Wishing You and Yours
 Happy Holidays!

Along with
Pleasant memories of the past!

From the entire Taylor family

CHRISTMAS BRUNCH IS SERVED

After we entertain Christmas Eve, we tear through the house cleaning up before the kids and grands come for brunch Christmas Day. This meal is wonderful because so much can be prepared well in advance and stored in the fridge until it’s time to cook. 

MENU 

Breakfast Soufflé 

Hash Browns 

Fresh Fruit Salad 

Mini Croissants 

Christmas Cookies & Leftover Desserts 

Mimosas 

Breakfast Soufflé 

1 lb. (½kg) ham, bacon, or breakfast sausage 

9 eggs, lightly beaten 

3 cups (750ml) milk 

1 tsp. (5ml) dry mustard 

Diced green, red, and/or yellow pepper to taste 

½ lb. (57g) sharp cheddar cheese, grated 

½ lb. (57g) Swiss or Gruyere cheese, or a combination of the two, grated 

Diced onion to taste 

Freshly ground black pepper to taste 

4 – 1 in. (2.54cm) slices Vienna or French bread, cubed 

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). 

Dice ham or bacon. If you use ham, set aside in the bowl you use for the eggs. Fry bacon to the crispness you prefer. Drain on paper towels. If you use breakfast sausage, fry meat until no longer pink. Be sure to break up any clumps. Drain meat in a colander while you continue to prepare the soufflé.

Add all ingredients, except bread, to eggs. Stir well. Gently stir in bread. 

Pour mixture into an ungreased 9 x 13-inch (33 x 22cm) glass baking dish. Bake 1 hour or until a knife inserted in the center has no egg clinging to it. 

This dish can be assembled one or two days ahead of time. On serving day allow the soufflé to sit on your counter 1 – 2 hours before you bake it. 

Leftovers are excellent from the microwave. 

Hash Browns 

If you need to increase the hash browns recipe for a larger group of people, it’s best to sparingly add more garlic powder. As is this recipe serves 6. Leftovers reheat beautifully. 

3 russet potatoes (about 1½ pounds), peeled 

1½ tsp. (7.5ml) garlic powder, not salt 

Freshly ground pepper, to taste 

¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil 

Shred potatoes on the large holes of a box grater or use the coarse grater disk on a food processor. Transfer them to a bowl of cold water. Allow them to soak for 2 minutes. Drain in a colander and then rinse under cold water. You do this to remove the starch that makes hash browns gummy. 

Transfer shreds to a kitchen towel. Gather together ends of towel and twist over sink, squeezing firmly to wring out as much liquid as possible. This step creates crisp hash browns. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl and toss with garlic powder and pepper. Be sure to evenly distribute the seasonings. 

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes, press down to form a thin layer and cook for a minute or two. Stir and then press down again. Cook until a dark golden crust forms, about 5 minutes. 

Turn potatoes in sections. This is easier than trying to turn the food as a whole. Continue to fry until hash browns are crisp and browned all over, 5 minutes or so. Transfer to paper towels to absorb excess oil. 

Fresh Fruit Salad 

1 banana, peeled 

1 pear, cored 

1 tbsp. (15ml) lemon juice 

¼ pineapple, peeled, cored, and diced 

1 kiwi, peeled and sliced 

10 seedless red grapes, halved 

10 blueberries 

10 raspberries, optional 

Slice banana into bitesize pieces. Scoop into a medium-sized bowl. Dice pear and add to bowl. Sprinkle lemon juice over fruit to stop it from turning brown and mix well. 

Gently fold in remaining fruit. 

Spoon into a glass bowl, cover with cling wrap, and chill until time to serve. Leftovers are still good the next day.

Mimosas 

1 bottle sparking white wine or champagne, cold 

1 carton orange juice, cold 

Tall slender glasses 

Fill glasses half full with wine. Tip the glass slightly as you pour to retain the fizz. Top off with orange juice. Don’t stir. That will destroy the bubbles. 

May you enjoy all the days of your life filled with good friends, laughter, and seated around a well-laden table!

Sloane

Sloane Taylor is an Award-Winning author with a second passion in her life. She is an avid cook and posts new recipes on her blog every Wednesday. The recipes are user friendly, meaning easy.

To learn more about Taylor go to her website Stay in touch on Blogger, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Taylor's cookbooks, Hot Mean Wear Aprons, Date Night Dinners, Date Night Dinners Italian Style, Sizzling Summer, and Recipes to Create Holidays Extraordinaire are released by Toque & Dagger Publishing and available at all book vendors.

Cut-Above Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

 From Sharon Ledwith

Got a party to plan for your kids or family members? What about a special treat for your Holiday hostess? Bake sale you signed up for? Need a quick fix for a shower, book club, or potluck engagement? Got. You. Covered. 

