Reindeer

December 21, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

Around my house Christmas is all about food, and while Mrs. Claus doesn’t spend all her time baking cookies that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know her way around a kitchen. Over the next few days I’d like to share some of Mrs. Claus’ favourite recipes with you! Each one of these recipes is written in the voice of one of the incarnations of Mrs. Claus from my latest anthology, Mrs. Claus: Not the Fairy Tale They Say.

Enjoy!

Reindeer

From Mrs. Claus of “Wight Christmas” by Laura VanArendonk Baugh

Autumn is a time of change: a time when leaves turn and wildlife prepares to migrate or hibernate, a time of frenzied activity for the elves as they try to get Nick ready for his annual event, a time when women in wholly unnecessary activewear wax lyrical about spices cheaply available year round. (You people have no idea what it was like in the old days, when we traveled months to trade or… borrow spices.)

But the best part of autumn is gathering with friends to celebrate the rich harvest collected by that farm village you just relieved of its overstock. (No worries, bleeding hearts! We also relieved them of excess population, so they’ll be better able to survive on the stores they have left.)

One of my favorites is roast reindeer. Oh, don’t make that face. Yes, Nick has a team of eight which is quite the public face for the operation. They’re more famous than the Budweiser Clydesdales! But reindeer have always been a part of our culture and diet. Where do you think Santa’s fur trim came from? Uh-huh.

Besides, reindeer is good for you. It’s a very lean meat, so you don’t have to worry about fat and cholesterol and whatever else you people fret about this decade. And reindeer are free-ranging herds which serve a valuable ecological purpose, none of this disgusting feedlot business. Your reindeer probably roamed the forest eating lichen right up until its final day.

And finally, reindeer is tasty. It’s tender and milder than venison. It’s perfect for your guests. Remember, hospitality is important!

For an intimate gathering, I like to start with about 5 pounds (2 and a quarter kilograms) of reindeer haunch, which should feed two to three Vikings as a main course, but you can work with what you have available. You can certainly scale up if you have a shipful to feed, but remember that a whole reindeer takes longer to prepare than a small roast.

It’s best when wrapped in pork fat to keep it moist. If you happen to be visiting North America, pick up some American bacon, as the strips are perfect. Use about half a pound to wrap the roast, lay some rosemary sprigs over the bacon on all sides, and tie everything in place. If you have any extra pork fat, lay it on top to cap it all off.

Combine lingonberry sauce—mmm, lingonberries!—with a few peppercorns, some onion slices, and whatever honey you saved from mead-making. Set the roast on this base and, well, roast it on a low fire until it bleeds clear. For those of you using an gas or electric cooker, this will be about 275 F or 135 C for two or three hours, depending on your roast.

Meat is not a complete meal, so fill a pan with your favorite root vegetables. Don’t be afraid to use some New World varieties such a potatoes; caribou are found in North America, too. And you’ll have time while it roasts to make some buttermilk flatbread.

When you pull it out, like all meats it will need to rest to reabsorb the best juices. But like all meats, it will likely be raided by hungry hands. Keep your short axe ready for a quick defense as necessary, and it should be ready in about twenty minutes. Alternately, place the mead and drinking horns at the far side of the hall, to distract the diners and keep them busy elsewhere.

Make sure you keep a healthy portion of mead for yourself! Slice the reindeer roast thin when it’s ready, and serve with the lingonberry sauce and roast vegetables. Enjoy!

Excerpt from “Wight Christmas” by Laura VanArendonk Baugh:

Lik and I sat companionably in the dark, waiting. It wasn’t awkward;. I was a Valkyrie, a Chooser of the Slain, and he was the slain. We had more in common than you’d think.

“So, you were a valkyrja.”

“Am a valkyrja. I just don’t get called in to work as often these days.”

“And you married Santa.”

“Nicholas is what he goes by most often now. Yes.”

“But Nicholas was a Christian bishop, at least for a span of years.”

“Yes.”

“Bishops…can’t have wives. Or sex.”

I nodded. “Frock-blocked.”

Lik’s explosive laughter boomed across the parking lot, shattering any pretense of concealment or stealth. He slapped his bare knee and threw his head back, laughing freely as any dead and drunk warrior in ValhÃ¶ll.

Available Online:

Direct from the publisher

Myra’s Beastly Christmas Butter Balls

December 20, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

Enjoy!

Myra’s Beastly Christmas Butter Balls

A recipe by Myra of “Red to Hide the Blood” by Hayley Stone

“Not sure what you want me to say here, they’re butter balls. Small sugary cookies covered in powdered sugar. They taste best with fudge.”

