Be Jolly by Golly Blogfest!

Madly in Love Monday post is postponed this week so that I can participate in the Be Jolly By Golly Blogfest, hosted by Jen at Unedited and Melissa at Through the Looking Glass. So sit back and enjoy a sneak peek into my Christmas celebration! We're spending the holiday at my parents' house and I've been helping her decorate so most of the pictures are taken there.

Here is the tree (decorated by yours truly):

 And as a tradition, my family always does stockings on Christmas Eve. We had to get new stockings since my brother got engaged in September (so exciting!) and they're spending the holiday with our family this year. So I went online and picked these out. I think they're just adorable. We hung them on the back of everyone's chair at the dinning table.

I've already shared my favorite cookies on the blog HERE, so i thought I'd share my second favorite. They're called Peanut Blossom Kisses and they are delish!

1.75 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 T. milk

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 egg

48 candy kisses (hersheys) unwrapped

Combine all ingredients except kisses in large bowl. Mix at low speed until dough forms.

Shape dough into balls, placing one unwrapped kiss in center. Roll balls in additional sugar.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes (light brown).

Alternatively you can leave the kisses out and place them on top immediately after they come out of the oven.

I made them both ways, heres how they came out:

And...because I never pass up the opportunity to show off my babies (my dogs). The other day we had a guest bring over some doggie santa outfits. My older dog (oddly enough the smaller of the two) HATES costumes, so we only kept it on her for a second. You can see how much she hates it in the first picture. The baby of the family, seemed to like his, so I put it on him this morning and marched him out in front of my tree display.

So that's a peek at my Christmas. What's one tradition you're looking forward to this holiday?

Five Fun Reading Challenges

It's that time of year again. The end of all the 2010 reading challenges and the beginning of new challenges. But deciding which challenges to participate in can be a little overwhelming. Even though many books fall into multiple categories, chances are you wont be able to complete every challenge you come across. This yeah I think I'm sticking to one or two. But before you decide, I wanted to share with you some of the ones I've run across around the web.

1. The Paranormal Romance Challenge. Hosted by Bitten By Paranormal Romance. This is a challenge to read 20 paranormal romance books between Jan 1st through Dec 31st. You can pick any adult paranormal romance book as you go, new release or old release it doesn't matter. But remember this is only for paranormal romance. No urban fantasy, YA or paranormal erotica. Head over to the blog for more details or to sign up.

2. The 2011 E-Book Challenge. Hosted by The Ladybug Reads. If you all are like me, and love reading on your kindle, nook, kobo, or other reading devices, than this challenge is perfect for you. There are a few different tiers to shoot for, from curious (requiring only 3 e-books) to Obsessed (which is 20 e-books). My only question is, what comes after obsessed?

3. This one I think is such a smart reading challenge. It's called the 2011 Show Me the Free Challenge and it's hosted by Missy at The Unread Reader. How many of you download free kindle or B&N books and then they sit in your archive or in your reading list for months (I have a couple that are at least a year old). Well this reading challenge is to read one of your free books a month. The book doesn't have to currently be free, as long as it was free at the time you downloaded it. Personally, I can't wait to participate in this challenge and weed out my kindle a bit. :)

4. The 2011 Historical Romance Challenge. Hosted by Danielle at Romance Book Junkies.This challenge is to read 12 historical romance books from Jan 1st to Dec 31st. And this challenge comes with a little added incentive. Danielle is offering a monthly giveaway to all the participants provided they write a review and post it on her linky list. For more details or to sign up, head over to her site.

5. Now, personally, this challenge seems a bit...intense, but I also think it sounds really cool to any really ambitious readers out there. The 2011 50 states reading challenge. Hosted by Tasha at Book Obsessed. The goal of this challenge is to read books that are set in each of the 50 states, any genre. So if anyone is ready to take on the challenge, more power to you!

So those are the ones I wanted to mention but there are thousand reading challenges out there. So if none of these strike your fancy, I'm sure you can find one that fits your exact tastes perfectly. Ah the wonders of google. And if you're hosting any, be sure to share so we can all check them out!

What reading challenges are you participating in next year?

My Favorite Cookie

A couple weeks ago I mentioned finally getting my favorite cookie recipe from my mom. She hasn't made the cookies in a couple years because they require a bit more work than your average Christmas cookie. But in my personal opinion....it's totally worth it. These cookies are absolutely delicious and will definitely impress your friends and family. So, I finally got around to baking them and decided to share the recipe (and the results) with you all!

The cookies are called "Hungarian Coffee Crescents". They don't have any coffee in them so I can only deduce that the name is because these cookies would be perfect with coffee. If you plan on making the recipe, please note that the dough needs to be made the night before.

Hungarian Coffee Crescents:

Pastry:
3 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) well-chilled unsalted butter
2 egg yolks, beaten
2 envelopes dry yeast or 2 cakes fresh yeast dissolved in 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
1.5 teaspoons vanilla (that's one and a half)

Filling
3 egg whites, room temperature
1 cup + 8 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup ground walnuts or pecans (I use walnuts and it's delicious)
1 egg beaten with 2 teaspoons water
powdered sugar (optional garnish) (I highly recommend it for the perfect snowy look)

For pastry: Combine dry ingredients in processor or bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add yolks, yeast mixture and vanilla and blend until combined. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate overnight.