Everybody loves cupcakes. Even wedding planners love to suggest to the bride-to-be to serve cupcakes instead of the traditional tiered cake. Cupcakes are like having a party for one in your mouth. Seriously. So, let’s get to it. These cut-above chocolatey peanut butter morsels of heaven will make you look like a five-star baker with your family, friends, PTA members or ‘fill-in-the blank’ guests. 

Cut-Above Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour (400 mL) 

½ cup Hershey’s® Cocoa (125 mL)

½ teaspoon each baking powder and baking soda (2 mL)

¾ cup butter

1 ½ cups brown sugar (375 mL)

2 eggs

½ cup sour cream (125 mL)

¾ cup boiling water (175 mL)

Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with large, paper liners.

Stir flour with cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda.

Beat butter and brown sugar in a separate bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in eggs, sour cream and vanilla until combined.

Using low speed, gradually blend in dry mixture and mix until combined. Slowly, pour in boiling water; scrape down sides of bowl and mix on low just until combined.

Divide batter evenly between lined cups. Bake for 22 minutes or until a tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

Frosting 

Using a piping bag with a star-shaped tip gives these cupcakes their bakery-made look.

2 cups Peanut Butter Chips (500 mL)
1 cup softened butter (250 mL)
1 teaspoon vanilla (5 mL)
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Melt peanut butter chips in the microwave on medium (50%); microwave for 1 to 2 minutes; stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

Beat butter and vanilla with melted chips until fluffy. Pipe or spread frosting over the cupcakes, sprinkle with chocolate chips. Enjoy!

Once you’ve hung up your baker’s hat and apron, how about taking a break, and delve into one of my books? May I suggest a visit to mysterious Fairy Falls, or if you’re feeling really adventurous, a trip back in time with The Last Timekeepers? Whichever you choose, either series will entertain, engage, and open your world to new adventures.

Here’s a glimpse of the premises of both my young adult series:

The Last Timekeepers Time Travel Adventures…

Chosen by an Atlantean Magus to be Timekeepers—legendary time travelers sworn to keep history safe from the evil Belial—five classmates are sent into the past to restore balance, and bring order back into the world, one mission at a time.

Children are the key to our future. And now, they are the only hope for our past.

Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls Teen Psychic Mysteries…

In the small, quiet tourist town of Fairy Falls, a new-to-town teen, an unlikely hero who possesses an unusual psychic ability, is drawn into a mystery and is tasked with uncovering corrupt truths that threaten the town’s future.

Welcome to Fairy Falls. Expect the unexpected.

Buy Links:

The Last Timekeepers Time Travel Adventure Series:

The Last Timekeepers and the Noble Slave, Book 3

UNIVERSAL BUY LINK ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

The Last Timekeepers and the Dark Secret, Book 2 Buy Links:

UNIVERSAL BUY LINK ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, Book 1 Buy Links:

UNIVERSAL BUY LINK ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

Legend of the Timekeepers, Prequel Buy Links:

UNIVERSAL BUY LINK ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls Teen Psychic Mystery Series:

Lost & Found, Book One Buy Links:

PANDAMONIUM PUBLISHING HOUSE ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

Blackflies & Blueberries, Book Two Buy Links:

PANDAMONIUM PUBLISHING HOUSE ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/young adult time travel adventure series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, and the award-winning teen psychic mystery series, MYSTERIOUS TALES FROM FAIRY FALLS. When not writing, reading, researching, or revising, she enjoys anything arcane, ancient mysteries, and single malt scotch. Sharon lives a serene, yet busy life in a southern tourist region of Ontario, Canada, with her spoiled hubby, and two shiny red e-bikes.

Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her WEBSITE and BLOG. Look up her AMAZON AUTHOR page for a list of current books. Stay connected on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, LINKEDIN, INSTAGRAM, and GOODREADS.

BONUSES:

Download the free PDF short story The Terrible, Mighty Crystal HERE

Download the free PDF writing resource Tips, Tools  & Tricks for the Tenacious Writer HERE

 

Writing and Christmas are Alike

from C.D. Hersh 

We think writing and Christmas have a lot in common. 

Preparing for Christmas is like writing a book—not that anyone gets much writing done in the weeks before the holiday. The concept, however, is the same; start early and stay on target. 

For an Easy Christmas Holiday:

Plan in advance. Knowing your menu weeks in advance and looking for recipes you can prepare ahead, freeze, or have on hand reduces stress in the kitchen and lets you enjoy the holiday too. Don’t want to cook ahead? Then remodel the kitchen (not before the holidays, of course) and get that second oven you’ve been wanting so all those green bean casseroles will fit in. Better yet, let someone else host.

Shop all year long, especially on vacation where you can get one-of-a-kind items, and avoid the mall rush.

