December Picks/Holiday Cheer for One and All!

A Happy Holiday to all of our blog followers!

For this month's pick, there were so many to choose from we decided to "gift" you with a stocking full of choices. Each book delivers on the basic theme that the holidays are not only a time for celebrating with family and friends, but to also reflect and remember the stories and memories of days gone by. They also remind us, in their own subtle way, the reason we come together at this time of year, no matter the holiday we celebrate. So, if you have a moment during this hectic time of year, take a break and enjoy one, or all, of these wonderful books!

"A Christmas Blizzard" by Garrison Keillor. The "Prairie Home Companion" author tells the tale of Mr. Sparrow, multi-millionaire, stranded by a blizzard in his hometown of Looseleaf, North Dakota. While staying in an abandoned fishing shack, he conquers his old fears regarding the season in time to receive a special gift from Mrs. Sparrow, and a new appreciation for the holiday season.

"Skipping Christmas" by John Grisham. Luther and Nora Krank decide just this once, they'll skip the holiday altogether. No giant Frosty on the roof, no crowded malls, no hosting the annual Christmas Eve bash. On December 25 they will set sail for a Caribbean cruise! Of course, plans, like the steam from your hot chocolate, can evaporate and the consequences for skipping the holidays are enormous, and sometimes funny.

"Boo Humbug" by Rene Gutteridge. The traditional play "A Christmas Carol" has been hijacked by maverick director and Skary, Indiana resident Lois Stepaphanopolis! Her horror filled version will even scare the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. The skeptical cast, including author and new sleep deprived father Wolfe Boone are trying their best to fit into the re-written roles. Marketing director Alfred Tennison, the town's own Scrooge, realizes that to get anybody to see this play it's gonna take some buzz. But the buzz is more successful than he realizes, and a crucial mis-communication has the actors scrambling to put on a more traditional story, or their last-minute version. Along the way Alfred faces down his own Christmas ghosts to realize the true meaning of the season.

"Knit the Season" by Kate Jacobs. Brown Bag Book Club favorite author Jacobs returns to the women of the Friday Night Knitting Club for the holiday season. Bringing the women, and their extended families together, besides the holidays, is the upcoming wedding of Anita Lowenstein and her beau, Marty. Dakota Walker, pastry chef and daughter of the late Georgia, owner of Walker & Daughter knit shop, looks forward to a Christmas visit to Scotland to visit her beloved Gran and to learn even more about her mother as a child and young mom. Beginning at Thanksgiving, through Hanukkah, Christmas and a New Year's wedding reception, the story reminds us of family bonds and the richness of memories and friendships that can enrich and sustain you through all of life's events. Things that we should all enjoy no matter the time of year.

"The Legend of the Twenty-First North Pole Santa" by Denise Graham Zahn. Finally, a story that delivers the answer to the biggest question of the holiday season, "How does Santa deliver gifts all over the world in one night?" This story is for young and old alike. It does not only address the whole present delivery issue, but also touches on diversity, helping your fellow neighbor and adoption. All the main characters are here, Santa, Mrs. Claus, the elves plus the extended Santa Claus family. Mixing legend and magic with real life issues, this story can be included with all the other classic holiday tales.

HOLIDAY GOODIES!

Cranberry Macadamia Nut Bark

Ingredients

1 pound white confectionery coating cut into pieces

1 jar (3 1/2 ounces) macadamia nuts

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Melt coating in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth. Add nuts and cranberries; mix well. Spread onto foil lined baking sheet. Cool thoroughly. Break into pieces. Yield: 1-1/4 pounds.

Holiday Wassail

Ingredients

1 can (16 ounces) apricot halves, undrained

4 cups unsweetened pineapple juice

2 cups apple cider

1 cup orange juice

18 whole cloves

6 cinnamon sticks, broken

Additional cinnamon sticks, optional

In a blender or food processor, blend apricots and liquid until smooth. Pour into a large saucepan, adding other juices. Place cloves and cinnamon sticks into a double thickness of cheesecloth, bring up corners and tie with kitchen string to form a bag. Add to saucepan. You may also add them loose and strain before serving. Bring to boil. Reduce heat: cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.; Serve hot in mugs, garnish with cinnamon sticks if desired. Yield: 2 quarts.

