box all by itself with a bunch of bubble wrap. It's so small you'd think they could have fit it into the box with the other supplies. 

Holiday Traditions

(I've been crazy busy lately with the Thanksgiving holiday, appointments, the day job, and trying to get my holiday cards finished that I almost forgot to post something today. Please forgive the repeated post - it was originally posted on December 19, 2011, but is still just as true today.)

Everyone I know has at least one holiday tradition they look forward to every year from Black Friday shopping to family gatherings to attending that one special holiday party every year. 

I have two traditions I look forward to.  One is to watch Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.  I’m well past the age of believing in Santa Claus and flying reindeer, but it’s just not Christmas if I don’t watch Rudolph.  Every year, the night it’s on, I get in bed, prop up my pillows, and snuggle under my big fluffy comforter and watch the cartoon while my cat curls up at my feet.  Of course, there’s always a cup of hot chocolate involved too.

The most important tradition though is making Christmas cookies with my mom.  She started teaching me to cook when I was four years old.  Every December we would make cut out cookies in various holiday shapes.  She would mix the dough on a Friday evening and put it in the refrigerator over night.   My brothers and sisters and I would take turns peering into the refrigerator at the bowl of dough and asking when it would be ready for baking.

Finally, Saturday afternoon would come and she’d pronounce it ready.  She would roll it out and place the cutters on the dough.  Each one of my siblings and I would get a turn to push the cutters down into the dough.  My mom would peel away the excess, put the cut out pieces onto a baking sheet and into the oven.  We’d repeat the process over and over until every scrap of dough had been formed into a cookie.

Rows and rows of angels, reindeers, snowmen, Christmas trees, holly leaves, tree ornaments, and Santa Claus cookies would fill one end of the table to cool then be packed away until the next day, the most important day of all – the day we would frost them. 

My mom would make the frosting and allow each one of us to stir drops of food coloring into bowls of white icing.  We’d have a rainbow of colors and little bottles of colored sugar to decorate the cookies with.  We’d spend the afternoon decorating the cookies, making sure the Santa cookies were frosted red and white to represent his suit, the snowmen white with a strip of yellow around his neck and down his stomach to represent his scarf.  Christmas trees had brown frosting for the trunk and green frosting for the leaves and a dot of yellow at the top for the star just to describe a few.  When we were finished, my mom would lay them on wax paper to set.  We would ooh and ah over them like they were the most magnificent cookies ever made.

My brothers and sisters are all married with children now and building their own holiday traditions but for two days every December my siblings and I gather together and make Christmas cut out cookies with my mom.  It’s a tradition I hope we’re able to continue for many years to come.

Holiday Baking

Within the next couple of weeks, my mom will start her holiday cookie baking. She makes at least 6 different kinds of cookies and at least 10 dozen of each kind. All these cookies are given away with gifts or as gifts with just a few cookies left for us as a family to eat. Maybe about 2 to 3 dozen total out of all the cookies she makes.

I always contribute at least two to three different kinds of cookies as well. This year I wanted to try some new recipes and stumbled on a copy of Better Homes and Gardens Homemade Cookies Cook Book in a used bookstore. It was published in 1975. There are some recipes I'm looking forward to trying and some I will never attempt - Fruit Cocktail Bars anyone? Just the thought of fruit cocktail in a cookie makes me shiver, much less eating one.

I did find a recipe for Velvet Pistachio Squares that I'm looking forward to trying. It seems relatively easy to make, butter or margarine, flour, sugar, an egg, vanilla extract, milk, baking powder, flaked coconut, and chopped pistachios. After you make the squares/bars, you frost them with vanilla frosting.

I'll let you know how they turn out.

Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

I came across a recipe for Orange Chocolate Chip cookies a couple of weeks ago while I was looking for new recipes to try. If you're like me and love the flavors of orange and chocolate together, these are the cookies for you.

The recipe is from the Two Peas & Their Pod website. It has a lot of great recipes so take some time to look around while you're there. Here's the link for the Orange Chocolate Chip cookie recipe. http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/orange-chocolate-chip-cookies/    The site can take a bit of time to load, but it's worth the wait.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

My family is a big fan of coconut related treats. Our favorite Halloween candy is Almond Joy. I buy fresh coconut still in the shell whenever it's on sale at the grocery store so we usually have a bowl of coconut chunks in the refrigerator. Since I've already been asked by three separate relatives if I was making coconut chocolate chip cookies for the holidays this year, I thought I'd share the recipe here.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks butter, melted
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed. (I use light brown sugar, but you can use either.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons coconut extract (This can sometimes be hard to find. If you can't find it, use vanilla extract. The coconut extract just gives it more of a coconut flavor.)
2 eggs, beaten before you add them to the other ingredients.
2 cups coconut flakes
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 package chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour the melted butter into a large mixing bowl. Add the granulated and brown sugars and mix well. Add the baking soda, coconut (or vanilla) extract, and salt. Stir in the beaten eggs until everything is well combined.

 Next pack the coconut flakes down into the measuring cup until you get two full cups. (My sister puts her coconut flakes into a food processor to chop them up a bit so the flakes aren't so big. If you do this, only use 1 cup of packed coconut flakes because they've been chopped. You can also chop them with a knife if you don't have a food processor.) Add them to the other ingredients in the bowl. Stir well. Add the flour and chocolate chips and mix until everything is well combined.

