A Few Of My Favorite Things

When it comes to holiday eating, I have many, many favorite recipes. But my one staple, something that I make every single year for guests who come to my house and for small gifts to give out, is my "Holiday Brittle & Bark". Yup - a Christmas bonus - two recipes in one! And they are quick and easy too!

Tools you will require: cookie sheets and candy (or digital) thermometer.

Peanut Brittle 

You'll need:

     White sugar (1 Cup)

     Light Corn Syrup (1/2 Cup)

     Salt (1/4 Tsp)

     Water (1/4 Cup)

     Peanuts ( 1 Cup)

     Butter (2 Tbsp)

     Baking Soda (1 Tsp)

Bring corn syrup, salt and water to a boil. Add sugar until completely dissolved. Slowly stir in peanuts. Put candy (or digital) thermometer into mixture and keep stirring until temperature is 300 degrees F (150 degree C).

Remove from heat and quickly stir in butter and baking soda. Once combined pour onto greased cookie sheet. Spread mixture across cookie sheet using two metal spoons to form flat, square surface. Let cool. When completely cooled, snap into uneven pieces and enjoy!

Christmas Bark

You'll need:

     Bittersweet Chocolate chips (9 Oz) - I prefer Ghirardelli Dark

     Chopped walnuts (6 Oz)

     Craisins - chopped (1 Cup) - Really good with the pomegranate ones too

     Candy Canes - broken (1/2 Cup)

     Ginger - finely chopped (2 Tbsp)

Toast chopped walnuts on a baking sheet in a 350 degree F pre-heated oven for 8 minutes.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler (or in a pot over a pot of boiling water), stirring until smooth. Add walnuts first, then craisins and then ginger, ensuring that all are coated well with the chocolate. Remove from heat and add candy canes. Stir well and then spread onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes. When cool, break into pieces. Enjoy!


My very best to all of you for a happy, healthy holiday season! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Elisabeth Mayer

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Oh Christmas tree!

Every year I swear I'm going to break down and buy a fake tree. They don't shed needles every where  and when you're done with it, you simply fold it up or break it apart and pack it away. Then next year, poof you've got an instant tree. But... It never happens.
I think I'd truly miss the smell of a real tree being in the house. I love decorating it. Keeping it watered is a task that sometimes gets overlooked, but I try.
When the kids were little, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, while everyone else was fighting it out in stores shopping, we would be on a tree farm hunting for the perfect Christmas tree. Love those memories. The search, the debates, and the final selection. Then came the cussing while trying to cut it down with the not-too-sharp saw the tree farm provided. Granted, after the first year or so, we brought our own saw in the form of a small chainsaw. LOL. It made it so much easier.
The past couple of years, this tradition has gone array, with the kids grown and schedules not jiving, I've turned to making a donation to the local volunteer fire department and purchased the family tree.
Here's the latest rendition:

I've also got a new release just in time for Christmas. It called Wish Upon A Christmas Star and it's available for pre-order @ http://amzn.to/1O4MYgr

It releases on December 18th. I love writing stories about Military families. This one is about a Marine who is determined to reach home and be with his wife on Christmas.

There's no snow deep enough to keep this Marine from the woman he left behind.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!

Wishing Everyone a Wonderful day!

Tara Nina

https://taranina.com

https://www.facebook.com/TaraNinaAuthor

Come party on the EC Facebook page on Friday, December 18th for chances to win prizes as we celebrate all the Stocking Stuffer releases. 

https://www.facebook.com/events/502230776619041/

Christmas Comfort and Joy

I grew up in a food equals love kind of family. My grandmother could offer comfort, affection, love, and healing just by putting a meal on the table. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the holiday season gave us all the excuse we needed to cook up a storm.

Though I have many favorite recipes, some of my favorite memories were of baking cookies with my mother and grandmother.

Okay, if I’m being honest, there was a little bit of perfectionism when it came to Christmas cookies. My grandmother used an old-fashioned cookie press to design her cookies. After they were baked there was still icing and chocolate dipping and sprinkling to be done. When I was very little, I was only allowed to watch as the finishing touches were put on the cookies. Finally being allowed to help was a big milestone for me.

Now, I’m passing down the Christmas cookie tradition to my own daughters. My mom is still part of the day we bake, but we’ve let go of a lot of our perfectionism. Sometimes the icing drips or a cookie comes out a little misshapen. But they taste just as good. I relish knowing my daughters will carry memories of our Christmas cookie baking for the rest of their lives.

