Christmas Cookies

Welcome, Qwillia Rain she will be sharing a cookie recipe.

I want to thank Mary for letting me share my recipe on her blog today.

When I was a child, Christmas was the holiday when my maternal grandmother would go all out making cookies and candies. Divinity, fudge, gingerbread, sugar cookies, dog food (my family’s nickname for her special peanut butter pinwheel candy), pies, pumpkin-zucchini bread and all manner of goodies filled her house with yummy smells and warmth.

In 1989, the Monday before Thanksgiving, she passed away, and many of her recipes were lost – the orange chiffon cake, apple pie, pumpkin-zucchini bread, and fresh whipped honey butter haven’t been found, but I did find the sugar cookies and gingerbread recipes, and my aunt unearthed the divinity and fudge recipes. And every Christmas, I make sure to stir up a double batch of sugar cookie dough – one to cook and one to eat raw. I freeze the raw dough and ship the baked cookies and dough overnight to my mom and sister on the West Coast.

Nine years ago, on December 18th, started my journey as a published author with the release of Santa’s Elf. In the novel, Christmas is right around the corner and the heroine loves all the decorations and joy that go with the season.

For the hero of Santa’s Elf, Christmas is the worst time of the year, and cookies only make matters worse. Despite the fact that Dayton has been dubbed the “Sexy Santa of San Diablo”, and that he’s a toy maker with the last name Kringle, he’s very much a bah, humbug kind of man when it comes to holiday cheer.

That all changes when he makes a deal with the heroine, Elfina. Some time around his Elf, drags feelings and emotions out of Dayton that he’s buried most of his life, the biggest being the ability to enjoy the smell and taste of fresh-baked cookies.

My Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is modified from the version you find on the back of a chocolate chip bag.

Cookies For Christmas

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar (I prefer dark brown instead of light brown sugar)
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla (I use vanilla bean paste in the same measure)
2 eggs
2 ¼ cup unbleached flour (organic or whole grain if you can find it)
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ -1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (optional)
½ - ¾ tablespoon ground ginger (optional)
12 ounces (1 package) chocolate chips

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger. Set aside.
In large bowl, using a mixer, cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Add vanilla and eggs and mix until just blended.
Carefully add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until thoroughly blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
On an ungreased cookie sheet (non-stick works best), drop the cookie dough in rounded teaspoonfuls (I use a 2-inch cookie scoop) about 2 inches apart.
Cook for 9-12 minutes or until the edges begin to turn a golden brown.
Remove from oven and place cookie sheet on cooling rack for 5-10 minutes.
Carefully remove from cookie sheet when still slightly warm, place on plate or in airtight container.
This recipe should make approximately 5 dozen cookies.
If you don’t want to bake all of them at once and would like to save some for later, drop in rounded teaspoonfuls (or use a cookie scoop) into a freezer safe container, and place in the freezer.
I’ve used semi-sweet, milk, white, and dark chocolate chips in these cookies. I’ve also mixed white, dark, and milk chocolate chips, as well with great results.

Santa's Elf
Blurb:
After four years of unrequited love, and steamy fantasies, Elfina "Elf" Jeffries has just about given up on gaining her boss's attention. How was any self-respecting woman supposed to seduce a man who was oblivious to her cues? Then the first gift arrived...

Every Santa needs an Elf, and Dayton Kringle is no exception. His offer for a temporary affair, just long enough to get from Christmas Eve to New Year's, will satisfy a four-year craving.

His is a simple design:
One beautiful Elf
Twelve sexy gifts
A little spanking
Some light bondage
And ten days of no-strings sex

...make one very satisfied Santa. But when the ten days are up, will he be able to give up the Elf of his wildest Dominant dreams?
Link: Amazon
Web site

Thank you, Qwillia Rain, for sharing these delicious looking cookies. Santa's elf looks pretty good also.

Guest Author - Scottish Shortbread

Welcome Jo-Ann Carson author of A Highland Ghost for Christmas. She is sharing a great recipe!

Old Fashioned Scottish Shortbread
Many years ago a Scottish lady gave me this recipe and I've been using it to bake shortbread every Christmas since then. I hope you love it as much as I do. Unfortunately Cullen couldn't eat it, but he said it smelled “perfect.”
________________________________________
Ingredients:
1 lb. butter
1 cup fruit sugar (though to be honest I usually use regular)
4 cups white flour
pinch salt
________________________________________
1. Cream butter and sugar together.
2. Gradually add flour and knead it into the dough.
3. Put the dough in a flat tray. I like to use pie plates.
4. Roll (And here is the secret to good shortbread. The term "roll" means to beat the top of the batter with the back of a spoon.)
5. Cut into pieces
6. Prick the top with a fork.
7. Bake one hour (or until edges brown) at 350 degrees.
8. Sprinkle with sugar.

Blurb – A Highland Ghost for Christmas
Jilted by her fiancé, librarian Maddy Jacobson is nursing a broken heart, when her best friend gives her an early Christmas present. Intended to be a fun, psychic reading in a spooky, tea house, the gift turns out to be life changing. Maddy becomes haunted by a mischievous, Highland ghost.

Ruggedly handsome, Cullen Macfie, the Highlander, has been dead for over three centuries, and never in all those years has he been as attracted to a woman, as he is to Maddy. He falls hopelessly in love and decides to woo her.

Can there be a future for a librarian and a naughty, Highland ghost?

