Deborah Vogts's Blog, page 64

This Week's Recipes

Here are this week's new additions at Country at Heart Recipes. Have a great weekend. For you folks in Kansas, it's gonna get cold outside! Stay warm! 
Asparagus with Mushroom Cream Sauce
Twelve Days of Christmas Tea Party
Homemade Salami

Twelve Days of Christmas Tea Party

This past weekend, my daughters and I hosted a Twelve Days of Christmas Tea Partyat my grandma's house. 
Thinking this would be our little granddaughter's first "official" tea party, we pulled out all the stops. (Unfortunately, she and her mom were unable to make it due to sickness...) 
But we still had loads of fun. 
Our youngest daughter took care of the decorations,

while I handled the menu. 
We found these gorgeous Victorian  Graphic 45 Twelve Days of Christmas scrap booking pads online that we based our decorations on. 

You can find the pads HERE, or they can also be found on Ebay. 

Below are some of the special foods that I made, including the pimento and chicken salad tea sandwiches pictured above.
Russian Tea Cakes


Lemon Tarts with Blueberries and Raspberries and Glazed English Walnuts


Lemon and Cherry-Pistachio Biscotti
For games, we had a scavenger hunt, played Christmas Bingo, and sang the Twelve Days of Christmas, with solos for each day.It was lots of fun. Maybe we'll do it again next year! 

Recommended Reading ~ The Golden Braid

The Golden Braid, by Melanie Dickerson

The one who needs rescuing isn’t always the one in the tower.Rapunzel can throw a knife better than any man. She paints beautiful flowering vines on the walls of her plaster houses. She sings so sweetly she can coax even a beast to sleep. But there are two things she is afraid her mother might never allow her to do: learn to read and marry.Fiercely devoted to Rapunzel, her mother is suspicious of every man who so much as looks at her daughter and warns her that no man can be trusted. After a young village farmer asks for Rapunzel’s hand in marriage, Mother decides to move them once again—this time, to the large city of Hagenheim.The journey proves treacherous, and after being rescued by a knight—Sir Gerek—Rapunzel in turn rescues him farther down the road. As a result, Sir Gerek agrees to repay his debt to Rapunzel by teaching her to read. Could there be more to this knight than his arrogance and desire to marry for riches and position?As Rapunzel acclimates to life in a new city, she uncovers a mystery that will forever change her life. In this Rapunzel story unlike any other, a world of secrets and treachery is about to be revealed after seventeen years of lies. How will Rapunzel finally take control of her own destiny? And who will prove faithful to a lowly peasant girl with no one to turn to? Buy the book HERE.  Melanie Dickerson is the author of Medieval fairy tale retellings, including The Healer's Apprentice and The Merchant's Daughter, both Christy Award finalists, winner of The National Reader's Choice Award for 2010's Best First Book, and winner of the 2012 Carol Award in Young Adult fiction. She earned her bachelor's degree in special education from The University of Alabama. She has taught children with special needs in Georgia and Tennessee, and English to adults in Germany and Ukraine. Now she spends her time writing and taking care of her husband and two daughters near Huntsville, Alabama. Visit her on the web at http://www.MelanieDickerson.com.

This Week's Recipes

Here are this week's new additions at Country at Heart Recipes. Happy New Year! 
Chocolate Caramel Pecan Clusters
Ham Pinwheels
New Year's Menu

Book Preview ~ A Basket Brigade Christmas

A Basket Brigade Christmas,
by Judith McCoy Miller, Nancy Moser, and Stephanie Grace Whitson
Not even the Civil War can smother the spirit of Christmas, especially in the town of Decatur, Illinois, in 1862, where the ladies of the Basket Brigade board trains to minister to Union soldiers, offering fried chicken, pickled peaches, pound cake, and other dainties to men who haven’t eaten a home-cooked meal since enlisting. Join Sarah, Lucy, and Zona, three compassionate members of the brigade, as they care for wounded heroes—and find love along the way. Buy the Book HERE. JUDITH MCCOY MILLER is an award-winning author whose avid research and love for history are reflected in her novels, many of which have appeared on the CBA bestseller lists. Judy makes her home in Topeka, Kansas. www.judithmccoymiller.com
NANCY MOSER is an accomplished author of fiction and nonfiction, as well as an inspirational speaker. Her previous work includes popular novels such as An Unlikely Suitor, Masquerade, and the Christy Award-winning Time Lottery. She makes her home with her family in Kansas. www.nancymoser.com
STEPHANIE GRACE WHITSON, bestselling author and two-time Christy finalist, pursues a full-time writing and speaking career from her home studio in southeast Nebraska. Her husband and blended family, her church, quilting, and Kitty--her motorcycle--all rank high on her list of "favorite things." www.stephaniewhitson.com