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (the good stuff—you know, from a cow, none of that low-fat, goat milk nonsense; stop by if you need to borrow some proper butter)
½ cup powdered sugar
2 ½ cups flour*
¼ tsp. salt (that’s teaspoon, Olli)
1 tsp. vanilla
¾ nuts (if you like that kind of thing)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 345 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar. If your arm’s not hurting by the end, you haven’t done a good enough job. Crank that spoon a couple more times. Won’t hurt to work that arm a bit, especially if you plan on helping Nick with his sleigh repairs later.
Add remaining ingredients. (Except the nuts. You should just skip those. Yes, I know Nick likes them. I don’t hold it against him. Might if he ever makes me eat them though.)
Roll into balls and arrange on a baking sheet an inch apart. Bake 10-12 minutes.**
Remove from oven and let sit a moment. We’re making balls, after all, not thumbprints.
Using a sifter, sprinkle the powdered sugar over the warm cookies.

That’s it. You said you wanted simple. It’s not hunting a waheela, so you shouldn’t have much trouble. And like I said, the best way to improve the recipe is by serving the cookies alongside fudge. You need a recipe for some proper fudge, you know where to find me.

Oh, and make sure you have some milk at hand. Nick gets so fussy about dry cookies.

* If you want the dough to hold together better, reduce the flour. If you like your dough crumbly as all get-out, then by all means, do it the hard way.

** These puppies can be a bit dry. I like to bake mine for 8-9 minutes to keep them more moist.

Excerpt from “Red to Hide the Blood” by Hayley Stone:

When I finally got up the courage to peer inside the cave, the beasts saw me before I saw them. Large, hulking shadows flexed within the dark—coming toward me fast. I barely managed to sight my rifle before the first monster charged, and my shot went painfully, embarrassingly wide.

So much for getting the drop on them.

The waheela knocked me back into the failing light, pinning me to the icy ground. Wind rippled the fur over its massive shoulders, while the last remnants of the sun sloped down its enormous snout and its nose glistened with blood. Beast must’ve been the size of a small pick-up truck. Damn near felt like it, too.

I wheezed, struggling to dislodge the waheela.

Its lips pulled back from its teeth in an angry wrinkle, spit hanging to its canines from its lower lips like webbing. I waited for it to growl or snarl.

Instead, the bear-dog spoke.

Available Online:

Direct from the publisher

Mrs. Claus

Morning Bread

December 19, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

Enjoy!

Morning Bread

A recipe by Eve Claus of “Good Morning” by Kristen Lee

(Adapted from James Beard’s “Beard on Bread”)

1/2 cup of butter
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 teaspoons of buttermilk (or soured milk)
1 cup of chopped apple
1/2 cup of walnuts or pecans (chopped)
1 teaspoon vanilla or grated lemon rind

Pre-heat oven to 350° and butter a loaf pan. Pour prepared batter into the pan and bake for around 45 minutes to an hour. When the bread begins to pull away from the side of the pan, you’ll know it’s done. Allow bread to cool in the pan for a few minutes before loosening and removing the loaf. Slice when completely cool. Best enjoyed at sunrise.

Excerpt from “Good Morning” by Kristen Lee:

The breaking of the spell starts in her fingers and creeps through her veins. Her dreams muddle as the thaw spreads, and there’s always a brief, glorious second during which she believes she will open her eyes to the soft glow of a newborn sun.

Instead, Eve is greeted by the navy-dark of the North Pole. Even the faerie fires that illuminate the chamber blaze with the cold, blue light of stars. Their glow—though relatively dim—burns her eyes, and tiny replicas flash behind her closed eyelids. Her vision adjusts before her body remembers how to move, and as her blood rekindles, she watches the slumbering form of her husband.

Nick is still confined within the crystalline ice. The uneven facets warp his glamour, so he flickers young-and-beautiful and old-and-jolly all at once. Beneath his age-whitened hair are Nick’s black curls; beneath his cloud of beard, the squared-off jawline Eve had pressed countless kisses to before their lives became bound to December 25^th. Even frozen, his long-lashed eyes flit in dream beneath his lids. She wonders if he dreams of her.

Misty breath gusts over Eve’s hand. In her frigid state, the ghostly warmth burns, and she twists to escape the pain. Hooves clatter against the icy floor of the chamber, and Eve draws herself painfully upward to see Dancer—her favorite of the reindeer—staring dolefully at her. She wants to reassure the beast, but her lips are cold-cracked and her tongue frozen to her teeth. Instead, she raises her stiff arm, and Dancer sheepishly creeps back over to rub her shaggy head against Eve’s outstretched hand.

