It's my great pleasure to welcome Jennifer Faye to my blog today - who is going to share her love of cookies, and how making them together creates a special bond.
Over to Jennifer -
I’ve always had a fondness for cookies. As
a kid, my aunt couldn’t bake enough of them at the holidays to fill me up. ;-)
I can remember trays and trays of them filling my grandmother’s dining room. It
brought the family together in the evenings as they perused the large
assortment and tried to narrow down their choice. But being a kid, I wasn’t the
least bit worried about my waistline and as kids do I was going with the adage,
first come first served. ;-)
But I remember how it would bring the
family together. The kids would sit around with their milk and cookies. And the
grownups would have theirs with coffee and good conversation. It’s amazing how
some dough and sugar draw people together. The conversations start with
something like, “You know the other day…” Soon the smiles and belly laughs
follow.
A similar event happens for Kara and Jason
in my current release, SNOWBOUND WITH THE SOLDIER. Instead of them reaffirming
family bonds, they find themselves realizing what they could have if they could
resolve their issues.
Kara was in charge of rolling out the already made and
chilled cookie dough, as well as working the oven. That left him and Samantha
to do the decorating. Bowls of various colors of icing lined the table. In
addition, there were red, green and white sprinkles of varying shapes and
sizes. Kara certainly seemed to think of everything
“What’s that?” he asked, gesturing to the cookie Samantha
was about to decorate. “A pony?”
She giggled. “Mommy, he doesn’t know what a reindeer
looks like.”
“He doesn’t. Well, I guess you’ll just have to teach
him these things.”
“See? These are the antlers.” Samantha grew serious
and pointed to the cookie. “And if I put this red ball on its nose, then it’s
Rudolph.”
Every time the child smiled it was like warm sunbeams
hitting Jason’s chest. He couldn’t resist a bit more teasing. “I don’t know.
Still looks like a pony with a bad cold.”
The sweet chimes of Samantha’s laughter pealed through
the kitchen. Even Kara was smiling and shaking her head. He had no idea until
that moment how rewarding he found the sound of laughter from these two special
ladies. So why was he hesitant to lay the whole truth on the line with Kara?
Why couldn’t he take the next step necessary to ensure he didn’t lose her, now
that he’d broken through her stony barrier?
I thought I’d share this really yummy
recipe that Kara used to make those magical cookies. ;-) They are easy, fast and
tasty. How could you ask for more?
Rolled Sugar Cookies
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 tsp vanilla
2 ¼ cups flour
½ tsp baking soda
Preheat
oven to 350°F
Beat
cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla until well blended.
Add
baking soda. Blend. Slowly add flour, blending after each small addition until
all flour is blended.
Place
in a Ziploc bag.
Refrigerate
for an hour minimum.
Roll
and cut into your favorite shapes. And decorate.
Bake
6 to 8 minutes.
And
enjoy!
P.S. if you are wondering, yes, I really did bake
those Christmas cookies in October. Just for you. :-) When my family heard what
I was up to, they rolled their eyes and snickered. They said, who bakes
Christmas cookies in October? I must admit I never had before now. But the
family quit laughing when the cookies came out of the over and they got to eat
them. ;-) BTW, I totally understand if you want to print the recipe and save it
for December…like normal people. LOL.
P.S.S. I apologize that the cookies aren’t decorated
better, but my helpers were otherwise occupied. So that left me to do it all.
Normally I make the dough, roll them out and bake them, but I do not decorate.
So I did my best. ;-)
Available
at:
There is also a Rafflecopter with 10 Fabulous Prizes!
Enter now to win. (2) autographed copies of Snowbound With The Soldier + swag / (1) $10 Starbucks GC / (7) Snowbound With The Soldier ebooks / OPEN INTERNATIONALLY!
Author Bio
Jennifer Faye is a
two-time RT Book Reviews TOP PICK author. Maybe that’s partly due to the fact
that she has spent most of her life with her nose in one book or another. It
was only natural that she dreamed of becoming a romance writer and spinning the
tales of the imaginary people running around in her mind. But first life took
her on a couple of detours. Refusing to give up on her dreams, she finally
succeeded in getting her name on a book cover. She currently resides in
Pennsylvania with her very, very patient husband, one amazing daughter (the
other remarkable daughter has flown the coop to chase her own dreams) and two
spoiled rotten cats. When she’s not glued to her laptop writing another
contemporary romance (which isn’t often) or enjoying some family time, she
loves to get lost in a good book, cross-stitch, embroider, quilt, knit, watch
hockey (go Pittsburgh Penguins!), and garden. Jennifer loves to hear from
readers--you can contact her via her website.
Author Links
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