Recipes from "Taste of Home" magazine, December 1997

November Pick/ That Old Cape Magic

By Richard Russo

College professor Jack Griffin is heading to Cape Cod, where he and his wife Joy will celebrate the marriage of their daughter Laura's childhood friend. As he drives along he begins thinking back to the summers he spent there, a respite from the hated Midwest for his parents, but also to his honeymoon many years ago with Joy and the pact/plans they made on how they wanted to live there lives together.

Jack is not alone as he drives. The urn containing the ashes of his late father is in his trunk. This is the other reason for this pilgrimage to the Cape, to spread his father's ashes in the only place he believes his father was truly happy. He also has the constant ringing of his cell phone, his forever critical mother on the other end to keep him company.

As Griffin reflects on his life and the choices he's made, leaving screenwriting in L.A. for the kind of New England professorship his snobby academic parents longed for. He and Joy moving into "an old house with character" like she grew up in and starting a family. All the pieces seemed to fit the picture, but as the saying goes, "be careful what you wish for..." Has he, in trying so hard not to become is unhappy parents, really turned out like them more than he realizes?

Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo writes a story of middle-age, the ties that bind, from marriage and family, in-laws and promises, both fulfilled and broken. If you like Nicholas Sparks, you'll enjoy this book, a kind of male version of "women's fiction."

Cape Cod & Cranberries!

Cranberry Rangoons from Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association

Ingredients

3/4 cup fresh cranberries

1 jalapeno pepper

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup mayonnaise

10 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 pkg. won ton wrappers

1 quart oil for frying

Prep

Combine cranberries, jalapeno, sugar & mayo in food processor. Process until smooth. divide mixture in half and reserve one half for dipping sauce. With the remaining half, blend with cream cheese until smooth.

Lay a few won ton wrappers at a time out onto a clean cutting board. spoon 1 teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture into the center of each wrapper. Brush the edges of the wrappers with water and fold in half making a triangle. Set aside.

Heat the oil to temperature between 260-280*F. Carefully place the won tons in oil when heated, cook until golden. Take out won tons and place on paper towel to drain. Serve hot with reserved cranberry relish. Yield: 24 servings.

November Pick/ The Love Children

By Marilyn French

In the late 1960's, Jess Leighton, daughter of a celebrated, but tortured artist and a pro-feminist professor mother is growing up in the New England town of Cambridge. Along with the headlining issues of the times, the Vietnam war, feminism, assassinations and protest rallies, Jess also learns about issues that most teens had never really had to deal with. The foster care system from her first boyfriend, a friends' abuse at the hands of a parent, and police corruption when her best friend's father is convicted of bribery. All this and her parents' splintering marriage can give any teen, then and now, cause to stop and examine each and every choice she makes.

Going off to college, and then like so many kids of the time, dropping out, Jess decides to locate a childhood friend at a commune in rural Massachusetts. Deciding to stay, she quickly finds out that having to take financial and emotional responsibility for herself is "...far from liberating," and the communal life is hardly idyllic. Jess does discover her love of cooking, and the early days of organic farming, and replaces Doris Lessing with Alice Waters as her role model. She also realizes that now, even though she has more options than her mother's generation did, there are no set guides for her to build the kind of life she wants to live. Jess realizes that to have the happy life she wants, she has to make it for herself, on her own terms.

"The Women's Room," Marilyn French's 1977 novel became one of the most influential books on the feminist movement. In her final novel, published after her death in May of 2009, French addresses the issues and captures the spirit of the times for the daughters of "the Women's Room" generation.

MUSHROOM LOVE

Stuffed Mushrooms from cookingcache.com

Ingredients

18 mushrooms (cleaned with stems removed)

4 Tbs. "Alouette" spreadable cheese, Spinach & artichoke flavor works best

2 Tbs. grated parmesean cheese

1/8 - 1/2 tsp. minced garlic

3 Tbs. bacon bits

Prep

Mix all ingredients except mushrooms. Fill mushrooms with mixture. Place on baking sheet. Bake at 375* for 12-15 minutes.