Eve loves the reindeer, but in moments like this, she misses the dogs. She yearns for their ever-wagging tails and their soft-tongued kisses. She misses their love of running so strong that it twitches their legs in their sleep. She misses the dogs and the rising sun and holding Nick, talking to him, and—

Available Online:

Direct from the publisher

Mrs. Claus

Raw Clumps of Heavenly Cookie Dough

December 18, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

This one isn’t really a recipe. Michael tells me that neither he nor his character know anything about baking so a recipe wasn’t going to happen… but this letter from one character to another about cookie dough did happen, and it’s pretty tasty in a whole different kind of way 😉

Enjoy!

Raw Clumps of Heavenly Cookie Dough

by Miss ‘Lil Toehead of “Miss ‘Lil Toe Head” by Michael Leonberger

My Love,

Oh no.

That’s cheesy, right?

Cheesy way to begin a letter. Because love is stupid. I get that. You’d tell me that.

And anyway, I wouldn’t say I love you.

Well, I would say it. Just not to you. Not to anyone I actually cared about.

I think it, though. At least all the time, in fact, but if I told you…

It’s just, I’m afraid you’d look at me with eyes that were a little less joyful. Which would mean you’d still have incurably joyful eyes, but the way you look at me now is so happy…it almost hurts.

And I need that.

I love that, actually, and without it…

No. I wouldn’t tell you.

Which is why I won’t be sending this letter to you. I’m going to keep it. Close, alone. Secret. That’s where you’re supposed to keep the things you care about. Sometimes they can warm you and only you. Just know I care about you, and that’s why I’m not going to tell you.

Anyway, what was I writing to you about? Cookie recipe. You texted me and wanted to know if I had anything good.

I don’t. Because I don’t know anything about cooking, but I also don’t have any of the ingredients.

I mean, the first ingredient is time, which we both don’t have enough of. Not together, at least. Less so if I told you I loved you, and then you were really gone, right?

So scratch that.

The next would be money, which we’re out of, too.

People try to distance themselves from it, anyway. They use time, and money, and fancy sugary treats, to distance themselves from it all the time. But you and I don’t have that luxury.

Distance themselves from what? You’d ask with a smile.

Oh, you know. Death. Is what I would say.

Only I wouldn’t say that out loud. I’d kiss you instead. Because I want you to keep that warmth for me there, in your eyes. Selfish me. I need to warm myself by the blaze in your eyes, and you’re not here, and it’s Christmas, and it’s so cold.

And I miss you.

What were we talking about? Cookies.

So, without time, and without money, I’m going to tell you this: just get cookie dough.

Raw clumps of heavenly cookie dough.

Literally steal it if you have to, I don’t care.

That’s what I’m going to do after this letter. I’m going to text you that I don’t know how to make cookies…because I don’t. But I’m going to try something for you. I’m going to get some cookie dough, and at least one spoon, and I think we can start there.

You’ll laugh, and it’ll be a novelty, right? My lazy affection, from the girl who couldn’t bake you cookies and so just got you cookie dough. It’ll be just as perfectly mediocre as we need. As I need you to think my feelings for you are. Perfectly mediocre and perfectly safe.

Yes. Cookie dough. That’s what we’ll be eating next time I see you.

But the thing about it is I actually love raw cookie dough more than I love baked cookies.

I love it.

And I’d give mine all to you.

Loving You and Missing You,

Your Miss ‘Lil Toe Head

Excerpt from “Miss ‘Lil Toe Head” by Michael Leonberger:

Dad always lit up when I came down. Sat me on a bench and called me his little elf. The warm, electric smell of sawdust flittering through the air is something I can’t handle.

The way the sawdust settled in the blood that day is something I’ll never forget.

The way he was screaming, after the saw ate through his arm.

The fact that I now know he was lying.

His smiles of relief when it was all said and done, his brow spotted with sweat and those sleepy, dopy smiles, because it was gone. His arm.

It’s gone, it’s gone, it’s gone…

Because he’d made it seem like an accident. Like he accidentally sawed his own arm off.

But I know the truth.

It was no accident.

Available Online:

Direct from the publisher

Mrs. Claus

Fianna’s Fudge

December 17, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

Enjoy!

Fianna’s Fudge

A recipe by Fianna Claus of “You’d Better Watch Out” by Maren Matthias

Cookies may be classic but I am of the mind that the superior of all holiday treats is fudge, particularly this recipe as it contains one of my favorite things: Scotch Whiskey.

What you will need:

19 oz. of bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup – 1/2 cup scotch – I recommend Laphroaig

In a saucepan – over medium-low heat – combine the chocolate and condensed milk and cook until the chocolate is almost melted. Remove from heat and let cool a bit before you add the whiskey or you’ll kill the alcohol, which would be a damn shame, but not TOO cold or it’ll kill the chocolate, which defeats the entire purpose. As it starts to thicken but isn’t fully solidified add the scotch, stirring until smooth.

