The Romance Reviews

Thursday 9 December 2010

It's Christmas time- time for stories & mintys.


Hi All, I thought I'd pop into Lindsay's Romantics and share a little bit of Christmas and mintys! Tis the season for receipes, and I have a Weight Watcher friendly minty meltaway cookies. Here's my receipe:

COOKIES
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract

GLAZE
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1-2 tbsp fat free milk
red food coloring

1. To make cookies place oven racks in upper and lower thirds ot the oven and preheat to 350.

2. Combine flour, cornstarch, salt in a bowl. With an electric mixer on med speed, beat butter until creaming, about 1 min. Add confectioners sugar and peppermint extract, beat 4 mins. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mix, beating just until blended.

3. form dough by tablespoonsfuls into 1 inch balls. Place balls on 2 large ungreased baking sheets 1 inch apart.

Bake until tops are firm 8-10 mins Let cookies cool on baking sheets 3 mins transfer to racks and let cool completely.

4. To make the glaze, whisk confectioners sugar, 1 tbsp milk, and food coloring until smooth. Drizzle glaze evenly over cookies. Let stand until glaze sets about 30 mins. Cover and store at room temp up to 1 week.

1 cookie: 119 calories. 3 points.


******
A Lil' bit o' Christmas

I thought I'd share an excerpt from my Christmas story, "Christmas in Bayeux" which has been included in VTP's A Christmas Collection, Stimulating. You can find the book on Smashwords and Amazon!

Enjoy!

*****

Noel pushed two wooden double doors open and they walked into a wide open-spaced entrance hall. "Is this a museum?"

"Oui. It houses our best known prize – the Bayeux Tapestry."

"What is that?" His voice was laced in curiosity.

"Dix Euros," said the clerk. He was in his mid-thirties and wore a blue uniform.

Aiden put his hand over Noel's hand as she reached for her purse. "I'll get it."

"Vous êtes Américain?"
"Oui," said Aiden.

The clerk held out his hand. Aiden slowly took it, surprised by the gesture. What was he doing?

"Américains we like. World War II, yes? Merci – thank you," the clerk said in halting English.

Aiden was stunned. Noel said this occurred, but he didn't think it would happen to him.

"De Rein. Thank you, sir."
"Non, Monsieur, merci. Keep your money."
"Oh, I insist."
"Oui, thank you, merci."

Noel smiled at the clerk, thread her arm through Aiden's, and they walked into the museum. There were a few people milling about in the halls, but it wasn't as busy as he thought it would be. Maybe everyone was at the Christmas markets.

He paused before they got far. "You said—"

She gave him an easy smile. "You handled that well."

BLURB: Aiden Seward is an Iraq war vet who has gone to the Beaches of Normandy to heal his wounded heart. Noel Rousseau was the girl he knew as an exchange student years ago. Can Noel help heal the ache in Aiden's heart?

Buy Links:

Amazon: (print) http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Collection-Anthology-Stimulating/dp/1456304410/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1289273692&sr=8-1

Ebook, Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/29148

Create Space, Print book: https://www.createspace.com/3494425

Victory Tales Press: http://victorytalespress.yolasite.com/online-store.php

Check out the Story Teaser on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-muZ0dhOvSE

3 comments:

Savanna Kougar said...

Stephanie, nice excerpt.

Your 'minty' recipe looks yummy, but if I make it, it won't be the weight watcher's version.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Julia Rachel Barrett said...

Yummy cookies and excerpt!

Rebecca J Vickery said...

Hi Steph,
Thanks for the recipe. I can't wait to try it. And I loved your story in the Christmas Anthology.
I also received my autographed postcard featuring the Stimulating cover. It looks great.