Deborah Vogts's Blog, page 127

Peppermint Meringues

This is a recipe I make at Christmastime or for tea parties. Our girls adore them!


2 egg white
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
2 peppermint candy canes, crushed


In large mixing bowl, combine egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar. Mix together, adding sugar one tablespoon at a time. Beat on high for 5-7 minutes until stiff peaks form. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies. Bake at 225 degrees for 90 minutes. Turn off heat, and leave candy in oven with door ajar for one hour to cool. Makes 3 dozen.

Christmas Traditions - Tea Parties

One Christmas tradition I've created for my girls is to hold a special tea party during their holiday break--sometimes inviting ten or more people to join us. Last year, we decided to take our tea party on the road. We traveled to my grandma's house and held it there. 

As always, we made a few goodies to enjoy with our tea. Russian Tea Cakes, Snowballs, Peppermint Meringues, Cheeseball and Crackers, Bacon-wrapped Lil Smokies, and Tortilla Pinwheels. And for our tea-- Apricot Brandy (loose leaf). Yum.
For our entertainment, we played a few games of Christmas Bingo, and then my daughters sang a few songs with their guitars. Good food, good company, and good entertainment. An enjoyable afternoon. We're planning to hold another tea party at Grandma's this year. I can hardly wait!  
I hope each of you will make time this Christmas season to share with family or friends. Create memories and enjoy the moments.  

Christmas Traditions - Favorite Movies

Now that Thanksgiving is over and Advent has begun, it's time to get ready for Christmas. Because I'm on a hard and swift deadline to finish my third book, I've decided to share some old posts with you from now until Christmas. I hope you'll enjoy revisiting them. I will, however, continue to post new recipes each Friday! Many blessings to you this Advent season. 
Each year when we drag out our Christmas decorations, our daughters eagerly dig through the boxes to find their favorite movies. Some of them are children's programs from long ago -- Frosty the Snowman, A Year without a Santa Claus, or Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. 


I've been watching and listening to these programs ever since I was a little girl, but I never tire of them. 
We also make a point of visiting our local libraries to check out the Classic Christmas movies available there. Some of our favorites include: Holiday Inn, Christmas in Connecticut, Meet Me in St. Louis, A Miracle on 34th Street, and It's a Wonderful Life. And what about National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation--too funny!
There are so many more, it's hard to list them all. What about you? Do you have a favorite Christmas movie you watch each year?

Cottage Cheese Butterhorn Rolls

  Here's a recipe that is easy to make and so delightful.


1 cup margarine
12 oz cottage cheese
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixing bowl, cream together margarine and cottage cheese. Add flour and salt. Mix well. Refrigerate for four hours. Divide dough into three parts. On floured board, form each into a ball and roll into a circle. Slice into 12 wedges. Roll up each wedge, starting at the wide end. Place point side down on greased cookie sheet. Bake rolls for 30-40 minutes until golden brown. Drizzle with icing:


2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Thanksgiving Blessings

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,Praise Him all creatures here below,Praise Him above all heavenly host,Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

Here in America, we have much to be thankful for. I'm thankful for our family, our friends, our church, our country, our home, our health,and so much more.

  Please stop and take a moment today--and every day to thank God for all the blessings He gives.

  And as promised to my newsletter subscribers, the winner of my special Thanksgiving Book Drawing is . . . .

Letitia Rhodes

If you'd like to subscribe to my quarterly Country at Heart newsletter, please click here and fill out the required form. 
Many blessings to each of you, andmay you have a Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Book Preview - A Marriage Carol

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing A Marriage Carol Moody Publishers (September 1, 2011) by Chris Fabry and Gary Chapman

On Christmas Eve twenty years earlier, Marlee and Jacob were married in a snowstorm.   This Christmas Eve, they are ready to quit, divorce is imminent. Their relationship is as icy as the road they're traveling and as blocked with troubles as the piling snow. They take a shortcut to get to the lawyer's office, on a slippery, no-fault path. She thinks they need to stay on the main road. He disagrees. They fight. Story of their lives and they slam into a bank of snow , spinning, drifting, falling, out of control. Just like their lives. Reluctantly, freezing cold, hungry, scared, she trudges up the hill. Paul is nowhere to be found. Her ears frozen, fingers and hands red, she comes to a house on the hillside, built like a Bed and Breakfast, a green wreath on the red door and the door-knocker is in the shape of a wedding ring.