Spread in prepared pan, then cover and refrigerate until firm. If you live somewhere frosty, like myself, you can just put it out on the back porch! Enjoy with scotch.

Excerpt from “You’d Better Watch Out” by Maren Matthias:

Nick beamed at her from behind the island counter.

“Darling!” he crowed. “I think I’ve finally perfected my sugar cookie recipe! Come, come, have a taste.”

“This is the urgent issue you had that couldn’t wait until I’d brought back the tree?” she asked sternly, although she couldn’t deny how adorable her husband was, giddy and completely covered in flour. She never tired of it.

“He took me away from reindeer training,” her eldest, Erin, was sitting on the far edge of the counter, her curved lips peppered with sugar.

“You both always take so long and this couldn’t wait. Here.”

Fianna accepted the cookie he handed her and took a bite. It was perfection. Nick chuckled to himself. She knew he didn’t need her opinion to know he’d succeeded; he just wanted to see the look on her face.

“I hate to interrupt…” They all turned to see Damien standing in the doorway. “There’s been another abduction. A children’s center in Oslo, Norway.”

Four sets of eyes zeroed in on Fianna. It was always the same reaction—an eruption of fire followed by a deep breath that wasn’t calming enough.

“This calls for Scotch.”

Available Online:

Direct from the publisher

Mrs. Claus

Really Good Cookies

December 16, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

Enjoy!

Really Good Cookies

A recipe by Bella Claus of “Christmas Magic” by Jennifer Lee Rossman

Season’s greetings, humans! It’s me, Belle Claus, your favorite extraterrestrial and one half of the hottest celebrity couple since William and Kate.

As part of my ongoing attempts to assimilate into the culture of my beloved adoptive planet, I’ve been learning how to bake and today, I’m sharing my recipe for moon cookies. I expect I’ll have my own cooking show and line of designer cookware soon. (Move over, Rachel Ray.)

Ingredients:

1 cup chocolate chips

6 tbs butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup flour

1/4 cup powdered sugar

(makes about 24 cookies)

Step 1: Put on an apron. I know, I know, so unflattering, but you don’t want unsightly butter stains on your best dress.

Step 2: Melt chocolate chips and butter, mix in brown sugar. Let it cool.

Step 3: Add eggs one at a time, mix well after each one.

Step 4: Mix in vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Add flour and mix well. At this point, I usually dab a little flour on my nose. Instagram eats that stuff up.

Step 5: Chill dough in a snowbank (or, in a pinch, the refrigerator) for at least four hours. I use this time to bingewatch The Bachelorette with the elves.

Step 6: With your hands, roll the dough into walnut-sized balls. Roll them in powdered sugar until completely coated.

Step 7: Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool for two minutes, then place on a baking rack to cool completely.

The cookies spread out as they bake and the powdered sugar breaks apart, leaving patches of black and white that remind me of my planet’s cratered moons.

Well, that’s all for today. I’m off to muck reindeer stalls. And by “muck reindeer stalls” I mean “eat cookies while the elves muck reindeer stalls.”

Ta-ta!

Excerpt from “Christmas Magic” by Jennifer Lee Rossman:

But here we are. It’s Christmas Eve and Nick’s about to leave the North Pole for the first time in nearly a century. Presents are loaded, Nick has been prepped on the use of my shrink ray and cloaking devices, and Rudy’s bioluminescent nostril alterations bathe the scene in a warm red glow.

Everything according to plan.

The rapid fire assault of flashbulbs turn my sincere smile into a practiced grin that does not extend to my eyes as I glare out at the photographers and reporters. I’m going to kill the elf who gave them access.

My husband, on the other hand, is nothing if not a people pleaser. He steps out into the snow, giving them the hearty “Ho ho ho!” they’ve been waiting for, all while posing with his hands on the big bowl of jiggling jelly that is his stomach. Then he walks over to me, and we fake our way through a kiss.

Affection is the one thing we haven’t perfected. He didn’t want to marry me, and I certainly didn’t love the idea of wearing a frilly white apron and baking cookies all day for my old, way too jolly husband. And I could certainty do without paparazzi invading every second of my life and magazines scrutinizing every hairstyle and clothing choice.

“Who wore it better—Mrs. Claus or Princess Kate?” “Mrs. C. steps out in a hideous reindeer-skin jacket!” “Santa Baby Bump!?”

(For the record: I did, it was faux reindeer and that reporter wouldn’t know fashion if it bit him in the jingle bells, and not a chance. Our species can’t interbreed.)

Available Online:

Direct from the publisher

Mrs. Claus

Baklava

December 15, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

Enjoy!