This Week's Recipes

Here are this week's new additions at Country at Heart Recipes.May God bless you this Christmas Day, and may your hearts be filled with peace and joy!
Cheese Ball
Christmas Wreath Macaroons
Christmas Dinner Ideas

A Great and Mighty Wonder

Christmas is almost here! May you and your family have a blessed Christ-filled day.
A Great and Mighty Wonder
A great and mighty wonder, A full and holy cure:The Virgin bears the Infant With virgin honor pure!Repeat the hymn again: "To God on high be glory And peace on earth to men!"
The Word becomes incarnate And yet remains on high,And cherubim sing anthems To shepherds from the sky.Repeat the hymn again: "To God on high be glory And peace on earth to men!"
While thus they sing your Monarch, Those bright angelic bands,Rejoice, ye values and mountains, Ye oceans, clap your hands.Repeat the hymn again: "To God on high be glory And peace on earth to men!"
Since all He comes to ransom, By all be He adored,The Infant born in Bethl'em, The Savior and the Lord.Repeat the hymn again: "To God on high be glory And peace on earth to men!"
And idol forms shall perish, And error shall decay,And Christ shall wield His scepter, Our Lord and God for aye.Repeat the hymn again: "To God on high be glory And peace on earth to men!"

See more Advent Hymns HERE. 

Book Preview ~ Falling Like Snowflakes

Falling Like Snowflakes, by Denise Hunter

Eden Martelli is too busy fleeing the clutches of danger to realize she’s running straight into the arms of a new love.

Speeding north through rural Maine, Eden Martelli wonders how her life came to this—on the run with her mute five-year-old son dozing fitfully in the passenger seat. When a breakdown leaves them stranded in Summer Harbor, Eden has no choice but to stay put through Christmas . . . even though they have no place to lay their heads.

Beau Callahan is a habitual problem solver—for other people anyway. He left the sheriff’s department to take over his family’s Christmas tree farm, but he’s still haunted by the loss of his parents and struggling to handle his first Christmas alone.

When Eden shows up looking for work just as Beau’s feisty aunt gets out of the hospital, Beau thinks he’s finally caught a break. Eden is competent and dedicated—if a little guarded—and a knockout to boot. But, as he soon finds out, she also comes with a boatload of secrets.

Eden has been through too much to trust her heart to another man, but Beau is impossible to resist, and the feeling seems to be mutual. As Christmas Eve approaches, Eden’s past catches up to her.

Beau will go to the ends of the earth to keep her safe. But who’s going to protect his heart from a woman who can’t seem to trust again? Buy the book HERE. 

Denise Hunter is the internationally published bestselling author of more than 20 books,
including Dancing with Fireflies and The Convenient Groom. She has won The Holt Medallion Award, The Reader's Choice Award, The Foreword Book of the Year Award, and is a RITA finalist.

Denise writes heartwarming, small-town love stories. Her readers enjoy the experience of falling in love vicariously through her characters and can expect a happily-ever-after sigh as they close the pages of her books.

In 1996, inspired by the death of her grandfather, Denise began her first book, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she's been writing ever since. Her husband says he inspires all her romantic stories, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too!

When Denise isn't orchestrating love lives on the written page, she enjoys traveling with her family, drinking coffee, and playing drums. Denise makes her home in Indiana where she and her husband are raising three boys. You can learn more about Denise by visiting her Website HERE.

This Week's Recipes

Here are this week's new additions at Country at Heart Recipes.May God bless you this Christmas Season.
Marshmallow Mint Sandwiches
Christmas Wassail
Featured Author, Mary Ball, shares her recipe for Venison Stew

Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel

As we celebrate this third week of Advent, here is another favorite hymn many of you may recognize. May God bless you and your family with His amazing grace as we rejoice in the coming of our Savior's birth.
Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel
Oh, come, Oh, come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israelthat mourns in lonely exile hereUntil the Son of God appear.Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Oh, come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan's tyranny;From depths of hell thy people saveAnd give them vict'ry o'er the grave.Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Oh, come, Thou Dayspring from on high,and cheer us by thy drawing nigh;disperse the gloomy clouds of nightAnd death's dark shadows put to flight.Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Oh, come, Thou Key of David, comeand open wide our heav'nly home;Make safe the way that leads on highand close the path to misery.Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

See more Advent Hymns HERE.