Announcing Christmas Year Round: Sharing Christmas Joy All Year Long

 

Well, folks, I did it! Filled with tons of content from years of blogging, I'm excited to present you with...

Christmas Year Round: 

Sharing Christmas Joy All Year Long

As you will see in my welcome message that appears at Christmas Year Round today, the content currently focuses on books, movies, recipes, inspirational quotes, and fanfiction stories by yours truly that have appeared on my other blogs, but fresh content has already appeared and will continue to come to you in the days ahead. If you have time, feedback and content ideas would be greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy this new endeavor and it brings you joy. Click on the title above to be directed to Christmas Year Round. 

Holiday Recipe for You - NaBloPoMo Special Feature

Here's another holiday recipe for you. This recipe also comes from my Betty Crocker New Christmas Cookbook and they call them cheese triangles. I guess the Greeks have a different name for them, but I can't remember what that is. I'll have to ask my mother-in-law.

Like most Greek foods, I've found this to be a time-consuming project, as you have to cut the phyllo sheets into thirds and wrap them around the cheese mixture inside, which can be back breaking work. Phyllo also dries out quickly, so it is a good idea to cover them by a sheet of waxed paper with a damp towel over the waxed paper to keep them moist. If the sheets dry, they are impossible to work with.

While this is not a recipe you should make if you are pressed for time, it can be made up to 24 hours ahead of time and refrigerated. These are also very delicious!

CHEESE TRIANGLES

1 pound of feta cheese*
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup finely choppse chives
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 package (16 ounces) frozen phyllo sheets, thawed
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine or butter, melted

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheet.

Crumble cheese in small bowl (Grocery stores also sell containers of crumbled feta); mash with fork.

Stir in eggs, chives and white pepper until well mixed.

Cut stack of phyllo sheets lengthwise into thirds. use two sheets for each strip.

Place one heaping teaspoon cheese mixture on end of strip; fold phyllo strip end over end, in triangular shape, to opposite end.

Place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining phyllo and cheese mizture. (Triangles can be covered and refrigerated up to 24 hours at this point.)

Brush butter over triangles. Bake about 20 minutes or until puffed and golden. About 36 appetizers.

* Finely shredded Monterey Jack cheese can be substituted for the mashed feta cheese.

Note: While it says to place a heaping teaspoon of mixture on the sheets, don't overstuff them or they will be hard to wrap.

Recipes from Patricia Mendez, Author of Easy Entertaining for Beginners

Since November is a busy time of year for everyone--especially we writers who are partcipating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)--I figured it would be an excellent time to try something new by offering recipes on dates when I am not hosting authors. This will also help me with National Blog Posting Month, which we are participating in again.

Our first two recipes come from Patricia Mendez, author of Easy Entertaining for Beginners: You Can Throw a Fabulous Party, from Holiday Fiesta to a Romantic Evening for Two that won the 2009 Mom's Choice Award.

I own this book--which we reviewed here--and have used it on more than one occasion. What I like best about this cookbook is that it has things I actually would make instead of a bunch of gourmet recipes that I would never use in a million years.

Recipes by: Patricia Mendez copyright 2009



Sweet n’ Crunchy Apple Salad
Serves 12

4 cups apples, red & green, chopped, unpeeled
2 tablespoons bottled or fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup candied pecans, purchased, chopped
1/2 cup washed, seedless green grapes, halved
1 1/3 cup low-fat whipped topping, thawed
1/3 cup low-fat mayonnaise
Ground nutmeg

1. In bowl, toss chopped apples with lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown. Stir in celery, nuts and grapes.

2. For dressing, fold mayonnaise into the whipped topping. Spread dressing over top of apple mixture. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Cover tightly and chill for up to 3 hours.



Pumpkin Scones with Maple Icing
Makes 6-8

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces
¾ cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk

Maple Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon real Maple syrup
1 tablespoon milk, plus up to 2 teaspoons more

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. In bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Add butter, cut with pastry cutter or two butter knives in a criss-cross motion to form pea-size crumbs.

In a separate bowl, mix pumpkin and milk together. Add to flour mixture and stir until moistened. Knead on floured board about 5 times. Do not over mix or the scones will not be tender. Form dough into 6 inch round, about 1 ½ inches thick and cut into 6 equal-sized wedges. Bake on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray for 18-20 minutes.

Cool and prepare icing by mixing ingredients in small bowl. Drizzle on cooled scones and serve.


Patricia Mendez has catered and coordinated special events since the early 1990’s. She has taught cooking classes and is a public speaker. A natural teacher, she has mentored many aspiring hosts and hostesses. She writes articles for magazines and internet sites and lives in Southern California. She is also the “Easy Entertaining” Spokesperson for Lifetime Products. When she’s not writing or teaching, she is a home chef who loves to throw fun parties.

You can visit Patricia online at http://ezentertaining.net/.

National Blog Posting Month

And as if I didn't have enough to do with virtual book tours, NaNoWriMo, volunteering at the girls' schools and at church, and just normal family stuff, The Book Connection will be partcipating in National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) in November too. In between hosting authors on tour, I'll have some reviews posted, provide some holiday recipes and let you know how NaNoWriMo is going.

This year I am writing a middle grade novel that I've titled Amelia's Mission. It is about a young orphan girl who goes to live with her single aunt in a fictional New England town. The aunt is always miserable, and Amelia decides she must figure out what made her aunt so unhappy and fix it, all the while trying to convince her young friend Ralph to let her teach him to read. I'm very excited about this one.

Look forward to more great things at The Book Connection all month long!