Recipe Roundup

24 Days of Christmas cookies days 1-7

Happy Fri-yay!!!

Today I’m going to do a quick round-up of the cookies I’ve shared on my Facebook author page. During my Coffee & Chat post earlier this week I mentioned my 24 Days of Christmas Cookies. From the first of the month right up to the twenty-fourth I’ll be sharing a cookie recipe from a food blog. I thought it would be fun to discover some new cookies and new food blogs. I know not all of my friends are on Facebook so each week I’ll recap the recipes I’ve shared with links to them.

Day 1 –
Let’s begin with Orange-Cranberry Shortbread cookies from Recipes From a Pantry. What part of the cookie name doesn’t sound delicious?
Day 2 –
Sugar Swirl Cookies from A Bride on a Budget. Doesn’t that sound like a fun cookie?
Day 3 –
Gingerbread Yule Log Cookies from Food Meanderings.Quite a mouthful but this cookie was featured in Taste of Home Magazine’s special Collectors Edition: The Ultimate Cookie Swap, so it’ a tasty mouthful.
Day 4 –
Christmas Sprinkle Cookies from The Olive Blogger. Who doesn’t love a sprinkle cookie?
Day 5 –
Candy Cane Kiss Cookies from Crayons and Cravings. This little cookie will make you smile.
Day 6 –
Holy Cannoli Cookies from the Snappy Gourmet. We’ve already established I love a cute name for a cookie and this one has me dying to bake these cookies.
Day 7 –
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies form Moore or Less Cooking.I love a good crinkle cookie and this one with a caramel filling has my full attention.

Ready to bake yet? I know I am. ๐Ÿ™‚

Happy Baking!

 

Uncategorized

Coffee & Chat #22

Happy December! While I’m not a big fan of “wow, didn’t (insert the month) fly by” because time does move forward at a steady clip, I will admit November seemed to be over in a blink of an eye and I’m not sure why. October seemed very long, maybe it was because we had unusually warm days and summer weather had stretched way into September (we usually have the warmth but not the high humidity here) that when October didn’t turn cool instantly it just felt like a 60 day month. Then November came and all of a sudden it was Thanksgiving. Maybe it’s also because of my schedule now. I don’t have the usual mile-markers I had when I worked outside of the home for someone else. You know, office chatter about menu planning, traveling and the vacation schedule.

Right now I’m in the middle of projects. Food Blogger #3 has been officially accepted by my editor (more on that in my upcoming newsletter), SILENCED IN SEQUINS (Resale Boutique book #2) is complete and ready to go off to my critique partner and I’m preparing for the release of MURDER WEARS A LITTLE BLACK DRESS. I couldn’t resist making the cover my screen saver. I absolutely love the cover.

I’m preparing for MURDER WEARS A LITTLE BLACK DRESS blog tour. There are interview questions for me to answer and I need to print out the schedule so I know where I’ll be each day, well, virtually. ๐Ÿ™‚

dog, Shih-Tzu, During my last Coffee & Chat I shared how Billy was recovering from his self-inflicted wound behind his ear. He’d scratched too hard and broke open a pocket of fluid (not sure what it’s officially called). It was a mess and he needed to wear a collar and go on antibiotics. Well, he got all better. Yes!!! And it was just in time for Susie to go to the vet. Yep. She had a kidney infection. We’re on the second round of antibiotics for it and she’s doing better. Fingers-crossed we’ll go into the new year all healthy.

But before we start talking about 2019, we have a few more weeks left in 2018 and during the month of December my mind wanders to baking. Baking cookies specifically. I love, love, love baking cookies but this year I am strapped for time. Even though Food Blogger #3 has been officially accepted by my publisher, I still need to finalize the recipes in the book by the beginning of January so that baking takes priority over everything else. And besides the work-related baking, I have writing to do so I’m going to be short on time this year. I’m sure I’ll get a few cookies baked, but it won’t be like other years. While I’m bummed about it, there’s not much I can do about it.

While I won’t be baking as much doesn’t mean I won’t be obsessing about Christmas cookies. And to take my obsession to a whole new level, I’ll be sharing cookie recipes from various food bloggers on my Facebook author page. If you’re not on Facebook, no worries. I’ll be doing a round-up post right here each week leading up to the last day of the 24 Days of Christmas Cookies, December 24th.

I think I’m going to wrap this up because now I want a cookie (or two) and I need to get back to writing. Thanks so much for visiting today and please drop in a comment. Let me know if you love to bake cookies this time of the year or if you leave the baking to someone else in your family.

P.S. If you haven’t subscribed to my newsletter please consider doing so. In the December newsletter I’ll be sharing the good news about Food Blogger #3 and it’s title!

