Nothing Says Christmas Like Shortbread

Jean C. Gordon here getting and staying in the holiday spirit working on a new book that combines two of my favorite romance elements — love rekindled and Christmas. It's the first of my new series, The Donnelly Brothers, "Hometown boys make good…and find love." My working title is The Pastor's Christmas Star, and it won't be out until next Christmas.

So for this Christmas, I’m sharing a recipe for a Gordon family holiday treat, shortbread. It’s from my husband’s grandmother (and great-grandmother?), dating back to before 1900. His Aunt Jean added some helpful instructions.

GRANDMA GORDON’S SHORTBREAD

1 lb softened butter (the salted regular butter)
1 cup white sugar
Approx. 4 cups all-purpose (plain) white flour (Be sure to spoon the flour into the measuring cup because you might have to add a few more spoonfuls while you are mixing the batter to be the right consistency,)

Mix the softened butter and sugar together with a spoon and then add the flour one cup at a time and mix the batter with your hands until it feels ready to spread on a cookie sheet. Press the batter on the cookie with your hands until it spreads out evenly and smoothly. (It is not necessary to use a rolling pin unless you so desire.

Then mark the size pieces (leave the pieces on the cookie sheet!) you want with a table knofe and prick each piece a couple of times with a table fork (this lets air circulate through each piece while the shortbread is baking). Depending on how you mark the pieces, you can have 48 or more pieces on a cookie sheet.

BAKE FOR TWO HOURS (2 HOURS) IN A SLOW OVEN (225 TO 235 DEGREES DEPENDING ON YOUR OVEN). Once the shortbread looks a nice golden brown and smells heavenly, remove from the oven and let the shortbread cool on the cookie sheet for about 15 minutes. Then use a table knife to cut each piece on the already marked lines but let the shortbread finish cooling on the cookie sheet.

Once the shortbread is cooled, then you can put the cookie pieces in a zip-lock bag (obviously Aunt Jean added this J), a tight container, or even in the freezer. These shortbread cookies keep for a long time if sealed well and even longer if frozen. They are delicious with a hot cup of coffee or tea. Enjoy this Scottish treat for the holidays or any time. Cheers!

So, what are your favorite holiday — any holiday — foods?

And to close, here's a plug for my newsletter launch: I'll be launching my author newsletter soon with a cover reveal of my next Love Inspired Romance — see it before Facebook. Sign up for the newsletter on my website, www.JeanCGordon.com by December 28 and receive a free excerpt from SMALL-TOWN MIDWIFE and a free e-copy of my sweet romance BACHELOR FATHER in the format of your choice.

The Appeal of Christmas Stories

by Victoria M. Johnson

Are you like me?  Do you devour Christmas books and movies, staying up late at night to get to the end of the story?  I noticed this year that a certain popular cable channel had started showing their holiday classics in November.  So instead of rendering me useless for only the month of December, they were now enticing me to spend an additional month glued in front of the set.  And I admit, the idea was tempting.  That's when I asked, what is it about Christmas stories that make them so appealing?

Christmas is a special time of year.

There's a magical quality surrounding us at Christmastime.  It's when we think of family and loved ones, and even if we are busy in our day-to-day lives, we make time to celebrate our holiday traditions with them.  As we count our blessings we're reminded to help those in need.  It's the season of giving after all, and we're in the mood to spread cheer.  We're also in the mood to decorate.  In our eagerness to create a festive, magical atmosphere we may go overboard with lights, decorations, baking, Christmas carols, and wrapping paper.  All of which contributes to our merry frame of mind.

Christmas stirs our emotions.

It's an emotional time of year.  It's hard keeping up with those family traditions, and who does all the work and who does all the complaining?  Those pleasant family gatherings can become a minefield for unsettled disputes.  Skeletons can break out of closets, old resentments stirred, or new bombshells delivered.  (Good fodder for stories).  But because it's Christmas, we're willing to facilitate closure.  We're open to healing those old wounds.

Christmas makes us believe in miracles.

It's the season for unexpected surprises.  Sure we all like the surprises under the tree, but those aren't the surprises that create Christmas magic.  The magic comes from gifts that have no price tag.  The gift that seems to come right when we need it most: a family doomed to shatter finds the way to stay together, a loved one in a coma miraculously awakes, and even the lost puppy who gets found and returned to his family.  It's that kind of magic that makes us believe peace on earth is possible.  Maybe all our decorating is our way of inviting magic into our homes.

Christmas stories give us hope.

Christmas is also the season of hope.  If we are all thinking warm thoughts about our loved ones, giving and helping others in need, keeping a merry attitude, ready and willing to resolve old wounds, and witnessing divine assistance from someone upstairs, how can we not feel hopeful?  Hope is an essential ingredient to our well-being, and the season encourages hope.

The appeal of Christmas Stories

How does all this relate to the power of Christmas books and movies?  It's through their past and upbringing, emotions, and belief in miracles and hope that lead characters to discover what matters most in their lives.  They learn to share the importance of the season and to make room in their hearts for others.  Those stories hit home.  Maybe we too, need to rediscover these things in our own lives.  Some characters have a tougher transformation than others, but its Christmas remember?  And I think that everyone truly, deep down wants to believe in Christmas magic.

I'm such an admirer of Christmas stories that I've written one of my own. Hot Hawaiian Christmas is my newly released novella.  Check it out here: http://amzn.com/B00QNR29NK

 

Victoria M. Johnson knew by the time she was ten that she wanted to be a writer.  She loves telling stories and she's happiest when creating new characters and new plots.  Avalon Books and Montlake Romance published Victoria's fiction debut, The Doctor’s Dilemma, (A Bookseller’s Best double finalist).  Her other fiction book is a collection of romance short stories titled, The Substitute Bride. She is also the writer and director of four short films and two micro documentaries.   Visit Victoria's website at http://VictoriaMJohnson.com for inspiration and tips and find her Amazon author page or connect with her on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.