The red door opens and the first thing she notices is the fire in the room, blazing hot, a warm, inviting, friendly place and the voice of an old man welcomes her in. There are three golden pots on the hearth, shining, glimmering things. The old man claims that they are used to restore marriages. She laughs—and begins a journey through her past, present, and future that will test how she views her lifelong love. There are two futures available. Which will she choose? If you would like to read the first chapter excerpt of A Marriage Carol, go HERE.



ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
CHRIS FABRY is a graduate of W. Page Pitt School of Journalism at Marshall University and Moody bible Institute's Advanced Studies Program. Chris can be heard daily on Love Worth Finding, featuring the teaching of the late Dr. Adrian Rogers. He received the 2008 "Talk Personality of the Year" Award from the National Religious Broadcasters. He has published more than 60 books since 1995, many of them fiction for younger readers. Chris collaborated with Jerry B. Jenkins and Dr. Tim LaHaye on the children's series Left Behind: The Kids. His two novels for adults, Dogwood and June Bug, are published by Tyndale House Publishers. Chris is married to his wife Andrea and they have five daughters and four sons.


GARY CHAPMAN is the author of the bestselling Five Love Languages series and the director of Marriage and Family Life Consultants, Inc. Gary travels the world presenting seminars, and his radio program airs on more than 400 stations.

Writing Retreat

Earlier this month I helped host a writing retreat with fellow Kansas author, Deborah Raney. It is always such a blessing to gather with other writers, chat about the business, learn about the craft, and brainstorm new ideas. 
This was our second year to host the event for unpublished writers, and we've already scheduled our date for next year! 
Here with Susan Hollaway, Susan Mires, Sara Meisinger, Julane Hiebert, and Deborah Raney. Below are a few more pictures from our time together.
 Murphy's Landing - The cabin we stayed at.
 Getting settled in the kitchen. All of these ladies are great cooks! 
A view from the loft above. 
Having lunch (and pie) at Murphy's Cafe. Did I mention we enjoyed some delicious meals while at the retreat?!!
 Doesn't this fire look comfy, cozy?
Brainstorming ideas! I'm happy to report that we were able to work through some problem areas in my manuscript . . . and now I'm pushing toward my deadline goal of January 27! 
Enjoying a cool afternoon on the porch. It's only been a few weeks since the retreat, and I'm already looking forward to next year! 

Easy Thanksgiving Stuffing

Here's a recipe I've tweaked based on my mother-in-law's holiday recipe.


1 lb. sausage
1 - 6 oz box turkey stuffing mix
1 - 6 oz. box cornbread stuffing mix
3 1/3 cups water
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
Seasoning packets
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1 cup slivered almonds


Brown sausage in skillet and set aside. In medium saucepan, combine seasoning packets with water and butter. Add chopped apricots. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, covered. Remove from heat. Add bread crumbs, sausage, and slivered almonds. Stir to moisten. Cover and let stand an additional 5 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve. Makes 14 servings.

Book Preview - Long Trail Home

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Long Trail Home Moody Publishers; New Edition edition (November 1, 2011) by Vickie McDonough

Vickie McDonough is an award-winning author of twenty-four books and novellas. Her books have won the Inspirational Reader's Choice Contest, Texas Gold, the ACFW Noble Theme contest, and she has been a multi-year finalist in ACFW's BOTY/Carol Awards. She was voted Third Favorite Author in the Heartsong Presents Annual Readers Contest in 2009. Vickie is the author of the fun and feisty Texas Boardinghouse Brides series from Barbour Publishing. She has also authored two books in the Texas Trails: A Morgan Family series, in which she partners with Susan Page Davis and Darlene Franklin to write a six-book series that spans fifty years of the Morgan family. Also, next year brings the release of a new series from Guidepost/Summerside: Pioneer Promises, set in 1870s Kansas.
ABOUT THE BOOK The Long Trail Home is third in a six-book series about four generations of the Morgan family living, fighting, and thriving amidst a turbulent Texas history spanning from 1845 to 1896. Although a series, each book can be read on its own.When Riley Morgan returns home after fighting in the War Between the States, he is excited to see his parents and fiancee again. But he soon learns that his parents are dead and the woman he loved is married. He takes a job at the Wilcox School for the blind just to get by. He keeps his heart closed off but a pretty blind woman, Annie, threatens to steal it. When a greedy man tries to close the school, Riley and Annie band together to fight him and fall in love.But when Riley learns the truth about Annie, he packs and prepares to leave the school that has become his home and the woman who has thawed his heart. Will he change his mind and find the love he craves' Or will stubbornness deprive him from the woman he needs' Through painful circumstances, Riley and Annie learn that the loving and sovereign hand of God cannot be thwarted.
If you would like to read the Prologue of Long Trail Home, go HERE.

