Today Donna Alward joins us with an addictive recipe for holiday treats and she’s also giving away a holiday anthology featuring stories by herself, Patricia Thayer, Susan Meier and Barbara Wallace! Stay tuned to see how to win a copy of CHRISTMAS WISHES, MISTLETOE KISSES!
Grandma Tena’s Marshmallow Treats
Our “adopted” family in Alberta loves to play cards. Tena also loves to bake. I first discovered these little morsels she’d made while playing canasta over the holidays. They can be a bit friggy, but they’re SO worth it. And in case you’re not a marshmallow fan, well, I’m not either. But these are something else altogether. They’re wonderful.
3 pkgs MacIntosh Toffee (Or Walker’s, or whatever you can find).
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup butter
1 pkg large marshmallows
rice krispies to roll them in
Over low heat, melt toffee, butter, and condensed milk until smooth. Cut marshmallow’s in half. After some trial and error (and burnt fingers) I discovered that I like to remove my toffee from the heat so it’s not to thin, and use a toothpick to dip the marshmallows. Dip each piece of marshmallow in the toffee then roll in rice krispies – I use the holiday coloured ones to be extra festive! You WILL end up with bits on your fingers and you’ll probably curse and swear a little through this process. However I believe there are worse things than having melted toffee on your fingers.
Drop the treats on to a cookie sheet lined with parchment and chill until toffee firms up.
Then watch them disappear.
To enter to win Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses, leave a comment! We’ll be posting the winners from ALL days on Monday the 19th so please come back to see if you’ve won!
Four lovely, festive, sparkling romances
I’m sensing an ice-creamy/cool treat theme with some of our Aussie authors who celebrate Christmas in the middle of their summer, so have a peek at this delicious treat from Marion Lennox! And then enter to win a copy of CHRISTMAS WITH HER BOSS!
Layered Berry Ice Cream Cake
This is an Extra Christmas Pudding for our family. We start making it a couple of weeks before Christmas, or even earlier if we find good berries, and we keep layering until we run out of room in our Very Large Container. It works with every kind of berry except strawberries. You do need an icecream churn.
Recipe For Each Layer
500 g berries, pureed and sieved
4 eggs
3/4 cup of caster (superfine) sugar
1 cup whipped cream (Don’t use too dense a cream as it makes it a bit heavy)
Cream egg yolks with sugar
Fold in the berry puree
Fold in the cream
Whisk egg whites until stiff. Fold into mixture.
Pour into ice cream maker and churn.
Put into large, cake-shaped container. Cover with cling film and freeze.
Two days later do another layer. And another.
To serve, turn out and decorate with a few berries. If desired, puree additional berries, add sugar to taste and use as a sauce to pour over individual slices.
This cake comes in and out of my freezer for a week or so after Christmas – we’ve made it up to eight layers thick – and it feeds a small army.
To enter to win CHRISTMAS WITH HER BOSS, just leave a comment! A winner’s list will be posted Monday, December 19 so don’t forget to come back and check to see if you’ve won!
All he wants for Christmas…is her!
Today Jessica Hart is with us to give us her recipe for Spiced Pears (yum!) and give away a copy of UNDER THE BOSS’S MISTLETOE!
From Jessica: This is one I make every year when I’m feeding lots of people. It can be made ahead so you don’t need to miss out on the party doing last fiddling in the kitchen.
SPICED PEARS
Serves 10
370ml ruby port
270ml fruity red wine
1 small clove garlic, peeled
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed
2 cloves
365g caster sugar
8 ripe William pears
Pour the port into a pan, bring to the boil and reduce gently for 15-20 minutes. Add the wine, garlic, thyme and spices and boil again to reduce by half. Add the sugar and 370 ml of water, bring to the boil, then reduce until syrupy (10-15 min). Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Peel, quarter and core the pears. Place them in the syrup, put the pan back on the heat and poach for about 5 minutes until the pears are tender. Remove from heat and allow to cool. This can be made up to a week in advance and stored in an airtight jar in the fridge.
This looks beautiful, smells wonderful and tastes even better. Serve with glazed ham, a potato gratin and salad for a really easy
festive meal for crowds.
To enter to win UNDER THE BOSS’S MISTLETOE, just leave a comment! We’re nearly to the end now so check back soon for a list of winners!
I
n high school, Jake Trevelyan was Cassie Grey’s dream rebel. He surfed, rode a motorbike–now he’s her new boss!
It’s events planner Cassie’s job to transform Jake’s mansion into a snow-kissed wedding venue. Not to relive her old fantasy they’re the ones getting married.
Posing as the happy couple for a publicity photo shoot, Cassie pinches herself as Jake leans in for a show-stopping kiss…but it’s just for the cameras, isn’t it?
Barbara Hannay joins the fun today with a yummy sounding recipe that gives new meaning to the word Christmas Pud! (Of course, I always knew that everything is better with ice cream!)
She’s also giving away a copy of Bridesmaid Says “I Do!” to one lucky winner!
Christmas Dessert
500 grams of Christmas pudding
I kg (2 lbs) vanilla ice cream
pinch of allspice
400 ml pure cream
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
100 g butter, chopped
Grease 25 x 10 x 8 cm deep baking pan with plastic wrap. Crumble Christmas pudding into coffee bean size lumps, either by hand or with food processor. Place ice cream in a large bowl. Mix by hand (latex gloves are recommended as protection against the cold). Spoon mixture into prepared baking pan. Cover and place in freezer for at least 30 mins, or until firm.
Meanwhile stir cream, sugar and butter in a heavy based saucepan over medium low heat until sugar has dissolved and mixture comes to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer until a smooth caramel sauce forms.
Turn ice cream pudding out onto a chopping board. Remove plastic wrap and place slices of pudding on serving plates . Spoon warm caramel sauce.
Yummo!!!
To win Barbara’s book BRIDESMAID SAYS “I DO!” , leave a comment with us! We’re getting down to the last books so check back soon to see if your name is up on the winner’s list!
How to be the Perfect Bridesmaid:
a) Smile and pretend to love your horrible dress.
b) Be patient as your best friend turns into Bridezilla.
c) Do not fall for the groom!
Thrilled to be Bella’s bridesmaid, Zoe throws herself into her duties. But meeting the groom himself, stop-and-stare-sexy Kent Rigby, ruins everything….
What happens when you find the man of your dreams and he belongs to someone else?