Here’s one of our favorite Christmas cookie recipes:

Shiny Sugar Cookies

2 ½ cup all purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. cream of tartar

1 cup of butter, softened

1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.
4. Add egg and extracts, beating until mixed.
5. Gradually beat in dry ingredients.
6. Divide dough into quarters and flatten into disks.
7. Wrap dough and refrigerate for 4 hours or up to 3 days.
8. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough ¼ - inch thick.
9. Cut into shapes with 3-inch cookie cutters.
10. Place cookie cut outs on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
11. Bake 6-8 minutes and cool on wire rack.
12. Decorate.

Makes 5 dozen cookies.

You can decorate cookies however you like. We usually make some royal icing by combining confectioner’s sugar, a bit of vanilla extract and a few tablespoons of milk. You can adjust the amount of milk you add to get the desired thickness on the icing. Color with food coloring and then spread on cookies.

After that, sprinkles, chocolate chips, piped on icing—your decorations are up to you and your imagination!

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And speaking of comfort and joy…my very sweet Christmas novella, Joyfully Yours, is on sale for only 99¢ for a few more days. It’s a great book to curl up with for a few hours by the lights of the Christmas tree!! 

Buy it on Amazon 

Hope you and your families have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

~ Amy Lamont

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December means holiday parties which means lots of great food!

Hello and welcome back to the Warwick Valley Romance Author's blog!

We hope you've enjoyed the November posts about our favorite holiday memories.

This month we are talking about our favorite holiday recipes!

Want to know more about WVRA? Check out the member tab up top for more information about each author and how to purchase their books!

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It's December. There are over 100 holidays observed this month. Almost all of them involve some kind of food.

The struggle is real. :)

So, what do we do when we need to whip up a last minute appetizer or side dish? Have a few quick recipes on hand.


Shrimp/Crab Dip

1 pkg real cream cheese, softened
1 jar cocktail sauce
1 can crabmeat, drained
1 can tiny shrimp, drained
1 box crackers

In serving dish create layers of ingredients. Spread cream cheese out, spread cocktail sauce over that, crabmeat then shrimp. Serve with crackers (Wheatsworth are really good with this dip). Use small knives for spreading.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs OR BBQ Meatballs

1 32oz bag frozen fully cooked meatballs (about 50)
1 18oz jar grape jelly
1 12oz Heinz Chili Sauce
OR
1 18oz BBQ sauce

Combine sauces in your crock-pot and stir until combined. Add meatballs and stir until they are coated with the sauce. Cook on high for 3 hours.

Enjoy as an appetizer or serve over rice for a main dish.

Easy Fudge

12 oz. pkg semisweet chocolate chips

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Place chips and milk in microwave safe bowl.

Microwave on medium power for 2-3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes.

Microwave, stirring at 1 minutes intervals, until chips are melted and mixture is smooth and thick.

Pour into greased 8" square pan and cool.

You can also melt the chips and milk in a heavy saucepan over low heat.

Heather M. Gardner
Facebook

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The WVRA will post each Monday so make sure you come back to visit!

You can find the sign-up for our quarterly newsletter on the right-hand side of this page.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!!

     I so love the holidays from Thanksgiving right through New Year. It’s a time of family gatherings, celebrating birthdays, meeting old friends for drinks and embracing long held family traditions.

For my family one of the oldest traditions is our Davis Family Christmas party. It all started over sixty years ago when my first cousin Debra Davis Ward was born. My mother’s family is large. And my grandparent’s Lina and Howard Davis wanted to celebrate Christmas with all of their children and grandchildren. (We are now up to great/great grandchildren.) So the Saturday before Christmas is the date we all gather for our family party.

     Woven into this tradition are several longstanding ones. First off every year we do a stuffed Piñata for all of the grandchildren under the age of ten. In the past Uncle Paul and Aunt Shirley were in charge of the honor but a few years ago it was handed down to me. We also draw names out of a hat and exchange one gift per person.  There is a family Christmas tree that we decorate, too. Everyone brings a pot luck dish to share. Aunt Diane makes her famous molasses cut out cookies. Aunt Marie might make a lasagna or her scrumptious scalloped potatoes. Cousin Tinker can be counted on to make her peanut butter Chex mix dessert.

     After dinner is done and the gifts are unwrapped, we close with the most beloved tradition of all; we sing.  First up are the Christmas carols selected from the little John Hancock music books which have been carefully kept for years. Afterwards we each delve our hand into an envelope to pick out a tiny square of tissue wrapping paper that marks our part of the Davis Family rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Then we boisterously sing our parts!

my generation circa 1972 bet you can't pick me out!

a portion of my kids' generation circa 1986

Nothing warms my heart more than when four generations of the Davis Family gather on that special Saturday each year. I’m not sure my grandparents ever envisioned that a tradition they started decades ago would still be growing strong….or maybe they did…

I'd love to hear about your family traditions! Please feel free to share them in the comments section below.