Get familiar with your Christmas dishes. Start using your Christmas dishes at the beginning of December so you don’t have to get them out of storage at the last minute. That 24-piece place setting of hollies and Christmas trees needs to be used more than once at Christmas dinner!

Get next year’s Christmas cards as soon as they go on sale. After all, you have a pretty good idea how many you will need for next year, and they never go out of style.

Begin next year’s Christmas letter now. Start in January and keep a running tally of the important things you want to include. If you bind the letters in a notebook, you have a ready-made life journal. One stone, two birds.

Make a goal list. Shopping done before Christmas, house cleaned thoroughly by the first weekend in December, trim the tree the day after Thanksgiving (since you don’t have to shop on Black Friday), Christmas cookies baked by the second weekend (or cheat and just buy them), the guest room readied right before your guests arrive, and so on. Tweak the list to fit your needs.

For Easy Book Writing:

Write all year long, every day. Then when you take all that time off in December to get ready for the holidays, you won’t feel so guilty.

Plan your book in advance. Some seat-of-the-pants writers claim too much planning takes the fun out of writing. We’ve done it both ways and have found thorough planning and plotting keeps us out of those pesky writer’s blocks. You just have to be willing to let your characters speak to you even if they don’t want to go where you’ve planned.

Get familiar with your book and characters. Let the novel and your characters live with you daily. When you are thinking about the book all the time, the words come easily to the page and your characters’ voices sound more real.

Get your ideas as soon as they come to you. Carry a notebook, or use your phone, to jot down everything that comes to mind about your current WIP or ideas for new books. Even if you don’t use the ideas now, they may work, with some tweaking, for something in the future. Writers are always writing, and we need to capture those ideas when they come.

Begin your next book now. Writers who don’t think about future projects while they are still working on the current one run the risk of writer’s block for their next book. A running log of ideas, thoughts, characters, or anything related to the next books will make coming up with the stories easier. We brainstorm when we drive places, capturing all our ideas, good or bad, in a composition notebook. In a single composition book, we have at least 10 new ideas waiting to be developed. Will we write them all? Maybe not, but we have ready-made journal filled with possibilities.

Make a goal list. Set writing goals for yourself. Whether it’s 100 words a day, or 20 pages a day doesn’t matter. It’s the goal that counts. Tweak your goal list to fit your needs and you’ll be surprised how quickly those 100 words will turn into pages, and pages into chapters, and chapters into a book.

So, this holiday season, when you are laying your gifts beside the nativity, under your Christmas tree, give a gift to yourself. Promise to start writing early in the New Year and stay on target. Who knows, with perseverance and a little luck, you could be tucking your brand-new book under next year’s tree as a gift to someone else.

Happy Writing and Merry Christmas!

Putting words and stories on paper is second nature to co-authors C.D. Hersh. They've written separately since they were teenagers and discovered their unique, collaborative abilities in the mid-90s. As high school sweethearts and husband and wife, Catherine and Donald believe in true love and happily ever after, and that’s why they write romance.

In addition to writing Catherine and Donald love antiquing, traveling, singing, and going to the theatre. Catherine is also an avid gardener and has drawn Donald into her garden as a day laborer. They figure the couple who plays together and works together, stays together—and that's just what they aim to do.

Second Editions Coming Soon:

Ghosts and Gardenias

The Promised One The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 1
Blood Brothers The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 2
Son of the Moonless Night The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 3
The Mercenary and the Shifters The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 4

Social Media Info:

Website

Blog

Facebook

Amazon Author Page

Twitter

Goodreads

The Entire Taylor Family

Wishes You and Yours

Happy Thanksgiving

From Our House to Yours

by Stella May

In a little over a week, we in the United States will enjoy our Thanksgiving feasts with family and friends. It is a federal holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Outside the United States and sometimes called American Thanksgiving to distinguish it from the Canadian holiday of the same name along with related festivities in other regions. The modern national celebration dates to 1863 and has been linked to the Pilgrims 1621 harvest festival since the late 19th century. As the name implies, the theme of the holiday generally revolves around giving thanks with the centerpiece of most celebrations being a Thanksgiving dinner.

Documented Thanksgiving services in the United States were conducted as early as the 16th century by the Spaniards and the French. In those days Thanksgiving was observed through church services and feasting. Historian Michael Gannon claimed St. Augustine, Florida, was founded with a shared Thanksgiving meal on September 8, 1565.

In both Canada and America, family and friends gather for a special dinner and other celebrations on Thanksgiving. Traditional fare in the US includes turkey, cranberries, and pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks. In my family, it's tradition to go around the group and share thanks or toast to gratitude during the meal or dessert. The day offers the perfect time to look back at the past year and celebrate what you're thankful for with family and friends. 

From my family to yours, we wish you the happiness of good friends, the joy of happy family, and the wonder of the holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

Stella

Here is a peek at book one of Stella’s time travel romance series for your reading pleasure. 