Let the dough sit for ten minutes, uncovered. Drop by teaspoonful onto an ungreased baking sheet. If the dough gets too sticky, chill it slightly in the refrigerator and try again. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until cookies are golden brown around the edges. Let cool for approximately 3 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approximately 6 dozen cookies depending on how big you make them.

Holiday Lemon Squares

This recipe is courtesy of a friend. It's an often requested favorite in her family.

Coconut Lemon Squares

1 and 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (about 3/4 cup), softened and cut into pieces
2/3 cup Confectioners sugar plus 1 additional tablespoon to be used later
2 cups all purpose flour plus 1/4 additional cup of flour to be used later
2/3 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
6 large eggs
1 & 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 9 inch metal baking pan with aluminum foil with the foil hanging over the ends. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the foil and set aside.

Place butter, 2 cups of flour, and 2/3 cup of confectioners sugar in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is moist but crumbly. The dough should hold together when you press it between your thumb and finger. Spread the mixture over the bottom of the foil lined pan. Using your fingers, press the dough onto the bottom of the pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

While the pan is baking in the oven, mix the lemon zest, lemon juice, and eggs. Whisk until well combined. Add granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Whisk again until well mixed.

When the crust is finished baking, whisk the filling mixture once more just to ensure everything is well mixed especially if you had to wait for the crust to finish baking. Pour the egg mixture over the hot crust. Sprinkle with coconut. Bake 18 to 24 minutes or until filling is just set and golden in color. The filling will still be slightly jiggly in the center. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool. Sift the remaining 1 tablespoon of confectioners sugar over the top of the lemon filing. Cool completely in the pan on the wire rack.

When completely cool, lift the foil out of the pan and set it on a flat surface for cutting. Cut the bars into 4 strips, then cut each of the strips into 4 pieces.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Please note that they only keep for a few days even in the refrigerator.

Makes 16 squares.

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My current WIP (work in progress):  Not much accomplished. I'm still working extra hours at the day job. Hopefully this week or next week will be the end of the extra hours.

Quote of the Week:  “Assume and expect nothing and you’ll be just fine.” ~ Unknown

What I'm reading: I'm still reading Marrying Winterborne by Lisa Kleypas. It's a good book, I'm just having a hard time finding time to read.

Random Things:  I'm attempting to cull my list of Christmas cookies I'm going to make this year. I want to pare it down from 6 to 7 different kinds to half that amount. The problem is my siblings each have a different favorite and are lobbying for the ones they like best.

Random Photo of the Week: 

     Somebody spent Thanksgiving hanging out under the table hoping for treats.

Holiday Sweets

Since my writing time has been non-existent lately due to extra hours at the day job, I thought I would continue sharing recipes from family and friends on Mondays until after the holidays.

Today's recipe is for homemade almond bark. My sister makes this every year and gives it away in decorative tins. It's a huge hit among my family members.

Almond Cranberry Bark

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
16 ounces (1 pound) milk or dark chocolate wafers (The kind you use when you make your own chocolate candy for Easter. They are usually sold in the bulk section in the supermarkets in my area.)
1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries (She has used the cherry and orange flavored cranberries in the past so feel free to experiment.)
1 tablespoon orange zest

Line baking sheet with waxed paper and set aside. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add almonds and sugar. Stir constantly until the sugar melts and the almonds are a golden brown (about 4 to 5 minutes). Quickly spread the nut mixture onto the wax paper lined baking sheet. Remove the wax paper with the nuts from the baking sheet onto a flat surface. Allow nuts to cool completely.

Line the baking sheet with a clean sheet of waxed paper and set aside. Once the almonds are cool, melt the chocolate wafers using a double boiler. Be careful that the chocolate doesn't get too hot or it can scorch. Once the chocolate is melted, stir in the almonds, cranberries, and orange zest. Pour onto the wax paper lined baking sheet as quickly as possible. Using a spatula, spread the mixture so it's evenly distributed and about 1/4 of an inch thick. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm. Cut or break into pieces. Store in container with a tight fitting lid to keep fresh.

A Holiday Treat

With the Thanksgiving holiday coming, I thought I'd depart from my normal writing related Monday post and share a dessert recipe we've had in our family for years.

Pumpkin Pudding Pie

1 Ready-Made Graham Cracker Crust (I usually use Keebler.)
1 package Jello Vanilla Instant Pudding
1/2 cup Milk
1 15oz can of Pumpkin
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 cups Cool Whip

Mix the pumpkin, milk, vanilla pudding, and pumpkin pie spice in a medium sized bowl for about 2 minutes. Stir in 1 (one) cup of the Cool Whip. Pour the mixture in the graham cracker crust. Top with the remaining cup of Cool Whip. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until set (firm).

Makes about 6 servings depending on how big you cut the slices.

What I'm Reading Wednesday

Sorry, no review again this week. I thought I would have time to read a complete book before today, but no such luck. I spent too much time visiting with family over the Thanksgiving weekend. No regrets though.

For those of you who bake cookies for the Christmas holiday, here's a recipe a friend gave me a couple of years ago. I can attest that they are delicious.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup shortening (I use Crisco)
1 8ounce package cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the flour, baking power, salt, and nutmeg in a bowl and set aside. Cream the butter and shortening together in a large mixing bowl. Add the cream cheese and sugar, beating until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Divide the dough in half. Cover and chill for at least 1 to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough until 1/8 inch thick (You can leave them a bit thicker. This will make them almost cake like and just as tasty.) Cut with desired cookie cutter shapes. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes. Cool on wire racks. You can frost them with your favorite frosting type or leave them plain. They are great either way.