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Notes from Deb

On My Desk

There’s a lot on my desk right now but what’s not on my desk are the line edits for Food Blogger book #3 and that’s because they’re done! WooHoo! I’m so excited (can you tell?) that I’ve gone thorugh the pages by editor sent back (mostly missing words and commas, freakin’ commas) and also his notes in the email he sent have been addressed. So happy. Really, really happy. Now I can focus on other writing stuff. Like getting my ducks in a row for the January release of MURDER WEARS A LITTLE BLACK DRESS, finalize the recipes going into Food Blogger #3, tidy up SILENCED IN SEQUINS for my critique partner, brainstorm some new ideas and begin work on my December newsletter. Phew.

But before any of that happens, there were some errands I needed to run. One stop was CVS to pick up some Christmas cards and Billy’s prescription. While I was there I picked up a few other things to and right now they’re on my desk waiting for me to take a break.

I got the current issue of Marie Claire. I love, love, love magazines. I think I got hookd on them when I was a kid and my mom and me would stop at the corner newsstand and she’d buy the tabloid magazines like Rona Barrett’s Hollywood. And, oh, Tiger Beat for me. Yeah, I definitely got hooked on magazines. Eventually my interest drifted from teen hearthrobs to fashion magazines and even to this day I’m all about the fashion magazine. Especially all the September issues. Which by the way, Kelly in MURDER WEARS A LITTLE BLACK DRESS, is obsessed with.

While I waited for Billy’s prescription I browsed the cosmetics section. Okay, full disclosure, I knew how that “browsing” was going to turn out. A little known fact about me is that I’m a beauty junkie. I love cosmetics and skincare. I’ve been obsessed about skincare since I was a teenager. When I had the typical teenage breakouts, I was fortunate enough to be able to go an cosmetologist. Her name was Simone France and she taught me the importance of having a good skincare routine. The monthly facials did wonders for my breakouts and instilled the value of taking care of my skin. Then when I was finishing up at fashion school, I got a job in the cosmetic buying office at Macy’s. Talk about heaven! That’s probably the only job I ever truly missed.

So when I’m let loose in a cosmetics department, whether it’s at a local drugstore or large department store or good Lord, a webite, I’m bound to leave with something. And I did!

I picked up a highlighter palette from L’Oreal, True Match Lumi Glow. I haven’t tried this before so I’m looking forward to testing it.ย  There were a few other True Match products I was interested in but I opted to show restraint. But, I did need some new eyeshadows I was drawn to Wet n Wild’s Walking on Eggshells. For less than five dollars and a color palette is definitely me, I added it to my cart.

But before I can indulge in reading my new magazine, there are some admin tasks to take care of. And then there’s Billy. He’s barking and that means he’s lost again in the house. I better go get the little guy and settle him back on his bed.

I’ve shared a little glimpse of what’s on my desk. What’s on yours?

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Writing

Halloween – Cozy Author Style

I’ve always loved Halloween. I love the ghost stories and now I love binging on all those haunted shows. So much fun! I love the way the air feels on Halloween night. There’s anticipation of the unexpected, after all, you never know who’ll show up at your door. And when you’re a mystery writer, your imagination can run wild with that scenario. ๐Ÿ™‚

This Halloween I’ll be celebrating the spooktacular day with my fellow Cozy Mystery Crew authors. Not a member? Don’t know what Cozy Mystery Crew is or where it is? Let me give you the 411. CMC is a Facebook group I belong to. We’re 13 mystery authors who’ve come together to form one big reader group. During the week one of us hosts and hangs out with you. We also have special events, like our Halloween event. Over the summer we had a reading program and we gave away prizes and had a big party at the end of the summer. We have a lot of fun things planned for the coming months but the most fun part for us is connecting with our readers. So if you’re not a member it’s not too late to join and spend Halloween with us. In fact, between now and then you’ll have the opportunity to hang out with some great authors.

Here’s a sneak preview at what will be happening on Halloween.

To join the Cozy Mystery Crew click here and you’ll be directed to Facebook. Be sure to answer the questions so you’ll be added to the group!

Question of the day – what do you love about Halloween?

Life

Today I Am…

Today I Amโ€ฆ

Looking forward to moving my clothes back into my closet after an ugly incident with the rods. Luckily none of the clothing was hurt.

Recovering from a lower-body workout at GetHealthyUTV. Ouch.

Reading the Fall 2018 issue of Dโ€™Fyne magazine.


Decluttering the family room. Where does all this stuff come from?

Feeling happy that two friends have become engaged. Wishing Donna & Scott all the best!

Wat about you? What are you doing today?