Book Drawing - A Sound Among the Trees

Leave a comment below to enter your chance to win this week's book drawing. A winner will be chosen on Sunday, November 20. 
*Void where prohibited. Open only to US residents. Odds of winning depend on number of entrants. Comments must be made on this blog. Social network comments are not valid. 
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:
Susan Meissner
and the book:
A Sound Among the Trees WaterBrook Press (October 4, 2011)***Special thanks to Laura Tucker of WaterBrook Press for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Award-winning writer Susan Meissner is a multi-published author, speaker and workshop leader with a background in community journalism. Her novels include The Shape of Mercy, named by Publishers Weekly as one of the Best Books of 2008. She is a pastor's wife and a mother of four. When she's not writing, Susan directs the Small Groups and Connection Ministries program at her San Diego church. Visit the author's website.
SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A house shrouded in time. A line of women with a heritage of loss. As a young bride, Susannah Page was rumored to be a Civil War spy for the North, a traitor to her Virginian roots. Her great-granddaughter Adelaide, the current matriarch of Holly Oak, doesn't believe that Susannah's ghost haunts the antebellum mansion looking for a pardon, but rather the house itself bears a grudge toward its tragic past.
When Marielle Bishop marries into the family and is transplanted from the arid west to her husband's home, it isn't long before she is led to believe that the house she just settled into brings misfortune to the women who live there.
With Adelaide's richly peppered superstitions and deep family roots at stake, Marielle must sort out the truth about Susannah Page and Holly Oak— and make peace with the sacrifices she has made for love.



Product Details:
List Price: $14.99Paperback: 336 pagesPublisher: WaterBrook Press (October 4, 2011)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0307458857ISBN-13: 978-0307458858
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
Excerpt

The bride stood in a circle of Virginia sunlight, her narrow heels clicking on Holly Oak's patio stones as she greeted strangers in the receiving line. Her wedding dress was a simple A-line, strapless, with a gauzy skirt of white that breezed about her knees like lacy curtains at an open window. She had pulled her unveiled brunette curls into a loose arrangement dotted with tiny flowers that she'd kept alive on her flight from Phoenix. Her only jewelry was a white topaz pendant at her throat and the band of platinum on her left ring finger. Tall, slender, and tanned from the famed and relentless Arizona sun, hers was a girl-next door look: pretty but not quite beautiful. Adelaide thought it odd that Marielle held no bouquet.

From the parlor window Adelaide watched as her grandson-in-law, resplendent in a black tuxedo next to his bride, bent toward the guests and greeted them by name, saying, "This is Marielle." An explanation seemed ready to spring from his lips each time he shook the hand of someone who had known Sara, her deceased granddaughter. His first wife. Carson stood inches from Marielle, touching her elbow every so often, perhaps to assure himself that after four years a widower he had indeed patently and finally moved on from grief.

Smatterings of conversations wafted about on the May breeze and into the parlor as received guests strolled toward trays of sweet tea and champagne. Adelaide heard snippets from her place at the window. Hudson and Brette, her great-grandchildren, had moved away from the snaking line of gray suits and pastel dresses within minutes of the first guests' arrival and were now studying the flower-festooned gift table under the window ledge, touching the bows, fingering the silvery white wrappings. Above the children, an old oak's youngest branches shimmied to the tunes a string quartet produced from the gazebo beyond the receiving line.

Adelaide raised a teacup to her lips and sipped the last of its contents, allowing the lemony warmth to linger at the back of her throat. She had spent the better part of the morning readying the garden for Carson and Marielle's wedding reception, plucking spent geranium blossoms, ordering the catering staff about, and straightening the rented linen tablecloths. She needed to join the party now that it had begun. The Blue-Haired Old Ladies would be wondering where she was.

Her friends had been the first to arrive, coming through the garden gate on the south side of the house at five minutes before the hour. She'd watched as Carson introduced them to Marielle, witnessed how they cocked their necks in blue-headed unison to sweetly scrutinize her grandson-in-law's new wife, and heard their welcoming remarks through the open window.

Deloris gushed about how lovely Marielle's wedding dress was and what, pray tell, was the name of that divine purple flower she had in her hair?

Pearl invited Marielle to her bridge club next Tuesday afternoon and asked her if she believed in ghosts.

Maxine asked her how Carson and she had met—though Adelaide had told her weeks ago that Carson met Marielle on the Internet—and why on earth Arizona didn't like daylight-saving time.

Marielle had smiled, sweet and knowing—like the kindergarten teacher who finds the bluntness of five-year-olds endearing—and answered the many questions.