Baklava

A recipe from Phaedra Claus of “Shouldering the Burden” by M.L.D. Curelas

This is a variation of the more traditional walnut and honey baklava, made with pistachios, cardamom, and rosewater. The pistachios evoke pleasant memories of Nick’s and my time in Turkey, as well as our native Greece. It’s a treat sure to please your most curmudgeonly guest.

Ingredients:

Syrup:
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
1 tbsp lemon juice
10 black peppercorns
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbsp rosewater

Nut filling
12 ounces shelled pistachios
1 tsp ground cardamom
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Pastry and Butter
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
1 lb frozen phyllo dough, thawed

Begin with the syrup. Combine the syrup ingredients in a saucepan, except for the rosewater, and bring to a full boil over medium-high heat. You need to make sure the sugar dissolves, so stir occasionally while it cooks. Transfer the syrup to a measuring cup and set it aside to cool while you assemble the baklava. Once it has cooled, remove the peppercorns and stir in the rosewater.

While the syrup is cooling, start the nut filling. The elves have built a fabulous steam-powered grinder that will chop the pistachios for me. It saves so much time! If you aren’t favored with steam-powered technology, then your modern food processor should do the trick, in short pulses. Once the pistachios are finely chopped, transfer them to a bowl. Measure out a tablespoon of nuts and set it aside to use later as a garnish. To the main bowl, add your cardamom, sugar, and salt. Toss until well-combined.

And now to assemble! Adjust your oven rack to the lower-middle position, and preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Grease a 13×9 pan with butter (use a non-stick pan, if possible). Unwrap and unfold your thawed phyllo dough onto a large cutting board. Flatten gently with your hands. Cut the sheets crosswise with a knife, so you have two stacks of phyllo dough. Don’t panic if one side is slightly narrower than the other. To prevent the dough from drying out, cover with plastic wrap and top with a damp kitchen towel.

From the stack of wider phyllo dough, take one sheet and place it in the bottom of your pan. Brush it with butter, completely coating it. Alternatively, I often brush my dough with olive oil, and *ahem* often use my wonderful clockwork spraying can to speed this process. If you have access to cans that spray oil, I recommend using them! Repeat this step with seven more sheets of phyllo dough, all from your “wider” stack.

Spread about 1 cup of nuts over the dough. Top with a sheet of phyllo from your second stack of phyllo; dab butter on it (or use your clockwork sprayer!). Repeat this with 5 more sheets of phyllo, staggering sheets, if necessary, to cover the nuts. Make sure each sheet of phyllo is brushed with butter. Repeat the layering with another cup of nuts, 6 sheets of phyllo, and then the remaining nuts. Finish up with 8-10 sheets of phyllo from your first, “wider” stack of phyllo dough. Brush each sheet with butter, except for the top sheet.

Using the palms of your hands, gently compress the layers, working from the center out to the edges. This will squeeze out any air pockets.

Brush more butter onto the top sheet of phyllo dough, covering it completely. Using a bread knife, cut the baklava into diamonds, rotating the pan as necessary.

Bake until golden and crisp, about 90 minutes, rotating halfway through baking. After removing the baklava from the oven, immediately pour your syrup over the cut lines until 2 tablespoons of syrup remain in your cup–the syrup will sizzle when it hits your hot pan. Drizzle the remaining syrup over the surface. Garnish the center of each piece with a pinch of your reserved nuts. Cool your baklava to room temperature on a wire rack (about 3 hours). Then cover with foil and allow it to set for another 8 hours. To be sure, if your elves are hungry, you can eat the baklava as soon as it cools, but the 8 hour wait time will allow the flavor to settle. Your baklava can be stored at room temperature for 10 days, if securely wrapped in foil.

Excerpt from “Shouldering the Burden” by M.L.D. Curelas:

A ball of light formed between her hands. Parting them, she blew a gentle stream of air at the light. The globe floated away from her, toward the shadows of the temple.

Something cackled. In the silvery light of Phaedra’s globe, malformed, black shapes writhed and capered.

“By the Pole, what are those things?” Annika gasped.

The creatures shrank from the light, but Phaedra caught glimpses of goats’ legs, horns, tusks, spindly tails, and red eyes. She gulped. “I think those are kallikantzaroi.” At Annika’s puzzled shrug, Phaedra added, “Goblins. They only come above ground during the twelve days of Christmas.”

Annika resumed hacking at the ropes. “Let’s do this quickly then, before they decide to pester us.”

Phaedra knelt, pulling her own multi-tool from her pocket.

The Caryatids hissed in her mind, and Phaedra jerked her head up. An inky black thing, the size of a badger, leapt at her. Its mouth gaped open, displaying rows of jagged teeth.

Phaedra pulled her telescoping parasol out of her boot. She raised the metal rod and batted the goblin aside.

Another capering goblin bounded from the shadows.

