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Since I was recently invited to a Christmas cookie swap, I thought it would be kind of fun to do a virtual cookie swap here in the blogosphere. WITH A PRIZE!
Here are the rules:Between now and midnight Saturday, December 5, 2009, post your favorite Christmas cookie recipe on your blog. One you would make for a cookie swap. After you post your recipe on your blog, comment here or on my blog in the comment section and let me know what cookie you're "making".Easy peasy. I will draw a winner on Sunday December 6th from all the commenters/participators and I will send that lucky winner a one pound gift package of Crazy Susan's cookies. The winner will be announced on Monday December 7th.
What's Crazy Susan's and do I want a cookie from someone crazy?
In a word…YES.
Yes, you do.
In fact, their Crazy Turtle cookie was recently featured on the Rachel Ray Show as their "Snack of the Day". Trust me. These cookies are scratch your eyes out good!
ONE more Rule, though. Cookie swappers MUST live in the United States.
Sorry. Dem da rules.
Here's my cookie I'm bringing to the swap: I actually posted this recipe last year on my blog when I made it for a cookie swap, but it's so good, I actually had REQUESTS to make it again for this year.
Warning: This cookie is not for the lighthearted of bakers. It's a lot of work. But REALLY worth it.
CARAMEL PECAN COOKIES
For crust
Ingredients for basic butter cookies: HERE
For caramel pecan topping 1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups pecans (1/2 lb), toasted , cooled, and coarsely chopped
Preparation Make crust:
Grease a 13- by 9-inch metal baking pan, then line with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on both ends, and grease foil.
Follow recipe for basic butter cookies to make dough (do not chill), then press dough evenly onto bottom of baking pan, using plastic wrap on top to prevent dough from sticking to your fingers, and chill until firm, about 20 minutes.
While crust chills, put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
Bake crust until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 20 minutes. (Leave oven on.)
Make topping while crust cools: Cook sugar in a 2 1/2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until sugar is melted to a deep golden caramel. Tilt pan and carefully pour in cream (caramel will harden and steam vigorously). Cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in butter, vanilla, salt, and pecans.
Immediately spread topping over cooled crust and bake until bubbling, about 20 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack, about 2 hours.
Run a heavy knife under hot water, then wipe dry and cut confection into 2-inch triangles, diamonds, or squares.
Cooks' note:
Cookies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.
Yes, I love those rainy days and nights. There is something magical and romantic about walking in the rain with the one you love under a big umbrella. Even sitting by the window and watching the drops cleanse the earth and refresh the spirit. The most relaxing thing in the world for me is listening the gentle patter of rain against the roof or skylight just above my bed when wrapped in my guy's arms.
When was the last time you ran through a puddle – on purpose? Remember being a carefree kid and stomping in the puddle?
As for inspiration for plotting? Rain? Well, yeah. Just sit, listen and let your body and mind run wild through the drizzle. Put on your favorite rain coat and go for a walk in the summer rain – don't think about your troubles, don't think about your plot…just let the water sing to your soul. Running water can have an amazing effect on your imagination, if you listen to it. It's natural, it's a force of nature that can be both refreshing and deadly, depending on the circumstances.
Now take your character and put them in the rain. How do they react? Do you have the primadona who is horrified her hair will frizz? Are there bad memories of a storm as a child? Does your hero want nothing more than to drag the heroine into his arms and kiss the rain from her lips?
Next time it rains, make use of all of your senses and enjoy! And to really set the mood – here's some inspiration from the Neil Sedaka.
Romantic novels are formulaic. They are shallow. The content is all about sex. Handsome heroes and virginal (or feisty) heroines in unreal situations, and everybody gets to be happy ever after.
Every romance writer has heard these comments a thousand times. Some try to argue against them, but many prefer to ignore the critics and put their energies into producing and selling lots of books.
But is it true? Or, do romances in fact address some of the same issues as literary novels, but in a manner which allows the reader a choice: just relax and enjoy the love story, or engage their mind with the questions raised.
Let’s take my latest release, SECRETS OF THE PAST, out from The Wild Rose Press a few days ago. Romantic suspense. Is it all about the hero and heroine meeting and having a few nail biting obstacles along the way, before they confess their love and settle down together?
No. Not to me. There are serious themes beneath, for those who wish to explore them.
Plot aspect: The heroine is the daughter of a wealthy family, and all her life she has been successful. When she sets up a business on her own, she fails. She has to accept that what she thought of as her own achievements were in fact a result of her privileged background. She must adjust her idea of herself, and learn to live with financial hardship.
Questions: Do we really know who we are? How close is our idea of our identity to that of others? How easily do we adapt when our world changes? Does learning humility make you a better person?
Plot aspect: The hero’s parents disappeared when he was a child. Rumors claim that he murdered them, but powerful family friends and the local police covered up the crime.
Questions: Do we have a right to make decisions that affect others so deeply? Is hiding the truth always going to leave a festering secret which in the end destroys the people it meant to protect? How does a shared secret tie people together? Can the past ever be left behind?
Plot aspect: The reclusive hero sees the heroine and sets out to take care of her, fixing up her house, keeping an eye on her.
Questions: What is the difference between a stalker and a guardian angel? Is there any real difference between the two in intent and action? Or is it all in the mind of the recipient, whether the attention is welcome or not, how the recipient feels about the perpetrator?
