Special Occasions = Extraordinary Recipes
Share your favorites with other readers!
Christmas is over, you say? BAH! I say. Now that the shopping-and-mailing
crunch is over, this is a time we relish at my house. It’s a time to sit back,
relax, and enjoy the rest of the season. The house is decorated, the deadlines
are over, and there are still Christmas movies and music to enjoy, all at a more
leisurely pace!
And, confession time: The first chance I had Read More...
Does your family have a favorite they've grown to love year after year? Here's
one for Christmas morning and it's easy to make the night before. Less stress on
all!
Here's another favorite holiday recipe that my family expects on
Thanksgiving Day and Christmas for Breakfast. A good friend gave this recipe to
me over 45 years ago, and it's been standard fare at our house for years. ~ Viki Read More...
From Miranda
Owen
"Ok, I lost the original recipe in my
great grandmother's church cookie cookbook, but luckily found this Read More...
In Ireland it is usual for a family to eat roast turkey on Christmas Day and to
bake a ham on Christmas Eve. The rind of the ham is cut off prior to cooking and
this goes on top of the turkey as it is placed in the oven.
To bake the ham, we steep it in water overnight to remove the worst of the salt.
Then we remove the rind, score the fat into Read More...
Merry Christmas from me, Patricia Davids. If you
love pecans the way I do, you'll want to enjoy this delicious holiday recipe all
year round. They are called Kentucky Pecan Bars and they are YUM. Pair them with
a cup of hot peppermint cocoa and you'll have a real treat to savor while you
enjoy my latest book, Read More...
When I walked down the aisle and said “I do,” I married into the Christmas
tradition of making roll-out cookies for Santa. My husband’s family has a
to-die-for recipe that produces cookies with a tea cake texture that melts in
your mouth. The secret ingredient is sour cream which makes them not too sweet …
just right. And nobody can eat just one.
We’ve baked cookies almost every December Read More...
Holiday Bon Appétit!
Here is a delicious holiday recipe to enjoy alongside my latest Christmas book:
HER MISTLETOE COWBOY. I
think Christmas and everyone I know thinks of my mint chip brownies and my
marzipan bundt cake. The brownies are more or less a standard recipe, except
doubled (so the brownies are nice and thick) and add in lots of mint Read More...
I have always been a chocolate fiend. Chocolate chip cookies, chocolate
ice cream, chocolate fudge, chocolate candy with almost any filling, even
semi-sweet chocolate chips straight from the package are my vice. I prefer
chocolate anything for dessert, except perhaps mole, which is a combination of
chiles and chocolate, something that makes no sense to me. Chiles should be
spicy, and chocolate should be sweet.
When I turned 21 in college, my best Read More...
Nothing is better than a mug of hot chocolate in the winter, and RaeAnne Thayne
has the perfect recipe to make.
Luxurious Hot Chocolate
4 cups of milk (whole is best)
8 ounces of high-quality chocolate … I like Guittard semisweet chips. White
chocolate works too, for a different taste Read More...
Recipe Provided by Viki Ferrell
Here's my family's all time Christmas favorite: Gramma Ferrell's Molasses
Cookies. I've been making them since she gave me this recipe shortly after
my
husband and I married 40 years ago. My girls have loved them since they were
little. It
just isn't Christmas if I don't make them! It was only recently that I found
out that Read More...
CJ’s Grape Salad isn’t the original name of this recipe. I don’t remember what my
friend Teri called this dish when she served it at a get-together at her home six
years ago.
All I do know is my family loved this decadent grape salad that was served as a
side dish, even though it tastes like dessert. And no one in my family loved it
more than my youngest daughter Read More...
This recipe is special to me for two reasons. First of all, this pie crust is
an
old family
recipe. If done right, it is the best pie crust in the world. My grandma used
to
make cherry
pie with it, and my mom has used it to make every kind of pie there is.
Pie is something that feels very HOLIDAY to me, no matter what you put in it.
But
I like
blackberry Read More...
I was born in Texas, so I was raised on Tex-Mex. When we first moved to
Montana, no
one had ever heard of tortillas. But my mother talked the grocery into getting
some
for her and began teaching friends how to make enchiladas. They were a hit –
except
for one friend who claimed her family liked them better using pancakes. :)
My latest book in the Read More...