Available Online:

Direct from the publisher

Mrs. Claus

Mrs. Claus’ Favourite Recipes

December 14, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

In my Introduction to Mrs. Claus (which you can read here) I made a point of saying that Mrs. Claus doesn’t just sit around the North Pole baking cookies, but just because she doesn’t only bake doesn’t mean she never does. And food does play an important role in celebrating Christmas (at least for me). With that in mind I invited some of the contributors to Mrs. Claus to write recipes in the voice of the Mrs. Claus from their stories. Over the coming several days I’m going to share those recipes (and short excerpts from the author’s story) here on my blog. There are cookie recipes, fudge recipes and more, uh, savoury recipes too. I hope you’ll pop by over the coming days to take a peek in Mrs. Claus’ recipe book!

December 15 — Baklava (M.L.D. Curelas)

December 16 — Really Good Cookies (Jennifer Lee Rossman)

December 17 — Fianna’s Fudge (Maren Matthias)

December 18 — Raw Lumps of Heaven (Michael Leonberger)

December 19 — Morning Bread (Kristen Lee)

December 20 — Myra’s Christmas Butter Balls (Hayley Stone)

December 21 — Reindeer (Laura VanArendonk Baugh)

It’s gonna be an adventure!

2017 Giftmas Blog Tour

And the Winners Are…

December 13, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

As part of this year’s Giftmas Blog Tour we had a raffle. And the prizes for the raffle were pretty epic. There were two of them. Yesterday afternoon I let the Rafflecopter choose our winners and sent them emails to let them know.

Second Prize is:

Beth Cato will send you a signed copy of a Chicken Soup from the Soul book containing one of her essays
Signed copy of Vacuia Magia by L.S. Johnson
Themed packet of journaling/scrapbooking ephemera
Mini hand-bound leather journal by Lynn Hardaker
eBook copy of Bait by Laura VanArendonk Baugh

The winner, as determined by Rafflecopter is Anna P.!

The Grand Prize is:

Paperback copies of the first four books in the Amethir series by Stephanie A. Cain
Beth Cato will send you a signed copy of a Chicken Soup from the Soul book containing one of her essays
Signed copy of Vacuia Magia by L.S. Johnson
Copy of Three-Way Dance signed by Brian Rosenberger
Sensitivity read or poetry critique by Lisa Bradley
- Will read and respond to up to 50 pages of fiction from her perspective as a queer USian Latina with chronic illnesses and depression OR critique up to two pages of poetry (one long poem or two shorter ones)
Paperback copy of The Stars in My Door signed by Doug Blakeslee
Signed copy of Monsters in my Mind by Ada Hoffmann
Paperback copy of Heavy Metal by Andrew Bourelle
Small piece of art by Lynn Hardaker
eBook copy of the Witches of Doyle three book set by Kirsten Weiss
Paperback copy of The Songweaver’s Vow by Laura VanArendonk Baugh
Tuckerization by Laura VanArendonk Baugh
- Name if it fits the world and characteristics if it doesn’t, or Laura will substitute another world to keep the name
Custom cross stitch (6€³ square or smaller) by Jennifer Lee Rossman
Art print from Barbara Tomporowski
Signed copy of Dying on Second by E. C. Bell
Download code for a free copy of He Sees You When He’s Creepin’: Tales of Krampus courtesy of Jude Tulli

This was won by Heidi B.!

Congratulations ladies, and thank you for supporting our fundraiser by boosting its signal. We really appreciate it. And if you didn’t win, I’m sorry — but the good news is we raised over $1,000 for a really good cause and you were a part of that. Thank you!

And thank you also to everyone who donated a prize to the pool. I couldn’t have done this without you 🙂

More details about the book I’m giving away and such will come in the following weeks.

Congratulations again, Anna and Heidi!

2017 Giftmas Blog Tour

Giftmas 2017: The Aftermath

December 12, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

WE RAISED $1,089!!!

Ahem. I mean:

Our fundraiser was an amazing success! Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the blog tour, donated to the cause, signal boosted our efforts or took part in any number of other ways. You are all amazing and together we did something crazy awesome.

We raised $1,089 to benefit the Edmonton Food Bank. Since they can stretch that money so that each dollar equals three meals that means we raised 3,267 meals!

Whoot whoot!