A Highland Ghost for Christmas is a sweet, romantic comedy guaranteed to warm the cockles of your heart, make you laugh out loud and leave you craving a man in a kilt … and shortbread, of course.

Buy Amazon
Thank you Jo-Ann for sharing your yummy recipe with us. I will be trying this for our Christmas party!

Cajun Sausage and Shrimp Etouffee

Cajun Sausage and Shrimp Etouffee 
2 andouille sausage links sliced.
1/2 lb raw shrimp, remove tails
2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 clove garlic chopped
2 bunches green onions chopped.
1 yellow onion chopped
1 green bell pepper chopped
2 stalks celery sliced
2 tbsp Pure Olive oil
1/2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp cheyenne pepper
2 tbsp creole seasoning
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 1/2  jalapeno chopped (optional)
1/2 medium chili powder
2 cups rice


Add all ingredients (with the exception of the shrimp) to a large pan and mix together. Mix 1/2 cup of broth and 1/4 cup flour until smooth and then mix in the mixture to thicken. Bring to boil then turn to low and simmer for an hour. After an hour start the rice. Once the rice is almost done add the shrimp and cook until pink. Then pour of rice and it pairs well with a white wine.

Enjoy!

Chicken Stir Fry

Welcome everyone! I'm happy to say that my husband has finished the tile in my kitchen. Last summer I sanded and painted my cupboards and painted the walls. This summer my husband did the tile on the floor and the counters. Oh, and he ripped out the eating counter. I've given everyone a little before and after.

Chicken Stir Fry
8 oz. Chicken Tenderloins
1/2 tbsp. Sesame seed oil.
1 tbsp. Teriyaki sauce.
1/4 Yellow Bell pepper cut into strips.
1/4 Red Bell pepper cut into strips.
1/4 Green Bell pepper cut into strips.
1/4 Orange Bell pepper cut into strips.
1/4 Onion Sliced into rings and then in half.
2 cloves garlic chopped.
2 Cups Jasmine rice prepared per package instructions.
Take and Bake rolls prepared per package instructions.

Heat Wok and saute garlic pieces, add chicken and cook until golden and add strips of onion and pepper cook until tender. Serve over rice. Serve with rolls and salad. Stir Fry over Rice w/one roll, approx. 400 calories.

Enjoy!

Welcome Paty Jager

Hello,
Today I’m sharing a caramel frosting recipe with you. My main character in my Shandra Higheagle Mystery series loves caramel. And who doesn’t! My grandmother always made this frosting for her applesauce cakes.

Caramel Frosting
¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup milk
2 TBLSP butter
3 cups powdered sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, milk, and butter. Cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat. Transfer to a large bowl; let stand for 1 hour or until the mixture cools to room temperature. With an electric mixer on medium, gradually add the powdered sugar, beating until the frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency. Use the frosting immediately. It sets up hard. Makes 1 ½ cups of frosting or enough to frost the top of a 13” x 9” x 2” cake.

The first book of my Shandra Higheagle Mystery series, Double Duplicity, is free.

Book one of the Shandra Higheagle Native American Mystery Series

Dreams…Visions…Murder

On the eve of the biggest art event at Huckleberry Mountain Resort, potter Shandra Higheagle finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. She’s ruled out as a suspect, but now it’s up to her to prove the friend she witnessed fleeing the scene was just as innocent. With help from her recently deceased Nez Perce grandmother, Shandra becomes more confused than ever but just as determined to discover the truth. While Shandra is hesitant to trust her dreams, Detective Ryan Greer believes in them and believes in her.

Can the pair uncover enough clues for Ryan to make an arrest before one of them becomes the next victim?

You can check out all the Shandra Higheagle books here.

And find out more about me at the links below.
blog / website / Facebook / Paty's Posse / Goodreads / Twitter

Thank you Paty, I appreciate you dropping by and sharing with us. This recipe sounds great.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Stuffed Acorn Squash

2 - Acorn Squash - Tops cut off, clean seeds out.
1/2 lb Ground sausage. (Beef, Bison, or Turkey.)
1 - Large clove garlic - minced.
1/4 Onion chopped.
1 Jalapeno chopped. (seeds optional)
1 Tomato chopped. (seeded)
1/4 cup shredded cheese.
Salt, pepper, and crushed chili and basil to taste.

Preheat over to 425 degrees.
Chop veggies and add oil to pain and simmer a few minutes. Add meat and brown. Place squash in a loaf pan, add an inch of water. Stuff squash and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 40 minutes or until tender.
Serve with rice.
To spruce up the rice add garlic and onion.
Serve with rolls if desired.

Bison Sheppard's Pie

Bison Sheppard's Pie
1 lb bison - browned.
3-4 red potatoes - boiled and mashed.
1 carrot sliced thin
1 stalk celery sliced thin
1/4 cp Frozen peas
1 Jalapeno chopped (optional)
1/4 onion chopped
1/2 green bell pepper cut into big pieces
1 package of brown or white gravy mix
1/2 cp Jameson Whiskey (option - replace with beef broth if desired)
1/4 cp beef broth (as needed)
Add salt, pepper, basil, and oregano to taste.

In the video I say buffalo, but it is bison.

Pre heat oven to 420 degrees. Brown meat and then add all the vegetables. Cook until tender. Add the liquid and gravy mix stir and simmer. Mash the potatoes, add a little milk (I use Almond milk) and ranch dressing and butter. Put the meat in a 2 quart baking dish, spread the potatoes over the top and bake for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!