One key unlocks the love of a lifetime…but could also break her heart. 

Nika Morris’s sixth sense has helped build a successful business, lovingly restoring and reselling historic homes on Florida’s Amelia Island. But there’s one forlorn, neglected relic that’s pulled at her from the moment she saw it. The century-old Coleman house.  

Quite unexpectedly, the house is handed to her on a silver platter—along with a mysterious letter, postmarked 1909, yet addressed personally to Nika. Its cryptic message: Find the key. You know where it is. Hurry, for goodness sake! 

The message triggers an irresistible drive to find that key. When she does, one twist in an old grandfather clock throws her back in time, straight into the arms of deliciously, devilishly handsome Elijah Coleman. 

Swept up in a journey of a lifetime, Nika finds herself falling in love with Eli—and with the family and friends that inhabit a time not even her vivid imagination could have conjured. But in one desperate moment of homesickness, she makes a decision that will not only alter the course of more than one life, but break her heart. 

’Til Time Do Us Part is available in Kindle and Paperback at AMAZON. 

Talented author Stella May is the penname for Marina Sardarova who has a fascinating history you should read on her website. 

Stella writes fantasy romance as well as time travel romance. She is the author of 'Till Time Do Us Part, Book 1 in her Upon a Time series which has three additional books, the 4-book series The Rostoff Family Saga, and the stand-alone book Rhapsody in Dreams. Love and family are two cornerstones of her stories and life. Stella’s books are available in e-book and paperback through all major vendors.

When not writing, Stella enjoys classical music, reading, and long walks along the ocean. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida with her husband Leo of 35 years and their son George. They are her two best friends and are all partners in their family business.

Follow Stella on her website and blog Stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

DINNER IS SERVED

 from Sloane Taylor

The Farmer's Almanac is predicting a snowy winter we'll not soon forget. Warm up your family with a hearty dinner that tastes great and satisfies the hungriest of appetites.

Chicken Pot Pie

CHICKEN 

1 lb. chicken breast, boneless, skinless

Celery chunks

Carrot chunks

Onion chunks

Tap water

Fill a medium-size saucepan with water. Add celery, carrots, and onion. Cover and bring to a boil. Add chicken. Cover pan. Turn off heat and let the chicken sit in the hot water 1½ hours.

Remove chicken from pan to a plate. Discard water and veggies. Don’t wash the pan. Allow breast to cool then cut off any excess fat. Slice meat into bite-size pieces.

FILLING 

⅓ cup butter

½ cup celery, sliced

½ cup carrots, chopped

⅓ cup onion, chopped

⅓ cup flour1

⅔ cups chicken stock

¾ tsp. garlic powder, not salt

¼ tsp. ground thyme½ tsp. dried sage

½ tsp. dried parsley

½ tsp. salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

⅔ cup heavy cream*

1 cup frozen peas, thawed is fine

Melt butter in the same pan you used for the chicken breast. Stir in celery, carrots, and onion. Sauté on medium heat until veggies are semisoft and onion translucent, 7 – 9 minutes.

Stir in flour. Cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.

Carefully pour in stock while stirring. Scrape pan bottom and sides to capture flour residue. Add garlic, thyme, sage, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir in cream then simmer on medium low until mixture thickens, 5 – 10 minutes, stir often to prevent burning.

Add chicken and peas. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool.

ASSEMBLING THE PIE

2 premade refrigerated pie crusts

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp. milk

Preheat oven to 425° F.

Follow the directions on the pie crust package to prepare the pan for a two-crust pie.

Scroop filling onto bottom crust. Lay the other crust on top. Seal the edges by pressing the two crusts together around the rim. Trim off excess crust.

Mix egg yolk and milk in a small bowl. use a pastry brush to spread mixture across the top crust including the rim. Score the top crust with 4 – 6 thin slices. This allows the pie to cook better by releasing a little steam.

Bake 10 – 15 minutes then remove from the oven then cover the edges with aluminum foil so they don’t burn. Return pie to the oven. Continue for 30 – 35 minutes longer or until the top is golden brown.

Allow the pie to cool 10 – 15 minutes before serving. This allows the filling to set properly.

*No need to run out to buy heavy cream. The following recipe is easy and works great for a any cooked dish that requires heavy cream.

Heavy Cream Substitute

¾ cup milk

⅓ cup butter 

Pour milk into a small bowl then set aside. Don’t use milk fresh from the fridge or this recipe won’t work right.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat or in the microwave until melted. Allow butter to cool at room temperature.

Combine milk and butter with a hand mixer until well blended.

Use this substitute 1 for 1. Don’t use it as whipping cream. It won’t work.

May you enjoy all the days of your life filled with good friends, laughter, and seated around a well-laden table!

Sloane