If you donated to the fundraiser don’t forget to use the ugly form over here to claim your awesome rewards:

Ugly form to claim awesome rewards

Just because the blog tour is over doesn’t mean the posts don’t persist though. It was a crazy few days so I wanted to bring all the posts together in one place just in case you missed something 🙂

All. The. Blog. Posts:

December 4th:

Introduction to the Blog Tour (Me)

Giftmas Goals (Stephanie A. Cain)

How it Works (E.C. Bell)

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Giftmas (Jennifer Lee Rossman)

December 5th:

Why I Give (Me)

Why I Give (E.C. Bell)

December 6th:

What I Celebrate (Me)

Giftmas Tour Details (Pamela Q. Fernandes)

December 7th:

Dear Santa (Me)

Through the Fog (Beth Cato)

Light Defeats the Dark (Stephanie A. Cain)

Shining a Light to Bring About Change (E.C. Bell)

Shine a Light (Jennifer Lee Rossman)

Shining a Light (Laura VanArendonk Baugh)

Shining Lights I (J.S. Watts)

December 8th:

Lighting Up the Lives of Others (E.C. Bell)

Light of Christmas (Pamela Q. Fernandes)

Belief and Fantasy (Stephanie A. Cain)

Working Together to Help a Stranger (Me)

Shining a Light and SAD (Jennifer Lee Rossman)

Shining a Light During Hard Times (Beth Cato)

December 9th:

Shining Lights II (J.S. Watts)

Doing Something Together (Barbara Tomporowski)

Tolkein, Mars and Christmas (Laura VanArendonk Baugh)

The Opposite of Light (Me)

December 10th:

Stories in the Wintertime (A.J. Wells)

Do We Need the Holidays? (Alexandra Seidel)

Shining a Light (Doug Blakeslee)

White Wine in the Sun (Me)

December 11th:

No Capes! (Me)

No Capes and No Action Figures (Stephanie A. Cain)

No Capes! (E.C. Bell)

Oh! And also, I said on social media that if we raised twice our original goal I would add a stretch goal that was my giving away my ghost story collection, “The Other Side of the Door” (which I haven’t even announced yet) for free. Well, our original goal was $522. Twice that would be $1,044. We raised $1,089. So guess what I’m giving away? More about that later though, for today I just want to focus on what we managed to do together.

$1,089.

Whew! It’s kind of mind-breaking.

Thank you again. Everyone.

I’ll announce the raffle winners tomorrow!

2017 Giftmas Blog Tour

Giftmas 2017: No Capes!

December 11, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

2017 was very difficult for a lot of people in my world, myself included. Over the past months I’ve occasionally felt like I was floundering in all the bad news, tragedies and crises. The thing that has helped me out of those dark spots was to make a concerted effort to seek out and focus on positive things going in the world — things are are far too often overshadowed by the bad.

WIth that thought at the very forefront of my mind I decided to make the theme for this year’s Giftmas Blog Tour ‘Shining a Light’.

By sharing our stories and raising money to help feed hungry families, my hope is that this blog tour will be a light as well.

Our fundraising goal is $522 (that’s one dollar more than we raised last year!). Because the Edmonton Food Bank can stretch every donated dollar into three meals if we reach our goal we will have contributed 1,566 meals to families this season, but we can’t do it without you.

If you are able, please donate to our fundraiser for the Edmonton Food Bank. Every dollar counts and, in addition to the warm feeling that comes with helping others, we are also offering a whack of goodies to every person who contributes. You can check out the details and claim your rewards by clicking here but those rewards include ebooks, holiday cards, stickers, Tuckerizations, handicrafts and more!

And here is the most important link in this whole blog tour:

Please donate to our fundraiser for the Edmonton Food Bank

You’ve heard the saying, “Not every hero wears a cape” or something to that effect, yeah? Well, in the spirit of that and our theme of ‘Shining a Light’ I wanted to spend a portion of this blog tour highlighting those cape-less crusaders whose actions make other people’s holidays just a little bit more special. For this post I asked the blog tour contributors to share a brief story about the time someone did something to make their holidays (or just their day) better.

The story I want to share in response to that happened a long time ago. Dani was very little (2 or 3). I was a single mom, working full time and going to school, and money was very freaking tight. I’d managed to get some presents under the tree, though, and (probably thanks to the food bank, though I’m not 100% on that) there was plenty of food in the house. It was a good Christmas.

Then, when we turned up at my grandmother’s place for the big family Christmas dinner, it turned into a great Christmas. Apparently Santa Claus had made a mistake when it came to addresses and in addition to the Teletubbies he’d left for Dani under our tree, he’d also left something at Grammy’s for her. It was a huge bubblegum pink Barbie van with all sorts of cool features (it even transformed into a stage with working speakers!). Dani, who was all about Barbies then, loved it. And more than the present I loved the fact one of my uncles had gone pretty far out of his way to get a present and credit Santa Claus for it, just to make sure Dani didn’t just have a good Christmas, she had a magical one.