In my family, our Thanksgiving plates border right on the edge of a bounty to
be grateful for, and an overindulgence for which we should ask forgiveness. You
see, we take a love of food to a whole new level, and with my mother mixing
stuffing next to steaming pots of potatoes, and my husband wrestling a turkey
the size of a small child in and out of the oven, kitchen space for any
addition Read More...
My family has been making these Gingerbread People since before I can remember.
It has become one of our most treasured Christmas traditions! Every year, we all
make a point to gather together to make our Christmas cookies.
We make our traditional gingerbread men, angels and Christmas trees, but through
the years, we’ve gotten creative with the dough leftovers. So, now we have new
favorites that we love to make – like reindeer-headed gingerbread Read More...
Usually we travel every Thanksgiving to family a few states away. This year,
however, my husband is working, so we’re homebound. I’m pretty excited about
it, but my daughters are bouncing off the walls. Not only do we not have to
drive seven hours each way, but they want to cook the dinner.
I’ll probably make the turkey, but my parents are arriving at the airport at
noon, so the kids are Read More...
THE SHEIKH'S
CHRISTMAS CONQUEST opens in snowy England at Christmas time, so I’m sharing
with you my all time favorite mince-pie recipe. The pies have orange pastry and
are topped with cream cheese. They are super-indulgent and completely irresistible
and I defy you to stop at one! It’s a famous Read More...
In WHERE THERE'S SMOKE a novella in the A WRONG BED
CHRISTMAS book, my two characters Emma and Erik are stuck in an abandoned
cabin
with only a couple of granola bars, a box of expensive chocolates and a very
nice
bottle of wine. Not the worst to make a meal on, but if I were planning the
perfect
meal Read More...
Writing is tough job, of course, but someone has to do it, right? Reviews that
make
you
want to stick to your day job? A Quasimodo posture from endless hours bent over
the
keyboard? And don't get me started on the endless stream of social media on
which I
should maintain a presence. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, and what's
up
with
this Periscope thing? Do I need water wings for that? But one Read More...
Welcome to Fresh Fiction's Holiday Potluck! Some of your favorite authors
are bringing scrumptious treats to this virtual gathering, and they are even
offering their recipes so you can make these goodies at home and share them with
friends and family this season. Here is the recipe for Sylvia McDaniel's (author
of DEADLY) Cheese
Ball, which is perfect for all Read More...
To the Fresh Fiction virtual Holiday Potluck, I would bring a fruit basket that
contains apples, strawberries, peaches, pears, plums and bananas. I am currently
writing the Superstition Mysteries, which premiered in October with LOST UNDER A
LADDER. Researching superstitions has become great fun, and to some extent I
incorporate them into my own life. Am I superstitious? Maybe more than Read More...
Pirates love to drink liquor. Especially one wily pirate—Henri—in my
Romancing the Pirate series. He has a fancy for bows in his beard and
an insatiable appetite for rum. And he gets downright grumpy without his nip.
But in the spirit of the season, he'd like to share a cocktail favorite aptly
named The Henry.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum (a pirate's Read More...
The best holiday gift of all doesn’t come with a bow. It’s the gift of love. And
these beautiful little sugar-dusted gingerbread cookies, baked with love, are
the perfect Christmas treat for holiday dessert trays—or to leave for Santa with
a thermos of hot coffee on a chilly winter night. (You know he’s going to need
that caffeine for his magical ride!)
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of Read More...
I never liked mushrooms as a kid. I still don’t like them raw. But I LOVE them
cooked and this is one of my favorite recipes. They’re great as an appetizer or
for one of those “everyone bring something finger food-ish” events and when I
first served them to friends of ours I think John would have eaten the whole
platter if we hadn’t slapped his hand and fought for our Read More...
This recipe for Swedish Glüg has been in my family for generations. One of my
characters in my short story, Christmas on Cape Cod -- which can be found in the
Christmas anthology, Making Spirits Bright, also makes it. Glüg will warm your
heart...and soul to the core! Just make sure you have a designated driver!
Cheers!!!
Combine
4/5 quart Swedish Aquavit or whiskey
1 gallon port wine
6 prunes Read More...
1 - 25 of 128
( First | more Special Occasions = Extraordinary Recipes )
| 
Google+