Share a Holiday Recipe!

There's always that one recipe that is only made during the holidays.
Life is hectic. Kids grow. Families spread out and get busy with everyday events that tend to keep us from the dinner table. In my house, Sunday is usually the day I can get the four of us together for a meal. During the week, most meals are something that's easily made and is quick.
But during the holidays, the dishes require time and patience. Have you ever noticed that on a holiday, cooking seems to take a lot longer?
The turkey goes in the oven first. While it cooks, the side dishes are created and waiting in the wings for their turn to make the house smell wonderful. The one holiday I enjoy cooking for is Thanksgiving. I get up early, prepare the turkey and shove it in the oven. I used to make the side dishes after I got the turkey started, but I've learned to spread this task out. Now I prepare the sides the day before, refrigerate them and as soon as the turkey is done, I slide them in the oven. All the mixing and mess happened on Wednesday, leaving me more time to enjoy the parade on TV.
When I was younger, I loved watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I used to sit there thinking, "One day I'm going to go there and watch it in person."
I outgrew that fantasy. I'm not one for big crowds, the cold, or not being able to see it all. I'm short. A tall person in front of me would block my view. LOL. It's so much more fun to sit in the comfort of home, with the smell of turkey in the air and a cup of coffee in hand.
I'm sharing one of my families favorites that is usually only prepared on a holiday.
If it was up to my husband and daughter, they'd eat this everyday. It's their all time favorite dish.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

3 cups of mashed sweet potatoes

1 cup of granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

½ cup of milk

½ cup of butter

Mix:

Potatoes, sugar, eggs, vanilla & milk. Add melted butter. Pour into a casserole dish.

Topping Ingredients:

1/3 cup of flour

1 cup chopped nuts

1 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup softened butter

Mix:

Combine brown sugar and flour. Add softened butter until it becomes a crumbly mixture, then add nuts. Mix well.  Sprinkle on top of casserole.

Bake:

350 degrees for 30 minutes or until done.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Share your favorite recipe please. I'm always looking for something good to try.

Tara Nina

Hot Romance~Sexy Attitude

https://taranina.com

https://www.facebook.com/TaraNinaAuthor

Decking The Halls Is Not Just for Christmas

By nature, I am a decorator. I love to decorate my house every opportunity I get. Unfortunately, the first eight and a half months of the year just don’t provide quality holiday-themed decorating opportunities. But come mid-September, it’s time for autumn.

I love the colors of autumn; warm oranges, deep yellows and golds, rich reds and some shades of brown thrown in for contrast. To me, it’s like a painting and probably the prettiest season in Warwick. During apple picking season, my “fall-wear” comes down from the attic. In the early stages, there are a few jack-o-lanterns, witches, ghosts and spiders included for Halloween, but on November 1, Thanksgiving is the star of my show. And never under any circumstance does Christmas overlap!

However, once the turkey is finished and leftovers bagged; dishes done and company returned safely home, I’m ready for Christmas. Yes, I am a "Black Friday" shopper. I get up at a ridiculous hour and drive in total darkness to my annual mall of choice. When my kids were babies, it was a rare opportunity to shop without them, but now teenagers, they come too! After shopping and a very early breakfast, we go home for a nap before removing the autumn decorations and pulling out the Christmas décor.

I get all my Christmas shopping done on Black Friday because I love everything having to do with celebrating Christmas and don’t want to waste a moment of it in the mall. I love getting hot chocolate and watching the tree lightings and carolers. I enjoy seeing all the houses lit up when driving around at night and the beautiful floral decorations adorning our village by day. I watch holiday movies ad nauseam and actually enjoy writing Christmas cards. I go to the local holiday performance of The Nutcracker and always make sure to schedule at least one trip to “see the tree” in New York City. I love the holidays so much that several years ago I went to the Hanukkah Menorah lighting and enjoyed it so much, I go every year and I’m not Jewish.

But my favorite holiday memories always involve our Christmas tree. Growing up, my mother insisted live trees were dangerous and we had artificial trees. When I got married, my husband would have none of that and each year, since our first Christmas in 1992, we went out to find that year’s perfect tree. We’ve had great ones and awful ones, but each and every year, the day we go looking for “our” tree is my favorite memory. So, what's the consensus: artificial or live tree?

Elisabeth Mayer
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