Remove dough from refrigerator (and let thaw) and divide into 6 equal pieces (if you split it in half the night before and roll into two log it's easy to divide each log into three pieces).

For filling: Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (I couldn't get the stiff peaks to form and my cookies still turned out okay. Just make sure you beat it thoroughly). Gradually beat in 2/3 cup sugar. Combine remaining sugar with cinnamon and nuts.

Grease baking sheet(s) or use heavy duty foil. Roll out 1 piece of dough into very thin round (like a pizza) on a lightly floured surface. (I had difficulties with this step until my mom told me I needed to roll the dough into a ball before I started to make it into a circle.) Brush with egg white and then sprinkle with some of the nut, cinnamon mixture. Using sharp knife (or pizza cutter), cut into 8 equal wedges. Starting at large end, roll wedges up, shaping gently into crescent. Transfer to prepared sheet(s) or foil, spacing about 2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining dough. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes to rise (or an hour if your house is particularly cold).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly brush each crescent with beaten egg. Bake until crisp and pale gold, about 20 minutes (I only cooked them for about 16 minutes). Let cool on wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar (while still hot).

You can also bake these cookies ahead of time and freeze them. They're just as good once defrosted and warmed up :)

Here's how mine came out!

Enjoy!

What's your favorite holiday treat?

Madly in Love Monday 12/13

Happy Monday everyone! As you've all probably noticed, my blogging has fallen a bit to the wayside the past couple weeks. It should pick up after the holidays. I'm just having a hard time keeping up with everything at the moment. I will have a fantastic Christmas cookie post coming on Wednesday with my absolute favorite cookie recipe (Hungarian Coffee Crescents). They're amazing so be sure you come and check it out.

But, today is Monday and that means it's time for another "Madly in Love Monday". Each Monday, I pick one book from my keep shelf that I am so Madly in Love with I just have to share it with you all so you can read it as well. Today's pick is by the author that started me on my love of romance, Nora Roberts.

When trying to pick a Nora Roberts books to feature, a few different ones immediately popped into my head. I loved her "Irish Hearts" anthology and I'm a big fan of the Stanislaski series. I absolutely fell in love with the book "The Reef". But the one that I decided to pick today is the first book in her Three Sister Island Trilogy, "Dance Upon the Air".

Just like it's story, this book is just enchanting. Nell is the heroine we all hope to write someday, with the perfect balance of vulnerability, charm, and quirkiness. The paranormal flows perfectly and most importantly believably throughout the story without overwhelming the romance or being overwhelmed. If you are a fan of Nora Roberts and have not read this series, I recommend trying it out.

On a side note, I just this morning decided to pick up with Fever series again in anticipation of the fifth book coming out in January. See my post on Darkfever HERE. You'll also get a little background into the origins of Madly in Love Monday.

Now it's your turn. What's your Madly in Love Monday pick?

Madly in Love Monday

It's that time again. Time for another Madly in Love Monday! If you're new to the blog, Monday is the day I choose one book from my keeper shelf, a book that I've fallen so Madly in Love with I just have to share it with all of you.

Most Mondays I choose a romance, but today I've decided to break form completely and choose something very different. My absolutely favorite book of all time.

"Watchers" by Dean Koontz. This is not you traditional horror story. Within it's pages is my favorite character of all time. And believe it or not, the character is a dog.

If you are a dog person, you absolutely need to read this book. Never has a character been as likable, as endearing, as the golden retriever, Einstein. And the love between him and his owner (if he can really be called that) Travis makes for some very powerful reading.

Dean Koontz is truly a master storyteller and it comes through in this novel. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and then you'll do it again. And if you're like me and you read the book more than once (I've read it at least five or six times) than you'll do it even more. And that's why this book is my madly in love pick for today.

What's your Madly in Love pick?

Social Networks

Well, I have been a busy beaver the past few days. I am now officially part of the social network scene! I made myself a facebook fanpage and just this morning started a twitter account, although I still have no idea what to write. I've followed, liked, friended, and whatever those of you I knew about (mostly people who posted on the twitter post). Anyone else make sure to list your info below so I can follow you too!

Check me out!

Facebook: Sondrae Bennett

Twitter: @sondraebennett

Is it December already?

Wow, the holiday's hit and I lost all sense of time or control over my time. This morning I woke up to the site of the first snowfall. It's still coming down and I'm hoping it creates a thin layer before stopping. Right now I can still see patches of green grass poking through the white.

And did anyone else know how much time goes into decorating a Christmas tree? It seem I forget every year until I'm sitting on the floor, surrounded by a pile of ornaments, trying to decide which goes where. But now the house is decorated and all I have to  worry about is Christmas gifts, oh and cookies (but truth be told I'm looking forward to both!). I even got the recipe for one of my favorite childhood Christmas cookies from my mom. She hasn't made them in years because they're a bit complicated but I just couldn't resist. They're these creamy crescent cookies with a nutty Cinnamon inside. I figured I have to wait at least another week before I can start making them. That way I wont be eating them all month and gain a whole bunch of weight, lol. When I do end up making them, I'll post the recipe as well as some pictures of the finished product in case any of you wanna give them a try. I love this holiday!

I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving (if you celebrate) and if you don't celebrate a great end of November. Next week WILL see the return of "Madly in Love Monday" and I have a review or two to post as well so definitely stay tuned!