Plot aspect: The heroine falls in love with the hero at first sight, and then finds out that he may be a murderer.
Questions: Is there love at first sight? And if such love does exist, can it be renounced if the object proves undeserving? Does love ever depend on a deserving object? Or is love so blind that it simply exists, unconnected to the qualities of the person to whom the love is directed? Is love inspired by deeds and qualities, or a random gift of fate?
Back to the opening argument: Are romantic novels trash or literature?
Yeah, right. I’m not talking about sugar in coffee.
I am talking about how many spaces should follow a period at the end of a sentence.
There appears to be this great big misconception that it’s two spaces after a period.
It used to be two spaces.
It changed.
If you refer to the newer style guides, they all unanimously state one space after a period.
The 2000 and 2008 editions of the GPO Style Manual are unequivocal:
“A single justified word space will be used between sentences. This applies to all types of composition.” (Paragraph 2.49)
In chapter 6 Punctuation section 3 Typographic and Aesthetic Considerations, the Chicago Manual of Style states:
6.11 Space between sentences In typeset matter, one space, not two (in other words, a regular word space), follows any mark of punctuation that ends a sentence, whether a period, a colon, a question mark, an exclamation point, or closing quotation marks.
So there you have it.
ONE space. Not two.
The reason there used to be two spaces was because typewriters used a monospace font, and people thought it was easier to read if there were two spaces after a period at the end of a sentence.
Today things are a little different. While we still submit in monospace fonts (Courier / Courier New), the poor, hardworking copy editors absolutely loathe the practice of two spaces. They have to take them all out again before sending the manuscript to press.
Now, even if you do a seek-and-destroy… err… find and replace, things get a bit messy. Not because the formatting is being messed up, but these poor people (and you, the author) tend to use track changes.
Turn on track changes.
Go into your manuscript and do a find and replace on all the double spaces.
Choose “Show Revisions in Balloons”.
Welcome to Hell.
So, I’m in the bookstore reading first pages of any thing with a cover and title that captures my attention – what makes me put the book back or give it a chance?
The name of the hero.
I know, so shallow of me. But, really in all honestly do I want to spend the next few hours of my life, curled up in my bed reading a book with a hero whose name I either (a) cannot pronounce or (b) is a name that conjurs up images of limp noodles or worse – an ex-boyfriend?
Let’s take (a) – If you want me to fall for the hero, give him a name that not only fits his personality, his powerful physique and sure, make it something that sets him apart. DO NOT make up some name that’s clearly made up (it’s okay, you can agree with me!) or something that my tongue trips over everytime or I pronounce a hundred different ways until I’m finally forced to give him a nickname before I throw the book against the wall.
On to (b) I’m sorry, but if you name you hero Wesley, Barney or Elmo – I’m probably putting your book back on the shelves.
The second part of (b) would be the ex-boyfriends, which of course is totally random, and totally personal. I don’t hold any author responsible for the bad memories I have associated with the 8 (yes, you read that right, EIGHT) Johns I dated before I married my husband.
So how do you name your hero? Think strong, think cutting edge, but give me something I can sink my teeth into when I’m reading. I’ve got a few baby name books I refer to and I admit sometimes it takes me a chapter or two before I completely hone in on a name that truly fits all his quirks.
Do you have a name that makes you cringe? A name that would make you put that book down? Or does the name not matter to you at all?
Do you love to read a hard core, pig-headed alpha who knows exactly what he wants and goes after it? Or do you prefer a quiet, considerate beta who still goes after he wants but is sensible about it?
When I think about these two types of men, I can’t help but think about Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. Popular and controversial as it is, she did an excellent job defining the two extremes. And for once a beta ends up with the girl.
Far too often, I read alphas. I even write alphas. But Edward Cullen? He’s a beta all the way. Jacob Black? A total alpha who winds up without the girl.
Let’s look at the differences between the two characters:
Edward (beta): Vampire, cold skin, pale, rich, temperate, considerate of Bella. All aspects of his life are quietly lived.
Jacob (alpha): Werewolf, hot skin, russet skin (oh my, did no one edit the books for that word?!?!), poor, hot temper, thought of himself first. Puffed up about his abilities and his lifestyle.
I’ll be the first to admit, I loved Jacob. I wanted Jacob to win Bella over, because at several points in the series, I thought Edward was being a total passive idiot. Did he not want to be happy? Did he not recognize his own ability to protect her and make HER happy? BETAS! So self-sacrificing, but we love them anyway.
So, I guess when all is said and done, I love my alphas. It was nice to read the Twilight series and see how black and white Stephenie made the differences, not just in personality types, but lifestyles. It was nice to see the beta win, but I couldn’t help feeling like I need to read Jacob’s story now. But, of course, like any good author, I think that was probably Stephenie’s plan.
So, what kind of “man” are you? Alpha? Beta? Both?
If I go back to all my old favorites, Arsenic and Old Lace…Abbott and Costello, Breakfast at Tiffany’s…. Bringing up Baby. I could go on. The thing about those old movies is that they would have collapsed without good dialogue. The time when movies were based on really good writing.
We’ve got that today, don’t get me wrong, but more often I like to sit down with a book and enjoy the lost art of dialogue and conversation–a witty read that pulls me into the character’s lives.
How do I apply that to my own writing?
I see it in my head like an old-time movie. [okay, i'll admit, this movie line just cracks me up]
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