“There are a couple of specific times I can remember when, despite the fact I was working forty-plus hours a week, I was also hungry. Nearly fifteen years ago I was working at a Big Ten university where the pay was above minimum wage, but just barely. I was drowning in debt and trying to pay for grad school as well as work full time. At my lunch break, I went out to my car and tried to scrounge up enough money for a meal. When I got to Taco Bell, I ordered my bean burrito and didn’t have enough for a drink. Something in my face must have told the guy behind the counter just how much I wanted that Dr. Pepper, and that I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t have the money. That guy, who was probably a college student trying to make ends meet himself, bought my drink for me. Was it a huge expense? No. Would it solve all my problems? No. But just by showing me a little human kindness, that guy shone the light of hope into my day. And when I give to others today, I hope I’m honoring his gift to me.”

Stephanie A. Cain

“This may sound cheesy, but I’m grateful every single day. I say “thank you” more than a dozen times a day, for big things and small, to everyone from my husband to a cashier to my dog, and I really think it helps all of us.”

Laura VanArendonk Baugh

“After working out-of-province for a week, I recently came home to find Christmas lights coruscating outside and the pubs, markets, and row houses of my “Dickens Village” glowing within. One of my best friends had put up the lights, and my daughter arranged the miniature Victorian village. The pulsing jewel tones outside and the gentle colours within warmed my heart and welcomed me home.”

Barbara Tomporowski

“My grandma is like a superhero to me. She adores Christmas. She has never lost that child-like joy for the holiday. She collects Santa Clauses, and squeals with joy when she gets new additions for her collection. One of the major lessons she imparted on me early on is that good things should not be confined to any one time of year. Her favorite Santas stayed on display all the time. Christmas music that you love doesn’t need to wait until after Thanksgiving–if you feel like listening to it in July, crank it up! The same with food. Tuck away favorite holiday treats in the fridge, and enjoy then in April or July. My grandma is in her 90s now, so this lesson of “enjoy now, don’t wait!” is even more important than ever.”

Beth Cato

“Once upon a time, when I was a wee lad, the family would make the pilgrimage from our home in Maryland to New York for the holidays. I respect that my parents for making that slog 2-3 times a year for to visit relatives. During one such trip, where it was pretty much a blizzard, we ended up into a snow bank in the middle of nowhere. Fortune smiled on us pretty hard when a tow truck arrived about 30 minutes later leading a line of cars. It saved us from spending a night there. Saved us from a ruined trip.”

Doug Blakeslee

“Hands down, one of the nicest things anyone ever did for me was when my husband put Christmas lights on the thirty foot evergreen in front of our new-to-us house. My dad used to light up the evergreens on the farm, and I loved how they welcomed us when we drove up the highway to visit at Christmastime. My husband worked long and hard on our tree, and it looked spectacular. It absolutely made my Christmas that year. It also started the Christmas decorating challenge with our next door neighbours, (which they have won for ten years in a row, darn it anyhow) but that is another story. “

E.C. Bell

“One Christmas, a few years back, my heroes were the staff of Central Middlesex Hospital and The London Ambulance Service. Dad was in hospital over Christmas. Mum and I had been in to see him on the day and had come home again, but the stress of the experience affected my mother’s health. Cue emergency call and a visit from a wonderfully professional but supportive ambulance team, who coped with our needs and the vitriolic abuse of at least one driver, because the presence of an ambulance in our road meant that he had to drive an extra one minute detour. I ended up with both parents in hospital, in separate wards, over Christmas, but all turned out well in the end, as they say.”

J.S. Watts

“The tiniest things can make a normal day extra special. I got a warm fuzzy feeling once when a student of mine gave me a fruit basket, just because. The best thing about this was that she managed to completely surprise me with this, and I love being surprised in a good way. This was in summer, not winter, but it did make my day.”

Alexandra Seidel

“Two years ago, my brother and I were fighting about the cooking for Christmas. I didn’t want to do anything. We argued while putting up our tree and star. And I just wanted to make a simple meal. I was quite unhappy at work. Every Christmas before that had been the same, lonely and without family. That year was not going to be any different. I returned home from a long day at the clinic and an even longer commute. The house was a mess and I was ranting at my brother, when I went to the bedroom only to find my parents, especially my dad with tears in his eyes, standing behind the door. I leaped on him. It had been the first Christmas in 10 years that my family spent together. Two years later he was gone. So I always cherish that Christmas. He made that decision for some reason to travel to see us for Christmas from Kuwait and it was the best thing he ever did! Heroes don’t wear capes!”

Pamela Q. Fernandez

And now maybe it’s our turn to, if not be a ‘hero’ at least make your holiday a wee bit more special if you win this Rafflecopter. Check out the full list of prizes by clicking here (there are too many to list in this space) and enter. You get one free entry every day and you can earn extra ones by donating to our fundraiser or boosting our signal 🙂