Mojave asters. She didn't know how to play bridge. She'd never encountered a ghost so she couldn't really say but most likely not. She and Carson met online. There's no need to save what one has an abundance of. Carson had cupped her elbow in his hand, and his thumb caressed the inside of her arm while she spoke.

Adelaide swiftly set the cup down on the table by the window, whisking away the remembered tenderness of that same caress on Sara's arm.

Carson had every right to remarry.

Sara had been dead for four years.

She turned from the bridal tableau outside and inhaled deeply the gardenia-scented air in the parlor. Unbidden thoughts of her granddaughter sitting with her in that very room gently nudged her. Sara at six cutting out paper dolls. Memorizing multiplication tables at age eight. Sewing brass buttons onto gray wool coats at eleven. Sara reciting a poem for English Lit at sixteen, comparing college acceptance letters at eighteen, sharing a chance letter from her estranged mother at nineteen, showing Adelaide her engagement ring at twenty-four. Coming back home to Holly Oak with Carson when Hudson was born. Nursing Brette in that armchair by the fireplace. Leaning against the door frame and telling Adelaide that she was expecting her third child.

Right there Sara had done those things while Adelaide sat at the long table in the center of the room, empty now but usually awash in yards of stiff Confederate gray, glistening gold braid, and tiny piles of brass buttons—the shining elements of officer reenactment uniforms before they see war.

Adelaide ran her fingers along the table's polished surface, the warm wood as old as the house itself. Carson had come to her just a few months ago while she sat at that table piecing together a sharpshooter's forest green jacket. He had taken a chair across from her as Adelaide pinned a collar, and he'd said he needed to tell her something.

He'd met someone.

When she'd said nothing, he added, "It's been four years, Adelaide."

"I know how long it's been." The pins made a tiny plucking sound as their pointed ends pricked the fabric.

"She lives in Phoenix."

"You've never been to Phoenix."

"Mimi." He said the name Sara had given her gently, as a father might. A tender reprimand. He waited until she looked up at him. "I don't think Sara would want me to live the rest of my life alone. I really don't. And I don't think she would want Hudson and Brette not to have a mother."

"Those children have a mother."

"You know what I mean. They need to be mothered. I'm gone all day at work. I only have the weekends with them. And you won't always be here. You're a wonderful great-grandmother, but they need someone to mother them, Mimi."

She pulled the pin cushion closer to her and swallowed. "I know they do."

He leaned forward in his chair. "And I…I miss having someone to share my life with. I miss the companionship. I miss being in love. I miss having someone love me."

Adelaide smoothed the pieces of the collar. "So. You are in love?"

He had taken a moment to answer. "Yes. I think I am."

Carson hadn't brought anyone home to the house, and he hadn't been on any dates. But he had lately spent many nights after the children were in bed in his study—the old drawing room—with the door closed. When she'd pass by, Adelaide would hear the low bass notes of his voice as he spoke softly into his phone. She knew that gentle sound. She had heard it before, years ago when Sara and Carson would sit in the study and talk about their day. His voice, deep and resonant. Hers, soft and melodic.

"Are you going to marry her?"

Carson had laughed. "Don't you even want to know her name?"

She had not cared at that moment about a name. The specter of being alone in Holly Oak shoved itself forward in her mind. If he remarried, he'd likely move out and take the children with him. "Are you taking the children? Are you leaving Holly Oak?"

"Adelaide—"

"Will you be leaving?"

Several seconds of silence had hung suspended between them. Carson and Sara had moved into Holly Oak ten years earlier to care for Adelaide after heart surgery and had simply stayed. Ownership of Holly Oak had been Sara's birthright and was now Hudson and Brette's future inheritance. Carson stayed on after Sara died because, in her grief, Adelaide asked him to, and in his grief, Carson said yes.

"Will you be leaving?" she asked again.

"Would you want me to leave?" He sounded unsure.

"You would stay?"

Carson had sat back in his chair. "I don't know if it's a good idea to take Hudson and Brette out of the only home they've known. They've already had to deal with more than any kid should."

"So you would marry this woman and bring her here. To this house."

Carson had hesitated only a moment. "Yes."

She knew without asking that they were not talking solely about the effects moving would have on a ten-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl. They were talking about the strange biology of their grief. Sara had been taken from them both, and Holly Oak nurtured their common sorrow in the most kind and savage of ways. Happy memories were one way of keeping someone attached to a house and its people. Grief was the other. Surely Carson knew this. An inner nudging prompted her to consider asking him what his new bride would want.

"What is her name?" she asked instead.

And he answered, "Marielle…"

Excerpted from A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner Copyright © 2011 by Susan Meissner. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.